Though, of course, phasers won't come for about a hundred years after a ship like this is launched.
------------------ "Oh, it's an anti-anti-WTO song. It's essentially a pro-Starbucks song. I saw this picture of a guy sticking his foot through a plate-glass window in a Starbucks in Seattle, and he was wearing a Nike. Man, couldn't you just change your shoes?" -- M. Doughty
posted
Re: Phaser. Whoops. I meant laser. Here's why I called it a "fleet monitor": During the US Civil War, monitors, named after the original USS Monitor, were mostly shallow-draft (hull depth), low-freeboard (height of deck above water) ironclads used in costal operations and on rivers both against other ships and shore emplacements. Through WWII turreted monitors were used for costal bombardment and to protect coastlines and river mouths. Modern "monitors" were used for riverine operation in Vietnam. These were usually small boats with big guns in turrets. "Fleet" indicates that the ships travel with the fleet and are not only stuck around a single planet. So, I think it's a very appropriate name! Also, Farragut was a navy commander during the Civil war, and probably used monitors from time to time.
------------------ When you're in the Sol system, come visit the Starfleet Museum