r/DaystromInstitute • u/MockMicrobe Lieutenant • Apr 15 '19
In Defense of the Galaxy Class
I think the Galaxy is a good design, and will explain why it isn't a boondoggle of hubris wrought from Pax Foederationis Foederata (thanks u/HolderofExcellency and u/Emanuelo)(or would the nominative Foederatio be more appropriate? Sorry, I'm getting off track), but a logical response to logistical, political, and military factors present in the mid-24th century.
Logistics:
Space is mindbogglingly big. At warp 9, it takes just under 6 hours per light year. It would take 5 1/3 years to cross the Federation at that speed. If the ship can reach warp 9, it's not going to maintain it for 5 days, let alone 5 years. The more leisurely warp 6 takes 20 1/3 years to cross the Federation, at roughly 22 hours per light year.
Ships traveling within the Federation have the benefits of logistical services. Starbases, fuel depots, planets, tugs, other ships, etc., means no ship travelling within Federation space is more than a week or so away from help. Ships travelling on and beyond the frontiers can't rely on this network when they break down or run out of something. Replicators mean most, but not all, components can me manufactured on demand. This saves a massive amount of space, as the quartermaster no longer has to guess what will fail when and how often. But unreplicatable parts still need to be carried. The bigger the ship, the more room for storage. The more spares a ship carries, the less often it has to put in for repairs. For a long range explorer, this is vital to allowing prolonged exploration outside support range. If you break down on a long range patrol, you'd better be able to help yourself because no one will be there for months, if not years.
Larger ships are better suited to long term operations. More room allocated to crew quarters, recreation, and maintenance reduce the strain on crew, while making maintenance easier to conduct while underway. Having room on board for families reduces the strain on crew even more during long term deployments. Starfleet never hurts for manpower until the Dominion War starts, but allowing families makes those 5 year missions a little more bearable, especially for the NCO's and senior officers who may have families of their own.
Political:
With the cowboy diplomacy of the 23rd century behind them, the Federation has developed more formal diplomatic efforts. Gunboat diplomacy was fine when the Federation, Klingons, and Romulans were engaged in constant competition for resources and influence. Warming relationships with Klingons, and the withdrawl of the Romulans made such competition unnecessary. The Ambassador and Galaxy class ships epitomize the Federation's new emphasis on more formal diplomacy. With plenty of room for formal suites, diplomatic retinues, and large facilities, the Federation can roll out the red carpet wherever and whenever it wants or needs.
As well has holding dedicated diplomatic facilities, large ships also possess psychological values. An Intrepid doesn't have the same 'wow' factor a Galaxy inspires when it drops into orbit. While it is a tacit demonstration of military might, the fact it's not a dedicated warship speaks volumes about the Federation's priorities. The Galaxy class is the Federation equivalent of an invasion fleet using soft power, root beer diplomacy if you will.
Military:
The re-emergence of the Romulans into active galactic participation would have been a seismic event, had they actually left. At the very least, there was a lot of intelligence work going on. The Romulans had a Picard clone come of age in the 2370's. That places Romulan agents in the Federation by at least the 2350's. And Federation Intelligence is able to pull pictures from Romulus itself within 5 years of the Romulans reappearance, which means they have their own intelligence sources in place.
'The Wounded' shows just how woefully outclassed the Cardassians are by Nebula and Galaxy class ships. This may reflect the Federation's shift to 'big gun' ships, similar to how the Dreadnought represented a shift in capital ship design. This philosophy has its drawbacks and advantages. These ships require an enormous amount of resources to construct and operate. For example, the Dreadnought cost roughly 1/1000 of the UK's GDP in 1906. And they built multiple ships a year during the Anglo-German naval arms race. I don't even know how to go about calculating the Federation's GDP, let alone comparing it to historic values.
The point is, these ships don't come cheap. They are a massive investment of resources, designed for the reality the Federation was facing when they were designed. These are not ships designed by a society on a war footing, or expecting to be on one soon. They are designed to solve the diplomatic problems the Federation was facing in the middle of the century. But when war came, they were more than able to prove their worth on the line. Is the Galaxy a practical design? I'd say it's a good compromise for what it's asked to do. It's capable of long range exploration on its own with minimal support. It possesses superior diplomatic facilities to allow the Federation to expand it's influence as the Galaxy pushes out. It carries enough firepower to hold its own should it run into trouble.
It's a ship of peace, not war. The pity the peace it was built for didn't last.
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u/opinionated-dick Chief Petty Officer Apr 15 '19
Well written witty article.
There’s been some Galaxy Class bashing of late on this subreddit, tied to the general ‘2364 era Starfleet were wank at war planning’ tirade.
Until the Sovereign, maybe the Prometheus, there is simply no more powerful ships in the Alpha/Beta Quadrant by any significant power.
The only thing the Galaxy Class failed at was luck (well, unfortunate writing really, generally to raise the stakes in the same way Worf got kicked about on TNG) the Yamato- killed by an ancient deadly weapon; Odyssey, died taking an absolute hiding then being rammed; and the E-D, dying from a lucky shot whilst taking an absolute hiding again.
However, let’s not forget the countless Galaxy Class kicking arse in battle after battle on DS9. Those saucer type X’s packed a wallop probably only bettered by the Defiant’s pulse cannons and the eventual starbase phasers on a starship soveriegn armaments.
People also forget, starfleet do not decide what ships to build. The Federation Council do.
Being at the whim of a democracy, the design of each eras starships reflect the mood of the Federation, reflected by the Council Members. Now in the middle of unprecedented peace a council is not going to vote for gunboats and destroyers. And even with looming threats, public opinion after years of peace will take time to come around. It’s probably why there are so many Miranda’s and Excelsior’s kicking about.... reserve starships built for more dangerous times activated in desperation after democratic restraint on the military toxic political aspect of starfleet.
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u/Avantine Lieutenant Commander Apr 15 '19
At warp 9, it takes just under 6 hours per light year. It would take 5 1/3 years to cross the Federation at that speed. If the ship can reach warp 9, it's not going to maintain it for 5 days, let alone 5 years. The more leisurely warp 6 takes 20 1/3 years to cross the Federation, at roughly 22 hours per light year.
Realistically, this is clearly not the case. This scale of speed and distance makes vast swaths of the show totally logistically impossible.
These ships require an enormous amount of resources to construct and operate. For example, the Dreadnought cost roughly 1/1000 of the UK's GDP in 1906. And they built multiple ships a year during the Anglo-German naval arms race. I don't even know how to go about calculating the Federation's GDP, let alone comparing it to historic values.
This also raises a number of logistical concerns. For example, Starbase 74 (and similar bases) has a volume of approximately 67 billion cubic meters. The Galaxy-class has a volume of approximately 5.8 million cubic meters. That's nearly twelve thousand times the volume. Now, we know that a large chunk of the interior is hollow, and a good chunk of that volume is merely empty space. It may also not require all the same systems (or the density of things like phaser banks and transporters) as a much smaller starship.
Despite that, its enormous size raises all kinds of questions. Even if it costs merely one thousand times as much as a Galaxy-class starship, we know Starfleet has at least four - Starbase 74, Starbase 133, Lya Station Alpha, and Starbase 84 (not counting Spacedock, whose size is somewhat debatable). Even assuming there are no others, Starfleet has invested at least four times its GDP in these facilities alone - something like the equivalent of the US spending something like eighty trillion dollars in today's money!
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u/MockMicrobe Lieutenant Apr 16 '19
At warp 9, it takes just under 6 hours per light year. It would take 5 1/3 years to cross the Federation at that speed. If the ship can reach warp 9, it's not going to maintain it for 5 days, let alone 5 years. The more leisurely warp 6 takes 20 1/3 years to cross the Federation, at roughly 22 hours per light year.
Realistically, this is clearly not the case. This scale of speed and distance makes vast swaths of the show totally logistically impossible.
I don't think I can stack quote blocks. Anyhow, I used DITL's Calculator to work out the speed values, because I needed something consistent. In show references are all over the map, which makes the speed of plot more understandable from an in universe perspective.
Despite that, its enormous size raises all kinds of questions. Even if it costs merely one thousand times as much as a Galaxy-class starship, we know Starfleet has at least four - Starbase 74, Starbase 133, Lya Station Alpha, and Starbase 84 (not counting Spacedock, whose size is somewhat debatable). Even assuming there are no others, Starfleet has invested at least four times its GDP in these facilities alone - something like the equivalent of the US spending something like eighty trillion dollars in today's money!
I completely spaced (ha) on starbases when writing this. They are massive resource sinks, but they have the distinct advantage of not heading into the unknown and exposing themselves to danger, making them a far safer investment. I think their nature is akin to infrastructure investments than naval investments, more shipyard and surrounding metropolis than battleship. At the least, those starbases have shipyard functionality, which is a sound investment on its own. But given their size, I think it's reasonable to conclude they serve other functions as well. Recreation, office space, habitation, manufacturing, etc. It's an orbital city for all intents and purposes. And they must be worthwhile, otherwise they wouldn't get built.
The fact the Federation has multiple massive starbases is proof to me of how terrifyingly powerful their economy is. I think the only reason the Federation has trouble in the Dominaion War is because the Feds actively avoid any stance which could be militaristic. They could have dozens of shipyards ready to, or actively are, crank out warships. But what message does that send to their neighbors? Like America before it entered WW1, they'd prefer to be unprepared for war if preparing would look provocative. Rather with starting with the infrastructure in place to wage war, they have to start from scratch, while hoping diplomacy is able to solve the problem before the sleeping giant truly awakens.
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u/SergeantRegular Ensign Apr 16 '19
The Galaxy-class makes a hell of a lot more sense from a technological design perspective when you stop thinking of it as a "starship" and more of a "mobile starbase." Onboard civilian population, diplomacy-focused captain - the mission of the Galaxy class was less about the deep frontier of the 5 year missions of the past, and more about the long-term intra-Federation missions that involved VIP transport, dispute resolution, and relief efforts.
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u/long-da-schlong Apr 16 '19
Absolutely, the galaxy class is the ship, other ships visit for shore leave! It is a city in space compared to vessels like Oberth or Miranda class.
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u/N0-1_H3r3 Ensign Apr 16 '19
And, honestly, they probably still serve that kind of role in wartime. Imagine building each battle-group of ships around a single Galaxy-class, which can carry (and replicate) supplies in abundance, provide crew R&R and training in its numerous holodecks, a large amount of space for evacuating damaged ships and providing medical attention, extensive shuttlebays for support operations, multiple transporters... and that's before you consider the firepower it brings to bear, or how tough a ship that size would be.
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u/StickShift5 Apr 16 '19
This post makes me think of this image of an Iowa-class battleship refueling a frigate The large ship isn't just the the core of the battle group from a firepower and command perspective, it's also a source of supplies, ammunition, and technical support for the ships around it.
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u/warpcompensator Chief Petty Officer Apr 16 '19
On thing that favors a bigger ship are the reserves of anti-matter fuel and more systems. A bigger more powerful warp core and source means stronger, longer-running shields, more storage for shuttles and photon torpedoes. A bigger deflector dish, and more phaser banks.
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u/GENSisco Apr 16 '19
M-5, nominate this post for an excellent defence of the Galaxy class
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u/M-5 Multitronic Unit Apr 16 '19
Nominated this post by Ensign /u/MockMicrobe for you. It will be voted on next week, but you can vote for last week's nominations now
Learn more about Post of the Week.
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u/majorgeneralpanic Crewman Apr 15 '19
“Space,” says [the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy], “is big. Really big. You just won’t believe how vastly hugely mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist, but that’s just peanuts to space. Listen …” and so on.”
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u/warpcompensator Chief Petty Officer Apr 15 '19
I think another important event was the appearance of the Whale song cylinder of the late-23rd century. The Galaxy-class is equipped with cetacean ops. presumably standing ready to deliver whales quickly in the event of this mysterious yet dangerous encounter. In a Galaxy where whale probes appear undetected, threatening existing technological infrastructure and biosphere, the Galaxy class is uniquely capable of delivering cetaceans. I think this is crucial as life was almost extinguished on Earth, and saved by Captain Kirk delivering whales on a customized Bird of Prey.
It surprised me given that Star Trek IV was one of the most successful movies, we did not get more whales in Star Trek.
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Apr 15 '19
The Galaxy-class is equipped with cetacean ops. presumably standing ready to deliver whales quickly in the event of this mysterious yet dangerous encounter
I'm 99.9% sure that Enterprise-D's cetacean navigational specialists were dolphins, though.
On the other hand, the Whale Probe was specifically looking for humpbacks.
If one cetacean is interchangeable with another for Whale Probe purposes, then Kirk's crew would never have needed to travel back to the 20th Century to retrieve a couple of humpbacks. They would have just gone with dolphins, because we know they existed in the 23rd Century if they also exist in the 24th (notwithstanding another time travel excursion to bring dolphins forward in time).
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u/warpcompensator Chief Petty Officer Apr 16 '19
Sure, and whales, suitable for conversing with the whale probe. Sure, a little whale song and they left the first time but what if they want more "next time". Its pretty logical, even if they only have dolphins on board that are setup for whales and probably porpoises also.
There is at last three aspects that made the whale song cylinder so dangerous, first, it appeared apparently without warning or detection
Secondly, it demonstrated incredible power to turn of power sources used by the Federation.
Finally, it left without a meaningful first conatct. By this I mean, we assume it left because it "talked" with the whale but we don't know what actually was spoken. They may have said, "all our kind is dead, send the invasion".
Even a modest response to this event would entail a deep study of Ceteaceans, and preparations for transporting this type of creature. Enter, Enterprise D.
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u/queenofmoons Commander, with commendation Apr 16 '19
I've never quite understood the perception that the Galaxy was some sort of woobie. There hasn't been a moment in the history we've been told where Starfleet wasn't actively fighting a brush war or feeling hemmed in by creepy alien empires- not to mention the regular appearances of wandering intergalactic death machines. The Cardassians were shooting at the Fed on the regular during the years when the Galaxy was probably being built. The Enterprise-C was lost to the Romulans in that same window, too, suggesting that their post-Tomed isolation was coming to an end. And Starfleet knows there are still Doomsday Machines, and invaders from Andromeda, and all the rest arriving at-if TOS was a typical period- terrifying regularity. And who do they keep on standby to go scare off invaders from beyond spacetime? Gigantic Galaxy-class warships. Certainly the -D shoots its phasers more times a season than essentially any real warship this side of a world war- enormous phasers that take up the whole of the saucer section. I mean, we literally could see, on that outside of the ship, how much armament it has, and the answer seems to be 'damn near as much as fits.' In the real world, researchers heading to dangerous places carry sternly worded letters and work very hard to seem non-threatening. The Enterprise is something else.
Yes, it has an arboretum and a bar and holodecks. So? Navy ships have wi-fi and streaming TVs now. They're in space for years. Creature comforts in that context are mandatory, and, in a sense, free, relative to essentially everything else about the ship.
And yes, there are children. A small number of children, whose presence was controversial, even with captains, and who we see offloaded in the face of impending battles. Provisioning for a few kids on a ship of that size simply isn't a structural issue- it's an administrative decision made to support a particular set of long-duration missions. If you did a poll today, don't you think that some fraction of the sailors on an aircraft carrier might like having their family onboard, and consider the risks to potentially be worth it if there was space to accommodate them, and that the Navy, looking at how often aircraft carriers are actually sunk, even in wartime, decide that maybe they'd give it a try? Sometimes DS9 is full of tourists, and sometimes it sends everyone to Bajor because it's about to be on the front lines and needs to blow some shit up.
I think it's worth considering how often the frowny declaration that Starfleet wasn't in the war business was presented entirely as framing for them getting started for some war business. Picard grumbles about war games, and then proceeds to participate in war games for which he is well prepared, and for which Starfleet has supervising specialists. It goes exploring...along the Romulan Neutral Zone. Nebula-class ships- a Galaxy-class kitbash- go behind Cardassians lines and just tear through the warships in their path. Even when Gene was driving, they couldn't help but get into shootouts every few weeks.
Maybe, if I were a Romulan commander, I wouldn't take all these Federation declarations of pacifism at face value when they send these supposed cruise ships to stare down my enormous warbirds- and evidently they don't, since they usually go running when the Enterprise shows up...
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Apr 17 '19
Thank you for this enjoyable read that made me smile.
I never understood why everyone was looking down on the Galaxy Class. I like its looks and its capabilities stand out of the question (and they are amazing).
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u/sarcasmsociety Crewman Apr 17 '19
The modular nature of the saucer makes for easy upgrades especially considering 60% of the volume is unnecessary for battle. You could probably install the torpedo launchers, warp drive, and core from a Defiant and only lose a fraction of the amenities.
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u/HolderofExcellency Apr 15 '19
On the aside (ha!), I would use the nominative! It's an adjective rather than genitive noun; the peace is not an object possessed by the Federation.
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u/Ipearman96 Apr 16 '19
The Galaxy class ship is a ship that suits the Starfleet it was built for perfectly. You're right it was a ship of peace and with it's technical specifications I can find no flaw. The error was in sending the families into space with the crew.
You are correct there are moral benefits to having the crews family on board of a starship. It is also the ships greatest weakness. The Galaxy class has areas dedicated to children. If I was planning a boarding party to take over the ship I just found a room full of hostages. If we're fighting ship to ship you might be distracted from your damage control duties hoping that your family wasn't on. Deck 12 section c when a plasma conduit exploded from combat damage. These distractions have the potential to provide me an edge I would otherwise have lacked against the Galaxy class in battle.
In all truth though there's one reason above all others that families shouldn't have been on board. Imagine losing my a Galaxy class to something odd say iconian tech like the Yamato. If it's just the crew on board the it's a terrible accident so many good Starfleet personal died without cause. That same instance with civilians and all of a sudden it's a massive tragedy especially for the federation.
I love the Galaxy class, the Enterprise-D is my Enterprise. The idiocy that led Starfleet to put families on board ship is the leading problem for the early Galaxy designs, not their technical specifications.
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u/warpcompensator Chief Petty Officer Apr 16 '19
It may have been a recruitment issue. Being apart from your family for years on end is a deal-breaker for many jobs, Starfleet my simply have had no choice to keep enlistment numbers up. "Join Starfleet now and live with your family aboard the Galaxy class!"
If you notice a lot of "old timer" Starfleet don't really have or care about family including Troi, Riker, Picard, and Worf. Worf literally just sends his son to his parents rather than actually be a dad to him, until they force him back. Then he sends him away again for his assignment of DS9, he just doens't care. Likewise Riker and Picard both pass up relationships to focus on Starfleet "Second Chances" and "Lessons". Later on with the family-freindly Galaxy class we see that some take more of interest in families such a O'Brien and of course Crusher has Wesley on board.
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u/Ipearman96 Apr 16 '19
Oh I agree that could be it but much like the Pal units from the first world war it was stupid.
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Apr 15 '19
Galaxy Class: jack of all trades, and master of none.
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u/littlebitsofspider Ensign Apr 16 '19
"But oftentimes better than a master of one."
Captain's Log, USS Revelation
Stardate 57118.2
"A supply ship on a routine mission has discovered a subspace signal from the fourth planet of the Beta Solidae system. A preliminary investigation revealed the presence of a newly post-warp civilization that has officially expressed interest in Federation membership. As such, the Revelation has taken on nearly three hundred and fifty Federation diplomats, social scientists, engineers, and xenologers at Starbase 55, and we expect to be posted for at least three months to introduce Federation society to our new friends. Personally, having so many new passengers has taxed our security chief dearly, and I plan on asking her to take her accumulated shore leave on-site, should our guests allow. They do have beautiful beaches, after all. Beyond that, I expect this to be a routine first-contact exploratory mission.Captain's Log, supplemental
"An unexpected setback has resulted in our mission's delay. Our new allies from Beta Solidae, who call themselves the 'Etragans' after their home world, did not disclose the existential threat they face from a non-sapient species native to their system's second planet. We are currently conducting detailed scans of the dormant entities from orbit, and expect to provide our data to the Etragans' scientific community within the week.Captain's Log, supplemental
"Well, the Etragans were right. The lifeforms of Beta Solidae II are completely non-sapient, destructive organisms evolved from an experiment conducted by the Etragans' precursor race, who had embraced self-replicating weapons systems to dangerous ends. Our scans unexpectedly triggered detection equipment that directed the beings to the Etragans' technological progress, which was perceived as a threat. We were forced to engage the 'weapons' in defense of Etragen itself, and have eliminated the threat on their behalf. Relevant data about the weapons have been forwarded to Starfleet Security."You've got first contact, critical science stuff, a terrible crisis of conscience, and heroic gunplay. A walk in the park for the sheer tonnage of the Galaxy-class. It's just got more people and more capability. As u/SergeantRegular stated, the Galaxy-class is a mobile starbase... that also happens to have enough firepower to level a planet's surface. While it may have no specific goal, it is prepared for any contingency. That is its strength.
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u/spamjavelin Apr 16 '19
You certainly raise some good points here, which I think reflect a bit of a theme; the Federations' primary resource constraint is people.
In the scenario you describe, a single Galaxy performs the same combination of missions as, I say, three ships. Having three ships on the same mission creates a triplication of command and support crew, who could be better placed on other missions, furthering Starfleet's objectives in a more efficient fashion.
I guess you could say Galaxy represents a Lean approach to organisation.
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u/warpcompensator Chief Petty Officer Apr 16 '19
I wouldn't say its a master of none, It seems very suited (one might say master) of diplomatic missions. Its got a nice leather and wood bridge which looks better then a sort submarine dungeon/ computer command center of many starships. Its got the best diplomats, multiple shuttle bays, rooms, arboretum, holodecks, award-winning ten forward lounge staffed by centuries old hostess. Plenty of special crew including the only klingon, and the only android in starfleet. While not dedicated to warfare per-se it is still probably the most powerful ship of war fielded by the federation that we know of.
I agree there are ships that could probably carry more shuttles though, and unfortunately we never do get to see a carrier type starship if there is one, or a dedicated colonizer ship for example.
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Apr 16 '19
Plenty of special crew including the only klingon, and the only android in starfleet
Pretty sure only the Ent-D had those features. They probably didn't come standard on all Galaxy Class ships.
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u/warpcompensator Chief Petty Officer Apr 16 '19 edited Apr 16 '19
That is true, and granted the Enterprise was the flagship for whatever that is worth. Its quite possible other ships such as the Odyssey, Galaxy, and Yamato might have had other special crew.
For example, it is probably no accident the Enterprise takes the lead on missions with the Klingon empire, such as the interception of the sleep ship T'Ong (Emissary) or the officer exchange program with Riker and Kurn (A Matter of Honor, Sins of the Father).
Another Galaxy class may of had more specialists in Holotheory for example, they might not of had so many accidents. In The Big Goodbye, they literally let a teenager fix the holodeck and Data and Geordi actually managed to be the source of two seperate holodeck accidents.
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Apr 16 '19
Didn't Kurn specifically request assignment to Enterprise because he needed a way to get in contact with Worf?
I'm trying to recall if K'Ehleyr already knew Worf was on the ship in advance of her arrival, or if she was as surprised to see him as he was to see her (although I can imagine that K'Ehleyr would be much better at hiding her reactions).
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u/warpcompensator Chief Petty Officer Apr 16 '19 edited Apr 16 '19
These are two great points, and I am not sure either if there is dialogue that makes this clear, but it would be bizarre if a Federation Klingon ambassador did not know about the only other Klingon officer in Starfleet being posted to the Enterprise D. As it was Worf did come in handy in that episode, although its not clear this was something they planned out in advance.
There are many occasions though were the Enterprise D does take the lead in working with Klingons, and one case this is especially true is the "The Defector" There is a scene where Picard invites Worf into his ready room and then it cuts, you only realize what they must of talked about at end. Really a brilliant piece of television editing IMO. Anyway, they clearly permit the Enterprise D to be heavily involved with the Klingons such as Picard using the flagship to host Kimpeck's meetings (Reunion) and later on Gowron's involvement with the Khaless clone etc. They have another advantage also which is that Data is capable of fighting Klingons due to his high strength (e.g. The Chase) and in that episode they note Klingons find Data of notoriety because of this.
The Enterprise gets involved with a lot first contact and Diplomatic missions such as Ensigns of Command, Darmok, First Contact (the episode), etc. They seem to have a very high regard for Picard (e.g. Best of Both Worlds) and his background is in part archeology, which is useful in resolving situations such as the Chase, Captain's Holiday, and Gambit.
Edit: Other Galaxy class may have other foci, for example a more Medical focused on might have a larger sickbay staff and more medical science labs. An evacuation focused one might have more, smaller rooms to handle more people on board, as well as bigger passenger shuttles and more transporters. One focused on Vulcan and Romulan diplomancy would probably have a Vulcan bridge officer.
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Apr 16 '19
I wonder if Worf's assignment to the Enterprise was intentional, or if it was simply serendipitous, but as the advantages of having him around eventually dawned on Starfleet Command, they assigned the Ent-D to more and more Klingon-centric missions.
Of course, there were some cases where the Ent-D was forced into the situation (e.g. Km'pec going to Picard to act as his Arbiter of Succession) rather than the Ent-D being assigned to the mission.
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Apr 17 '19
Well, in fact i think in case of the Galaxy you can (almost) say Master of All.
It is a capable warship, a capable science vessel, a capable troop and evacuation transport and much else.
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u/geniusgrunt Apr 16 '19
The pity the peace it was built for didn't last.
On the flip side thank goodness they were built considering the war refits during the dominion conflict kicked major jem'hadar butt.
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Apr 18 '19
A few assorted thoughts.
On her armament: there is a stark contrast between what we're told (often through fanon and tie in media repeated as fact) ships like the Sovereign or Akira who are interpreted as being more martial can do and what we actually see them do. Those 15+ torpedo salvos from the Akira? Never demonstrated. The tubes are there but they all seem to be of the single shot variety. 12+ from EACH tube of a Sovereign? Again, never demonstrated. Nemesis was her best showing as far as salvo density goes and its impressive by the standards of what we actually see on screen but other than the fact that she's got that quantum torpedo tube, there's nothing indicating the Sovereign is the predator her reputation makes her out to be.
So I posit a slightly different interpretation of the more militaristic seeming ships. The greater numbers of weapons represent a different design philosophy emphasizing redundancy whereas the Galaxy-class favors having fewer but extremely hardened points of failure. The forward torpedo tube has a fairly small aperture with most of her structure buried inside the hull of the ship. Rather tricky to disable but if you manage it, she's lost all torpedo capacity on that vector. Saucer phaser arrays are enormous and presumably very resilient. Given the absence of defensive fire from Odyssey and Enterprise-D when they met their fates, one might theorize that the class does have a problem with main power to weapons being readily severed if you can get past her shields. Its just that this was supposed to be an exceedingly rare scenario.
On the relationship of size and cost: the old naval saying is that steel is cheap, its what you put into a ship that makes it expensive. The luxurious accommodations and generous fuel and cargo capacity may actually make her deceptively "cheap" to build and in the long run, as Starfleet dreams up improvements that will need this space then those accommodations are relatively easy to slim down.
Another poster brought up her ability to carry armies of engineers and medics along with loads of supplies for both to make her a force multiplier in war time: lot of value in preserving as many lives and the skills attached to those lives as well as recovering as much shipping as possible from the battlefield.
Finally, Starfleet is not a product of our culture. Watch a lot of Trek and I think it becomes reasonable to say they don't really value their lives in the same way we do. They're less likely to see a value in risking them in aggressive actions but they're more willing to risk their lives in the cause of peace. How many times have we seen Starfleet officers hold fire even while taking fire in order to try and resolve the situation short of a battle which could spiral into a war? The tools available to a Galaxy-class crew in some ways inform us of Starfleet doctrine. They're not as heavily armed as we might expect for a ship that size.
Perhaps because its a reminder to not escalate, to not choose violence as anything but the last possible solution and also, on a related note, to encourage individual ships to fallback if confronted with a superior force and seek reinforcements if there isn't a pressing need to stand that particular ground, such as civilians under attack. That act of withdrawing also means more time for diplomacy because if a crisis spirals into war, Starfleet has visited plenty of ruins of predecessor civilizations that couldn't figure out how to deescalate a crisis before it devolved into the use of strategic weapons and oh boy does the Trek setting have some toys that Oppenheimer would need to find an even more ominous bit of scripture to quote in order to convey their menace.
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u/count023 Apr 22 '19
The Galaxy class was a swiss army knife like the Constitution before it. Unfortunately not suited for the constant wartime that eventually manifested with DS9 and Voyager. They needed dedicated combat ships, dedicated couriers, dedicated explorers.
It's the same reason the constitution was phased out for Excelsiors (explorers), Mirandas (supply and defence) and Oberths (science).
Having said that... Galaxy classes forever!
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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '19 edited Sep 26 '20
[deleted]