The Enterprise through the ages

[cbwjm]

As someone who started with TNG, I will always have a fondness for the D. And yes, it was nice to see it again in Picard.

Seeing it back online was truly epic.

 

[Morrus]

The refit ship for me (ENT-A).

The A isn't actually the refit. The refit is the one they has in Star Trek I, II, and III. The A is the one they got at the end of IV, which looks the same as the refit but isn't the same ship.

 

[MarkB]

The A isn't actually the refit. The refit is the one they has in Star Trek I, II, and III. The A is the one they got at the end of IV, which looks the same as the refit but isn't the same ship.

And had a ridiculously short service life. After the Enterprise stayed around for over 20 years with a few refits, the Enterprise-A gets called back for decommissioning only a few years later.

 

[Morrus]

And had a ridiculously short service life. After the Enterprise stayed around for over 20 years with a few refits, the Enterprise-A gets called back for decommissioning only a few years later.

I don't actually know the timeline between STIV and VI but yeah it doesn't feel like long.

 

[Ryujin]

Very cool!

I’ll always be a fan of the original, TOS Enterprise, but they all have something special about them.

My second favorite design after the TOS Enterprise is actually the NX version. There’s just something about that design that I love. I was also a huge fan of the Akira class ship, which the NX Enterprise is closely modeled after …

The Akira Class was supposed to be an Andorian design, wasn't it? At least the ship that looked like the NX class was Andorian, in the FASA RPG.

 

[Corinnguard]

It would have been neat if there was a Star Trek series that covered the Enterprise F and her Andorian captain. A book or TV series would have sufficed.

 

[Koloth]

Don't remember if it was ever shown in the show Enterprise, but it is likely that the NX version had whole ship landing capability like the Voyager did. Transporters weren't the reliable thing that later timelines had and those landing pods weren't the best either. As far as favorite, have to go with the Constitution class as that is the first one I saw on TV. It was cool watching the Defiant strut her stuff in the ST-Enterprise episodes of Mirror-Darkly, with modern special effects.(to be clear, it is the Constitution class Defiant that went thru the rift in Tholian space in TOS, not the later DS9 Defiant.)

 

[MarkB]

Don't remember if it was ever shown in the show Enterprise, but it is likely that the NX version had whole ship landing capability like the Voyager did. Transporters weren't the reliable thing that later timelines had and those landing pods weren't the best either.

But on the other hand, materials and construction weren't as advanced, and structural integrity fields weren't a thing. Building it strong enough for a planetary landing that was hardly ever expected to occur would have been a serious overhead, and might have compromised performance.

 

[roger semerad]

I personally really prefer the later sleeker designs. It's not about aerodynamics, it's about looking cool. Like those cars from the 30s and 40s that had cool sculpting but were aerodynamically naughty word. When any engineer puts so much work into a design, they want it to both look good and function well, and that's what the later designs hit for me. I'm not the biggest lore nerd, but as far as remember the only design limitations on starfleet designs were that the nacelles put out a lot of radiation and needed to have some distance from ocupied sections, and it had to fit inside a warp bubble ( both of these explainations being retcons that came well after the design of the original Enterprise was finished ). I also like that as the ships developed that the ratio of the engineering section to general purpose section decreased. Making it feel like the engines were getting progressively better power ratios.

My favorites in order are;

Enterprise D - I love how it can look both imposing, powerful, and friendly all at the same time. I also love the huge saucer section, it really shows that the general purpose science and diplomatic parts of the ship's function were prioritized.

Constitution Refit - It has that original iconic silhouette, but with some much needed extra details.

Enterprise E - Really cool sleek design. It's the most aggressive looking so far, though that makes sense in a post Dominion War Starfleet. I just prefer the more welcoming designs.

Excelsior - It's got the most unique look of the lot, that blends the sleek and mechanical look of past ships well.

Constitution - Objectively a bit bland of a design, but one that is massively iconic.

NX - It does a good job of looking like a prototype Starfleet design, I like it but don't love it.

Enterprise C - Obviously made just to look like an intermediate design between the Excelsior and D. It's too basic of a blend between the two that doesn't have anything unique to it.

 

[cbwjm]

Excelsior, NX, sovereign are some of my favourites. Spent a lot of time watching Those New Guys in their galaxy class and love chonky that ship is. Not sure I really have a favourite enterprise though.

If talking about just star trek starships, I do like the warp delta class. Makes me think of a starfleet version of a bird of prey.