Federation Cube Ship

[Lorna]

Just a bit of fun thread.

Pretend you are in charge of designing a Federation Cube ship.

How big would you make it?

What weapons an defences would you give it?

What would the power source be and how big? or would there be several smaller power sources?

What would the crew count be?

What would the ship be used for?

Would the cube have any special features or abilities?

This isn't a fanboy thread, let's keep the answers reasonable. I mean just because it's a cube does not mean you should give it 10 thousands phaser banks.

 

[USS Triumphant]

My son and I have been playing with a concept for something like this for a while.

Our idea is that, sometime after a somewhat changed Borg have established a tentative peace with the major Alpha/Beta Quadrant powers due to a larger threat (that is an entirely separate story, and obviously this disregards Destiny), a large, powerful ship belonging to an enemy (probably the aforementioned threat, a race known as the D'Agla) makes a devastating surprise attack that completely destroys a much more heavily populated Nimbus III (this is some time after ST V - it has become in fact what was being paid lip service to in that film, and with terraforming work, something of a paradise), and then begins running quickly away into hiding. Sensor evidence near the attacked world seems to indicate that the ship expended a main weapon that will take (some time / a special hard-to-find resource) to reload.

Concerned that it will take a very large, well-armed ship to confront this foe - especially if they have managed to reload the main weapon when the confrontation occurs - the Borg provide one of their largest cubes and a crew, which is then placed under the command of a combined Fed/Rom/Klingon command and engineering team tasked with finding the D'Agla ship and stopping it before it can attack another populated world. The engineers bring their expertise to finding new ways, based in their own engineering traditions, to use the resources represented by the cube to this end. A portion of the ship near the center is reconfigured by Borg nanites to serve as a bridge and living quarters for this team.

The ship is called Hunter, and it is designated with fleet status for all of the fleets represented. Because of this, it can officially run as U.S.S. Hunter, or I.K.V. Hunter, or so on - whichever is most advantageous at the system it is visiting in the search for its foe.

 

[Dukhat]

Do you mean building a Federation starship in the shape of a cube, or capturing a Borg cube and using it as a starship?

For the former, I'm not sure why having the shape of the ship as a cube would make any difference to anything. Why not a pyramid for that matter, or a globe?

For the latter, I'm not sure how a Federation crew would be able to pilot a Borg cube, considering that you have to be a Borg drone to interface with it.

 

[Lorna]

Do you mean building a Federation starship in the shape of a cube, or capturing a Borg cube and using it as a starship?

I did not mention the Borg anywhere.

For the former, I'm not sure why having the shape of the ship as a cube would make any difference to anything. Why not a pyramid for that matter, or a globe?

Irrelevant. Fun thread is for fun, resistance is futile.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Federation Cube Ship?

Might work. However: You forgot the word "Rubik's".

 

[Lorna]

Federation Cube Ship?

Might work. However: You forgot the word "Rubik's".

It will be known as the Rubik's class USS Rubik's.

 

[Christopher]

There's no value to giving a spaceship a cubic shape. It's a bad idea for at least two major reasons.

One is pressure. A spaceship needs to be a pressure vessel, able to contain an atmosphere. The best design for a pressure vessel is one with no sharp edges or corners. The same physical principles that make a sharp object effective at cutting or piercing things -- concentrating force along a single line or point -- make edges and corners the most vulnerable points for a pressure vessel to rupture. This is why pressurized vessels like scuba tanks or fire extinguishers are cylinders with rounded ends rather than boxes.

The other is efficient use of space. If the Borg really gave a damn about efficiency, they'd use spheres, not cubes. A sphere is the most efficient shape in that it uses the smallest surface area to contain a given volume, and thus would need the least material to constitute its hull. Also, as the most compact shape, it would require a shorter length of corridors, conduits, wiring, piping, etc. to get between any two points within it, so the movement of crew, power, fuel, water, etc. would be more efficient. Also, in Trek terms, as the most compact shape, a sphere would require the least shielding energy and the smallest warp bubble for a given volume.

The only reason the creators of the Borg gave them cubic ships was symbolic -- all rigid straight lines and angles in contrast to the flowing curves of the Enterprise, suggesting something inorganic, mechanical, monolithic. It evokes the forbidding feel of an industrial plant or a towering office building. In terms of producing a certain psychological response in the observer, it's an effective design. But in terms of actual starship engineering, it's simply ludicrous.

 

[sojourner]

U.S.S. Gleeming, Rubik's class. Dedication plaque, "God doesn't play dice with the universe"

 

[Lorna]

There's no value to giving a spaceship a cubic shape. It's a bad idea for at least two major reasons.

One is pressure. A spaceship needs to be a pressure vessel, able to contain an atmosphere. The best design for a pressure vessel is one with no sharp edges or corners. The same physical principles that make a sharp object effective at cutting or piercing things -- concentrating force along a single line or point -- make edges and corners the most vulnerable points for a pressure vessel to rupture. This is why pressurized vessels like scuba tanks or fire extinguishers are cylinders with rounded ends rather than boxes.

The other is efficient use of space. If the Borg really gave a damn about efficiency, they'd use spheres, not cubes. A sphere is the most efficient shape in that it uses the smallest surface area to contain a given volume, and thus would need the least material to constitute its hull. Also, as the most compact shape, it would require a shorter length of corridors, conduits, wiring, piping, etc. to get between any two points within it, so the movement of crew, power, fuel, water, etc. would be more efficient. Also, in Trek terms, as the most compact shape, a sphere would require the least shielding energy and the smallest warp bubble for a given volume.

The only reason the creators of the Borg gave them cubic ships was symbolic -- all rigid straight lines and angles in contrast to the flowing curves of the Enterprise, suggesting something inorganic, mechanical, monolithic. It evokes the forbidding feel of an industrial plant or a towering office building. In terms of producing a certain psychological response in the observer, it's an effective design. But in terms of actual starship engineering, it's simply ludicrous.

Very interesting information. Thanks.

 

[seekertwo]

Why a cube?....why not a giant sphere?....maybe it could be built around a massive phaser array inside a parabolic dish on the surface.....and have giant trash compactors, too.....

 

[Dukhat]

I did not mention the Borg anywhere.

No, you didn't mention the Borg anywhere. But when one speaks of a "cube ship," one's thought's immediately go there. (i.e. Christopher's statement re: the illogic of a cube-shaped ship)

Irrelevant. Fun thread is for fun, resistance is futile.

You asked for an opinion. I gave you one. If you didn't find it "fun," that's not my problem.

 

[ngc7293]

So, I get to wondering where the Deflector dish is and where the bridge is (because every Fed ship has it on the top), but this is a cube so it could be anywhere. One last question. Are there fuzzy dice hanging from the rear view mirror?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

One thing about the Borg sphere, is that it would be easier to hold the sombrero.

There, I said it.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

One thing about the Borg sphere, is that it would be easier to hold the sombrero.

Or, in fact, a fez.

 

[Uncle Sol]

Lorna, you should checkout Kes7's wonderful Tesseract story in the fanfic section if you haven't already.

That's what I think a Federation Cube Ship would be like.

 

[The Inquisitor]

A federation cube ship would be like a Borg cube with only some minor differences, it would be white/grey and have blue and orange components strategically placed on it's hull. Seeing as it would have no front as such, where would the registration go?!

 

[USS Triumphant]

There's no value to giving a spaceship a cubic shape. It's a bad idea for at least two major reasons.

I'll give you a third. Without some sort of major change in the way the Borg work and/or are perceived (and probably even then for the most part), shaping your ship like theirs is asking to have the hate that is felt for them all over the galaxy transferred to you.

 

[Lorna]

A federation cube ship would be like a Borg cube with only some minor differences, it would be white/grey and have blue and orange components strategically placed on it's hull. Seeing as it would have no front as such, where would the registration go?!

You tell me, you're the one designing it.

So, I get to wondering where the Deflector dish is and where the bridge is (because every Fed ship has it on the top), but this is a cube so it could be anywhere. One last question. Are there fuzzy dice hanging from the rear view mirror?

You tell me, you're the one designing it.

Why a cube?....why not a giant sphere?....

because I want it to be a cube. OK buddy?

 

[Herkimer Jitty]

There's already a Federation cube ship.

The escape pods from the TNG: TM.

 

[Unicron]

They're more flat squares though, compared to cubes. Squished cubes maybe.