How many shuttlecraft did the Enterprise have?

[JonnyQuest037]

The thing that got me to think about this was in the episode The Omega Glory. While searching the abandoned USS Exeter, a crewman reports that “all four shuttlecraft” are on the hangar deck, implying that four is the normal ship’s complement. The Exeter was a Constitution class ship, same as the Enterprise, so wouldn't it stand to reason that the Enterprise also had only four shuttles?

Of course, the fact that the Galileo is numbered "7" implies that they normally had a complement of seven. I would think that whatever the normal complement is, it would have to be fairly low (say, under a dozen) since there are seemingly no shuttlecraft available to rescue Sulu & company in The Enemy Within.

What do you folks think?

 

[Warped9]

In "The Enemy Within" I simply assume that the shuttlecraft and/or hangar deck were out of commission for some unknown reason. As for the numbering the 7 on the Galileo's hull doesn't have to mean there are seven shuttlecraft, but that the Galileo may be the seventh shuttlecraft to be assigned to the Enterprise in replacement of ones previously lost. Also it's possible there are other small vehicles aboard such as workpods or workbees that are numbered as well. Then it's easy to see how there could be a seven of the Galileo's hull.

Furthermore the size of the Enterprise precludes the idea of seven such sized craft stored aboard while four would be more workable to accommodate.

 

[Therin of Andor]

the Galileo may be the seventh shuttlecraft to be assigned to the Enterprise in replacement of ones previously lost.

Although Galileo II is also NCC-1701/7, strangely named after they'd lost two Galileos. Columbus is given NCC-1701/2 on Memory Alpha. Einstein was NCC-1701/6.

Don't forget that TAS introduces an aquashuttle, NCC-1701/5A and two other shuttles, NCC-1701/4 and two versions of a NCC-1701/12, one of which is Copernicus.

 

[number6]

So the answer to the shuttle number is: how ever many the writers need to tell the story.

 

[timelord1010]

So the answer to the shuttle number is: how ever many the writers need to tell the story.

Or maybe the Enterprise has a shuttle factory on board like Voyager

 

[SchwEnt]

Yeah, I'm gonna say four shuttlecraft.
And they are numbered 1/3/5/7.
Galileo Columbus Copernicus and something else.

And officially they are designated NCC-1701/7 and such.
The names never "officially" appear on the shuttlecraft markings, more like noseart. So the crew may call them Galileo or Galileo II or Betty Sue or whatever.

I like the TAS idea of long range shuttles and aquashuttles and all that. So I'm gonna say those came along for special purpose missions, not standard issue.
Standard issue would be four Galileo-type shuttlecraft.

I cannot account for all these statements aside from that's the way I see it and that's the way uh huh uh huh I like it.

 

[scotpens]

According to The Making of Star Trek, the Enterprise carries six shuttlecraft. It doesn't say anything about other starships or what a “standard” complement is.

Yeah, I'm gonna say four shuttlecraft.
And they are numbered 1/3/5/7.
And officially they are designated NCC-1701/7 and such. Galileo Columbus Copernicus and something else.

That's a clever bit of retconning. Now, can you explain why they would use only odd numbers?

The names never “officially” appear on the shuttlecraft markings, more like noseart. So the crew may call them Galileo or Galileo II or Betty Sue or whatever.

Can't remember where I read it, but one fanon source says it's traditionally the commanding officer's prerogative to name his ship's shuttlecraft. Kirk must have liked famous astronomers and explorers.

 

[Warped9]

I, like many, have taken a crack at working out a rational actual size for the shuttlecraft and speculated at great length about how many could actually be stored aboard. Four does seem the optimum number and MJ might have thought the same since that is what is referenced in "The Omega Glory." That reference pretty much takes precedence over the six figure mentioned in TMoST.

As for the numbering I, too, lean towards the 1, 3, 5, 7 notion, but it really is anybody's guess. It could just as easily be 4, 5, 6, 7 or 7, 8, 9, 10 or something between. Or it's something different along the lines I suggested earlier where the Galileo represents the seventh shuttlecraft assigned to the Enterprise in replacement of one(s) lost previously. The remaining numbers could be alloted to utility vehicles like workpods, which is something the ship could use for external maintenance and repair when far removed from starbase facilities.

I don't put much stock in the TAS shuttlecraft as depicted because they're far too large to be accommodated as standard shuttlecraft and the hangar deck is shown way oversized for the space alloted by the ship's design. I think of the TAS design's as stylized storyboard representations of what the "real" vehicles could have been like. Indeed the artist were given a little too much free hand here---the Galileo type shuttlecraft would have served the story needs easily except for the aquashuttle which could have been a specialized piece of equipment on loan from a starbase.

 

[Kelso]

It's important to remember that the TOS shuttlecraft had Tardis technology- they were bigger on the inside than they were on the outside.

With that being the case, it isn't difficult to imagine that 7 of them could have been stored aboard the Enterprise, particularly of the hanger bay had similar capabilities.

 

[Warped9]

There are a lot of clues onscreen to suggest that the fullsize exterior mockup was meant to suggest a slightly larger craft than shown and the interior set was meant to be smaller than shown. That's the cue I too when working out an integrated vehicle.

The fullsize mockup was about 20 or so feet in length yet designed with forced perspective to suggest a larger craft. Kirk makes a reference to a 24ft. shuttlecraft. My version came out to about 26ft, in length (24 near exactly if you omit the nacelles and the aft landing pad.

The interior set doesn't make much sense as is. Why are the chairs set so low? And why does everyone walk around stooped over when even Nimoy could stand erect in it? It seems they were trying to suggest a smaller interior.

 

[Galileo7]

Based on all that is noted there must be at least 4 shuttlecraft assigned to the Constitution Class 1701 starship, at most they can carry 6 shuttlecraft.

 

[Warped9]

Based on all that is noted there must be at least 4 shuttlecraft assigned to the Constitution Class 1701 starship, at most they can carry 6 shuttlecraft.

If they have to pack 'em in for an emergency.

 

[Captain Robert April]

I'd say four in "ready" status, with components to build more if needed, in various configurations.

And they only lost one Galileo, in "The Galileo Seven". In "Metamorphosis" Kirk, Spock and McCoy returned to the Enterprise in the second Galileo, so no loss there.

It's like listing the Farragut among the ships that were lost during TOS; she wasn't lost, she lost half her crew but presumably the ship made it back just fine.

 

[Warped9]

And they only lost one Galileo, in "The Galileo Seven". In "Metamorphosis" Kirk, Spock and McCoy returned to the Enterprise in the second Galileo, so no loss there.

But who is to say what others might have been lost prior to what we saw of the 5-year mission?

 

[kkozoriz1]

I'd say four in "ready" status, with components to build more if needed, in various configurations.

And they only lost one Galileo, in "The Galileo Seven". In "Metamorphosis" Kirk, Spock and McCoy returned to the Enterprise in the second Galileo, so no loss there.

It's like listing the Farragut among the ships that were lost during TOS; she wasn't lost, she lost half her crew but presumably the ship made it back just fine.

I've seen listing of the Exeter being lost but that ship was intact as well even though all the crew were dead.

 

[BolianAuthor]

According to The Making of Star Trek, the Enterprise had six shuttles.

 

[Nero's Shadow]

Yeah, I'm gonna say four shuttlecraft.
And they are numbered 1/3/5/7.
Galileo Columbus Copernicus and something else.

And officially they are designated NCC-1701/7 and such.
The names never "officially" appear on the shuttlecraft markings, more like noseart. So the crew may call them Galileo or Galileo II or Betty Sue or whatever.

I like the TAS idea of long range shuttles and aquashuttles and all that. So I'm gonna say those came along for special purpose missions, not standard issue.
Standard issue would be four Galileo-type shuttlecraft.

I cannot account for all these statements aside from that's the way I see it and that's the way uh huh
uh huh I like it.

The fourth shuttle was called mellgen ask warped9 he,s got some great tech pics of the four shuttles from the enterprise. I'm doing a little project at the moment using warped9 pics as a reference three standed type F and the fourth is a type H same config but the warp nacelles are swept back building them buy using the AMT kits. ? When I've built them I'll post them on the fan art thread!!!!

 

[Galileo7]

The Enterprise 1701 hangar deck is filled with six shuttlecrafts on deck, I wonder how many below in storage, during the Star Trek Animated Series:

http://www.startrekanimated.com/tas_equip_shuttlebay_pan.jpg

 

[Nero's Shadow]

Sorry I mean MELGELLAN I always liked the idea that the enterprise had a longer version of the type F like me be sitting 15 to 20 passagers also can travel longer and may take the landing party to explore new worlds if the starship was pulled to a emergency or crisis leaving them to fulfil two missions at once. ?

 

[Warped9]

I've seen listing of the Exeter being lost but that ship was intact as well even though all the crew were dead.

In TMoST they list Farragut, Constellation, Valiant and Intrepid as lost and no mention of the Exeter. But as you said the Exeter wasn't lost and also remained intact. It's possible the ship could have been decontaminated and remanned.

Now the TMoST was written during S2 and S3 and so there is no mention of a starship Defiant from S3 and it being lost. That list does raise questions, though.

Was the Farragut actually lost? We know about half the crew were killed, but no mention of the ship itself being destroyed. Why is there also no mention of the Excalibur which looked wrecked in "The Ultimate Computer"? Was Starfleet able to salvage the ship, repair and reman it? And is the Valiant listed as lost supposed to be the same Valiant from 50 years prior mentioned in "A Taste Of Armageddon" or a later Constitution-class vessel?

For anyone who is curious.