Size of NX01 vs other ships

[Six of Twelve]

Specifically, compared to NCC1701, Voyager, and Defiant.

I recently watched the episode where Travis visits his family and I noticed that Enterprise wasn't very big compared to the freighter.

 

[Spot261]

We know its dramatically smaller than the NCC1701 (any version) as we've seen them on screen together.

Memory Alpha lists Voyager as being 343 metres long, which makes it longer than the 1701 at 288 and visibly much bulkier than the NX. The Defiant is also bulkier and (may) be 170m (this is often debated) compared to 225 being the typical figure for the NX. So she's longer than the Defiant by 55m, although much less substantial, bringing total volume into question.

In other words, by 24th century standards. pretty small.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Enterprise NX-01 is in the top left. Her saucer is the same size as the TOS Enterprise's.

 

[Spot261]

Enterprise NX-01 is in the top left. Her saucer is the same size as the TOS Enterprise's.

Pedantic correction but given the natutre of the thread it seems warranted, that picture gives an equivalent diameter for the saucers, but the depth is another question

 

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

My God, how ridiculously large those Abramstrek ships are!

I like the size and look of the NX-01. If anything it was a bit too big since it only had a crew of 85 or so. Or it might rather have been understaffed since it left Earth prematurely. Perhaps they rectified that before they got into the Expanse. At least they added a bunch of MACOs.

 

[Kemaiku]

Nope, the standard crew compliment was correct at launch, Archer made sure, it's just how short notice some of them were assigned that was the issue.

It went up to about 95 with the MACO's being permanently assigned. parts of F and G Decks were converted for them as well as the Command Center on D Deck.

 

[Spot261]

My God, how ridiculously large those Abramstrek ships are!

I like the size and look of the NX-01. If anything it was a bit too big since it only had a crew of 85 or so. Or it might rather have been understaffed since it left Earth prematurely. Perhaps they rectified that before they got into the Expanse. At least they added a bunch of MACOs.

Hence the complaints people have about the abramsverse ships. They aren't just bigger, they are inexplicably huge, seemingly akin to a teenager adding a back box to their exhaust to make it louder

 

[Captain of the USS Averof]

My God, how ridiculously large those Abramstrek ships are!

Hence the complaints people have about the abramsverse ships. They aren't just bigger, they are inexplicably huge, seemingly akin to a teenager adding a back box to their exhaust to make it louder

That's just because you're thinking in Starfleet Starship terms. If you think of them as Imperial Star Destroyers they're actually quite small!

 

[Spot261]

That's just because you're thinking in Starfleet Starship terms. If you think of them as Imperial Star Destroyers they're actually quite small!

that's because trekkies are less inclined to over compensation

 

[saladdays]

Hence the complaints people have about the abramsverse ships. They aren't just bigger, they are inexplicably huge, seemingly akin to a teenager adding a back box to their exhaust to make it louder

It's pretty inconsequential in the grand scheme of things...

 

[Spot261]

True, but the same could be said about anything within a TV franchise.

Trek fans by and large look for things to make sense and engage them on a crerebral level. The Ent D was much bigger than the 1701 in a way that fitted with a more stable, established civilisation represented by more powerful vessels put under the responsibility of very mature, thoughtful and competent people. The Abramsverse ships are bigger simply to sex up the franchise for the teenage action movie audience.

 

[Ithekro]

The volume inside the saucer section would be roughly the same between the NX and the Constitution, but the arrangement on that space would favor the Constitution due to them likely having smaller parts to hide in the bulkheads. Also that the engineering hull move a lot of the machinery out as well as the shuttles and at least some of the cargo holds allowing for more space for the crew.

Though one thing that could be noted is that Dax mentions than they sure packed in a lot of people in the 2260s. Perhaps they overfilled the ships with 400+ crew when back in Pike's day there were 200+. The NX doesn't seem all that full of people compared to a Constitution where they tended to be people wondering the corridors.

A Galaxy-class however is just way too large for its 1,000 or so person crew. You could literally wonder a deck or two and not encounter a single soul on that ship. A naval vessel around or even smaller in length than a Constitution could have a crew of thousands. But a Galaxy-class ship? You could fit tens of thousands on it in relative comfort.

 

[saladdays]

True, but the same could be said about anything within a TV franchise.

Trek fans by and large look for things to make sense and engage them on a crerebral level. The Ent D was much bigger than the 1701 in a way that fitted with a more stable, established civilisation represented by more powerful vessels put under the responsibility of very mature, thoughtful and competent people. The Abramsverse ships are bigger simply to sex up the franchise for the teenage action movie audience.

I don't think most people (and even many Trek fans included; I sure didn't) don't even realize there's a difference of that sort.

 

[Spot261]

Maybe many didn't, but there was certainly a fair bit of, shall we say, discussion rumbling for and against it when ST09 came out, then again when STID gave us the Vengeance

 

[Ithekro]

Only when the size was pointed out did the 2009 Trek ships seem large. Most cases they look normal and seem to behave normal. Even in Beyond I don't recall seeming a scaling issue that made them seem as huge as they are reported to be in 2009. Maybe they are that big, but they rarely seem that big. Save for the Vengeance, which is suppose to be huge via the plot.

 

[Spot261]

Granted, the reported figures were as much the issue as the on screen portrayal

 

[F. King Daniel]

Pedantic correction but given the natutre of the thread it seems warranted, that picture gives an equivalent diameter for the saucers, but the depth is another question

Here's more angles on the other ships, but it seems I missed the NX-01 off this one

 

[Kemaiku]

Bigger by some measurments, not very much larger by most volumetrics though, so they aren't nearly so big as people shit their...sorry, get annoyed over.

 

[Ithekro]

Quite honestly I don't think the newer films showcase the scale of the new starships as any sort of necessity of the plot, and can be though of as in scale with their older envisioned cousins without too much difficulty. Only Vengeance is obviously larger for the plot and only can be measured when crashing into San Francisco. And aside from that, honestly doesn't seem too out of possibility if scaled in old ways. Excelsior just proportioned like a Constitution, rather than very long, it is also wide. And oversized warship that could be around the size of a Ambassador-class starship. And underteched for her size verse later ships. Though also within reason compared to Enterprise-era Vulcan ships in length.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Quite honestly I don't think the newer films showcase the scale of the new starships as any sort of necessity of the plot, and can be though of as in scale with their older envisioned cousins without too much difficulty. Only Vengeance is obviously larger for the plot and only can be measured when crashing into San Francisco. And aside from that, honestly doesn't seem too out of possibility if scaled in old ways. Excelsior just proportioned like a Constitution, rather than very long, it is also wide. And oversized warship that could be around the size of a Ambassador-class starship. And underteched for her size verse later ships. Though also within reason compared to Enterprise-era Vulcan ships in length.

It's necessary for the new Enterprise to be much larger than the original, unless you literally ignore every interior set or exterior visual cue.

And here's it all fitting nicely:

But we're going way off topic here. Discussion of the Kelvin timeline ship sizes is probably best kept to the eternal thread for it.

Back on topic, although Enterprise NX-01's saucer is about the same size as the TOS Enterprise's, there's much less living space inside. The 1701 saucer doesn't have to cram in engineering and cargo sections, or a shuttlebay.