Like what was it's original purpose? We've only seen 2 so far Voyager and the Bellerophon. Voyager was originally to capture some Maquis so we can say it could hold it's own in battle I suppose if they came across some Cardissian Ships. And she held her own in the Delta Quadrant very well. The Bellerpohn was used to ferry diplomats so Starfleet or Admiral Ross had to have felt very confident in sending that class of ship alone to romulus. So my best guess is that it's a long range vessel maybe not tactical like the Prometheus but...
What type of ship is the Intrepid Class
- Thread starter ThatsMrCaptaintoyou
- Start date
Wasn't the Intrepid class classified as a long-range scout or a long-range explorer?
Now, what this means in practice I'm not certain about. After all, the Defiant was classed as an 'escort' whereas its real purpose seemed to be to be a warship, plain and simple. But I would suppose 'long range explorer' would mean a ship capable of undertaking slightly longer exploration missions (I don't mean ' 70 years traveling back from the Delta Quadrant' long), without the need to fall back on other Starfleet resources. So that would mean a ship that's fast, with good sensors to map the local area , and while not bristling to the teeth with weaponry, still decently armed. Possibly also designed to be relatively well maintainable for longer times without access to drydock facilities. Which is what we got.
So it would seem to me that if you were abducted to the DQ by the Caretaker, but you had been able to choose your ship in advance, Voyager could actually have been one of the choices better suited to the task of surviving and getting home again. While the Voyager crew certainly didn't have it easy at all times, their experience didn't seem to hold a candle to the type of deprivations the crew of the USS Equinox (nova class- a science vessel) suffered (guilty of atrocious deeds or not).
Now, what this means in practice I'm not certain about. After all, the Defiant was classed as an 'escort' whereas its real purpose seemed to be to be a warship, plain and simple. But I would suppose 'long range explorer' would mean a ship capable of undertaking slightly longer exploration missions (I don't mean ' 70 years traveling back from the Delta Quadrant' long), without the need to fall back on other Starfleet resources. So that would mean a ship that's fast, with good sensors to map the local area , and while not bristling to the teeth with weaponry, still decently armed. Possibly also designed to be relatively well maintainable for longer times without access to drydock facilities. Which is what we got.
So it would seem to me that if you were abducted to the DQ by the Caretaker, but you had been able to choose your ship in advance, Voyager could actually have been one of the choices better suited to the task of surviving and getting home again. While the Voyager crew certainly didn't have it easy at all times, their experience didn't seem to hold a candle to the type of deprivations the crew of the USS Equinox (nova class- a science vessel) suffered (guilty of atrocious deeds or not).
Well, there's not much else to "escort" today besides "being a warship, pure and simple". That is, unless Starfleet thinks escorts just ought to look pretty and huddle close, preferably with ample nacelles.
It's just that escort is not the specific type of warship that the Defiant really was. We never heard of a more accurate specifier, though. And with the Intrepids, we heard no specifier at all. No episode calls her a scout or light cruiser or mediumweight bombard or anything else.
We hear of agility and high cruising speed, both as part of bragging to suggest that these factors put the design ahead of the rest of the fleet, even if ever-so-slightly. We never hear of range or endurance or firepower or sensor sensitivity. Would this help define the Intrepid? Starfleet does seem to believe in definitions, or it wouldn't bother calling some ships cruisers and other frigates or escorts on screen. But we know that most ship designs are all-around ones, either jacks-of-all-trades or then indeed aces-of-all-trades. Which definition does that go with? "Cruiser", as with Kirk's original? Or "Explorer", as never actually applied on Picard's original in any episode (used in the DS9 Tech Manual that seems to say Intrepids are light cruisers, but sadly fumbles with many things in the starship catalogue chapter)? Something else?
Timo Saloniemi
It's just that escort is not the specific type of warship that the Defiant really was. We never heard of a more accurate specifier, though. And with the Intrepids, we heard no specifier at all. No episode calls her a scout or light cruiser or mediumweight bombard or anything else.
We hear of agility and high cruising speed, both as part of bragging to suggest that these factors put the design ahead of the rest of the fleet, even if ever-so-slightly. We never hear of range or endurance or firepower or sensor sensitivity. Would this help define the Intrepid? Starfleet does seem to believe in definitions, or it wouldn't bother calling some ships cruisers and other frigates or escorts on screen. But we know that most ship designs are all-around ones, either jacks-of-all-trades or then indeed aces-of-all-trades. Which definition does that go with? "Cruiser", as with Kirk's original? Or "Explorer", as never actually applied on Picard's original in any episode (used in the DS9 Tech Manual that seems to say Intrepids are light cruisers, but sadly fumbles with many things in the starship catalogue chapter)? Something else?
Timo Saloniemi
Voyager was small, sleek, and lightly crewed, with no accommodations for family or even pets. She had state of the art computers, an EMH (new technology at the time), and a hull capable of taking extreme punishment. Her stated armament was 38 photon torpedoes, which is fairly light (the Enterprise D had over 200). Also, she had standard phasers instead of pulse phasers like the Defiant's, and didn't carry quantum torpedoes, so probably not intended for serious combat. She had a lot of shuttles and enough cargo bay space to create a third holodeck and/or house the Delta Flyer, and even the "Alice" ship as well. She was extremely fast (warp 9.975 = over 5000c), but capable of landing on planets. That suggests a ship designed primarily for exploration. She was probably tasked with hunting the Maquis because of her ability to function in difficult environments (like the Badlands).
Had the designers given her a bit more firepower (quantum torps and a few front mounted pulse phasers for starters), she would have been the perfect vessel for a rough place like the Delta Quadrant.
Had the designers given her a bit more firepower (quantum torps and a few front mounted pulse phasers for starters), she would have been the perfect vessel for a rough place like the Delta Quadrant.
I always took it as a long range explorer.
Janeway was a science officer, so it makes sense that they gave her the command of a science ship. I guess the Intrepid is for more distant research missions than the Nova, or perhaps the Intrepid scouts for things the Nova can then analyze in more detail. It also has more visible sensors on the hull than the Galaxy (at least in relation to their sizes).
Personally, I see the Intrepid as the 24th century Constitution. Despite the much smaller crew of Voyager compared to the original Enterprise, in terms of size, mission, and capability they're pretty identical.
A space ship.
A ship with plot armor. Even if destroyed, guaranteed to get undestroyed at the end of the episode (or two-parter). Only a few Federation ships have ever known this special type of super protection consistently, amongst which the Enterprise NX-01, the Enterprise NCC-1701, and the Enterprise NCC-1701-D. (Not counting movies, of course.)
Comfy and spacious. With a magic shuttlebay that holds anything they ever need.
And instantly regenerates its own shuttles every time you lose one. Like those 500 hats in the Seuss story.
(I know we're not supposed to talk about Seuss anymore out of fear of offending the All Mighty Cult of Cancel Culture but I'm going to do it anyway. Deal with it
The shuttle thing bothers me a little. I can see constructing the Delta Flyer, but the constant replacement shuttles was overkill. The writers liked destroying shuttles a little too much as a plot device.
I would have been nice if the show had stuck to at least some of the constraints laid out in the pilot and first season, such as the small number of photon torpedoes. Creative problem solving makes for an interesting story (e.g. The Martian).
Considering that they constructed the Delta Flyer (a shuttle with some very impressive upgrades) from scratch, building new shuttles shouldn't have been that big a deal, but they should have mentioned WHY they could do it. Why is it that in Season 1, Janeway can't get a cup of coffee, but by S5, they can put together warp-capable spacecraft the size of a school bus. Did they discover a massive deuterium mine? Trade for an industrial replicator? Learn new efficiency strategies from the Borg? All of the above? Something different? Just technobabble us an explanation already!
Seems pretty straightforward to me. "Caretaker": ship broken. Nobody around to help with repairs but the Kazon. "Fair Trade": Kazon left behind, civilization begins, ship fixed. Subsequent seasons: fixed ship keeps on fixing herself, like any good 24th century starship ought to. Fixing shuttles in addition is a breeze.
They do pretty well even during the first two seasons, so the ship isn't hopelessly broken. And they keep on rationing even after fixing everything, so the ship might not be completely fixed. Although I rather think the rationing was a purely disciplinary thing, retained for reasons of shipboard morale.
Timo Saloniemi
They do pretty well even during the first two seasons, so the ship isn't hopelessly broken. And they keep on rationing even after fixing everything, so the ship might not be completely fixed. Although I rather think the rationing was a purely disciplinary thing, retained for reasons of shipboard morale.
Timo Saloniemi
I always assumed they built one or more industrial replicators from available / cannibalised parts, raw materials and the output of other, smaller replicators.
Once they'd got that capacity (and using one to build more) and a workshop, torpedoes, shuttles, spares for Voyager etc. were feasible . There's relatively few non replicatable substances apparently.
So lets look at types of Feddy ships in the Trek universe.
Current Navy Classifications:
Escort/Patrol ship
Frigate
Destroyer
Cruiser
Support ships like Landing ships, mobile docks, etc.
Voyager would be classified as a medium cruiser/explorer One that can go out on its own for an amount of time, similar for a 5 year mission, have reasonable weapons loadout, primarily an explorer.
Escort/Patrol would be Defiant, maybe the runabouts, Smaller ships, maybe planetary guard.
Frigate: Sabre class, border patrol, small, light, well armed, short deployment time, few months.
Destroyer: Norway? Rikers ship from Picard? Something of a bigger Frigate, more of a large warship?
Cruiser: Light/Medium/heavy, Galaxy, Intrepid, Sovereign
Current Navy Classifications:
Escort/Patrol ship
Frigate
Destroyer
Cruiser
Support ships like Landing ships, mobile docks, etc.
Voyager would be classified as a medium cruiser/explorer One that can go out on its own for an amount of time, similar for a 5 year mission, have reasonable weapons loadout, primarily an explorer.
Escort/Patrol would be Defiant, maybe the runabouts, Smaller ships, maybe planetary guard.
Frigate: Sabre class, border patrol, small, light, well armed, short deployment time, few months.
Destroyer: Norway? Rikers ship from Picard? Something of a bigger Frigate, more of a large warship?
Cruiser: Light/Medium/heavy, Galaxy, Intrepid, Sovereign
...Or then nothing is truly non-replicable, and it's just a question of resources. LaForge had difficulty replicating a bunch of forcefield containers for hazmat samples in "The Child", and had to draw power from the warp drive to get the job done. Perhaps by the very same token, replicating of torpedo warheads (which purportedly contain antimatter in intricate forcefields) is a big task even for a big starship, and thus a valid plot complication in both VOY and DS9 "Tribunal".
For somewhat different reasons, currency can still exist. Trillion-dollar bills would still be printed with worthless ink on worthless paper; gold-pressed latinum bricks may work that way, being coded for value but having none in the substance they are made of. And GPL slips would work like coins today: even if you have a machine that can build you a hundred-dollar meal or a ten-thousand-dollar car for 7 cents per gram, there's no point in forging 50 cent coins if making those also costs 7 cents per gram...
From the last five years of the show, we might well deduce the Intrepid is the type of ship that can take care of herself, assuming she doesn't wake up mugged in a bad part of the town.
Timo Saloniemi
For somewhat different reasons, currency can still exist. Trillion-dollar bills would still be printed with worthless ink on worthless paper; gold-pressed latinum bricks may work that way, being coded for value but having none in the substance they are made of. And GPL slips would work like coins today: even if you have a machine that can build you a hundred-dollar meal or a ten-thousand-dollar car for 7 cents per gram, there's no point in forging 50 cent coins if making those also costs 7 cents per gram...
From the last five years of the show, we might well deduce the Intrepid is the type of ship that can take care of herself, assuming she doesn't wake up mugged in a bad part of the town.
Timo Saloniemi
And that would have worked great... if they had mentioned it. Have Janeway and B'Elanna discuss the replicator, and that their main priorities are replenishing their torpedoes and building shuttles. Boom, it's explained and all is well. Whethee you think Voyager's writers were good or bad, they were definitely sloppy.
I think the showrunners probably preferred to avoid referencing it. It was one of those inconvenient holdovers from the series premise (Maquis acceptance, torpedoes, food and power shortages, continuity of damage to the ship etc.) that was deliberately forgotten it became more of a TNG clone.
Yup. It is glaring by its omission.
