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The Constitution-class, also known as Starship-class, was launched between 2255 and 2258, with the maiden voyage of the USS Enterprise in 2258.
Design
Configuration
The Constitution-class starship followed the traditional saucer-stardrive-nacelle configuration of the typical Federation starship. The uppermost section of the ship composed the primary hull - or the saucer section. The saucer section was joined to the engineering hull by a stout "neck" that terminated along the dorsal side of the engineering hull fore of the launch bay. The engineering hull was conical in shape, adorned on the front by the main navigational deflector dish. The shuttle bay and flight deck, able to carry twenty shuttles, occupied much of the rear section of the engineering hull, and the launch doors were located on the aft-most section of the hull.
The ship's two warp nacelles were mounted by pylons to the port and starboard sides of the ship's engineering hull, each at a near-forty-five degree upward angle, fore of the ship's flight deck doors. The nacelles featured a flared housing around the Bussard collectors and the aft section contained fins that opened and closed when entering or exiting warp. The uppermost section of the nacelles was equivalent in height to that of the ship's bridge.
Uppermost decks of the saucer section were white corridors with polished black floors. As one descended lower into the ship, the decks progressively displayed less aesthetic design. Crewman workstations often had little personal space to work in. The engineering decks consisted of mazes of pipes, tanks, and criss-crossing catwalks spanning each section.
All computerized controls aboard the ship were touch-panel based.
Bridge
The bridge was the central control point for all systems aboard the ship. The bridge for the Constitution-class was large and circular in arrangement. On an elevated platform at the center of the bridge chamber was the captain's chair that would give its occupant a clear view of every station on the bridge. Fore of the captain's chair was the navigation and ops stations and primary tactical control, which occupied a single large console. Behind the captain's chair were two forward-facing workstations, one on each side of the chair. The first officer/science station and the com officer's station were located along the starboard back wall of the bridge. Numerous other stations occupied the walls of the bridge as well.
At the front of the bridge resided a large porthole that featured an embedded heads-up display and served as the bridge's primary viewscreen. The captain, ops, navigation, and tactical stations had an unobstructed view of the viewscreen.
The bridge also featured a turbolift along the rear-port wall and at least one airlock doorway to the ship's corridors.
Transporter Room
The transporter room occupied a corridor room of the saucer section. The back of the room was a circular alcove containing the transporter pad. The transporter control system was located just inside the room's entry, and was shielded from the transporter pad by either a glass or transparent aluminum wall. The control system was illuminated by lamps attached to the control board by flexible necks.
Transporter target lock was attained by using a joystick control to lock onto the target(s) designated for transport. Although able to lock on to a moving target and negate the target's momentum upon rematerialization, using the system in such a way required a highly skilled operator. The transporter chief typically wore a miniature heads-up display in front of the left eye.
Engineering
Main engineering was aesthetically bare-bones. The entire section was occupied by and controlled machinery required to keep the ship operating. Pipes, conduits, and tanks typically occupied the floor while catwalks spanned the space overhead. The warp core and its ejection systems were located here, as well as fuel.
Tactical systems
Firing phasers
The Constitution-class was armed with phaser banks capable of rapid firing phaser blasts. The ball-turret twin phaser banks were located on the dorsal and ventral sides of the saucer section. The phasers could be used for assault or point defense against enemy torpedoes.
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The torpedo launcher
A single torpedo bay was located on the flared section of the neck connecting the primary hull and the secondary hull, and at least 12 photon torpedoes could be loaded simultaneously into torpedo tubes. The torpedoes could be fired rapidly in a barrage from the launcher. (Star Trek)
Propulsion Systems
The Constitution-class cruiser was outfitted with a single twin-exhaust impulse drive unit mounted at the back of the saucer section where the primary and engineering hulls join. The saucer section of the ship was also fitted with several ventral-mounted attitude thrusters.
Warp speed was powered by the warp core that comprised of multiple warp reactors. Energy from the matter/antimatter intermix was fed to the two warp nacelles. When going to warp, the impulse reactors would shut down. At that instant, the tail of the warp nacelles would open to reveal a bluish-white light which would flash when the ship jumped to warp speed. The multiple warp reactors could be ejected in cases of extreme emergency.
Unlike the ship's prime reality counterpart, both impulse and warp drive were regulated from the bridge, with engineering serving as monitoring and maintenance mid-flight. If not disengaged, external inertial dampeners will negate acceleration to warp velocity. (Star Trek)
Ships Commissioned
- USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)
Appendices
Background information
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The Enterprise's dedication plaque
The ship's dedication plaque lists her as a Starship-class, the same as her prime universe counterpart, while the ship's dossier on the official movie website identifies the Enterprise as a Constitution-class heavy cruiser, although this detail is not stated in the film. [1].
The website also notes that she is being "held in Beta Testing Ward 956 - approved for combat". The maximum speed of the Enterprise is given as warp 8.
The bridge is located on A Deck and the sickbay on G Deck. The stated crew size is 1100. Enterprise Tour
The Constitution-class was designed by Ryan Church based on the original design by Matt Jefferies.
Size
Despite structural similarities to the original movie Enterprise, multiple sources close to production provide varying, much larger measurements of the new ship:
The finalized length of the class is portrayed as 2379.75 feet (725.35 meters) in the Starships Blu-ray feature and Star Trek - The Art of the Film (see Note 4 in the book). Gizmodo blog writer Jesus Diaz was the first to reveal this number, citing as his source a "David B." of Bad Robot Productions. [2] By comparison, the Sovereign-class USS Enterprise-E is mentioned in Star Trek: First Contact as being "almost 700 meters long."
Bob Plant of Round 2 Models provided the exact same figure, saying it was specified by the licensor of their planned model kit, who in turn had obtained it from ILM. [3] [4]
In a separate interview, Plant also asked Enterprise designer Ryan Church, who said that he was unable to address the changed size (compared to that of the original series Enterprise) and that ILM or J.J. Abrams could probably better answer the question. [5]
The article on the movie in Cinefex #118 notes that "the reconfigured ship was a larger vessel than previous manifestations — approximately 1,200-feet-long [370 meters] compared to the 947-foot ship [288.6 meters] of the original series". The statement is immediately followed by a quote from Visual Effects Art Director Alex Jaeger:
Once we got the ship built and started putting it in environments, it felt too small. The shuttle bay gave us a clear relative scale — shuttlecraft initially appeared much bigger than we had imagined — so we bumped up the Enterprise scale, which gave her a grander feel and allowed us to include more detail.
Star Trek illustrator John Eaves recalls that, before he finished working on the movie in October 2007, the size of the Enterprise had been very much undefined, anywhere between 3000 and 5000 feet (900 and 1500 meters). [6] [7]
A metric size chart dated September 10, 2007 shows the ship at 1200 meters in length (3900 feet), while some of the other vessels are also larger than in the later charts. (Star Trek - The Art of the Film)
In the Starships Blu-ray feature, Alex Jaeger is showing an ILM size chart dated January 14, 2008, with the Enterprise length at 2500 feet (760 meters). Earlier (on his blog), Jaeger had quoted the same figure from an unspecified early chart, adding that the size may have been somewhat reduced later on. [8]
Other published size figures are summarized below:
- The length is stated as 2357 feet (718.4 meters) in a CG Society article on ILM's visual effects work for the film. [9]
- ILM model supervisor Bruce Holcomb said that the Enterprise is 2000 feet (600 meters) long in an interview for Studio Daily. [10]
- The Post Magazine article 'Star Trek' Returns gives a length of 3000 feet (900 meters). [11]
- Experience the Enterprise includes the following dimensions:
- Length: 2500 feet (760 meters)
- Saucer diameter: 1100 feet (340 meters)
- Height: 625 feet (190.5 meters) [12]
Apocrypha
The video game Star Trek D-A-C features various named Constitution-class ships. According to the game, the ships could also be armed with quantum torpedoes in the late-2250s. According to the mobile phone video game, Star Trek: The Mobile Game, the Enterprise was equipped with a massively powerful phase cannon capable of slicing through and destroying multiple starships.
USS Cairo (USS Cairo (Constitution class) at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works), a Constitution-class ship used as a Starfleet Academy training vessel in 2255, is mentioned the novel The Delta Anomaly.
External link
- Template:NCwiki