Timo wrote:

...But the Excalibur is not obliterated.
Indeed, a ship that took exactly identical damage in TOS lost no crew at all - the entire lot of 400 was quoted as having beamed down safely so that they could be killed in a different manner. 
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Exactly identical looking damage from a distance shot doesn't equal same damage when viewed close-up. Also, one was an anti-proton weapon and the other is a phaser blast. Kinda hard to compare...