USS Voyager vs USS Bellerophon

After watching the DS9 episode "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges" I was surprised to see an Intrepid Class ship thinking that Voyager was the only class of that ship. I was hoping to see a more advanced ship compared to Voyager that had been stranded in the Delta Quadrant for 4 years by that time. But when they showed the inside it was just Voyager they even had Neelix galley. I was like this would have been a perfect time to show the latest Starfleet technology but instead they got lazy and used the set of Voyager. The only thing new was the uniforms. The ship even used the same registry they couldn't even change that.

 

Voyager wouldn't be the only ship of that class anyway, since they name classes after ship prototypes. A USS Intrepid (yes, there were prior ships of that name that weren't Intrepid class, which makes it a bit confusing) would have been the first.

 

As has already been pointed out class names for Starfleet vessels are as far as we aware named after the first ship in their class.

We saw a Defiant Class ship in Voyager (actually two at the same time if memory serves) where they both the USS Definat of course not they where simply vessels of that class.

As for the Bellerophon not being more advanced that the USS Voyager the class was still relatively new and as such hadn't likely undergone any signifigant design changes. We only saw a minor change between the USS Excelsior and the USS Enterprise-B which came something like circa 10 years later.

Besides the reason for using an Intrepid Class ship was cost saving, you could use existing sets for filming and existing model/CGI work for exterior effects. Money which could be spend on other episodes.

 

And there is a USS Intrepid (NCC-74600) the class ship, which was mentioned in an episode of TNG. Its chief engineer had a friendly rivalry with Geordi over whose ship had more efficient engines, IIRC.

This Intrepid was also mentioned in ST:NEM as being part of a battle group.

As for the Bellerophon, I thought it was pretty funny that their mess hall is just like Voyager's. Yeah, yeah, I know, the same set, but the only reason Voyager's mess looks like that is because Neelix ripped out the food replicators so he could put in a kitchen.

 

Maybe Janeway included the modifications in her report to Starfleet and Command thought it would make a good addition to Intrepid classes on diplomatic missions.

 

That's a good point. Neelix converted the Captain's private dining room into a galley.

 

^ Although I suppose Neelix could have accessed Starfleet records and found "alternate" plans for the mess hall, those which allow for an open kitchen. Indeed, it couldn't have taken that long a time for Neelix to make his changes, could it? (It sure surprised Janeway when she found out what he had done.)

Perhaps it was part of the already-existing spec for the Intrepid class - a change which can be made relatively easily and quickly. Like a "modular" plan where the replicators can be removed with minimal effort. A change which the Bellerophon crew and Neelix could independently carry out.

 

They actually did change the name and registry on the model but for the warp shot they just used stock footage from Voyager to save cost. The Bellerophon registry is NCC-74705

 

They used the same set to save money and it wouldn't have been extensively altered because it would be needed for VOY for filming at the same time.

 

Seeing an Intrepid-class ship in "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges" was the reason that is one of my favorite DS9 episodes. When i first saw this episode, which wasn't that long ago actually (probably about a year or so ago?), i thought "oh cool! A DS9-VOY crossover!" I mean, no VOY characters were actually in that episode of course, but they did use the VOY sets for the USS Bellerophon interiors. But when i do see establishing shots of the Intrepid-class ship in this episode, i'm fascinated by it because it kind of feels like a crossover!

The other thing about it is i like that this episode didn't set it on the USS Voyager but at the same time i keep thinking how nice it would've been to see a couple of VOY characters appear in "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges" as Bashir visits the Intrepid-class starship... then "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges" would've been a full DS9-VOY crossover.

 

They didn't have to alter it extensively, the galley could have been covered by a wall plug which is probably what Voyager did before the mess hall was converted in show (the set was obviously constructed with the galley already in place).

But I don't think it mattered, like it was said above, it does make sense that an option for an open galley or bar already existed. Many captain's might not be interested in a private dining room.

Thinking about it, a private dining room adjacant to the mess hall didn't even make a lot of sense, why was it there when there wasn't a kitchen that prepared the food? If all food is replicated everyone's private dining room would be their quarters, the only point of going to the mess hall would be to not eat alone.
The private dining room wasn't even nice, it was a dinky windowless room the size of a brig which meant it wasn't even a good option for a captain's dinner with guests or similar functions.

 

I’m pretty sure that in one of the early episodes it was mentioned that Neelix took over the Captain’s private mess, and was not in the same mess as we saw in “Caretaker.

 

^ Why would the captain need that whole room for themselves? Just to eat in, no less?

 

Dinner with senior officers and visiting guests. Even a small room is still private.

 

Captain's privilege. Archer also had one.

 

Archer always seemed to invite guests, maybe he enjoyed being the host.

 

Archer's room was a lot smaller.

Yeah, I know, the time difference and all that. But still, assuming that the entire mess hall was Janeway's private area makes no sense. She simply doesn't NEED all that space.

IIRC, the actual captain's dining room was where the kitchen is. It wasn't the entire room.

 

Well, there was also a pantry and additional storage for food that we never saw. For all we know, the Captain's private dining room already HAD a kitchen in it for the preparation of special meals or for specialized food for visiting alien dignitaries. When Neelix took it over, he simply ripped out the redundant-because-we're-trying-to-conserve-power replicator slots to open a way to the mess hall (since there already WERE other slots on other walls in the space), used the kitchen almost as-is, and converted the (enormous?) private room into a walk-in fridge.

Regardless, I'm also of the opinion that the kitchen was a ready-made option that would have been easy to reconfigure based on existing plans and energy / water / wastewater rough-ins. Resourceful as he is, Neelix is not generally billed as a starship design specialist.

Mark

PS - Really, it's not that Archer has one, it's that Picard DIDN'T. He ate breakfast in his quarters.

 

Oh, I thought the kitchen was what we were talking about. Never mind.