NCC-1701-A: The Troubleshooter Theory
- Thread starter Lance
- Start date
"Captain's log, U.S.S. Enterprise, stardate 9529.1. This is the final cruise of the Starship Enterprise under my command. This ship and her history will shortly become the care of another crew. To them and their posterity will we commit our future. They will continue the voyages we have begun and journey to all the undiscovered countries, boldly going where no man, where no one, ...has gone before."
Yes, Kirk's log: "This ship and her history will shortly become the care of another crew. " contradicts what Starfleet orders that, in fact, the 1701-A is to be decommissioned, immediately retired.
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A ship being decommissioned doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s being retired. It can be recommissioned under a new name and registry. Heck, it’s even possible that the Enterprise-B and the Lakota are the same ship.
One story I heard is that Shatner demanded a rewrite, because the original version of that speech was just a little bit too obvious about handing the franchise over to The Next Generation and he bristled against that
Im sure that’s not true, since the actual speech was extremely obvious that he was referring to TNG.
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True, or based on the events of Search For Spock when Kirk , upon return to Spacedock, was informed that 1701-Refit was going to be decommissioned, period.
That was the original Enterprise. Morrow made it very clear that the ship was going to be decommissioned for good when he said, “We feel her day is over.” But nothing like that was said about the Enterprise-A. Kirk’s speech seemed to very much imply if not outright state that the ship will get a new crew.
And earlier in TUC, there were references to the crew retiring (apparently all at once, which is a bit odd), rather than the ship. It's odd to refer to a group of people being "decommissioned," but, hey, it's also odd to say a ship without an admiral on it is a "flagship."
True.
Exactly. And basically it's in keeping with McCoy's "We saved the universe again and for once dodged jail" - they didn't, and they* will be humiliatingly stripped of their commissions before they can gracefully retire **.
Of course, this never comes to be, and neither does Kirk's prediction about the ship's fate. Which is only to be expected, given the fast pace of events and the magnitude of the political repercussions...
Timo Saloniemi
* Uhura says "we", so the disgrace will apparently extend to a lot of people, presumably all the mutinous E-A officers who knowingly refused to return to Earth or knowingly beamed down to Khitomer with phasers drawn or something else formally forbidden.
** Only the old farts may be retiring: we don't hear this specifically mentioned to categorically cover every person who ever appeared in TOS or this movie. Ultimately, we only know for sure that Kirk retired; everybody else in uniform in ST:GEN might technically still be active duty, even including Scotty whose retirement is only confirmed for "Relics" a bit later.
While it might undermine Kirk's sentiment some, I always look back on that remark like Kirk was just speaking as someone who wouldn't necessarily know any better, if they were indeed planning to mothball the thing five minutes after that victory cruise. It's certainly possible for him to be under the impression that the ship will carry on, but high command has different intentions.
Yup... And in a battle of wills, there's no telling whether Kirk or his bosses will prevail. We now know the ship did not continue to serve, but Kirk would have dramatic precedent of having things go his way. His optimism need not be utterly baseless there.
Timo Saloniemi
Timo Saloniemi
Yeah, I believe that the original draft said "a new generation" instead of the more vague "another crew."One story I heard is that Shatner demanded a rewrite, because the original version of that speech was just a little bit too obvious about handing the franchise over to The Next Generation and he bristled against that
It's a pretty disappointing thought though, that Kirk is waxing romantic about the ship being passed on & ultimately talking out his ass
If the only reason why the ship was being decommissioned was because a new Enterprise had just finished construction, then it's entirely possible that the Ent-A would then get recommissioned under a new name and registry, and given to a new crew. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the ship.
Except, you know, literally having huge hole straight through the hull and massive amounts of other battle damage...
Didn't you watch Voyager? A ship can be blown to hell and look pristine by the next episode. And that was even without any Starfleet facilities nearby!
We had another thread on this topic some time ago. There I came up with a suggestion to unify these competing theories, which I shall reiterate here:
Around the time of TSFS, the Constitution-class is being phased out by Starfleet in favour of the Excelsior. Those which had not already been destroyed were gradually being recalled, decommissioned and demolished. The Enterprise has achieved a degree of fame by this point, so it is destined for a museum somewhere. This plan is interrupted when Kirk steals the ship and then blows it up.
At the end of TVH, Kirk is put in charge of a new starship. It's not one of the big new Excelsiors - Kirk is too rouge to be trusted with one of those - it has to be another Constitution and to have the name Enterprise. As that class is no longer in production, they quickly cobble together a mongrel from the leftover bits of her sister ships and slap the old name on it, hoping the public will view it as a spiritual successor. The cut-and-shut nature of the build results in a ship whose parts do not quite fit together - interior design varies wildly from section to section and the vital systems take serious work before they'll cooperate.
Years later, when looking to make a treaty with the Klingons, the poetically-appropriate choice is to send Captain Kirk on the USS Enterprise, so that's what they do. By this time the ship has been somewhat refurbished to get it running smoothly and give its insides some visual harmony, but really it's still only suitable for diplomatic parading rather than serious exploration or combat work. That outing doesn't quite go to plan and the Enterprise gets the living daylights beaten out of it. The Starfleet executives are not willing to expend any more resources patching up a ship that is decades out of date so they revert to their original plan by putting the E-A out to pasture and transferring the honour to an Excelsior with a new crew.
Around the time of TSFS, the Constitution-class is being phased out by Starfleet in favour of the Excelsior. Those which had not already been destroyed were gradually being recalled, decommissioned and demolished. The Enterprise has achieved a degree of fame by this point, so it is destined for a museum somewhere. This plan is interrupted when Kirk steals the ship and then blows it up.
At the end of TVH, Kirk is put in charge of a new starship. It's not one of the big new Excelsiors - Kirk is too rouge to be trusted with one of those - it has to be another Constitution and to have the name Enterprise. As that class is no longer in production, they quickly cobble together a mongrel from the leftover bits of her sister ships and slap the old name on it, hoping the public will view it as a spiritual successor. The cut-and-shut nature of the build results in a ship whose parts do not quite fit together - interior design varies wildly from section to section and the vital systems take serious work before they'll cooperate.
Years later, when looking to make a treaty with the Klingons, the poetically-appropriate choice is to send Captain Kirk on the USS Enterprise, so that's what they do. By this time the ship has been somewhat refurbished to get it running smoothly and give its insides some visual harmony, but really it's still only suitable for diplomatic parading rather than serious exploration or combat work. That outing doesn't quite go to plan and the Enterprise gets the living daylights beaten out of it. The Starfleet executives are not willing to expend any more resources patching up a ship that is decades out of date so they revert to their original plan by putting the E-A out to pasture and transferring the honour to an Excelsior with a new crew.
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They way they were so sad about being decommissioned at the end, though, makes me think at least some of the crew had years of adventures between Star Trek V and VI.
