The Enterprise E andthe Dominion War

[Vanyel]

I always wondered why, one of the most advanced and powerful ships in the Federation fleet is never mentioned in DS9.

I know the show was not about Picard and crew, but wouldn't it have made some sense for there to be some mention of the Enterprise by either Worf or O'Brien? Worf was very close to Troi after all; and O'Brien and Kieko should have friends on the Enterprise.

It wouldn't have been hard. Like when they were gathering the fleet to retake DS9, it could have been mentioned that Picard could only spare "X" number of ships or risk being out gunned and out manned at the some war zone. Or that the Enterprise E and the Sovereign were doing hit and run strikes in Dominion space to take pressure off the fleet going to take Chin'Toka.

So aside from the obvious answer that it was DS9 and not TNG and that for some reason the movie model was to be used only in the movies (or so I've heard), would there be any reason to not mention her? Also, what do you think the Enterprise was doing during the War? Last question, would it have made sense for Picard and crew to make an appearance or two during the War?

 

[Timo]

Ah, but DS9 wasn't about the Dominion War, either.

Most of that war happened elsewhere, to other starships in other fleets. Sisko and his crew were sidelined from almost all of the action after the retaking of DS9 from Dominion forces. It wouldn't make much sense to have an advanced capital ship like the E-E to be similarly sidelined, now would it?

For another out-universe reason besides the ones mentioned, it would be really inconvenient to mention the TNG heroes when their future and indeed their present were completely unpredictable. If TNG were still a TV show, we could assume that the main characters would remain alive and aboard the Enterprise. But since TNG was a movie franchise at that point, the next movie might very well reveal that Picard had died two years ago, that the ship currently operated by half the heroes was named the Independence, and the other half were fugitives from the law...

(Apart from all that, yeah, it would have been nice to name-drop the Enterprise or some of the TNG characters at least once. But only in connection with Worf or O'Brien, as the other heroes of DS9 probably wouldn't care much about the TNG heroes.)

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Captain Fine]

I'd like to think that the Enterprise-E and her crew played a significant role in the Dominion War. There's no way they were out mapping gaseous anomalies while Starfleet sent Excelsior- and Miranda-class (!) ships to the front lines.

 

[nx1701g]

Real world reason: the Enterprise-E was considered a movie ship so thats why we didn't see it or any Sovereign Class ships in the big fleet battles.

Noncanon reason: The Enterprise was assigned as a trouble shooter incase of Dominion Attack. It was the first ship to respond to Earth in The Changing Face of Evil and was the ship that helped liberate Betazed.

 

[JNG]

I always wondered why, one of the most advanced and powerful ships in the Federation fleet is never mentioned in DS9.

It would make sense for advanced and powerful ships in the fleet to appear on DS9 or be mentioned during the war episodes, though of course there were other areas to the war front. But maybe the answer lies in the Enterprise not being one of them. Since it evidently needed a significant refit by the time of Nemesis, and since we only know of two ships of the class total, maybe this type of starship has not been successful and examples are withheld from heavy combat whenever possible. The Enterprise didn't appear to fare all that well against the Son'a in Insurrection or the Remans in Nemesis, and it was sent on what appeared to be a minor diplomatic mission in Insurrection, which would be odd if ships of this type were expected to be potent combatants. So who knows?

 

[Rabid Trekkie]

I always wondered why, one of the most advanced and powerful ships in the Federation fleet is never mentioned in DS9.

I know the show was not about Picard and crew, but wouldn't it have made some sense for there to be some mention of the Enterprise by either Worf or O'Brien? Worf was very close to Troi after all; and O'Brien and Kieko should have friends on the Enterprise.

It wouldn't have been hard. Like when they were gathering the fleet to retake DS9, it could have been mentioned that Picard could only spare "X" number of ships or risk being out gunned and out manned at the some war zone. Or that the Enterprise E and the Sovereign were doing hit and run strikes in Dominion space to take pressure off the fleet going to take Chin'Toka.

So aside from the obvious answer that it was DS9 and not TNG and that for some reason the movie model was to be used only in the movies (or so I've heard), would there be any reason to not mention her? Also, what do you think the Enterprise was doing during the War? Last question, would it have made sense for Picard and crew to make an appearance or two during the War?

Some of the Trek books and comics have done this. The Gorn Crisis comics took place during this time, the book The Battle of Betazed took place during the war, and there are two or three stories in Tales of the Dominion War that talk about what the Enterprise and crew were doing.

Can't say anything about Gorn Crisis or BoB, but Tales of the Dominion War was awesome and well worth the price if you can find it.

 

[Vanyel]

I always wondered why, one of the most advanced and powerful ships in the Federation fleet is never mentioned in DS9.

It would make sense for advanced and powerful ships in the fleet to appear on DS9 or be mentioned during the war episodes, though of course there were other areas to the war front. But maybe the answer lies in the Enterprise not being one of them. Since it evidently needed a significant refit by the time of Nemesis, and since we only know of two ships of the class total, maybe this type of starship has not been successful and examples are withheld from heavy combat whenever possible. The Enterprise didn't appear to fare all that well against the Son'a in Insurrection or the Remans in Nemesis, and it was sent on what appeared to be a minor diplomatic mission in Insurrection, which would be odd if ships of this type were expected to be potent combatants. So who knows?

During the course of the War ALL of Starfleet had extensive renovations. Shields were redesigned and from watching the Jem'Hadar attack on the Odyssey, weapons were also upgraded. The Galaxy class had extra phaser banks added so I do think that during the lull in the War that took place during and after the events of Insurrection there was plenty of time to upgrade the 2 known Sovereigns, and maybe even enough time to include the upgrades into any Sovereigns under construction.

I would also like to disagree with you on the Sovereign's performance. It did exceptionally well against the Borg Cube in First Contact. In Insurrection, the Enterprise was going through an area of space that limited it's speed and maneuverability, and the Sona were using weapons for which Starfleet was unprepared. And despite being out gunned, it out performed the 2 new Romulan class ships in Nemesis and survived ramming another ship and the explosion of the Scimitar while heavily damaged and with limited or fallen shields.

 

[Sci]

I always wondered why, one of the most advanced and powerful ships in the Federation fleet is never mentioned in DS9.

I know the show was not about Picard and crew, but wouldn't it have made some sense for there to be some mention of the Enterprise by either Worf or O'Brien? Worf was very close to Troi after all; and O'Brien and Kieko should have friends on the Enterprise.

It wouldn't have been hard. Like when they were gathering the fleet to retake DS9, it could have been mentioned that Picard could only spare "X" number of ships or risk being out gunned and out manned at the some war zone. Or that the Enterprise E and the Sovereign were doing hit and run strikes in Dominion space to take pressure off the fleet going to take Chin'Toka.

So aside from the obvious answer that it was DS9 and not TNG and that for some reason the movie model was to be used only in the movies (or so I've heard), would there be any reason to not mention her? Also, what do you think the Enterprise was doing during the War? Last question, would it have made sense for Picard and crew to make an appearance or two during the War?

Let's put it this way:

The American aircraft carieer USS Enterprise was one of the most important ships during World War II. It was one of the heroes of the Pacific war. And yet, throughout the entirety of Saving Private Ryan, we never once hear about her. Why is that? And for that matter, how come we never hear references to Winston Churchill throughout Casablanca?

 

[Vanyel]

I always wondered why, one of the most advanced and powerful ships in the Federation fleet is never mentioned in DS9.

I know the show was not about Picard and crew, but wouldn't it have made some sense for there to be some mention of the Enterprise by either Worf or O'Brien? Worf was very close to Troi after all; and O'Brien and Kieko should have friends on the Enterprise.

It wouldn't have been hard. Like when they were gathering the fleet to retake DS9, it could have been mentioned that Picard could only spare "X" number of ships or risk being out gunned and out manned at the some war zone. Or that the Enterprise E and the Sovereign were doing hit and run strikes in Dominion space to take pressure off the fleet going to take Chin'Toka.

So aside from the obvious answer that it was DS9 and not TNG and that for some reason the movie model was to be used only in the movies (or so I've heard), would there be any reason to not mention her? Also, what do you think the Enterprise was doing during the War? Last question, would it have made sense for Picard and crew to make an appearance or two during the War?

Let's put it this way:

The American aircraft carieer USS Enterprise was one of the most important ships during World War II. It was one of the heroes of the Pacific war. And yet, throughout the entirety of Saving Private Ryan, we never once hear about her. Why is that? And for that matter, how come we never hear references to Winston Churchill throughout Casablanca?

Ok, so like I asked:

So aside from the obvious answer that it was DS9 and not TNG...would there be any reason to not mention her?

And would you care to give a reason why Worf or O'Brien or even Kieko make no mentions of friends on board the Enterprise? And again remember:

So aside from the obvious answer that it was DS9 and not TNG...would there be any reason to not mention her?

 

[XKin]

I thought it was created after DS9 ended? (Probably not)

 

[Starbreaker]

DS9 ended in 1999 and the Defiant appeared in First Contact in 1996...

 

[Anwar]

Yeah, and the DS9 writers hated that it did.

 

[ManOnTheWave]

The Enterprise was mentioned once. It was being "diverted" along with two other ships. Sadly, I don't remember the episode.

 

[captcalhoun]

The Enterprise was mentioned once. It was being "diverted" along with two other ships. Sadly, I don't remember the episode.

not according to Memory Alpha...

 

[Hofner]

The Enterprise was mentioned once. It was being "diverted" along with two other ships. Sadly, I don't remember the episode.

It was the E-D and before the war but yes the Enterprise was mentioned in the DS9 ep where the Cardassians put O'Brien on trial, "Tribunal" I believe it was called.

Robert

 

[Sci]

I always wondered why, one of the most advanced and powerful ships in the Federation fleet is never mentioned in DS9.

I know the show was not about Picard and crew, but wouldn't it have made some sense for there to be some mention of the Enterprise by either Worf or O'Brien? Worf was very close to Troi after all; and O'Brien and Kieko should have friends on the Enterprise.

It wouldn't have been hard. Like when they were gathering the fleet to retake DS9, it could have been mentioned that Picard could only spare "X" number of ships or risk being out gunned and out manned at the some war zone. Or that the Enterprise E and the Sovereign were doing hit and run strikes in Dominion space to take pressure off the fleet going to take Chin'Toka.

So aside from the obvious answer that it was DS9 and not TNG and that for some reason the movie model was to be used only in the movies (or so I've heard), would there be any reason to not mention her? Also, what do you think the Enterprise was doing during the War? Last question, would it have made sense for Picard and crew to make an appearance or two during the War?

Let's put it this way:

The American aircraft carieer USS Enterprise was one of the most important ships during World War II. It was one of the heroes of the Pacific war. And yet, throughout the entirety of Saving Private Ryan, we never once hear about her. Why is that? And for that matter, how come we never hear references to Winston Churchill throughout Casablanca?

Ok, so like I asked:

So aside from the obvious answer that it was DS9 and not TNG...would there be any reason to not mention her?

And would you care to give a reason why Worf or O'Brien or even Kieko make no mentions of friends on board the Enterprise? And again remember:

So aside from the obvious answer that it was DS9 and not TNG...would there be any reason to not mention her?

A better question would be, why would they? Stafleet has hundreds, if not thousands, of starships. The Enterprise may be special, but she's not the center of the universe -- quite frankly, for the course of the war, DS9 itself was far more important than the Enterprise. Starfleet could afford to lose one starship; it couldn't afford to lose the space station that controlled access to the Wormhole.

 

[Vanyel]

Let's put it this way:

The American aircraft carieer USS Enterprise was one of the most important ships during World War II. It was one of the heroes of the Pacific war. And yet, throughout the entirety of Saving Private Ryan, we never once hear about her. Why is that? And for that matter, how come we never hear references to Winston Churchill throughout Casablanca?

Ok, so like I asked:
And would you care to give a reason why Worf or O'Brien or even Kieko make no mentions of friends on board the Enterprise? And again remember:

So aside from the obvious answer that it was DS9 and not TNG...would there be any reason to not mention her?

A better question would be, why would they? Stafleet has hundreds, if not thousands, of starships. The Enterprise may be special, but she's not the center of the universe -- quite frankly, for the course of the war, DS9 itself was far more important than the Enterprise. Starfleet could afford to lose one starship; it couldn't afford to lose the space station that controlled access to the Wormhole.

You like answering questions with questions.

The Enterprise is not the center of the universe, that too is obvious, however she was important. She and her sister ship were the two most advanced and powerful ships in the fleet. Their power and rarity would also mean that their whereabouts and readiness would be of strategic importance to Starfleet and its overall planning for the War.

And it did seem like Starfleet was willing to give up control of DS9, but not the minefield that prevented its use. They were going to leave it as long as they could, and it took a bit of convincing to get the Admirals to go along with Sisko's plan.

Now to go back and answer your other questions, Saving Private Ryan did not take place in one of the planning areas of the War, DS9 did. So in SPR, there would be no need to mention the aircraft carrier Enterprise. Casablanca is, at its heart, a love story that also includes an espionage and escape plot, so there too there is no need to mention Churchill.

 

[Nebusj]

It was the E-D and before the war but yes the Enterprise was mentioned in the DS9 ep where the Cardassians put O'Brien on trial, "Tribunal" I believe it was called.

My casual Google site search for ``Enterprise'' on the twiztv.com archive of Deep Space Nine scripts comes up with 21 episode scripts featuring the word. One of them (``Paradise Lost'') uses it only in saying a brig looks like the Enterprise's; two of them are referring to alternate, non-ship definitions of ``enterprise''. So that's 18 scripts mentioning the Enterprise, among them ``Emissary''. Apart from the reference in ``Tribunal'' they appear to all be people comparing life on Deep Space Nine to life on the Enterprise.

 

[Navaros]

The Enterprise was never mentioned during Dominion War because it did nothing useful whatosever during the Dominion War. Picard hated combat as seen in the TNG episode where he is offended at the idea of conducting combat training exercises. The Enterprise was dead weight during the Dominion War, to bring up dead weight in conversation would have only caused embarrassment.

 

[Skywalker]

The Enterprise was never mentioned during Dominion War because it did nothing useful whatosever during the Dominion War. Picard hated combat as seen in the TNG episode where he is offended at the idea of conducting combat training exercises. The Enterprise was dead weight during the Dominion War, to bring up dead weight in conversation would have only caused embarrassement.

Picard's stance on combat doesn't matter. If he was ordered to take one of Starfleet's most advanced ships into battle against the Dominion, he had to do it. Even the captain of the Enterprise doesn't get to pick and choose his assignments.