"Warp 7 beauties" = the Daedalus class?

[evilchumlee]

That's what a lot of fan art tends to do. It certainly helps make the ship a little better looking.

This is an amazing example of "visual update" done right. That right there is a Daedalus. Exactly how a Daedalus should look. But... updated.

To answer the OP... sure? There's quite literally no information so do what you want.

In my own headcanon for the Romulan War-era, the answer would be... no. I have Daedalus-Class ships as being Romulan War era ships produced by Earth, but actually kind of garbage ships that could be cheaply and easily massed produced. Their biggest advantage was being able to spam numbers of them and were little more than mobile weapons platforms.

The "Warp 7 Beauties" would be some ship we probably haven't seen, a step between an NX and a Connie. Perhaps even something like the Walker-Class, considering it's supposed to have been an old ship as of the 2240's.

 

[HotRod]

I've always thought of the Daedalus class as the Romulan War equivalent to a WWII Victory Ship. Simple and easy to mass produce.

 

[Lord Hierarch]

I've seen a fan design that puts the nacelle plyons firmly in the engineering section and that makes it look a lot better. I think it appeared in Star Trek: Legacy.

I had the same thought:

I do like what the novel'verse did, have the Deddy be a pre-NX mass producable ship that was continuously upgraded during the 4-year Romulan War. We know the Franklin was Warp 4 so if Warp 2 is used by civilians, Warp 4 was probably military standard, with Warp 5 being handled by the rare NX state of the art ships.

Since the finale is set in 2161, the NX Refit would be in service. Could be Enterprise is the last left to be refitted.

A shame, Trip might've survived .

 

[valkyrie013]

Well in my mind (pretty empty place.. ) there are different "Blocks" of ships. and a few of the "fan art" designs could fit in by making the more NX version a Block 10, and by 2170 there on Block 30 and they look like the "Cannon" design because of the inclusion of Federation technology and them pushing them out because now they have a large expanse of space, and they don't want to get caught with there pants down with no ships in a possible new war.

 

[NickolasDay]

It is possible that this phrase refers to the Daedalus class of ships, although this is not certain. At the end of Enterprise, Reed suggests that Captain Archer could not resist one of the "Warp 7 beauties", but does not specifically indicate the class of ships. The Daedalus class was one of the first to use Warp 7 propulsion, so it can be assumed that ships of this class were in mind. However, given the uncertainty in Reed's statement and the possible alternatives, it is difficult to draw firm conclusions.

 

[Dukhat]

The Daedalus class was one of the first to use Warp 7 propulsion...

Where was that ever stated?

 

[Richard S. Ta]

Once again, I’m out of step with the fandom.

To me, the Daedalus is a beauty. I prefer spheres to discs

 

[Nerys Myk]

That's what a lot of fan art tends to do. It certainly helps make the ship a little better looking.

Eaglemoss did their version of the ship a lot closer to the original model from Sisko's office, but even they added a few Enterprise era details.

This model has since been made canonical thanks to being seen as artwork in season 1 of Strange New Worlds.

Still a sow's ear

 

[evilchumlee]

The Daedalus class was one of the first to use Warp 7 propulsion

That's not anything from canon, but perfectly fine conjecture.

I don't like the idea of the Daed being a pre-NX design, if only because we know it was used well into the Federation-era. I think it fits best as being a Romulan War design, or perhaps just slightly before as some kind of alternative.

I still go with it being designed quickly at the onset of the war, the fairly simplistic look of it being entirely intentional... it's a tube with a sphere on it, intended to be able to built as quickly and cheaply as possible. They aren't "good" ships by any means, but they're functional. I have this idea in my head for them being of inconsistent build quality depending on where/when they were built. I like to think that Earth went into full-war production the likes of which the planet had never seen before, and sort of like a WWII situation where factories that had not been producing starships were quickly converted. A Daed built at San Francisco Fleet Yards would be a better-built ship that one built at an industrial manufacturing facility on Mars (although even then, the Mars built ship might have advantages in materials or some such.)

Total non-canon zone: I attribute the Daed's as being a big reason why Earth became dominant in the Federation. Vulcan, Andor, and Tellar got absolutely hammered and their fleets were in absolute shambles. Earth got through the war relatively unscathed in so much as the Romulans were never able to hit Sol proper, but ALSO Earth was just spamming out a fleet Daed's and by the end of it, Earth went from being the podunk power with 2 Warp 5 ships and a small fleet of useless low-warp ships to having the largest fleet in the quadrant. A Daedalus still might not necessarily be able to go toe-to-toe with a Vulcan Suurok... but like, 4 of them could. Starfleet became the kind of defacto fleet of the Federation just out of numbers, and the Daedalus was THE ship of the early Federation, but fairly quickly retired/replaced, given they were built solely for war and were not particularly well suited for the more exploration-based missions under Federation service.

 

[BillJ]

Still a sow's ear

Always loved it. Looks like something that would realistically precede the TOS Constitution-class.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Always loved it. Looks like something that would realistically precede the TOS Constitution-class.

Not seeing it. The sphere is okay, it's the secondary hull that doesn't work me. Looks like it was put together from junkyard scraps .

 

[BillJ]

Not seeing it. The sphere is okay, it's the secondary hull that doesn't work me. Looks like it was put together from junkyard scraps .

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[Nerys Myk]

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Loved that show.

 

[evilchumlee]

Not seeing it. The sphere is okay, it's the secondary hull that doesn't work me. Looks like it was put together from junkyard scraps .

From pure aesthetics, I don't like the sphere part and am more ok with the secondary hull.

I like the idea that it kind of looks "cheap". It fits with predating TOS in the purest form, and offers up plenty of narrative potential as to why.

 

[fireproof78]

Not seeing it. The sphere is okay, it's the secondary hull that doesn't work me. Looks like it was put together from junkyard scraps .

Indeed. The sphere lacks any connective tissue to latter designs. Just parts slapped together and saying "Here, play together nicely," with no regard to how it might actually work.

 

[evilchumlee]

Indeed. The sphere lacks any connective tissue to latter designs. Just parts slapped together and saying "Here, play together nicely," with no regard to how it might actually work.

I always like to think of the "why" when it comes to any kind of world building.

An alternate idea away from other idea is that if these ships were created post-Federation, perhaps the sphere was an attempt to create something unique to the Federation, not carrying over any members design philosophy?

 

[fireproof78]

I always like to think of the "why" when it comes to any kind of world building.

An alternate idea away from other idea is that if these ships were created post-Federation, perhaps the sphere was an attempt to create something unique to the Federation, not carrying over any members design philosophy?

Maybe, but it still doesn't fit very well. But, sure a cultural variant or early engineered design makes as much sense as any.

 

[Lord Hierarch]

I always interpreted the sphere as the main body of the ship, with the secondary hull being chock full of hanger space for shuttles, escape pods, and torpedo launches. Like the front sphere is the phaser banks, like arranged in a circle around on it. Basically a carrier or tender/support ship. Imagine NX testships redesigned as in-system short warp hop spacefighters .


I still need a Valiant updated. When I realized that you could interpet the Yellowjacket's from Starfleet Year One as Valiant-type design, I fell in love with the design.

 

[HotRod]

If we want to remove the Daedalus from consideration as a Warp 7 Beauty, what else does that leave us with? What else do we know was operating in that timeframe?

The NX-Refit

The Franklin (Freedom Class)

That's pretty much it.

But what about The Kelvin? Her registry was pretty low. 2233 is only 72 years after the founding of the Federation. She certainly didn't look like a new ship. Maybe she, and her class, are older than we think?

 

[C.E. Evans]

The Warp 7 ships could just be vessels we haven't seen before. Novels and other non-canon works aside, the birth of the Federation is still an unexplored "lost" era of Trek we know almost nothing about. Ironically, we may get to know more about the 32nd-Century than the 22nd-Century in the end...