I would agree that it shouldn't have transwarp. At least, not during the era in which they were first seen. Maybe long after TSFS all ships would have been fitted/retrofitted with the new tech, stuffing it into the smaller nacelle housings somehow, but the super-low registry number of the Grissom implies that Oberth's are of a generally lower tech level than her 23rd century contemporaries, with maybe the occasional upgrades to the sensor packages and the bridge modules to control them.
With Transwarp being so experimental at the time, and a failure (canon-wise), I don't see why it would ever be installed on another ship frame. Of course, I've long argued that transwarp wasn't a failure - that it paved the way for the new warp scale used in TNG, where warp 10 was an absolute. In terms of how that would impact the
Apollo, I don't see her ever breaking speed records; she would have an average cruising speed (warp) and an average maximum warp threshold.
The lower registration is problematic with the
Oberth in general. TMP introduces two other ships with low registration numbers as well. I think the current consensus is that reg numbers were tied to a ships class, not the order they were built. Again, I've long argued that this doesn't fit with on-screen, but creating ship with a reg in the rang of 16xx,17xx,18xx,19xx, 20xx, 21xx, etc, would have caused a shit storm on here, lol - so I kept it to a low number, Yes, it requires a change in thinking, but given my age (mid-fifties) I don't need the drama; it's just a model of a ship at the end of the day.
In terms of the
Apollo - I have some interesting news; she's complete. The workbee is done, need to share some images. Pulled an all-nighter to get things tidied up. Going to grab a cup of tea, some toast and hit the hay, then... Renders galor.
Deck plans are next, but going to take a few days before I start them.
More later.
