Exactly. Once shields are down, photon torpedoes and phasers can inflict severe internal damage. The Enterprise under the control of M5 killed all aboard the unshielded Excalibur with phasers alone from a distance in "The Ultimate Computer".
Target the bridge
- Thread starter Vanyel
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Exactly. Once shields are down, photon torpedoes and phasers can inflict severe internal damage. The Enterprise under the control of M5 killed all aboard the unshielded Excalibur with phasers alone from a distance in "The Ultimate Computer".
Since starship bridges can be swapped out and replaced at will, perhaps they're on the top of the hull just to make this process easier.
I'd read that somewhere before. Might have been the tech manual for the 1701D. The only thing is that since each terminal on the bridge is customizable by each user, there shouldn't be a need to swap bridges since a terminal can be changed to fit what is needed.
That's not true for all bridges. I think the Ent-D was the first to have consoles like that. But not the first to have a hot-swappable bridge.
Interseting thing about the battle bridge on the Enterprise Dee is that if there is a saucer separation, where then is the battle bridge?
It on the very top of the stump of the dorsal neck! Not any better protected that the main bridge .
What about the battle bridge? We didn't see it much, but I got the impression it was in a less vulnerable spot...
edit: sorry, I should have read the second page before posting :P
edit: sorry, I should have read the second page before posting :P
Good question. Perhaps Picard simply wanted the extra room to move around that main engineering offered with its auxiliary command & control functions, or maybe it's easier to override main bridge functions from main engineering than it is in the battle bridge.
Good thing my budget would prevent me from using saucer separation every time I go into battle, then.
The Battle Bridge and Main Engineering are in the Stardrive section of the ship, so it should be just as easy to sever the connection between the saucer section and stardrive section?
Yes, if the shields are breached, the hull is a goner. But, if the bridge were deep inside the ship -- and shielded to be indistinguishable from say, a rec room, attackers would have more difficulty in locating it. Starships are not like ships on the ocean. They don't need to set the bridge forward and up high because they rely on sensors and cameras (for want of a better term) to see what's outside the hull.
Maybe. Main engineering is definitely an auxiliary command and control center for the entire ship. The battle bridge, on the other hand, may not be quite as robust in terms of overriding commands from the main bridge since the battle bridge was intended to be used for the stardrive section, whereas the main bridge is intended for overall command of the entire ship. Put more simply, main engineering might be able to override and replace main bridge functions that the battle bridge cannot, since the battle bridge has only been seen to be used for control of the stardrive section. That was my thinking behind my previous post, anyways.
Using the dialog in Q Who?, we can infer that the sensors of a Federation Starship and Romulan and Klingon ships can scan a ship to determine, at the very least, a general bridge location.
So bearing that in mind, once a starship's shields are down, sensors can still locate and target the bridge.
Didn't recall that. But it might still be possible to shield the bridge or create sections that would serve as diversions.
^ Speaking of "Q Who?"...
Once they start carving you up like a roast, it doesn't matter where the bridge is.
Once they start carving you up like a roast, it doesn't matter where the bridge is.
Which is why the point I was making referred specifically to the damage a ship takes when it still has full or at least partial shields (before the point where they are "collapsing", let alone gone). There IS bleed through damage that can cause small to moderate hull breaches; if one such hull breach occured on deck 1, the bridge would instantly have a hole out into space (see: Nemesis). If the bridge were deep in the ship, this would not happen.
Once the shields are down, starship hulls generally do not do too well against weapons in Trek, as has been mentioned often in this thread, but I was referring to damage that gets through when shields are still up.
True, I recall that as well (as Vanyel suggested, I think it was the TNG tech manual). While that would be handy, I don't think it's worth exposing the bridge to damage like that. Assuming, of course, that one acknowledges the problem at all, in-universe, which I still say is a bad idea. In this case, mentioning the easy-swap as being the reason why the bridge is on top is also ill-advised, because it still calls attention to the bridge's location.
A good point, really. And frankly, I think the term "battle bridge" doesn't work anymore. It worked initially, when the idea was that the preferred MO for the Ent-D was to seperate whenever major trouble was expected, sending only the engineering section into combat. But, they ultimately didn't do that - thank goodness, since the engineering section on its own looks ridiculous, and the whole concept is dodgy. That said, if it's no longer a "combat" maneuver, but pretty much ONLY an emergency maneuver (i.e. Generations), it shouldn't be called the "battle bridge" (nor should the engineering section be called the "battle section").Interseting thing about the battle bridge on the Enterprise Dee is that if there is a saucer separation, where then is the battle bridge?
It on the very top of the stump of the dorsal neck! Not any better protected that the main bridge .
Targeting the bridge, whether it's sitting on top of the saucer or deep inside the ship would seem to be a valid tactical maneuver. You knock it out and for a while the ship is in chaos giving you a huge tactical advantage.
In Nemesis, I don't think Shinzon was targeting the bridge for destruction, if he was intentionally targeting it at all, but to incapacitate the Enterprise. He still wanted Picard alive at that point.
In Nemesis, I don't think Shinzon was targeting the bridge for destruction, if he was intentionally targeting it at all, but to incapacitate the Enterprise. He still wanted Picard alive at that point.
AFAIK, the thinking behind the LCARS system is that any terminal can control any ship function, regardless of where that terminal is. A crewman could theoretically fly the ship with a PADD while standing in Ten-Forward; the warp engines could be monitored from the chief engineer's quarters; the entire ship could be controlled from the main OR battle bridges, or from any LCARS terminal anywhere in the entire ship. In an emergency, of course.
Except the terminal in the school room. I would also assume that the crewman would need clearance and command codes to reconfigure a terminal to take command of the ship.
Location of the battle bridge, just as open and vulnerable after saucer separation and not really protected with the saucer still atached, either:
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