Starfleet Lifeboats

[MatthiasRussell]

Did ships prior to the Galaxy class have lifeboats? If so, where were they as I haven't seen markings identifying them

If prior ships didn't have lifeboats or escape pods, why would Starfleet start using them after a couple hundred years without?

 

[tighr]

Kirk is placed in an escape pod and deposited on Delta Vega when the Enterprise is on a course to rendezvous with the fleet in Star Trek '09.

 

[SchwEnt]

Ambassador class had similar lifeboat hatch covers seen on the hull.

Earlier ships may have had lifeboats or escape pods, they just were not as easily visible on the exterior.

 

[MatthiasRussell]

The Abramsprise doesn't count as a reference to the prime universe since it is so radically different. However, the Kelvin doesn't appear to have escape pods since everyone appeared to evacuate via shuttle, meaning they had to make it all the way to the rear of the engineering hull to evacuate.

I forgot that the Ambassador class has lifeboat markings on the hull. As for other ships prior to that having them but they aren't well marked, is there any evidence to back that up, such as a previous captain saying, "Evacuate to the escape pods?"

 

[Timo]

Kirk is placed in an escape pod and deposited on Delta Vega when the Enterprise is on a course to rendezvous with the fleet in Star Trek '09.

Or at least Kirk is deposited on Delta Vega. We don't know exactly what that thing was that the Enterprise spat out of an apparent docking port. Might have been more like the single-occupant travel pod of TNG "The Emissary".

the Kelvin doesn't appear to have escape pods since everyone appeared to evacuate via shuttle

Or then the crew knew that launching in a lifepod in the middle of a battle would be like jumping from a skyscraper, whereas launching in a shuttle would be like jumping from a skyscraper with a parachute.

It would have helped if George Kirk Sr. had given a more specific evacuation order...

As for other ships prior to that having them but they aren't well marked, is there any evidence to back that up, such as a previous captain saying, "Evacuate to the escape pods?"

The pods of the Mirror Universe NX-01 were unmarked yet existed (were mentioned in dialogue and were seen in action). That's precedent of sorts. But there never was any mention of escape pods or lifeboats aboard Kirk's TOS ship. And while the sets and matte paintings and plans of Kirk's ST:TMP ship explicitly included lifeboats, these were not mentioned in the dialogue of that movie, or others.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[C.E. Evans]

I like to think that aboard those early ships, the lifeboats were concealed behind hull plates that would be ejected upon their launch. The idea of having visible hatches might have come about if newer lifeboats have the ability to return to the ship and be plugged back into the hull perhaps.

 

[Verteron]

The Miranda-class USS Saratoga's lifeboats seemed to consist of a few large shuttle-type craft rather than the smaller 3 man 'pods' imagined for the Enterprise-D. We see them in the Borg cube battle scene in DS9's Emissary.

Found a video - here.

My guess is that older ships had a smaller number of large lifeboats, which with time and improvements in technology ended up being less effective than a large number of small lifeboats adopted for the Galaxy class, etc.

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

Then again, who knows what lifeboats could actually be like on earlier ships? For all we know, they could have literally been infatable modules that would pop out from the existing airlocks, fill, and be jetisoned when plump. NASA was working on such one-man rescue pods for inter-shuttle transfer (back before they figured everyone having a pressure suit really WAS a good idea), and we have ongoing experiments in inflatable modules for spacecraft now. Perhaps in the 23rd century, they had such devices that simply would nave no need for a dedicated storage and/or launch point, and be simple air bubbles to keep people alive until help came?

Mark

 

[MatthiasRussell]

The Miranda-class USS Saratoga's lifeboats seemed to consist of a few large shuttle-type craft rather than the smaller 3 man 'pods' imagined for the Enterprise-D. We see them in the Borg cube battle scene in DS9's Emissary.

Didn't they escape in runabouts? I remember that scene using the runabout set and the view through the window showing the shuttle leaving the shuttle bay.

 

[MatthiasRussell]

I like to think that aboard those early ships, the lifeboats were concealed behind hull plates that would be ejected upon their launch. The idea of having visible hatches might have come about if newer lifeboats have the ability to return to the ship and be plugged back into the hull perhaps.

Why conceal the lifeboats anymore than docking hatches? I would also reason that if the bridge is centered on the top of the saucer like the center of a target instead of hidden within the ship, why hide/protect the lifeboats?

I would also think designers wouldn't want entire sections of hull plating be blasted away with escape pod launches so this doesn't happen in the event the pods are launched when they aren't supposed to.

However, the Defiant did hide its escape pods behide hull plating. But I always reasoned this was because it was a warship and had a special ablative hull plating.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

In TWOK, during the simulator battle at the start Saavik gives the order to "Activate escape pods".

Then in the ENT MU episodes, the crew evac by way of escape pods.

Though they may not be visable, not have lifeboats/escape pods on a starship of any era would be foolish. I'm sure Starfleet designers don't need to dredge up historical records on the Titanic to understand that.

 

[nightwind1]

I like what the "Federation Officer's Manual" (I think it was) did. For the TOS Enterprise, they postulated that the turbolift cars doubled as lifeboats. They could just pack the people in, then eject them from strategically located ejection points.

 

[Dukhat]

The Miranda-class USS Saratoga's lifeboats seemed to consist of a few large shuttle-type craft rather than the smaller 3 man 'pods' imagined for the Enterprise-D. We see them in the Borg cube battle scene in DS9's Emissary.

Didn't they escape in runabouts? I remember that scene using the runabout set and the view through the window showing the shuttle leaving the shuttle bay.

No, it was a large shuttle-type escape pod, the model of which was made specifically for the battle scene. However, the interior might have been a redress of the runabout interior.

 

[SchwEnt]

I would add that any evacuation scene we see doesn't preclude another type of lifeboat.

The Saratoga-type escape pods seen at Wolf 359 doesn't mean the ship didn't have other lifepods (Galaxy class-type)somewhere else on the ship.

During an emergency evacuation situation, I'd imagine people scrambling to get out in EVERY type of craft available... shuttlecraft, shuttlepods, escape pods, lifeboats, everything. Certainly larger ships like Nebula and Galaxy class have many types of embarked craft. When the order comes to abandon ship, use everything you got.

 

[C.E. Evans]

I like to think that aboard those early ships, the lifeboats were concealed behind hull plates that would be ejected upon their launch. The idea of having visible hatches might have come about if newer lifeboats have the ability to return to the ship and be plugged back into the hull perhaps.

Why conceal the lifeboats anymore than docking hatches?

I can equally ask why put them on display? If the older-model pod hatches are flush with the hull and were made of the same material, why go through the trouble of making them look different? When launched, the escape pods are going to leave holes in the hull anyway.

 

[MatthiasRussell]

Why mark anything on the starship's hull. They are covered with markings identifying docking ports, access panels, etc. If those things are marked, it stands to reason escape pods would be to. Often these markings are for maintenance purposes and to provide information and warnings to those working on the hull. Identifying the lifeboats just makes sense.

Also, look at modern warships. Their lifeboats are exposed, on display, and easily targeted.

 

[MatthiasRussell]

I like what the "Federation Officer's Manual" (I think it was) did. For the TOS Enterprise, they postulated that the turbolift cars doubled as lifeboats. They could just pack the people in, then eject them from strategically located ejection points.

I like this idea.

 

[MatthiasRussell]

No, it was a large shuttle-type escape pod, the model of which was made specifically for the battle scene. However, the interior might have been a redress of the runabout interior.

Even if it wasn't a runabout, it was still a shuttlecraft, not a lifeboat/escape pod. It launched from the shuttlebay and had a pilot and copilot as a shuttle would. It appeared the crew still had to make it to a shuttle bay to escape.

 

[sojourner]

^Or at least the last of the crew did.

 

[SchwEnt]

I like what the "Federation Officer's Manual" (I think it was) did. For the TOS Enterprise, they postulated that the turbolift cars doubled as lifeboats. They could just pack the people in, then eject them from strategically located ejection points.

I like this idea.

I recall that schematic. With phasers and other survival equipment stashed beneath the floor panels of the turbolift.
Even if not used as an ejected lifepod, supplying turbolifts with that kind of stuff makes sense, in case of shipboard damage.

Yeah, a cool idea, making the turbolifts dual-purpose.

But man, you'd end up in the equivalent of being trapped in an elevator--in space. Damn, that's gotta suck.

I know the escape pods are likely no more roomy that a turbolift anyway, but I don't like the idea too much. I guess it'd be that or blow up with the ship.