How powerful is a Galaxy class starship?

Discussion in 'General Trek Discussion' started by jmampilly, Dec 15, 2013.

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  1. C.E. Evans

    C.E. Evans Admiral Admiral

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    I think it could go either way. Some damage may be external or too small to see (hairline breaches).
     
  2. Cyke101

    Cyke101 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    To be fair, things were different in TOS narratively: if a shot, attack, or natural disaster could breach the shields, then the ship would be doomed. This is why Kirk would sweat whenever the shields were knocked down.

    So the other way to bypass budgetary problems was to threaten to blow up the whole ship entirely :rommie:
     
  3. CorporalCaptain

    CorporalCaptain Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    The saucer has some nice phasers....
     
  4. USS Firefly

    USS Firefly Commodore Commodore

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    And she looks prettier with a saucer :)
     
  5. jmampilly

    jmampilly Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    What is interesting is that the Galaxy could go toe to toe with a D'Deridex warbird. Galaxies weren't full fledged warships, but the D'Deridex ships were built from the ground up for battle.
     
  6. bbjeg

    bbjeg Admiral Admiral

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    Right here buddy.
    ^It's another case of labeling something one thing that could be labeled another if you ask me.
     
  7. jmampilly

    jmampilly Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    How so?
     
  8. bbjeg

    bbjeg Admiral Admiral

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    ^One man's_______ is another man's _______;

    Assassination - Joint Special Operation
    Terrorist - Liberator
    WMD - War deterrents

    In reference to TNG; One man's Exploratory vessel is another man's Battleship.
     
  9. Cyke101

    Cyke101 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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  10. Richard Baker

    Richard Baker Commodore Commodore

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    I really loved that version of the ship- 'Warship Voyager' was kick-ass!
     
  11. PicardSpeedo

    PicardSpeedo Commander Red Shirt

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    And let's not forget that DS9 portrayed Galaxy-class starships as being SO weak that a single Dominion bugship, colliding at low speed with the hull, was enough to cause the entire starship to explode violently, kinda like some sort of intergalactic Ford Pinto.
     
  12. bbjeg

    bbjeg Admiral Admiral

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    ^Don't forget it's shields were down and the Dominion ships fired several shots before they realized their weapons alone couldn't disable it. I wouldn't call that Galaxy class weak, I'd call the Dominion desperate to please the Founders.
     
  13. PicardSpeedo

    PicardSpeedo Commander Red Shirt

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    And yet the Enterprise-E rammed the Scimitar far more forcefully and survived? I guess they fixed the exploding gas tank issue between model years...
     
  14. C.E. Evans

    C.E. Evans Admiral Admiral

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    The Odyssey was essentially felled by a sucker punch, the same way the Enterprise-D was (no design is invincible against that, IMO). Subsequent Galaxy-class ships in DS9 were shown plowing through Dominion forces head on and were pretty much unstoppable.

    As far as the Enterprise-E crashing into the Scimitar, I think it was a case that the Enterprise didn't crash into a vital area like its engineering section, and so the damage was only to the Scimitar's hull, spaceframe, and some of its interior decks. A lesser vessel probably would have been toast.
     
  15. Richard Baker

    Richard Baker Commodore Commodore

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    IIRC during the ramming sequence with Dominion you see plasma escaping from the secondary hull where the warp core is and hitting the starboard nacelle bussard collector...
    A direct hit to your primary engineering section produces a lot more damage than shoving a section of the primary hull containing labs and crew quarters into another ships hangar deck I think.
     
  16. bbjeg

    bbjeg Admiral Admiral

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    ^Tell that to Guinan in ten forward. :p
     
  17. Nightdiamond

    Nightdiamond Commodore Commodore

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    The funny thing is that we never actually see a Galaxy class destroy any Dominion ship on screen, although it is implied.

    In all the battle scenes it's always hard to make out.

    In SOA, after the Defiant loses its two escorts, there is a commercial break.

    On returning, the Defiant weaving through ships and you can see a Galaxy class ship take out something that looks like a Dominion Battle cruiser.

    That scene with the Odyssey did its job-it did make Starfleet and Galaxies look weaker, but, even after taking the pounding it did, it was still strong enough to leave on its own power.

    Have to take that into account.
     
  18. Cyke101

    Cyke101 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    There were also a couple times where a Galaxy lead a task force of some sort on DS9. Tellingly, again in SOA, we see a Galaxy or two near the end of the front lines, right before the Klingons save the Defiant and she escapes. Later, after the Prophets defeat the Dominion and the bad guys escape the station, a Federation fleet is seen orbiting the station, with a Galaxy as the most prominent. Which means that after hours of fighting, Galaxies not only punched through the front lines, but were also among the reinforcements that joined the Defiant in retaking DS9 -- Damar noted that two hundred allied ships were headed to the station, and it's hard to believe that there wouldn't be a decent number of Galaxies among the 200.

    All told, even though we never see onscreen footage of a Galaxy blowing up a Dominion ship, it's kind of hard to believe that they'd last for hours against them without putting a few down.
     
  19. PicardSpeedo

    PicardSpeedo Commander Red Shirt

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    LOL, I never thought about this.

    I suppose this is why Guinan is never seen again after that particular scene.

    Kinda messed up that Picard and Company were sobbing their eyes out over Data getting wrecked outside of his warranty period, yet no one shed a tear about Guinan getting mangled in the Scimitar collision and then most probably blown out into space, where she likely exploded.
     
    Last edited: Dec 20, 2013
  20. MacLeod

    MacLeod Admiral Admiral

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    Not to mention a chuck of debris destoryed the nacelle. Who knows perhaps without the damage to the nacelle it might have been able to limp home.
     
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