430 crew?

[James Wright]

yeah ur right I was just thinking about those on watch. didn't think about the sections. so yeah that could be a Pike era crew make up.

The Connie has 14 different labs on board, so you could estimate 1 "officer" and, say, 2 "techs" per lab/shift, so an additional 42/shift x 4 shifts = 168 crew...which is problematic for a Pike era ship that is supposed to only have ~230 crew total.

It's been speculated on some Trek web sites that the Enterprise under Pike's command was somewhat smaller then it would be during Kirk's command.
You mixed up your numbers d_d1, it's 203.

James

 

[darkwing_duck1]

yeah ur right I was just thinking about those on watch. didn't think about the sections. so yeah that could be a Pike era crew make up.

The Connie has 14 different labs on board, so you could estimate 1 "officer" and, say, 2 "techs" per lab/shift, so an additional 42/shift x 4 shifts = 168 crew...which is problematic for a Pike era ship that is supposed to only have ~230 crew total.

It's been speculated on some Trek web sites that the Enterprise under Pike's command was somewhat smaller then it would be during Kirk's command.
You mixed up your numbers d_d1, it's 203.

James

I've heard that speculation, but don't hold to it. I've never seen anything "on screen" to suggest such a major rebuild between Pike and Kirk, or between WNMHGB and the next episode either.

I used ~230 to give myself wiggle room. Yes, Pike explicitly says 203, but that was also right after an engagement where crewmen had been lost (also referenced on screen). 203 could as easily been the complement at that time, reflecting those losses.

 

[Mytran]

The problem with a smaller Enterprise is that the windows don't line up - they fit into a 947' or 1080' ship OK, but a 504' wouldn't work with what we see on screen in The Cage

It's been speculated (by Cary L Brown I think) that the reason Pike's crew was smaller was due to less advanced tech on board - larger, less efficient machinery meant that the range of the ship was more limited and a larger crew was neither needed nor could be accomodated!

 

[Warped9]

^^ It could work the other way as well I think. Perhaps when the ships were first built they felt the tech was sufficiently advanced that a larger crew wasn't believed necessary. And/or that the crew size grew as the missions grew longer and ranged farther. The crew size could have grown incrementally until by the time of Kirk they are at 400 plus. This is the scenario that I feel most credible, but it's just my opinion.

It could also mean that at the time of the events in "The Cage" the crew size reflected what kind of mission the ship was on.

 

[Lieut. Arex]

Doesn't the TNG Tech Manual say the E-D was launched with only 60% of her interior completed to allow for expansion? Perhaps that's the reason for the smaller crew. Or it's possible the Enterprise under Pike had a different internal configuration than during Kirk's command because she was performing different missions, colonization support or some such.

 

[Maurice]

Or...Pike was not on a mission like Kirk's...a mission that didn't require the same crew complement.

 

[Pauln6]

That seems most likely. A short term mission might only have required a skeleton crew consisting of engineers, medical, and security staff, some of whom had been killed. Having said that, the Enterprise doesn't have 200 scientific staff on board and one would assume that a mission of this type would require more security personel or even marines, so they're still a bit light.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Doesn't the TNG Tech Manual say the E-D was launched with only 60% of her interior completed to allow for expansion? Perhaps that's the reason for the smaller crew. Or it's possible the Enterprise under Pike had a different internal configuration than during Kirk's command because she was performing different missions, colonization support or some such.

The Enterprise may have had the exact same mission under both Pike and Kirk, but by the time Kirk took command, the ship was upgraded with more and newer onboard features and its crew complement was increased. Kirk once made a reference to the Enterprise having fourteen science labs, which may have been a lot more than there was when Pike was captain.