Akira Class: Like or not?

[Praetor]

Well said, Jitty.

I like to think the Khitomer Accords imposed some limits on cruiser numbers and tonnage for both sides, not unlike those post-WWI treaties that eventually got ignored, so the Federation decided to go ahead and replace their Connies with Excelsiors but were able to keep the Mirandas in service because they couldn't come up with a better Miranda design. (The Centaur might have been a try.)

So the Connies and Excelsiors would be a lot like all those B-52s the U.S. built for the Cold War, most of which have been scrapped by now. The difference between the two classes being that the Excelsiors were new enough that a lot of them were either still in service or had been mothballed and could be quickly reactivated for the Dominion War.

Also, there was that one wrecked Constitution at Wolf 359, and the wreckage of the Olympia in "The Sound of Her Voice" - both of which were apparently reuses of the TSFS destroyed Enterprise. Clearly at least two of them made it to the 24th century, but if we take proportionality into account, I imagine there weren't many more.

 

[Herkimer Jitty]

I could imagine at least one Connie still in operating condition as a "showboat" for cruising around during inaugurations, airshow equivalents and other things.

They were apparently a quite influential line of ship, and Kirk and Co.'s exploits were (in)famous.

 

[Praetor]

Oh yeah, in "Valiant" they mentioned a cadet ship named Republic which was apparently supposed to be the same one Kirk served on, so if that one was a Constitution to start with, then we have our showboat.

 

[Captain Fine]

I guess I can buy that explanation that those ships were brought out of mothballs. But during TNG we saw tons of Excelsiors and Mirandas and Oberths. I know it comes down to budget, but who'd want to work a starship whose design was 70 years old?

 

[Praetor]

Well, when you consider that the Galaxy was supposed to last for 100 years by design, and the original Enterprise was probably 40 when it was destroyed, 70 doesn't seem so bad.

 

[Disillusioned]

Still, if I'd been assigned to a Miranda during the Dominion War I would've resigned, and if they wouldn't let me I'd mutiny.

 

[cwl]

mutiny & get killed? or worse, get assigned to an Oberth.

 

[Disillusioned]

If I mutiny I'd probably end up at one of those club fed prisons like Paris did. Better than getting killed.

 

[Praetor]

John Eaves has some of Alex Jaeger's art, including the Akira, on his blog here.

 

[Captain Fine]

You gotta admit Jaeger's ships are pretty cool, if not as Starfleet as we're used to!

 

[Praetor]

The think I respect about Jaeger is that even though from a fan perspective some of his technical choices are a little questionable, the aesthetic choices and shapes he comes up with feel truly unique while maintaining a terrific degree of Starfleet flavor. Consider the fleet from XI, too. A different era, but still that same feel.

 

[Disillusioned]

I think a lot of his designs would be a bit better suited for the 25th century.

 

[Praetor]

Well in "real" time, the 25th century is only about 20 years away now...

 

[DiSiLLUSiON]

I like the basics. However, it looks like the official mesh has been economically made; details don't align, certain curves are off etc. I'd like a more 'refined' version of the Akira.

 

[Brutal Strudel]

Well, when you consider that the Galaxy was supposed to last for 100 years by design, and the original Enterprise was probably 40 when it was destroyed, 70 doesn't seem so bad.

In the writer's guide to TOS or in TMoST, the Enterprise was supposed to forty years old in TOS. I always liked that idea.

 

[Praetor]

Forty years old during TOS? Really? I musta missed that one.

But yeah, I do like the notion that the ship was not brand spanking new. It gave it a feeling of history.