I only recently came across this ship when doing research for my online RPG (USS Copernicus) and there is something about it that just fascinates me. This image is from Memory Beta, Non-Cannon Star Trek Wiki. The Bonaventure class was featured on the 2006 Ships of the Line Calendar and was designed by Aristomenis Tsirbas. I'd love to know what other people make of it.
Seriously. Took a Constitution class secondary hull and stuffed it into a primary hull. What's the point of this? Silly and aesthetically displeasing.
Well - the U.S.S. Bon Adventure was supposedly a much earlier ship - per The Animated Series. This doesn't look at all like "The first warp ship"... Now, maybe it's meant as a newer ship given the same name but even then, it's not a very attractive design. Not as bad as some of the hideous kit-bashes used in actual post-TOS Trek but then..?
Ok. Sure. Wouldn't that actually be Drexler's refit NX-01 with a secondary hull though, and not a connie saucer and secondary hull melted together like a freaking s'more? https://i.pinimg.com/originals/24/42/85/2442852c6b6f4d2c86fabfbbef625176.jpg
I rather like it. I think that's a particularly flattering angle of it in the image which, to my eyes anyway, lends a purposeful elegance. The Bonaventure would probably look pretty good from above/below (a similar silhouette to the Constitution class), but less so from the side. It reminds a little of a submarine...
It would probably work better if the secondary hull merged into the saucer came no further forward than the bridge.
And yet it looks like the primary hull is already matured and they just shoved in the secondary hull. It doesn't look much of a predecessor, it looks like a sibling. For a design, it''s fine. It's what I may imagine a light cruiser of the TOS era to look like. But it doesn't look too much Pre-Tos.
I recently got the Eaglemoss model of this ship a few weeks ago and I love the design. It's definitely an interim step between the NX-class and the Constitution-class, but it would have been in the service at the same time as the latter as its presented. The model shown may even have been a slightly upgraded version in the same way the Enterprise was modified between "The Cage" and "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (the original Bonaventure may have had spikes on its Bussard collectors too). If the Enterprise was a heavy cruiser, then the Bonaventure may have been a medium, and only because it was just a few thousand tons lighter. Otherwise the Enterprise and the Bonaventure probably carried out the same kind of missions during their day, IMO.
Funnily enough, I also got the model only this week. I agreed with your thinking on this one as well. If it wasn't for choosing an Oberth class for my online RPG, I would have gone with the Bonaventure class. I might not have named it Copernicus like my Oberth class, perhaps USS Endeavour NCC-1007.
Given that the canonical Miranda-class is classed as a light cruiser at best (2270s-early 2300s), which is a similar size and capability I'd be inclined to slot the Bonaventure in here. Particularly as medium cruiser is something of an odd term with no real historical basis (but that logically refers to larger outdated heavy cruiser frames that don't meet the current "spec"), given that cruisers were originally split into protected cruisers (which were modernised into light cruisers and small heavy cruisers, comparable with the current Aegis destroyer/cruiser models) and armored cruisers (which became the large cruisers/cruiser killers/battlecruisers, like the old Alaska-class or the Royal Navy's HMS Hood [51]).