Comparing life times of Enterprises

[Omegaphallic]

Some folks complained the 15 years of the Enterprise F was too short, but I'd argue its alot longer then alot of Enterprises got.

The NX Enterprise was decommissioned after just 10 years.

The TOS Enterprise had a damn long run, but is dust now.

Enterprise A only lasted 7-8 years

Enterprise B, unknown.

Enterprise C was destroyed, but I think it had roughly over 20 years, no exact date to its launch.

Enterprise D lasted 8 years.

Enterprise E Unknown, but last seen taking a massive asskicking in Prodigy.

Enterprise F 15 years

Enterprise G unknown

Enterprise J Unknown

and to compare to another big name ship Voyager got decommissioned right after it returned to the Alpha Qaudrant so roughly 7 years.

So 15 years alot more then at least 3 other big name Enterprises at minium and Voyager.

 

[Oddish]

These ships seem atypical, though. Geordi said of the Jenolan that, despite being 75 years old, it could still be in use.

 

[valkyrie013]

Well, there's what happened and what was suppose to happen. Enterprise D should have lasted Decades, but was "Destroyed" Same with the E, and even F, though those 2 are up in the air on what happened.. The F was flying around alright. Whats wrong with it??
the NX was an important ship, the book said they bent the frame, but more likely it was THE ship, and when the federation was founded it was taken out of service as a memorial.

Might want to add a Picard Spoiler tag.

 

[Shawnster]

Some eras, like the NX era, might not last long due to leaps in technology.

Ent A itself didn't last long, but we're all of these refits of decades old Connies?

Ent C and D were destroyed, but this should not be an indictment on the entire class. There might be tons of these ships with long life.

 

[Finn]

Some folks complained the 15 years of the Enterprise F was too short, but I'd argue its alot longer then alot of Enterprises got.

The NX Enterprise was decommissioned after just 10 years.

The TOS Enterprise had a damn long run, but is dust now.

Enterprise A only lasted 7-8 years

Enterprise B, unknown.

Enterprise C was destroyed, but I think it had roughly over 20 years, no exact date to its launch.

Enterprise D lasted 8 years.

Enterprise E Unknown, but last seen taking a massive asskicking in Prodigy.

Enterprise F 15 years

Enterprise G unknown

Enterprise J Unknown

and to compare to another big name ship Voyager got decommissioned right after it returned to the Alpha Qaudrant so roughly 7 years.

So 15 years alot more then at least 3 other big name Enterprises at minium and Voyager.

To be fair, the A once had a different name...yanoo like the G now.

And I'm gonna assume the J we saw in Enterprise would never exist thanks to the TCW and the NX-01's actions in season three.

 

[at Quark's]

Some eras, like the NX era, might not last long due to leaps in technology.

Possibly. The tech difference between the 23rd and 24th century doesn't seem that large, for example.

Also, I wonder when the limits of refitting are reached. Suppose the NX-01 (or another ship of that class) survived into the 24th century. What's to stop them from refitting it with 24th century technology and make it an effective ship for the era? Materials of the hull? Hull geometry? Something else? Or is it just that materials age after decades in service? At what point does it become more efficient to juist build a new ship from scratch?

 

[XCV330]

there's this other issue with the Enterprise D.. ok, able to understand that it was LaForge's project and somehow he worked on it alone or with very little help. any famous ship has enthusiasts keeping track of it. There's still a fan club to restore the SS United States, for real world example. People should have known what was going on with it in a democratic society. People would have cared.

But barring all that, and Geordi being the curator of a museum where he can work on a pet project.. he actually stocked the old ship full of munitions. You can go on board the USS Missouri and tour it, but I'm pretty sure there's no ammo for the 16inchers, on her anymore. Photon torpedoes are supposed to be capable of ending life on a planet. Why did restored Enterprise D have them, as well as her phasers operational? It's not like Galaxy class ships are ancient relics at this point (of Picard season 3). There have to be few still out there. It would be like having an Avro Vulcan bomber on display at the RAF Museum with a live unsafed nuclear bomb in the hold for realism's sake.

The only explanation can be that the ship was in some kind of reserve status, or expected to be. I know there are plot holes in Picard big enough to fly End-D through, but that's just kind of silly. one way or another.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

there's this other issue with the Enterprise D.. ok, able to understand that it was LaForge's project and somehow he worked on it alone or with very little help. any famous ship has enthusiasts keeping track of it. There's still a fan club to restore the SS United States, for real world example. People should have known what was going on with it in a democratic society. People would have cared.

Geordi might've been the lead on the restoration project, but he never stated that he did it alone, only that he was restoring the Enterprise-D.

The Enterprise-D was Geordi's first ship that he was the Chief Engineer on. That holds a place in a Chief Engineers heart. Just like Scotty before him.

But barring all that, and Geordi being the curator of a museum where he can work on a pet project.. he actually stocked the old ship full of munitions. You can go on board the USS Missouri and tour it, but I'm pretty sure there's no ammo for the 16inchers, on her anymore. Photon torpedoes are supposed to be capable of ending life on a planet. Why did restored Enterprise D have them, as well as her phasers operational? It's not like Galaxy class ships are ancient relics at this point (of Picard season 3). There have to be few still out there. It would be like having an Avro Vulcan bomber on display at the RAF Museum with a live unsafed nuclear bomb in the hold for realism's sake.

The only explanation can be that the ship was in some kind of reserve status, or expected to be. I know there are plot holes in Picard big enough to fly End-D through, but that's just kind of silly. one way or another.

I wouldn't be surprised if he had the ship put on ready reserve status.

You know, the "Break Glass" in case of emergency button.

Same with all the other StarShips in the museum, they're all ready & capable, incase StarFleet needed something from them.

It's not like every ship didn't require computer security authorization and a fully trained crew to run. So theft of the ships would be very difficult.

 

[Annorax849]

Is the F being 15 years ever stated? Granted, that’s about my estimate, with both E and F lasting 12-15 years. We don’t know how long the B and C lasted, though most fan and non-canon seem to imply the B lasted notably longer than the C. And of course Star Trek Online had the Ent-E lasting almost as long as the 1701.

There’s also the issue of gaps. There were 20 years between the C and D, and possibly over a decade between B and C. Starfleet seems to always replace them immediately now, even if it’s a new crew. Which makes it seem unlikely it’ll take another 140 years to reach J in this timeline…

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

Is the F being 15 years ever stated? Granted, that’s about my estimate, with both E and F lasting 12-15 years. We don’t know how long the B and C lasted, though most fan and non-canon seem to imply the B lasted notably longer than the C. And of course Star Trek Online had the Ent-E lasting almost as long as the 1701.

There’s also the issue of gaps. There were 20 years between the C and D, and possibly over a decade between B and C. Starfleet seems to always replace them immediately now, even if it’s a new crew. Which makes it seem unlikely it’ll take another 140 years to reach J in this timeline…

It seems like StarFleet isn't afraid to use their StarShips in harsh/dangerous/risky missions. They're willing to risk their ships being lost, even their "FlagShip of the UFP".

Unlike the IJN Yamato, where the Imperial Japanese Navy was afraid to let the Yamato get damaged, so it sat in port most of the time and never contributed to the war effort. It was a very expensive and shiny symbol, despite it's amazing fire-power. It sat around more often than do any useful missions. That's why it's sailors called it "The Hotel", because it was so damn luxurious and doing around nothing but host dignitaries.

Who knows when the Prime-Timeline Enterprise-J would be put into service.

There's too many things that can happen in between then.

The biggest issue is we don't know when the Enterprise-B ended it's service and when did the Enterprise-C start.

We know when the Enterprise-C was lost, but that's about it, we don't know much about her service life or record before her famous final battle.

Spoiler: Lineage of ships named USS Enterprise

 

[C.E. Evans]

there's this other issue with the Enterprise D.. ok, able to understand that it was LaForge's project and somehow he worked on it alone or with very little help. any famous ship has enthusiasts keeping track of it. There's still a fan club to restore the SS United States, for real world example. People should have known what was going on with it in a democratic society. People would have cared.

I'm sure people did, but there may have been a deliberate effort to keep the restoration of the Enterprise-D a secret, especially from Picard. As far as he knew, Starfleet had closed the book on the ship and he had moved on long ago.

But barring all that, and Geordi being the curator of a museum where he can work on a pet project.. he actually stocked the old ship full of munitions. You can go on board the USS Missouri and tour it, but I'm pretty sure there's no ammo for the 16inchers, on her anymore. Photon torpedoes are supposed to be capable of ending life on a planet. Why did restored Enterprise D have them, as well as her phasers operational? It's not like Galaxy class ships are ancient relics at this point (of Picard season 3). There have to be few still out there. It would be like having an Avro Vulcan bomber on display at the RAF Museum with a live unsafed nuclear bomb in the hold for realism's sake.

The only explanation can be that the ship was in some kind of reserve status, or expected to be. I know there are plot holes in Picard big enough to fly End-D through, but that's just kind of silly. one way or another.

It's not a stretch to think that LaForge's restoration of the Enterprise-D was going to be more than cosmetic. He was truly going to bring her back in all her glory, with all of her systems working as they did before her crash on Veridian III. Maybe the plan was for the Enterprise to take up permanent residence at the Museum, but be periodically toted out for special ceremonial events like the Old Ironsides USS Constitution. The Enterprise would be fully operational, but naturally any display of her tactical systems would be just for show. As far as her having actual photon torpedoes, didn't LaForge say that drones were loading them aboard just before the ship left the Museum? Maybe initially all she had were a few harmless blanks...

 

[Lord Garth]

NX-01 Enterprise, 2151-2161 --> 10 years
TOS Enterprise, 2245-2270 --> 25 years
TMP Enterprise, 2272-2285 --> 13 years (I count it as being effectively a new ship)
Enterprise-A, 2286-2293 --> 7 years
Enterprise-B, 2293-23?? --> Unknown
Enterprise-C, 23??-2344 --> Unknown
Enterprise-D, 2363-2371 --> 8 years
Enterprise-E, 2372-2385 --> 13 years (conjecture)
Enterprise-F, 2386-2401 --> 15 years
Kelvin Enterprise, 2258A-2263A --> 5 years (just for the Hell of it!)

I think the F had a comparatively good run.

Normally I'd add a spoiler tag, but the opening post screwed the pooch.

 

[Forbin]

Here's an infographic I made waaay back after First Contact came out. Yeah, needs updating now.

 

[Paul755]

I still think 10 years is underselling how long the NX-01 was in service. I don’t think they would go thru the refit process just to stick it in the Smithsonian (possible precursor to the fleet museum). Even if it was just a training ship or testbed for new tech after the refit, it would still be in service.

 

[USS Firefly]

NX-01 Enterprise, 2151-2161 --> 10 years
TOS Enterprise, 2245-2270 --> 25 years
TMP Enterprise, 2272-2285 --> 13 years (I count it as being effectively a new ship)
Enterprise-A, 2286-2293 --> 7 years
Enterprise-B, 2293-23?? --> Unknown
Enterprise-C, 23??-2344 --> Unknown
Enterprise-D, 2363-2371 --> 8 years
Enterprise-E, 2372-2385 --> 13 years (conjecture)
Enterprise-F, 2386-2401 --> 15 years
Kelvin Enterprise, 2258A-2263A --> 5 years (just for the Hell of it!)

I think the F had a comparatively good run.

Normally I'd add a spoiler tag, but the opening post screwed the pooch.

I believe that they said in "The search for Spock" that the Enterprise was about 40 years old

 

[Elder Knight]

I believe that they said in "The search for Spock" that the Enterprise was about 40 years old

Actually, in TSFS, Admiral Morrow says "twenty years old." Most of us will agree that he doesn't know his history!

 

[The Wormhole]

Spoiler: This is GTD, and since I'm talking about Picard S3 and Prodigy here...

Starfleet seems to be going through ships really unusually quickly in the late 24th century. Let's just take a look at the Voyagers. Voyager itself is decommissioned when it arrived home after seven years, we know there's a Voyager A in service in the Prodigy finale, while Picard's S3 premiere established there's already a Voyager B.

And then there's the oddity of some of the ships at the museum. The second Defiant/Sao Paulo is there, even though that was a brand new ship at the end of the Dominion War. There's a couple Akira class ships there, though we saw in Picard S2 the Akira class is still in service. There's a Nebula class there, which I guess could tie-in with the way everyone talked about the Galaxy class as though it were old and obsolete, though given how long Starfleet kept the Excelsior, Miranda and Oberth classes around for a whole century. Then again, the Ambassador class is newer than them and has basically disappeared after TNG S5.

I wonder if this might not be one of those ironies of production. Back in the 90s when they relied on physical models, making a new ship was no easy task, and as a result we saw a more realistic version of Starfleet which kept old ships around. Nowadays, it's comparatively with CG and as a result we're getting a Starfleet that is discarding ships after only a decade, if that.

Is the F being 15 years ever stated?

Matalas tweeted that the F was launched in 2386. Though not canon, it's a reasonable extrapolation. We know Picard was still commanding the Enterprise E when he was promoted to Admiral in 2381. Even if the ship met its fate later that year, than the earliest the Enterprise F could have been launched is 2382.

I still think 10 years is underselling how long the NX-01 was in service.

They literally said in TATV, which was set in 2161, ten years after Broken Bow that the NX-01 was being decommissioned.

I don’t think they would go thru the refit process just to stick it in the Smithsonian

Well, we don't know when the refit happened. It could very well have been in the period the fifth season would have been. Remember, there are no exterior shots of the ship in TATV, besides in the montage at the end, and that's meant more to be artistic than literal. The NX-01 could very well have been in its refit form during the events depicted in that episode, and could have been for years.

 

[Lord Garth]

I believe that they said in "The search for Spock" that the Enterprise was about 40 years old

13 years are said to pass between "The Cage" and "The Menagerie", then 15 years are said to pass between "Space Seed" and TWOK. That alone puts the Enterprise at 28 years old, assuming the Enterprise was a brand-new ship in "The Cage", which it wasn't. Pike's already tired and worn out from everything, and Boyce has been on his case about going on leave for a while. But anyway, 28 rounds off to 30, even if we ignore everything else. If you want to include TAS, and Captain April's appearance in "The Counter-Clock Incident", the Enterprise is even older than that.

If you only want to count the Enterprise's time as a refit, 20 years have NOT passed between TMP and TSFS. That would make Kirk 60 in TSFS, when he's supposed to be more like 50, to be a closer match to William Shatner's age. Plus Khan kept saying in TWOK that Kirk marooned him "15 years ago".

And that's only pulling from stuff made before 1984. Almost a decade before Mike Okuda standardized the Canon Timeline.

In-universe, Marrow had no idea what he was talking about. He can't keep track of everything offhand. IRL, Harve Bennett had him say "the Enterprise is 20 years old" because Star Trek at the time was almost 20 years old. He didn't want to confuse most of the audience. Even back then, they were writing these films for the general audience. That's why they had the recap at the beginning of TSFS, in case they hadn't seen TWOK.

 

[Forbin]

Updated my chart based on current info. You may have to refresh or clear cache to get the update to show.

Link:
http://www.inpayne.com/charts/1701life.jpg

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

Updated my chart based on current info. You may have to refresh or clear cache to get the update to show.

Link:
http://www.inpayne.com/charts/1701life.jpg

You need to update it with the Enterprise-F & Enterprise-G on it.

Also add in the NX-01 while you're at it.