I always wondered if the Sovereign-class was intended to replace the Galaxy-class, or if the Galaxy-class continued to be produced following the launch of the Sovereign-class, both serving different mission capacities? The Galaxy-class was designed to support a civilian population on extended missions, while the Sovereign-class was designed for shorter missions, without a civilian population. Apparently, both have equal scientific capabilities, but the Sovereign-class took a much shorter time to build, and had distinct tactical advantages. With the climate of the galaxy following the Dominion War and the Borg invasions, would Starfleet continue to produce the Galaxy-class megaships into the 2370s and 2380s, or would this class fade off the production line? Seems like a very short production lifetime, if they were only produced in the 2360s, when they apparently take something like 15-20 years to build, according to the ST:TNG technical manual. The Galaxy-class would seem to be the ideal posting for a Starfleet officer not wanting to leave their family behind while they went on a mission - these vessels had all the civilian amenities - they seemed to be almost like "traveling starbases" themselves! Thoughts?
I think Starfleet only ever intended to build a certain number of galaxy-class ships, much like the original constitution class vessels a century before. Colossal spacecraft like that doubtless take an immense amount of resources to build even for the Federation, and coupled with that the element of putting 'all your eggs in one basket' that comes with ships like that. Plus they were dropping out of the sky left right and centre in the decade after they were launched - The Yamato, the Odyssey, the Enterprise... Better to build three intrepids or the equivalent than one galaxy. Say twelve galaxies to fly the flag and then leave it at that.
I don't see any reason to think they did discontinue the design. Just because the Enterprise-E was a Sovereign-class ship rather than another Galaxy-class means that the earlier design was some sort of failure. The Sovereign-class was just the newest big capital ship at the time. It might be argued that the Sovereign-class could be seen as a slightly more economical version of the Galaxy-class, though, because she's not as wide or tall. The Galaxy-class and the Sovereign-class should both still around by the mid 25th-Century, IMO.
There's no reason to think the Galaxy would have been discontinued. It fills a much larger size class than the Sovereign and is a powerful and versatile ship. They are just as modern as the Sovereign as well, or at least any new ones would be. We definitely see six or seven at earth in the Boy finale.
'Colossal'? Hardly. The Federation probably has thousands of ships. The resources needed to be acquired for construction would likely be abundant within Federation itself- and lets not forget industrial grade replicators which could be utilized to make matter out of energy alone which can then be used in ship construction... Or they can construct various things in pieces and then assemble them. Seriously, I find it to be nowhere near problematic. The enormous starbase on the other hand might take longer to construct due to it's sheer size, but the principle is the same. A combination of replication and readily available resources and dividing construction between multiple yards. If also SF had ship/base production capabilities (shipyards and complexes) in say 125 out of 150 systems that contain the member races homeworlds, just divide the workload between them. Construct different pieces of a ship in Utopia Planitia using multiple drydocks and then assemble it at a specified location. Do the same for the Starbase and tow the pieces into a specific location for assembly - that way you can actually construct the thing very fast. But it probably can also be done in record time in a single location depending on how much resources you put into it. Seriously... I don't see the problem.
Wasn't macho enough, so they discontinued it. Remaining G-class ships were sold to Princess Cruise Lines. They now take people to Rigel and other attractions.
I remember counting well more than a dozen Galaxy class ships in just one scene in "Sacrifice of Angels". And this force included only two of Starfleets separate "fleets".
Glad to see I'm not the only one whose paused that episode to count the different classes & number of ships from each. There were several Galaxy's in "Endgame" as well. I know this topic has come up before but I would venture a guess that more than 12 were wandering the galaxy. The Galaxy class has only been in service maybe 25 years (since first launched in 2357 according to the TNG Tech Manual) which is nothing when you look at the Excelsior, Miranda, & Oberth classes which go back to the 2270's. With the losses of so many ships to the Borg (including at least three Sovereign's) I would guess that new Galaxy ships would be built.
I don't remember where I read it, but I remember reading about how, by the time the first Galaxy's were launched, the class was basicly outdated. It had been in development and construction for so long, that systems that were state of the art when the ship was being designed were already obsolete. And think about it. TNG begins in 2364. In 2372, 8 years later, the Enterprise-E is launched. Considering that there must have been a USS Sovereign before here, and how long it would take to design a new ship, lay out plans for construction, design new systems for said ship, begin construction, probably get the usual setbacks you would have while designing and building a ship, testing new systems..... The Sovereign class itself must have begun development during the mid 2360's. Completely discontinuing the class.... I don't know. To have class be up to spec of classes like Intrepid, Sovereign, Luna, Vesta.... they would have to do some serious upgrading. Is it worth it? Probably not. I mean, the concept behind the Galaxy class was considered a failure: small cities in space where officers could have there families with them. Ronald D. Moore commented in a AOL chat in 1997 that, basicly, the idea of children of a starship was a failure, since the idea of Picard or other captains ordering their ships into possible unsafe situations with children and families onboard was unsettling.
Technically, everything is outdated by the time it goes into production. Technology marches on. That fancy laptop you just bought? old news by the time you get it home. At certain points you just have to freeze a design and build it instead of constantly waiting for the next best thing. Make minor upgrades during production as long as they don't halt production. Yes, the ship may not be "bleeding edge", but that means it's probably gone down in "price" so you can build more for less.
I always figured that the Sovereigns were built to replace the much older Ambassadors and Excelsiors and there development started years ago just as the Galaxy's did. I figured that the "Borg fighting options" on the Sovereign were added later in its development. When you look at the Sovereigns as Ambassador and/or Excelsior replacements then their reduced mass (63% of the Galaxy class IIRC) makes a lot of sense. That said, we shouldn't take the early losses of the Galaxy's to mean too much. Bad early performance is a common problem is various types of modern ships to this day. We say enough of the class in the Dominion War to know that the ships apparently perfomed very well in combat. IIRC, the only Galaxy's we have proof of being destroyed in the war, were ones with the fleet when the Breen used their new energy dampening weapon against the combined fleet. Of course, working as part of a large fleet with adequate escorts is probably how the Galaxy's were intended to be used in the first place.
The Galaxy-class was a starship built for a different time. A time when there was no Borg, no Dominion, the Romulans were back in hiding, the Klingons were our new friends, the Ferengi and Cardassians little more than an annoyance. A time when it was thought Pax Federationica would last forever and Starfleet could handle whatever was thrown at it. A time when it was thought safe to include whole families on starships. In short, they were 24'th century equivalents of 1960's muscle cars. Sleek, stylish, made you feel good riding it...and totally unprepared for the 1970's. Frankly, by the time the Dominion War was over, I would seriously question the sanity of Starfleet Command if they didn't decide to cut their losses and phase out the Galaxy-class.
IMO, there probably would be a need for more Galaxy-class ships after the Dominion War if Starfleet returned to its deep-space exploration programs. Then again, we saw Galaxy-class ships in action during the Dominion War...
"saw in action" is a vast understatement. They basically fought in every major fleet engagement that appeared onscreen. In "Sacrifice of Angels" they basically blasted a gap through the Cardassian Galor class destroyers.
I think the Nebula class will prove to be longer-lived and utilized more by Starfleet than the Galaxy class. I kind of feel like with the advent of the Sovereign class and a change in design philosophy in the post-TNG era, the Galaxy class will end up falling behind and only a few will survive long into the 25th century.
The Nebula class ships are about 80% commonality with the Galaxy class. Why would the Nebulas then outlast the Galaxy's when they are mostly the same ships configured differently?
In the real world you see that just because a device might have superior performance over another very similar design that it doesn't mean it will always enjoy extra longevity. If the Nebula proved to offer an acceptable level of capability and in a fashion that was more efficient or economical than the Galaxy it creates the possibility that it could usurp it. Not stating it will, but it is possible.