Do the number of nacelles make any difference in ship speed?

[Go-Captain]

It's too bad there isn't anything solid on this topic but then it wouldn’t be much of a topic if we had the info.

I think the most obvious answer is likely correct, more engines means more power and more speed.

There would be one major advantage to having more than one nacelle, the work per engine can be spread out, implying a four nacelle design can maintain a higher speed with less wear per engine offering longer top warp duration or higher top speed, or a mix of both.

The reason we mostly see two nacelle designs is probably just as simple, diminishing returns at top warp speed offers little advantage to more than two warp engines unless a mission specifically requires it. We don’t see one engine designs because that’s a little too vulnerable and slow. As engineering improves the peak power of one engine would improve, but at the same time manufacturing would improve and make having more engines cost less to implement.

That fits with how the Prometheus probably would have been a rapid response Borg interceptor, needing every last bit of speed, where as the Defiant is more a strategically defensive platform since it is slow, but I suppose that’s speculation.

 

[at Quark's]

Actually "Top Cruise Speeds" AKA "Max Speeds" are known as the Fastest speeds a vessel can travel for a period of time potentially with some conditions relating to sustaining said "Top Speeds", but not necessarilly what they can sustain indefinitely as long as they have fuel.
There are actual rated "Cruise Speeds" that are optimized for range and sustainable flight with a theoretical infinite amount fo fuel, which are usually lower than the "Top Cruise Speeds".There are actual rated "Cruise Speeds" that are optimized for range and sustainable flight with a theoretical infinite amount fo fuel, which are usually lower than the "Top Cruise Speeds".

If the discussion is getting this technical, perhaps it's a good idea to cite the exact source quote from Caretaker:

STADI: That's our ship. That's Voyager. Intrepid class. Sustainable cruise velocity of warp factor nine point nine seven five. Fifteen decks. Crew complement of one hundred and forty one. Bio-neural circuitry.

So it doesn't talk about 'top cruise velocity' but rather 'sustainable cruise velocity'. Whether that term is still supposed to mean 'top cruise velocity', I don't know.

 

[Timo]

Even that one seems to be a transcript/dialogue error - to my best understanding, Stadi actually says "stable cruise velocity".

The other reference, from "Relativity", has Janeway expressing warp 9.975 as her new ship's "top cruising speed". So neither of these actually reinforces the "cruise" concept with a mention of "sustainability".

Timo Saloniemi

 

[at Quark's]

I do think she really says 'sustainable' (see this clip)

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

I do think she really says 'sustainable' (see this clip)

Thanks for the clip:

Stadi states: "Standard Warp Cruise Velocity of Warp Factor 9.975"

 

[Tuskin38]

Though as it was noted, the USS Prometheus had 5 nacelles because the ship was able to split into 3 parts (due to multi-vector assault mode).

6 nacelles, the saucer had 2 as well. Only 4 of them were used when it wasn't seperated.

 

[Forbin]

I heard "sustainable" in the clip.

 

[John Clark]

For what it's worth, I hear Sustainable too.

Just dug out my copy of the novel and can confirm that's what they use too.

 

[Timo]

I do think she really says 'sustainable' (see this clip)

Thanks - on this one, it definitely sounds like "sstainable", with the slightest bit of blurring at the start. And I can understand why this would also sound a bit like "standard". It's like those ambiguous digits in registries: "Is it 6 or 8?". Not solvable on VHS or even DVD, but enter Blu-Ray and you're done. And here I'm a convert to "sustainable" now.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Deks]

Thanks for the clip:

Stadi states: "Standard Warp Cruise Velocity of Warp Factor 9.975"

Actually she said: 'Sustainable/stable cruise velocity of warp Factor 9.975'.

It seems like she rushed through the first word which would could either mean 'sustainable' or 'stable'... but it definitely sounded 'sustainable' to me.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

Actually she said: 'Sustainable/stable cruise velocity of warp Factor 9.975'.

It seems like she rushed through the first word which would could either mean 'sustainable' or 'stable'... but it definitely sounded 'sustainable' to me.

I DLed the clip and listened to it on repeat.

She definitely rushed/slured those words. It's closer to 'Sustainable' than 'Stable'.

 

[Imaus]

I really doubt any starship will continue a journey with one or two dead nacelles. At best, one or two knocked out of three or four means they can limp back home for repairs than to wait for a tug. But it's not like they'll continue on going with the dead weight.

I always thought of them as being there to 'share the load', four nacelles means each nacelle has a longer lifespan than just burning through normal coils. So to speed, no, though maybe four nacelles could maintain a emergency or top speed for longer? Burn out two, switch to two others, repeat?

It's also not a far stretch to say that Warp nacelles are also h-e-a-v-y, probably the heaviest, massive things besides the tankage, antimatter core, impulse engines and reactors, and computer core. Strapping one or two more on means your ship becomes sluggish at impulse or even in warp, strains structural integrity (and normal material integrity).

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

I'd hope that any warp velocity was stable, or else it'd be very unpleasant for the ship and crew.

 

[Forbin]

Well, when I'm kitbashing, my head canon supersedes anything else .
During TOS, nacelles were power generators, so the more nacelles, the more power.
TMP onward, you might need four LN-64 nacelles for a bigger ship (My USS Coeur de Lion, and 3-nacelle dreadnoughts Dominion and Kirov), or four nacelles might buy you more speed for an emergency dash (my TNG era Grand Alliance) (kitbashes can be seen in the link in my sig). Far more important, IMHO, to make a cool-looking (but believable) ship.

 

[F. King Daniel]

For example, if a ship has four nacelles does it make it faster in warp than a ship with two nacelles?

If it did, Harry Mudd's ship from Short Treks would be the fastest ship in the galaxy.

 

[Timo]

The ideal getaway vehicle, yeah.

Although I enjoy talking about screws, that is, of the nacelles as being such for a ship, they could also be likened to the tires of a road vehicle. Perhaps Mudd's are so badly balanced that he needs to keep adding new ones to the other side to keep the ship flying straight and not rattling herself to pieces?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Albertese]

If it did, Harry Mudd's ship from Short Treks would be the fastest ship in the galaxy.

I don't have CBS All Acess... could someone post a picture of Mudd's ship in question?

--Alex

 

[Timo]

This is the MA page:

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Mudd's_ship_(2257)

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Leathco]

I always get crapped on for saying this, although I always preface it by saying this is my headcanon. Love when someone says that my headcanon is wrong.

In Voyager they used the term "Faster than light, no left or right." I always figured that this rule applies to a single nacelle, it makes the warp field bubble and shoots the ship in a straight line. However, with two nacelles, each nacelle is generating a section of the bubble, and one side can be larger or smaller than the other, allowing for a turn. Now, if there is a third nacelle, you have more control, allowing the ship to angle up or down as well. A fourth nacelle allows even more control of the warp bubble, but with each nacelle the ship would me more complicated to navigate. Now I'm just waiting for someone to tell me my head canon is wrong, lol.

 

[David cgc]

Actually, I can’t remember who wrote it (probably Sternbach or Okuda), but one of the Ships of the Line calendars had a tech breakdown of the Ring Ship Enterprise, and explained that human ships ultimately stuck with pairs of nacelles rather than one big ring like Vulcan ships because multiple nacelles made it easier to turn at warp and alter your heading to investigate interesting things you came across in transit, while the more regimented Vulcans had no problem staying at warp, fixed in the same direction, until they got where they had already planned on going.