Does Starfleet only use Galaxys Now?

[Hartzilla2007]

These days it seems Starfleet onlys gives captains Galaxy-class Starships. Did they they become really cheap to make all of a sudden so they could focus on Slimpstream ship design or something? I mean it's starting to become the Connie in TOS i.e. the only ship you ever see.

 

[JoeZhang]

Eh? Captain Dax?

 

[C.E. Evans]

Doesn't seem like that to me. But I would imagine that designs like the Galaxy-class (and eventually the Sovereign-class) would become more commonplace as more of them are built.

There was probably a time where there weren't many Constitution- and Excelsior-class ships around when they were first introduced...

 

[DimesDan]

These days it seems Starfleet onlys gives captains Galaxy-class Starships. Did they they become really cheap to make all of a sudden so they could focus on Slimpstream ship design or something? I mean it's starting to become the Connie in TOS i.e. the only ship you ever see.

What books have you been reading?

The only Galaxy that has featured recently was in IFM unless one features in Rough Beasts of Empire, but still, one, possibly two Galaxy class starships given to new Captains doesn't in no way indicate that they only use Galaxy class starships.

 

[Paris]

In which books? There aren't any in Titan, Enterprise, TOS, Vanguard, Voyager, DS9, and other than the Challenger, there haven't been any in TNG in recent memory. Maybe you're reading older books lately?

 

[MatthiasRussell]

According to Memory Beta, there have been TONS of galaxy class ships; their list is not feasible in my book. Alpha shows only 6, including Challenger (excluding Trident and Excalibur). Even in the Dominion War, not too many were shown.

I honestly don't expect starfleet to have too many of these massive capitol ships, especially with the sovereign's debut. I'm more shocked that we only saw 3 of the Ambassador class.

 

[Paris]

Oops...forgot to mention New Frontier. There are two Galaxy-class ships leading that series...but still. That's not really overkill across the whole line..

 

[Christopher]

^Also, the Robinson, Sisko's ship in most of Rough Beasts of Empire, was Galaxy-class, though his ship at the start of the novel, the New York, was a Nebula (and Vaughn's ship, the James T. Kirk, was an Akira). So among that, NF, and the Challenger, there is kind of a minor spate of Galaxy-class ships in the literature lately. But there are plenty of other ship classes featured in the novels these days -- Sovereign, Luna, Vesta, Intrepid, Nova, etc.

 

[MatthiasRussell]

So I think we can agree between screen and relaunch there haven't been more than a dozen and that seems feasible. I believe the tng tech manual or haynes manual mentioned how many starfleet intended to build in the beginning. The number wasn't high but when you spend years on a design and have the specially built drydocks and construction jigs, might as well use them! Especially when war breaks out.

Now, when do we get AGT-type Galaxy Dreadnaughts? Dying for their literary debut!

 

[Technobuilder]

How many Galaxy Class ships where shown by the end of ST: Voyager?

Most of the ones we ever got to see for a bit where generally blown up.

What was the production run like on the Galaxy Class design?

Just off the top of my head...
Galaxy
Yamato
Enterprise-D
Excalibur
Odyssey
Challenger

 

[David cgc]

According to the TNG tech manual, there were originally six Galaxies built, with keels laid down for another six to be completed if it was deemed necessary. Probably by coincidence, there were six named Galaxies on-screen; Galaxy, Enterprise†, Yamato†, Venture, Odyssey†, and Challenger. According to Memory Alpha, the most ever seen in one place at one time was ten during the battle to retake Deep Space Nine. Also, three half-built Galaxies were at Utopia Planitia in "Relativity," just before Voyager's launch, and five were in the fleet that was scrambled to intercept the Borg sphere in "Endgame."

Maybe there really are a prodigious number of Galaxies around, now. It'd be odd for more than half of the surviving ones to all be in the immediate area of Earth in "Endgame." But, yeah, I also thought it was odd that they seemed to be being handed out like candy in the litverse. I liked to imagine the Trident is actually an Ambassador class, like the typo in the last Gateways story said, both because it cuts down on Galaxy inflation, and because the ship was given a low hull number for that class.

 

[SicOne]

I think the TNG book "Intellivore" also had two or three Galaxy-class ships in it; Breedlove, Oriadhe, and Mukaikubo (probably screwed up the spelling).

 

[captcalhoun]

some of the ships seen in the fleet in Endgame and seen in DS9 could be the canonically named ones, not 'new' ships. for one, the USS Galaxy appeared in DS9, the Venture could've been another in the war scenes and both could've been in the Endgame fleet.

and given the way the scenes of the ships are cut in Endgame, there may not even be 5, there could only be 3 in that fleet... what's the most number we see on screen at once?

 

[Mage]

By the end of Voyager, we're already 13 years AFTER the start of TNG. So a number of Galaxy's added to the fleet isn't that weird.

It's not that weird that in a period nearly 6 years after end of Voyager and almost 20 years after TNG began (the current novel-period of 2382/2383) even more have been added to the fleet.

According to Memory Beta

You do realize that most of the Galaxy's in that list are from the Star Trek games and have been added to Memory Beta by fans who insist that they are now canon somehow?

 

[Section 31]

My theory: You have four ships with registry numbers in a (relatively) concentrated block: 71807, 71832, 71854, and 71867. My interpretation is that those four numbers are representative of a sequentially serialled production block of Galaxy class starships, yielding a total of around 60 ships.

At first, that may sound like a lot, but if you spread it over a decade or more of sustained production, that's no more than 10 new ships a year. Considering the vast resources of the Federation, I think that's a fairly reasonable number. It also makes the numbers we see in later years make a little more sense, especially after the loss of the Yamato, Odyssey and Enterprise. There may have also been other unattributed attrition. I believe the novel Vendetta mentioned that a Galaxy class starship was among the 39 destroyed at Wolf 359.

I have never put a lot of stock in the TNG Tech Manual 6+6 idea. Unlike Kirk's "only a dozen like her" comment in TOS, the number of Galaxy class starships has never been established on-screen.

 

[Christopher]

You do realize that most of the Galaxy's in that list are from the Star Trek games and have been added to Memory Beta by fans who insist that they are now canon somehow?

Non sequitur. The page header on Memory Beta explicitly says "Memory Beta, non-canon Star Trek Wiki." The welcome text on the front page says "Memory Beta is a wikipedia-style database for licensed Star Trek works, including novels, comic books, RPG sourcebooks, video games and any other licensed works." It's not meant to represent an authoritative continuity, but simply to be an index of information from any and all licensed tie-ins, regardless of their mutual inconsistencies.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Didn't DS9 refer to whole wings of Galaxy-class ships? And show dozens of them in the fleet battles?

That "six in the whole fleet" bit from the old TNG Manual has simply been invalidated.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Didn't DS9 refer to whole wings of Galaxy-class ships?

Those wings could possibly mean separate fleet elements led by Galaxy-class ships, but otherwise consisting of other designs as well. Sorta like carrier taskforces perhaps.

And show dozens of them in the fleet battles?

I think there were never more than nine or ten shown together at any time in DS9. There were other designs in the background that turned out to be kitbashes upon closer inspection though...

That "six in the whole fleet" bit from the old TNG Manual has simply been invalidated.

IIRC, the TNG Tech Manual suggested that there was an initial order of twelve such ships, with six built initially and the other six to be built as conditions warranted. Even so, I think it left the possibility for even more Galaxy-class ships than twelve to be built if needed...

 

[ProwlAlpha]

Actually, if you leave out the mass Galaxies from the Star Trek Games,

Canon
Galaxy, Challenger, Yamato, Enterprise, Venture, Odyssey, Trinculo

Bookwise
Idaho, Madison, Bolivar, Breedlove, Mukaikubo, Asgard, Hedderjin, Jefferies, Excalibur, Trident, Constitution, Norman Scott, Lexington, Hood, Intrepid, Potemkin, Sequoia, Unnamed Wolf 359 Vessel, Oraidhe, Robinson, and Yorktown

Gamewise (Non-Mass)
Cheyenne, San Francisco, Dauntless, Lhasa, Oregon, Allegheny, Revenge

Ships of the Line Calendar
Ronald D. Moore

Thats what I got in my list. Actually, it seemed like the 90s Trek books were handing out Galaxies.

 

[Cicero]

According to the episode's script, Admiral Hanson's ship at Wolf 359 was also Galaxy-class (and his message during the battle was filmed on the Enterprise battle bridge set).

IIRC, the Trinculo didn't appear on screen.