Dreadnought-Class Production Line (Spoilers?)

[Kevman7987]

I think the thing we can all agree on is the fact that the USS Vengeance from Star Trek Into Darkness was awesome looking.

The Dreadnought class seems to be designed purely as a

Spoiler: SPOILER

warship

& the prototype was

Spoiler: SPOILER

destroyed

Does anybody else wonder if Starfleet continued the production line and just put them in storage for a time if they were ever to be needed? Or scaled them down and replaced the weapons with labs and scientific equipment? I'd hate for Starfleet to just mothball such a badass design because of its prototype.

 

[arch101]

I got the impression she was a one-off built for Marcus as a command ship. You could see some of her tech trickle into future starship designs, though.

 

[saddestmoon]

I reckon we might see the USS Vengeance's legacy in future starfleet starships - particularly if the next movie showcases

Spoiler: SPOILER

a conflict with the Klingon Empire (as warned by Admiral Marcus).The Vengeance was designed with a Klingon war in mind, so I wouldn't be surprised if aspects of her tech lives on - especially if we see a more militarized Starfleet in Trek III. I believe the Vengeance can be considered foreshadowing of that conflict yet to come...

As it was simply the Prototype that was

Spoiler: SPOILER

destroyed (but perhaps still salvageable...) I think there's a strong chance the big V will reappear again, from the devastation of San Francisco's waterside.

The interesting thing about the Vengeance is that it's lineage harks back to the Narada (emerging several decades earlier in the Alt timeline), which was a future Romulan Mining ship (from the 24th Century Prime timeline), enhanced with Borg Tech... so the Vengeance really is quite an advanced starship / oddity, by anyones standards...

I'd be really surprised if Starfleet did away with her specs completely... despite

Spoiler: SPOILER

the ways Khan and Marcus used her.

EDIT: I was also intrigued to see

Spoiler: SPOILER

on the Vengeance, those movable rail guns / cannons, which appeared to lock the Enterprise in it's sights - did we ever see those in action (ie: when the Ent and the Vengeance went to warp) or were they another new type of weapon perhaps...?

 

[Kruezerman]

Her nacelles did look similar to the refit Enterprise's. So there's that.

 

[M.A.C.O.]

USS Vengeance is comparable to the Reman Scimitar. Built with a war in mind and has all the bells and whistles to be a one ship war machine. I doubt Starfleet would let the technological attributes and advances completely go to waste in future models. Not saying they'll build more like it, but everything that can be salvaged from the wreck will probably be catalog and used for reference when it comes to build the next line of starship.

 

[F. King Daniel]

EDIT: I was also intrigued to see

Spoiler: SPOILER

on the Vengeance, those movable rail guns / cannons, which appeared to lock the Enterprise in it's sights - did we ever see those in action (ie: when the Ent and the Vengeance went to warp) or were they another new type of weapon perhaps...?

Spoiler: what those were

They were the aft photon torpedo launchers, according to the movie dialogue. Like enormous versions of the mini launchers on the USS Kelvin saucer.

 

[DEWLine]

Until I actually read the thread, I had thought that the discussion here was about how long the Vengeance project had been in the works. I suspect that its creation pre-dates the discovery of the Botany Bay by a considerable timespan.

 

[Kevman7987]

Until I actually read the thread, I had thought that the discussion here was about how long the Vengeance project had been in the works. I suspect that its creation pre-dates the discovery of the Botany Bay by a considerable timespan.

That makes perfect sense. The unfreezing of Khan probably slowed the design/construction process down slightly because they used his Eugenics War experience to upgrade the weapons systems and other tech. But the Vengeance was going to be created no matter what. What we see in the film is just a more dangerous version than originally designed by Section 31.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Starfleet would be foolish not to use this design. It may have been built and launched under circumstances which were not ideal, but the design itself is out there. It's useable. It could have any number of uses, in or out of wartime.

If there are no other ships of the class NOW, there should be soon. Get more ships built and do it fast. The next time war comes, Starfleet will be glad it did.

In the hands of a proper command crew, with orders coming from the real Starfleet (not some criminal conspiracy called Section 31), this ship could be a force for good. And a bloody good one at that.

 

[Kruezerman]

I always figured the Vengeance was incomplete, Marcus just wanted her launched now.

 

[saddestmoon]

EDIT: I was also intrigued to see

Spoiler: SPOILER

on the Vengeance, those movable rail guns / cannons, which appeared to lock the Enterprise in it's sights - did we ever see those in action (ie: when the Ent and the Vengeance went to warp) or were they another new type of weapon perhaps...?

Spoiler: what those were

They were the aft photon torpedo launchers, according to the movie dialogue. Like enormous versions of the mini launchers on the USS Kelvin saucer.

^^^ Thanks for confirming that! Would have been cool to see those in action

 

[Kpnuts]

I think the thing we can all agree on is the fact that the USS Vengeance from Star Trek Into Darkness was awesome looking.

Speak for yourself. I thought it was horrible looking, like something that belonged more in Transformers. There are a couple of nice angles, but otherwise, ugly IMO.

 

[anh165]

Will the dreadnought class have landing gear next time round?

 

[anh165]

In the hands of a proper command crew, with orders coming from the real Starfleet (not some criminal conspiracy called Section 31), this ship could be a force for good. And a bloody good one at that.

Umm, isn't that what the Enterprise is for?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ That too. But with war with the Klingons looming, Starfleet will need all the power it can get its hands on. Assuming the blueprints for the Vengeance-class ships still exist, Starfleet would be foolish not to use them.

 

[bullethead]

In the hands of a proper command crew, with orders coming from the real Starfleet (not some criminal conspiracy called Section 31), this ship could be a force for good. And a bloody good one at that.

Umm, isn't that what the Enterprise is for?

Yeah, but the given nuKirk's command incompetence, Starfleet is better off sending the Enterprise deliberately into harm's way as a distraction and loading up Dreadnoughts with those long range torpedoes to wipe out Klingon infrastructure and military fortifications.

 

[anh165]

^ That too. But with war with the Klingons looming, Starfleet will need all the power it can get its hands on. Assuming the blueprints for the Vengeance-class ships still exist, Starfleet would be foolish not to use them.

I am not sure why there would necessarily be a full blown war with the Klingons. It seems only Admiral Marcus wanted one or was so paranoid it would happen that he resorted to building the Vengeance and using Khan.

The Federation are very active in diplomatic channels - having gunships like the Vengeance hanging around outside the klingon border will undermine any peaceful credentials.

The Enterprise is a much better representation of who the Federation are and is capable of defending itself without resembling something that is looking for trouble.

 

[Timo]

Do we know the Vengeance would be the only one of her kind? For all we know, the class is in full-blown production already, with USS Dreadnought undergoing clandestine trials for the third year, and USS Treading of Jeweled Thrones under Sandaled Feet having her first major maintenance layover.

Kirk seems ignorant of the program, but he has been out in deep space already, and has been concentrating on getting back there for five years lately. The idea that the Dreadnought program would be secret from the rest of Starfleet is sort of discredited by Marcus openly portraying that model on his desk, and by security on the dockyards not being particularly strict.

Possibly the only exceptional thing about the Vengeance here was her mode of deployment: rather than being launched on a Starfleet mission with a Starfleet crew, she was confiscated by Marcus and a mercenary team for a private sortie, and Marcus fully intended to return her afterwards.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[DEWLine]

Looked and sounded like the Vengeance was built as a black-ops one-off version of a design already in service...?

 

[SeerSGB]

Maybe Vengeance started as an off the shelf Dreadnought (maybe even belong to a older class of ship to start with) and Marcus appropriated her for use a "new technologies" testbed. Funding for the ship doesn't have be hidden, the model on his desk is no big deal, and it fits with Kirk thinking they can outrun the Vengeance at warp.