Enterprise-A Questions

[Airmandan]

So back to the Enterprise-A, the idea of a technology demonstrator makes a whole lot of sense, especially given the relatively futuristic appearance of her systems at the end of ST-3 and 4. While we know the real-world reason, in-universe for her to be furnished as if she was a galaxy class makes little sense. But if she was a showboat to what would be coming in future starship deigns, then her being able to be quickly renamed and retired after a relatively short service life makes sense. We can further infer that while the upgrades might have been good for drydock tours or short flights in the solar system, long term the designs had serious teething issues, hence her relatively downgraded look in ST 5. Same thing happened to Excelsior, when we first saw her bridge in ST-3 compared to 5.

 

[publiusr]

The 1701-A will always be the Ti-ho to me.

From Johnson’s work?

I seem to remember the name “Levant.”

Another 1701-A concept

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[Yaroze86]

Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise.

 

[F. King Daniel]

From Johnson’s work?

I seem to remember the name “Levant.”

I think Levant was from Ships of the Star Fleet?

IIRC, according to FASA the U.S.S. Atlantis was renamed Enterprise-A.

 

[Ithekro]

Why is it Ti-ho and not Taiho?

 

[korblborp]

Which doesn’t make a lick of sense when the Galaxy is supposed to last a century with regular refits.

tbf, those plans were made in peacetime, before the reveal of the Borg, the reemergence of the Romulans, the Dominion war, klingon turmoils that could have boiled over, etc.

 

[Mres_was_framed!]

My Special Edition DVD has a commentary from Meyer in which he states he did indeed plan to have Kirk "had over the keys" (the phrase he used) to the new crew from TNG, until he was told that 80 years separated them.

I like going by the idea that the first two digits of the stardate indicate the year for the movies, putting Star Trek 5 at 2284, and Star Trek 6 and 2295. 11 years in service helps make the ship not seem quite so new when it is replaced...but what I really would prefer is to suggest that the Enterprise-B sequence is set a lot later that 78 years before the Enterprise-D segment of Generations. If it was say, 30 years after Star Trek 6, and 48 years before the later part of the movie, or any mount of time that makes sense to a viewer, we would have all that time for the Enterprise-A to be in service.

Games like Star Trek: Legacy show older ships as medical ships, and the Miranda class is shown as a cargo ship when it is older. There is a model shown onscreen in TNG of a Constitution class ship that has sideways nacelles and has what appear to be cargo doors where the large windows should be. The Wambundu class, like the Drake from TNG, are called light cruisers and medical transports. My theory is that this class could be the name given to Constitution class ships that were made this way or converted to this appearnace. That could give the Enterprise-A even longer to serve, under a different name and in a different role, or it could explain how the name is transfrerred to the Enterprise-B in a short time. I don't consider the Star Trek made since 2009 to be cannon, but the Entperprise-A being in the fleet museum onscreen does not mean it was never used this way, it could be that it was "restored" to its appearance under Kirk's control for museum display.

Additonally, the Shatner novels invlove the suddent planning change from an Enterprise-A that will go on to get a new crew, to an Enterprise-B that is Excelsior class, as a plot point, although mugh dicussed here does not fit into the plot line of the novels.

 

[Ithekro]

In theory, the Enterprise-A could have been given her original name for her remaining career, and only returned to being Enterprise when she retired and was placed in the museum.

 

[F. King Daniel]

My Special Edition DVD has a commentary from Meyer in which he states he did indeed plan to have Kirk "had over the keys" (the phrase he used) to the new crew from TNG, until he was told that 80 years separated them.

And by keys, he actually meant keys. Click!

 

[Dukhat]

In theory, the Enterprise-A could have been given her original name for her remaining career, and only returned to being Enterprise when she retired and was placed in the museum.

Sounds needlessly convoluted. But then again, it’s no more convoluted than that silly Saratoga nonsense at the Starfleet Museum.