Regarding Enterprises of times past, I'd just kind of like to hear an explanation as to why Starfleet waited so long between ships C and D. Has that ever been explained? (The C was lost in 2344, but the D didn't come along until 20 years after that.)
Or perhaps they intentionally held up the name Enterprise as a tribute to all the lives lost on the C.
I would guess this. We know that A came out right after Prime was gone, and B came out right after A was decommissioned, and E came out right after D was destroyed/scrapped, but none of those involved the death of most of the crew.
Do we know how long the gap was between B and C? Maybe the immediate replacements are more the exceptions?
(It's been a while, but I recall liking Well of Souls. The only one of the original six Lost Era novels that disappointed me was Deny Thy Father.)
Thing is, I think one of the Lost Era novels mentions the Enterprise B having gone missing. So if Starfleet was okay with naming another ship Enterprise while one was missing, I think they'd be okay naming another ship Enterprise if the current Enterprise were confirmed destroyed.
No, I just assume Starfleet decided the next Enterprise would be a Galaxy class, which the Tech Manual claims were in development for twenty years.