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In all of the fleet battles that took place during the Dominion War...

infinix

Fleet Captain
Fleet Captain
I can't believe we never saw a saucer separated Galaxy class. The battle section of the galaxy class should have been ideal in battles, no?
 
Re: In all of the fleet battles that took place during the Dominion Wa

^ really? That's a shame. I liked the battle bridge very much.
 
Re: In all of the fleet battles that took place during the Dominion Wa

Worf certainly seemed to believe in "Heart of Glory" that the stardrive section would fight better without the saucer. But he always was the one to go for propaganda; nobody seemed to agree with him on this issue.

We never saw the stardrive section separated for the purpose of making it a better combatant. The separations were always for allowing the saucer to flee (from battle, or from impending stardrive section malfunction), or for confusing the enemy. In contrast, the ship type was frequently flown to battle unseparated even when there were ample opportunities for separation. Seems Starfleet either never really believed the stardrive would fight better alone, or then learned this the hard way in some unseen incident where yet another Galaxy bit the dust...

Timo Saloniemi
 
Re: In all of the fleet battles that took place during the Dominion Wa

Worf certainly seemed to believe in "Heart of Glory" that the stardrive section would fight better without the saucer. But he always was the one to go for propaganda; nobody seemed to agree with him on this issue.

We never saw the stardrive section separated for the purpose of making it a better combatant. The separations were always for allowing the saucer to flee (from battle, or from impending stardrive section malfunction), or for confusing the enemy. In contrast, the ship type was frequently flown to battle unseparated even when there were ample opportunities for separation. Seems Starfleet either never really believed the stardrive would fight better alone, or then learned this the hard way in some unseen incident where yet another Galaxy bit the dust...

Timo Saloniemi

Sounds like bad planning to me. Shame on the 24th century.
 
Re: In all of the fleet battles that took place during the Dominion Wa

I can't believe we never saw a saucer separated Galaxy class. The battle section of the galaxy class should have been ideal in battles, no?

I think we never saw it because it would have been idiotic. Why exactly would you want to take away more phaser arrays and engines before going into a battle?

Yes, there was a line from Worf in early TNG, but I've always thought it was REALLY frigging moronic because...again, more engines and phasers somehow equals a burden? :wtf:

Thankfully, TNG itself and DS9 both seemed to abandon the silly notion that cutting the ship in half makes it more effective.
 
Re: In all of the fleet battles that took place during the Dominion Wa

They may have needed the power from the saucer's impulse engines.

Anyway, the idea of separating the ship was never to make the stardrive meaner. it was to remove civilians from the field of combat.

Given that the civilians could have easily been dropped off at a starbase, there was no need to separate the ship. no one on it who had to get to safety.
 
Re: In all of the fleet battles that took place during the Dominion Wa

^That's what it should be, exclusively, but there WAS some line in Heart of Glory from Worf. To the tune of "When it seperates from the saucer it is a formidable vessel" or something like that, which is frankly ridiculous.
 
Re: In all of the fleet battles that took place during the Dominion Wa

My friends.... One could say one of the galaxies lost its saucer in battle, imagine one of the Cardie warships colliding with the saucer of a Galaxy class starship. Since it was wartime, they couldn't provide for a new saucer. As a result, the stardrive section fought in the battles until the war was over before getting a new saucer section.
 
Re: In all of the fleet battles that took place during the Dominion Wa

Well one of the features of the Galaxy-class was meant to be that they were commissioned with a lot of empty 'slots' that could be filled with new equipment and labs when needed, so I could imagine that in wartime, those extra slots that were still empty on the Galaxy-classes could be used to install additional tactical systems, such as extra reactors, small back up shield generators, phasers charge capacitors etc.

IIRC, said empty slots were mainly all in the saucer.
 
Re: In all of the fleet battles that took place during the Dominion Wa

I figured the main purpose of seperation was using it to get crew families away from combat situations if they knew in advance they were going in, and there was no other way to get the families away from the battle site. In the war, this wouldn't be an issue, because those Galaxies are there solely for combat and would be crewed accordingly. Why sacrifice the extra phasers and reactors?
 
Re: In all of the fleet battles that took place during the Dominion Wa

I would think that, during wartime, civilians wouldn't be allowed to live on Starships as we had seen pre-war. Certainly, they wouldn't be on ships involved in Fleet Actions. No reason to separate the ship.
 
Re: In all of the fleet battles that took place during the Dominion Wa

Worf certainly seemed to believe in "Heart of Glory" that the stardrive section would fight better without the saucer. But he always was the one to go for propaganda; nobody seemed to agree with him on this issue.

We never saw the stardrive section separated for the purpose of making it a better combatant. The separations were always for allowing the saucer to flee (from battle, or from impending stardrive section malfunction), or for confusing the enemy. In contrast, the ship type was frequently flown to battle unseparated even when there were ample opportunities for separation. Seems Starfleet either never really believed the stardrive would fight better alone, or then learned this the hard way in some unseen incident where yet another Galaxy bit the dust...

Timo Saloniemi

Sounds like bad planning to me. Shame on the 24th century.

How is that bad planning? Back before the Klingon/Federation War and Dominion War and when families/civilians were still on the various ships, the saucer section would act like one giant escape pod.

Then, when those wars happened, the civilians/families stayed at a starbase or on a planet. Thus, no need to separate, unless one wanted to draw fire (and/or distract/confuse).
 
Re: In all of the fleet battles that took place during the Dominion Wa

How much less firepower does the saucer section actually provide? I count two main phaser banks and two secondary phaser banks. The star drive section has its own phaser banks, though might be less powerful. So with the separation, we have will a net surplus of firepower compared to not one ship. Let's not forget that the star-drive section has all the torpedo tubes.

Plus, without the saucer, the star-drive section would be a smaller target and has less mass to maneuver in impulse.

Finally, I would think that the saucer section would be perfect decoys or cannon fodder during the huge fleet battles. The saucer sections could be put on auto-pilot to attract or even absorb enemy fire with the smaller ships hiding behind it. Tactically, I see nothing but advantage for having the saucer separated.
 
Re: In all of the fleet battles that took place during the Dominion Wa

How much less firepower does the saucer section actually provide? I count two main phaser banks and two secondary phaser banks. The star drive section has its own phaser banks, though might be less powerful. So with the separation, we have will a net surplus of firepower compared to not one ship. Let's not forget that the star-drive section has all the torpedo tubes.

But the saucer section will have far less power, due to the warp core being in the stardrive. If the Galaxy is kept whole, there's more power to draw on for all the phasers.

And you have the exact same amount of firepower, if not less, should the saucer section separate.

Plus, without the saucer, the star-drive section would be a smaller target and has less mass to maneuver in impulse.

But it'd also be like flying with a giant bomb strapped on, and half the shields and support you'd normally have.

Finally, I would think that the saucer section would be perfect decoys or cannon fodder during the huge fleet battles. The saucer sections could be put on auto-pilot to attract or even absorb enemy fire with the smaller ships hiding behind it.

So what happens when the battle is over and all the saucers are destroyed? It would take months, at the very least, to build replacement saucers. And the stardrive section isn't meant to go without the saucer for any prolonged period of time, since all the crew support systems (not to mention most of the shuttlebays and cargo bays) are in the saucer.

And that's assuming the enemy vessels didn't simply go "Gee, there's no life signs in that giant saucer. Let me ignore it and focus on that nacelled section."

Not to mention the fact that flying a ship with only autopilot tends to not be very effective.

Tactically, I see nothing but advantage for having the saucer separated.

Don't forget the few disadvantages, too.
 
Re: In all of the fleet battles that took place during the Dominion Wa

My friends.... One could say one of the galaxies lost its saucer in battle, imagine one of the Cardie warships colliding with the saucer of a Galaxy class starship. Since it was wartime, they couldn't provide for a new saucer. As a result, the stardrive section fought in the battles until the war was over before getting a new saucer section.

Wouldn't that be like a headless horseman? I suppose it might throw off the enemy, for a second or two anyway.
 
Re: In all of the fleet battles that took place during the Dominion Wa

I agree that the main purpose was to protect civilians if the ship was attacked during peacetime. The saucer section had multiple phaser arrays, and Ive always thought it would be useful as a kind of shield.

Considering its huge surface area, I would imagine thatmost enemy fire would strike home on the saucer. In that case, it could take a lot of the punishment, then be seperated when it was to far gone to be useful.
 
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