Lack of a fleet?

[GalaxyClass1701]

SOmething that has always bugged me about ENT is that they never showed any other Starfleet ships besides Columbia.

I understand that the only NX class ships were Enterprise and Columbia but they never really show any of the other ships of the fleet.

Does anyone know why and did this bug you?

 

[RandyS]

Enterprise and Columbia were supposed to be the first two ships in Starfleet, but the writers even screwed that up. In the season 2 finale (don't remember the title) as Enterprise approaches Earth after the Xindi attack, it's ambushed by a Klingon ship, and rescued by several Starfleet starships, in effect, destroying the whole point of the series, Enterprise being Starfleet's first starship.

 

[JiNX-01]

Enterprise and Columbia were supposed to be the first two ships in Starfleet, but the writers even screwed that up. In the season 2 finale (don't remember the title) as Enterprise approaches Earth after the Xindi attack, it's ambushed by a Klingon ship, and rescued by several Starfleet starships, in effect, destroying the whole point of the series, Enterprise being Starfleet's first starship.

IIRC, the ships that came to Enterprise's rescue were not deep space ships ... they also came out to meet the NX-01 at the end of Stormfront II.

 

[GalaxyClass1701]

Enterprise and Columbia were supposed to be the first two ships in Starfleet, but the writers even screwed that up. In the season 2 finale (don't remember the title) as Enterprise approaches Earth after the Xindi attack, it's ambushed by a Klingon ship, and rescued by several Starfleet starships, in effect, destroying the whole point of the series, Enterprise being Starfleet's first starship.

I don't think that this is accurate? I think that Enertprise was supposed to be Earths first Warp 5 ship. I think that there was an actual fleet but maybe they only had warp 1 or warp 3 engines aalowing them to only stay kind of local.

 

[seigezunt]

Enterprise and Columbia were supposed to be the first two ships in Starfleet, but the writers even screwed that up. In the season 2 finale (don't remember the title) as Enterprise approaches Earth after the Xindi attack, it's ambushed by a Klingon ship, and rescued by several Starfleet starships, in effect, destroying the whole point of the series, Enterprise being Starfleet's first starship.

I don't think that this is accurate? I think that Enertprise was supposed to be Earths first Warp 5 ship. I think that there was an actual fleet but maybe they only had warp 1 or warp 3 engines aalowing them to only stay kind of local.

that was what I took from it.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

They had ships like Intrepid and those wedge things that were in The Expanse. They weren't warp 5 ships, so they were mostly for local defense. We also saw the Sarajevo as another Earth ship in the fourth season. Earth had a fleet, it just was a local fleet.

 

[Admiral Shran]

The Enterprise and the Columbia were supposed to be the newest additions to the fleet, and the first truly deep space vessels Earth had produced. Earth clearly had a fleet, but a rather small and locally-based one.

What kind of bothered me was that Earth really needed to have more of a deep space fleet by the end of the series. The Romulan War was only a year or two away by the end of the fourth season. Earth, by necessity, would need to have more of a presence outside the Sol System to effectively fight this conflict. Though, I suppose, after the events of "Babel One/United" and "Demons/Terra Prime," the United Earth government could have really hit the gas petal on the production of NX-class starships.

Still, the Columbia needed to be launched earlier and some more NXs needed to be around by the end.

 

[GalaxyClass1701]

The Enterprise and the Columbia were supposed to be the newest additions to the fleet, and the first truly deep space vessels Earth had produced. Earth clearly had a fleet, but a rather small and locally-based one.

What kind of bothered me was that Earth really needed to have more of a deep space fleet by the end of the series. The Romulan War was only a year or two away by the end of the fourth season. Earth, by necessity, would need to have more of a presence outside the Sol System to effectively fight this conflict. Though, I suppose, after the events of "Babel One/United" and "Demons/Terra Prime," the United Earth government could have really hit the gas petal on the production of NX-class starships.

Still, the Columbia needed to be launched earlier and some more NXs needed to be around by the end.

Exactly they had a local fleet. The book Romulan War said that the Bulk of the fleet was the Dadealus class ship. I know it is a book but I am assuming that they had a local fleet that probally only had only warp 1 or maybe 3 engines.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

It's possible they managed to refit those other ships and make them Warp 5 capable.

 

[RandyS]

Enterprise and Columbia were supposed to be the first two ships in Starfleet, but the writers even screwed that up. In the season 2 finale (don't remember the title) as Enterprise approaches Earth after the Xindi attack, it's ambushed by a Klingon ship, and rescued by several Starfleet starships, in effect, destroying the whole point of the series, Enterprise being Starfleet's first starship.

I don't think that this is accurate? I think that Enertprise was supposed to be Earths first Warp 5 ship. I think that there was an actual fleet but maybe they only had warp 1 or warp 3 engines aalowing them to only stay kind of local.

that was what I took from it.

Really? I took from it that Enterprise was the first ship in Starfleet. Yes, they did say specifically that it was the first warp 5 ship, but didn't elaborate. They also said that Archer and his crew were Starfleet's first explorers. From this, I took it to mean that there was not a fleet yet.

Of course, I may be wrong, but considering all the continuity errors the writers made on the last two shows, I don't think I am.

 

[Nerys Myk]

^So it was "Starfleet" in name only?

Enterprise's internal continuity was probably tighter than TOS.

 

[Timo]

They also said that Archer and his crew were Starfleet's first explorers. From this, I took it to mean that there was not a fleet yet.

Well, you can't exactly "explore" if your ships are too slow to get out of the already Vulcan-surveyed volume of space in anything shorter than half a century...

Starfleet before the Enterprise was probably mostly a combat force, intended to protect the Sol system and Earth's meager colonial interests. Those early, slow ships might have made it into deep space the same way the Boomer trading ships did: by spending years on every leg of the journey. But they couldn't serve in any military role, then, as they couldn't do things like respond or regroup, not at those speeds.

Of course, I may be wrong, but considering all the continuity errors the writers made on the last two shows, I don't think I am.

I do think you are. The writers weren't halfway bad on continuity - but some of the audience seems to be... Sticking to a misconception isn't "continuity"!

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I don't think that this is accurate? I think that Enertprise was supposed to be Earths first Warp 5 ship. I think that there was an actual fleet but maybe they only had warp 1 or warp 3 engines aalowing them to only stay kind of local.

that was what I took from it.

Really? I took from it that Enterprise was the first ship in Starfleet. Yes, they did say specifically that it was the first warp 5 ship, but didn't elaborate. They also said that Archer and his crew were Starfleet's first explorers. From this, I took it to mean that there was not a fleet yet.

Of course, I may be wrong, but considering all the continuity errors the writers made on the last two shows, I don't think I am.

There's onscreen evidence of a fleet. Your assumption that "first Warp 5 ship" means "first ship" is a bit of a stretch (especially if you then blame a continuity error that doesn't exist).

 

[GalaxyClass1701]

^So it was "Starfleet" in name only?

Enterprise's internal continuity was probably tighter than TOS.

that was what I took from it.

Really? I took from it that Enterprise was the first ship in Starfleet. Yes, they did say specifically that it was the first warp 5 ship, but didn't elaborate. They also said that Archer and his crew were Starfleet's first explorers. From this, I took it to mean that there was not a fleet yet.

Of course, I may be wrong, but considering all the continuity errors the writers made on the last two shows, I don't think I am.

There's onscreen evidence of a fleet. Your assumption that "first Warp 5 ship" means "first ship" is a bit of a stretch (especially if you then blame a continuity error that doesn't exist).

Where the only episode I see evidence is the episode where the Xindi are hunting down the crew where T'pol and Archer are living together after the Xindi destroy Earth.

Again imo there is probaly a fleet of low warp ships most likley only Warp 1 ships.

 

[RandyS]

^So it was "Starfleet" in name only?

Maybe at first. They had to start somewhere didn't they? The intention was to build a fleet, but it takes time to build those ships.

Who knows? All this is just guesswork anyway.

 

[GalaxyClass1701]

^So it was "Starfleet" in name only?

Maybe at first. They had to start somewhere didn't they? The intention was to build a fleet, but it takes time to build those ships.

Who knows? All this is just guesswork anyway.

Yea but this wasn't Enterprise they already had a low warp fleet Enterprise was just the first warp 5 ship.

 

[Hatchet2k4]

To be honest the time this bugged me the most was in Zero Hour.. Seriously, no ships to give any resistance to the Xindi weapon at all, and the only assistance they get was the Andorians? This was somewhat remedied at the end of Stormfront, but there should have been something.. I guess they thought it would have gotton in the way of the story.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

So it was "Starfleet" in name only?

Well, they had to pick *something* for the name. And let's face it, "Starfleet" is a damn sight better than those ridiculous pulp-novel names they kept coming up with in the early days of TOS, like Space Command, Star Service, United Earth Space Probe Agency, etc.

 

[C.E. Evans]

So it was "Starfleet" in name only?

Well, they had to pick *something* for the name. And let's face it, "Starfleet" is a damn sight better than those ridiculous pulp-novel names they kept coming up with in the early days of TOS, like Space Command, Star Service, United Earth Space Probe Agency, etc.

But when you think about it, "Star Fleet Command" isn't any less a "ridiculous pulp-novel name" than the others. It does, however, have the virtue of having being drilled into people's heads for over 40 years (which makes anything else sound strange to most of us).

Had they stuck with Space Command or the Star Service, people would have gotten used to that as well, IMO.

 

[StarshipDefiant]

Enterprise definitely wasn't their first starship, or maybe a better term would be "spaceship" (or spacecraft), depending on how you would want to define a starship. In some instances, it could be as such, the first "true" starship, because of it's deep space capabilities (thereby making the rest of the fleet seem like pop-shooters in comparison). This is what bugs me about ENT though, it's another silly little thing where people cry canon violation (like using a theme song with lyrics, T'Pols eyebrows, T'Pol in general, Enterprise using panels to hide things, using plasma screens, etc...). I doubt that they had only one ship, Enterprise in the 90 odd years since First Contact with the Vulcans. Especially as TNG and TOS established the existence of starships/spaceships/spacecraft well before the setting of ENT, but after FC. I admit...maybe seeing them earlier on besides just a dramatic moment might have helped things.

To be honest the time this bugged me the most was in Zero Hour.. Seriously, no ships to give any resistance to the Xindi weapon at all, and the only assistance they get was the Andorians? This was somewhat remedied at the end of Stormfront, but there should have been something.. I guess they thought it would have gotton in the way of the story.

You and me both, this happens all the time on trek, but in ENT it's even more noticeable, because as mentioned a few ships were seen in "The Expanse" and even more were seen in "Storm Front, Part II". Such as it is, the budget of a TV series...