Mystery ship in the opening credits

[Matt]

Captain X said:
They are until contradicted by something else.

No.

The only things that are canonical are:

All shows and movies broadcast by the company who owns Star Trek BESIDES the animated series.

And anything Gene Roddenberry explicitly hailed as canonical.

I believe "The Making of Star Trek" book is true canon, because of something Gene said about it being "official" information. Where's Therin of Andor when you need him?

The ship in the intro of Enterprise will F O R E V E R be a mystery ship with an U N K N O W N name or designation, until otherwise stated on screen. PERIOD.

 

[Captain X]

Personally I find it funny that people will ignore the information given in a resource like the Encyclopedia, or from the artist himself, yet they'll slap a name on an unknown ship barely on screen for a few seconds and that's "canon" for them.

 

[Matt]

It doesn't matter what a book says. It doesn't even matter what Gene Roddenberry himself would say. If it's not on screen, it's not official. The only non-TV/movie thing that is supposedly canonical is the info in "The Making of Star Trek" book.

 

[TeutonicNights]

It's the USS Lollipop.

 

[Timo]

Actually, it's the USS Emmette, as per the inside scoop that CaptainX commented on above...

Or at least the model was called the Emmette, for whatever reason. Probably it wasn't actually marked to indicate that name, or any other, though.

How does one "modify" a CGI creation to the effect of changing all visible shapes and textures? It's quite possible this could be a gradual process of twisting, turning, stretching and reskinning, but one would think it much easier to start from a clean slate.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[xanderwess]

I have always thought it was a Romulan ship.

 

[Matt]

Timo said:
Actually, it's the USS Emmette, as per the inside scoop that CaptainX commented on above...

Or at least the model was called the Emmette, for whatever reason. Probably it wasn't actually marked to indicate that name, or any other, though.

How does one "modify" a CGI creation to the effect of changing all visible shapes and textures? It's quite possible this could be a gradual process of twisting, turning, stretching and reskinning, but one would think it much easier to start from a clean slate.

Timo Saloniemi

Regardless of who said what, it was never said ON SCREEN and therefor as I keep telling everyone, will remain a mystery forever.

It's extremely easy to modify or add on to 3D models.

 

[Kirk the Jerk]

Matt said:
What do you mean, TECHNICALLY wasn't canon? It TOTALLY isn't canonical.

It's an unknown ship, and will remain unknown until there's a movie or TV broadcast with it where they explain what the ship is somehow.

Since that's never going to happen, it'll remain unknown!

All we know:

It's an Earth ship.
It has warp nacelles.
It is slower than a Warp 5 vessel.
It is most likely a pre-NX Starfleet vessel, and not a UESPA vessel. (Evidence: The Delta class starfleet ships seen in "The Expanse," and "Twilight," are based on this design. Also, in "In A Mirror Darkly," the ship fires on the moon, suggesting it's an I.S.S. ship, the mirror of Starfleet.)

Here is a better, official shot of the Delta class. This is the modified version of the ship you see in the opening titles.

http://www.shipschematics.net/startrek/images/federation/destroyer_delta.jpg

It Defiantly IS the ship in the picture, no doubt about it.

 

[Captain X]

Timo said:
How does one "modify" a CGI creation to the effect of changing all visible shapes and textures? It's quite possible this could be a gradual process of twisting, turning, stretching and reskinning, but one would think it much easier to start from a clean slate.

My understanding was that he changed the back end and the bridge module, added a couple rows of windows, then retextured the hull to make it look like a bigger ship than it originally was meant to be. None of them had any markings on them though, so they could just copy the same ship to use for scenes with more than one of them.

 

[cooleddie74]

Captain X said:
It doesn't remotely look anything like the Valiant.

Well considering that all three images have pronounced rear thruster engines like a STAR WARS Star Destroyer and nacelles...yes. They do look alike.

 

[Captain X]

Except that one has four engines in a diamond-shaped formation with downward sweeping engine pylons and the other hasseven engines with upward sweeping engine pylons...

 

[Starship Freak]

Also, if you look properly as it flies by and freeze the pic, you can see a saucershape in front! So, it most definetly isn´t the "warp-delta" Uss Emmette.

 

[Jack Bauer]

I believe the pictures of the Valiant were created just for the Chronology/Encyclopedia and were never seen on screen in any movie or episode. They're non canon and fanon at best.

 

[Irishman]

The Encyclopedia and the Chronology - cool as they are - are not canon either. In this case, it doesn't establish that design as the Valiant any more than the mystery ship on the ENT credits does.

 

[Irishman]

Starship Freak said:
Also, if you look properly as it flies by and freeze the pic, you can see a saucershape in front! So, it most definetly isn´t the "warp-delta" Uss Emmette.

I've drawn the Emmette and it is possible to reconcile the delta shape with the saucer-shaped feature on the mystery ship flyby. I don't believe that it's intended to be a full-blown saucer, rather a hint of the saucers to come (showing a structure that may portend the upper and lower saucer sensor arrays of future Earth vessels.

My 2 cents.

 

[Irishman]

Kirk the Jerk said:

Matt said:
What do you mean, TECHNICALLY wasn't canon? It TOTALLY isn't canonical.

It's an unknown ship, and will remain unknown until there's a movie or TV broadcast with it where they explain what the ship is somehow.

Since that's never going to happen, it'll remain unknown!

All we know:

It's an Earth ship.
It has warp nacelles.
It is slower than a Warp 5 vessel.
It is most likely a pre-NX Starfleet vessel, and not a UESPA vessel. (Evidence: The Delta class starfleet ships seen in "The Expanse," and "Twilight," are based on this design. Also, in "In A Mirror Darkly," the ship fires on the moon, suggesting it's an I.S.S. ship, the mirror of Starfleet.)

Here is a better, official shot of the Delta class. This is the modified version of the ship you see in the opening titles.

http://www.shipschematics.net/startrek/images/federation/destroyer_delta.jpg

It Defiantly IS the ship in the picture, no doubt about it.

Nope, no cigar. As others have already pointed out, the angle of the pylons is different for one. Secondly, and more definitive are the engines. On the Warp Delta design from the ENT-era, it has 2 rectilinear impulse exhaust designs, like the Enterprise herself. The earlier ship has a cluster of larger and small ROUND engine bells. My guess is that the earlier ship design was a hybrid of sorts from a propulsion standpoint, blending two different engine types for greater flexibility. The engine bell design also strongly suggests a Newtonian propulsion concept here.

The later Warp Delta is definitely Non-Newtonian.

Of the two, the later Warp Delta design is the more maturely-developed of the pair, and we have to conclude that it was the first one designed. The mystery credits ship was never fleshed out to be seen from any other angle that than which we see in the credits - the ass.

 

[Kirk the Jerk]

^^

Well its the nearest we'll get with picture evidence, they look VERY much the same from the two 'rear' images. other than that id agree, but lookin from the rear id say they were the same...IMO

 

[cooleddie74]

Jack Bauer said:
I believe the pictures of the Valiant were created just for the Chronology/Encyclopedia and were never seen on screen in any movie or episode. They're non canon and fanon at best.

BINGO.

Good point there. And I agree.

The Valiant itself was never(as far as we know, unless the Mystery Ship in the ENT credits is the Valiant)depicted in any artwork, Okudagram or as a physical model in any TREK series or movie. Not once. All we ever saw of the vessel was its 200-year-old recorder marker beamed aboard the Enterprise in the second TOS pilot. All models and drawings are conjectural.

 

[mythme]

There is also a god-awful picture of a early Romulan warship from the time of the Earth-Romulan wars in the Encyclopedia, but I certainly don't consider that canon either.

 

[Matt]

Do you realize that whatever you may say it is, I can reply with, "It's the USS Microsoft" And my statement would be just as valid as yours? ie: Not at all.

It will never be established on screen what it is. Period.