Not sure I follow you there, surely they would still only occupy one location at a time, but with other locations left empty rather than attended to by others. In a political entity with a population reaching potentially in the trillions, it's pretty unlikely SF faces a problem with their available talent pool, so why assume they have such a problem with recruitment and retention of sufficiently capable command staff?
I'm assuming a random figure here? But in all seriousness, why even send the whole group? One ship would suffice for most FC scenarios whilst the group as a whole could continue operating over the galactic vicinity, covering whatever roles required their particular specialities within that sector (for instance)
Because it wouldn't be equivalent, it would mean multiplying the number of possible concurrent missions and thus increasing the success rate of the time critical ones which otherwise may have either faced relative prioritisation or the likelihood of terminally late arrival (which we also see on a regular basis)
Granted, if there is one objective. Typically though there isn't, there are so many that SF are stretched thin as it is. Surely further concentration of the eggs into even fewer baskets is likely to result in fewer objectives accomplished. Two ships for one task may be silly, but two ships for two tasks less so.
Just one general reply here so I don't make the snippets confusing.
Starfleet officers have to go through the Academy. Last time I checked enrollment was tough to get into. This means that there are a limited number of officers coming through the system. Whatever that number is - is a finite number. I'm going to hazard a guess and say that it's enough but not too many nor too few.
Add more ships - and now you are adding recruitment facilities and cadet throughput, and you are reducing your quality control. There will be a limit here, too - to a level where some negligent officer known only by his service number gets through the cracks and inadvertently destroys the Federation. Quality control is a self-correcting problem - which I would guess Starfleet guards against.
So - even with free replicator technology and whole planets of ore waiting to be mined, SF still has a finite number of ships, a finite number of officers competing for billets and status, and quality maintained at strict levels. It's their question of balance, not unmitigated production (which may eventually require Borg-like controls). So - now we ask, what's the better balance: one big ship or seven smaller ships? A very fair question!
The answer is somewhere between efficacy and self-destruction. Right? Let's say that number is "The Maximum Allowable Amount for Quality Control/Mission Success." Is that fair to say? Now all things being equal - is that seven ships with seven captains and fourteen First and Second Officers, seven Doctors, and seven Major Department Chiefs? So here's my 35 Commanders - totally random example, call it a handful of commanders on a handful of ships if you like. It ain't a million ships. It's a finite number necessitated for effective control and management of their territory exploration, etc.
So we have seven ships with 35 command staff and seven departments with seven warp cores and seven sets of dilithium crystals and seven Chief Engineers and seven transporter chiefs, seven galleys and seven bridge crews, etc.
Now compare this to the command staff of the USS Enterprise D: 7.
Captain, Exec, Ops, Tactical, Engineer, Doctor, Counselor.
Now make time a mission-critical factor.
Now recruit seven times the staff for deep space missions where only the boldest really want to go. Are these your best, most experienced officers? No, they are more the younger, less-experienced Shelby-types, thinking more of their careers than the boring old Prime Directive. Or worse - Worf types, out there starting interstellar wars.
And if you're not sending your group in orbit, where are you deploying them during your diplomatic mission - and how long will it take to regroup should an emergency arise?
And really what it seems you're describing here is exactly what it's like in the Federation
interior - minor specialty ships running to and fro, and plenty around when you need them. But the Old Gal, in the proud tradition of the Connie, is a
deep space explorer/(tactical warship). That's her
raison d'être. And you're not going to be twiddling around your seven support vessels in uncharted space to fend for themselves, get themselves separated, get themselves destroyed.
What happens when a Traveler uses his thoughts to propel seven of your ships to the end of the universe? What happens when the Q continuum decide to throw 7 Q at you? What happens when one of your ships falls into enemy hands and you set the self destruct, and it just so happened to be the weapons platform? Galaxy-class means just what it says- ALL IN FOR ANYTHING THE GALAXY THROWS AT US.
What the Gal does is concentrate the works into the smallest target with the least number of variables and the best command staff with the most probability of success.
So - let the Old Gal come home and do a milk run after saving the worlds.
