I know it was mentioned at the end of BOBW 2 that the fleet would be back up to full strength by one year. I think that's kind of absurd considering the losses at Wolf 359 but that aside, I think it was a missed opportunity to not have a recurring subplot that showed how the Federation was weaker for a while and had to tread carefully in the Alpha Quadrant, forging new alliances, appeasing enemies, overlooking provocations, etc. I know Next Gen rarely did continuing storylines except for character-based ones, but this would have been an interesting one, to show a weakened and traumatized UFP dealing with stuff for a little while.
Rebuilding After Wolf 359
- Thread starter sonak
- Start date
Actually Wolf 359 was given as a main reason the Federation wanted to avoid conflict with the Cardassians in The Wounded.
There's also a problem of changed premises over time. During BoBW, apparently losing 40 starships was a huge blow to Starfleet, regardless of Shelby saying that they'll be replaced within a year. However, DS9 showed that Starfleet already had thousands of ships, so why would the loss of 40 be such a problem?
Yeah I forgot that one. That's the kind of stuff that would have made sense after taking such a huge loss.
IMO, it depends on the context of the loss. The Federation wasn't at war with any powers when W359 occurred, and they were facing an enemy that seemed superior in every known way. That a single cube could take out 40 ships in one blow, and might have done so effectively even if Picard hadn't been assimilated, is hugely disproportionate. When you think about the assumed scale of the Federation and how widespread those hundreds or thousands of ships must be in terms of normal deployment, it becomes easier to see how such a loss could be considered devastating in the short term.
Also, we can always view "BoBW" through DS9 lenses, down to the minutest detail, and it actually holds up.
In the Borg massacre, a "fleet" lost 39 ships. In DS9, we learn that "fleets" are subdivisions of the broader Starfleet, consisting of a few hundred ships each. And it seems that a fleet is never being idled at a starbase in peacetime, but instead deployed to explore the far reaches of the galaxy and whatnot, so summoning 40 ships of a fleet to one specific spot in a day or so is actually a pretty impressive feat.
It follows that the fleet that lost 39 ships would indeed be "back up" fairly quickly, that is, after more of its ships managed to respond to the summons and were accordingly redeployed. No new ships need be built, although perhaps some decommissioned ones might be reactivated from depots like Qualor II, for a short while at least.
Timo Saloniemi
In the Borg massacre, a "fleet" lost 39 ships. In DS9, we learn that "fleets" are subdivisions of the broader Starfleet, consisting of a few hundred ships each. And it seems that a fleet is never being idled at a starbase in peacetime, but instead deployed to explore the far reaches of the galaxy and whatnot, so summoning 40 ships of a fleet to one specific spot in a day or so is actually a pretty impressive feat.
It follows that the fleet that lost 39 ships would indeed be "back up" fairly quickly, that is, after more of its ships managed to respond to the summons and were accordingly redeployed. No new ships need be built, although perhaps some decommissioned ones might be reactivated from depots like Qualor II, for a short while at least.
Timo Saloniemi
