Role of the Enterprise during the Dominion War?

[Phily B]

I read a book on it years ago, must be about 15-20 years ago now. There was a series about the Enterprise during the Dominion War, I recall Riker saying they spent a ton of time repairing the Enterprise after it was half Borgified. They were deployed on various missions, if I recall one involved destroying a Dominion Superweapon? It has been a long ass time.

If you want canon explanations, the only time we see the Enterprise-E in that period is Insurrection. There it was on a diplomatic mission, there is no reason why Starfleet wouldn't also continue diplomatic efforts to support the war effort against the Dominion and Picard is a first class diplomat. I also recall the Son'a having supplies of Ketracel White? So Starfleet would have been trying to keep them on side. What we see in Insurrection was part of the war, it might not have been a fleet battle, but it was important. They're also trying to research the Baku and the healing energy of the planet - that could be related to the Dominon War to give an edge to Federation or Klingon ground troops.

First Contact took place a few months before war broke out, you can head canon a bunch of shit as to why they were not involved in the early Dominion War - the Enterprise-E was full of Borg technology, it was badly damaged and would have missed the opening war and certainly Operation Return. Alternatively, the Enterprise-E was active, but wasn't part of a fleet because it was the most powerful and advanced ship, so it was able to take on more dangerous missions. It simply was in the same position as the Klingons or the Starfleet ships that didn't make it to the battle.

 

[Lord Garth]

Like Pike's Enterprise during the Klingon War, Picard's Enterprise was told to stay away so that the best and brightest survive just in case the Federation falls.

Cause... why the heck not?

I think this actually works pretty well.

But, putting that aside, back in 1997, I remember a Q&A with Ron Moore where he said the Enterprise was probably in the Third Fleet defending Earth in "Call to Arms". I don't know if this old Q&A still exists online. In the late-'90s, Ron Moore always did a Q&A where he'd talk about DS9 or whatever fans wanted to ask him about.

 

[Lance]

Didn’t they say at the beginning of Insurrection that the Enterprise had been assigned to or transferred to the diplomatic corps?

I’ve always thought it was a mistake to not make Insurrection a WW2 style movie with the Enterprise or at least part of the crew on a dangerous mission behind enemy lines or some such.

You could argue the best application of Jean Luc Picard's talents is trying to make new allies.

Exactly. I tend to think the reason we don't see or hear about the Enterprise is largely because, as per TNG, her role was much more focused on non-battle scenarios, eg the scene at the beginning of Insurrection where they're trying to rally up diplomatic ties with an eye towards the war effort, but not being in the middle of it as such. Certainly this seems like the best use of Jean Luc Picard's talents.

Fundamentally, I feel like just because the Enterprise is a big deal in-universe and a powerful ship doesn't mean it exists on the front line of battle. I have no doubt at all she seen action, but most of her missions in that period could have been purely diplomatic in nature.

 

[johnnybear]

We got that rubbish Gorn on Enterprise. I just wanted a guy in a rubber suit.

Same here my friend! I would have bought the whole series on DVD if it had been the same suit or something similar! All we got was a CGI Crocodile man!!!
JB

 

[Vger23]

Enterprise-E duties during the war:

Ferry diplomats from location to location
Check up on colonies
Archaeological expeditions
Induct useless races into the Federation
Patrol the Neutral Zone, in case the Romulans decide to take advantage of the situation
Starbase 126 to pick up medical supplies
Bring Geordi to a cybernetics symposium on Risa
Map a star cluster
Put out one more diplomatic brushfire
Stage limp-noodle "insurrection" when Starfleet decides to relocate 600 unlikable hippies, using space bazooka that shoots pink bolts
Bring Picard somewhere so he can start to use his 300 days of shore leave
Rendezvous with the USS Ennui to transfer cargo and invite command crew over for brunch
Establish Data's weekly poetry night as a thing, accompanied by violin playing
Use the holodeck excessively in lieu of having actual adventures

Did any of you even watch the movies and/or series?

 

[The Wormhole]

Patrol the Neutral Zone, in case the Romulans decide to take advantage of the situation

Which is just code for "watching comets."

 

[Lance]

Enterprise-E duties during the war:

Ferry diplomats from location to location
Check up on colonies
Archaeological expeditions
Induct useless races into the Federation
Patrol the Neutral Zone, in case the Romulans decide to take advantage of the situation
Starbase 126 to pick up medical supplies
Bring Geordi to a cybernetics symposium on Risa
Map a star cluster
Put out one more diplomatic brushfire
Stage limp-noodle "insurrection" when Starfleet decides to relocate 600 unlikable hippies, using space bazooka that shoots pink bolts
Bring Picard somewhere so he can start to use his 300 days of shore leave
Rendezvous with the USS Ennui to transfer cargo and invite command crew over for brunch
Establish Data's weekly poetry night as a thing, accompanied by violin playing
Use the holodeck excessively in lieu of having actual adventures

Did any of you even watch the movies and/or series?

I suspect you're 100% right, too.

 

[B. L.]

There's two reasons I feel we don't see the Enterprise E much in the Dominion War. One is a lore reason and the other is real life reason.

Lore Reason:
I think the Enterprise E, despite being the flagship of the federation (and being the most advanced starship in the fleet), is more of a diplomatic vessel. This has a lot to do with Picard being in command, who while probably a capable battle commander, is better utilized to rally the allies and to help facilitate alliances to help the war effort. Also, if I'm not mistaken, by the time the Dominion war was in full swing, the Enterprise E wouldn't have been the only Sovereign starship in the fleet. Also, the Enterprise E is a symbol of the Federation. Given the amount of losses the Federation took early in the war, there was a very real risk that the Enterprise would have been lost in a conflict. By keeping in the back, they protected it from being destroyed, which if that happened, would demoralize Federation forces and embolden the Dominion.

Real Life Reason:
The Dominion conflict was the realm of DS9. They wanted differentiation between the shows, and by showing the Enterprise E during the Dominion War, or even discussing it, would take away from DS9's spotlight.

 

[STEPhon IT]

Exactly. I tend to think the reason we don't see or hear about the Enterprise is largely because, as per TNG, her role was much more focused on non-battle scenarios, eg the scene at the beginning of Insurrection where they're trying to rally up diplomatic ties with an eye towards the war effort, but not being in the middle of it as such. Certainly this seems like the best use of Jean Luc Picard's talents.

Fundamentally, I feel like just because the Enterprise is a big deal in-universe and a powerful ship doesn't mean it exists on the front line of battle. I have no doubt at all she seen action, but most of her missions in that period could have been purely diplomatic in nature.

1701-E was monstrous and heavily armed, one would think Starfleet would build as many as those ugly things possible for the war effort to defeat the Dominion.

 

[Lance]

1701-E was monstrous and heavily armed, one would think Starfleet would build as many as those ugly things possible for the war effort to defeat the Dominion.

Well, yes, which is probably why they could spare Enterprise herself from front line duties. It's bad enough that 1701-D was trounced by a old pos BOP, if 1701-E was taken down ala her predecessor (and the Odyssey), it would've been a symbolic blow that Starfleet wouldn't want to risk. Other sovereigns were probably in the heat of battle frequently, although we didn't see them on screen or mentioned for real-life production reasons, but Enterprise herself, while probably seeing battle here and there, could and would likely be kept some distance from full scale war operations for political reasons.

 

[STEPhon IT]

Lance, the movies and the Berman series idolized their NX prototypes so much; he should've allowed the Sovereign at the end as re-enforcements by the end of the war... as a treat for the fans who like that thing. I can understand Enterprise not in the frontlines because it was an important ship for Starfleet, but there's no doubt in my mind if Jean-Luc Picard was asked to join the war efforts he would've solved that conflict within a year... which it should've occurred.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

1701-E was monstrous and heavily armed, one would think Starfleet would build as many as those ugly things possible for the war effort to defeat the Dominion.

Maybe they did.

 

[The Wormhole]

By keeping in the back, they protected it from being destroyed, which if that happened, would demoralize Federation forces and embolden the Dominion.

I would think the attack on San Francisco probably did more to demoralize the Federation than the destruction of the Enterprise could.

 

[USS Triumphant]

Is guaranteeing the Enterprise's survival really worth losing Betazed?

Maybe. If they're also the ship and crew that has a time travel trick they picked up a couple of movies ago (copying what the Borg sphere did) and can go back and fix the outcome of the war if it goes too badly.

 

[Lance]

Lance, the movies and the Berman series idolized their NX prototypes so much; he should've allowed the Sovereign at the end as re-enforcements by the end of the war... as a treat for the fans who like that thing. I can understand Enterprise not in the frontlines because it was an important ship for Starfleet, but there's no doubt in my mind if Jean-Luc Picard was asked to join the war efforts he would've solved that conflict within a year... which it should've occurred.

I don't disagree it would have been cool to see, and that the unofficial stance of wanting to keep the sovereign class for movies only so that it'd be a drawcard, while understandable, was also a little ridiculous.

I always felt like the Dominion War was won too easily. Perhaps the presence of a few sovereigns in that final battle would've made it more believable?

I do still believe that, in-universe, the ships of the Enterprise lineage are somehow seen as symbolically important, so I can totally buy a explanation that they would want to cotton wool that particular ship from too many front line duties in a time of war...

 

[johnnybear]

Not that I've really seen any of the Dominion episodes but I remember reading that in the new season (six or seven perhaps back in 2000) that the Enterprise would be making an appearance in the show and that Jonathan Frakes was to be in command! I guess that never happened then?
JB

 

[Ithekro]

My rationale is that some share of those planetary and cosmic crises that the Enterprise was handling week after week when it was featured in a series were still happening during the war. With fewer ships and crews to spare, Starfleet chose the ones that were best suited to handle those tasks to stay off the front lines. The Enterprise could make more of a difference as an elite troubleshooting starship than as another phaser array and set of torpedo tubes in large-scale front-line fleet battles that already had thousands of ships committed to them.

This actually makes some sense given what Starfleet seems to be usually doing when there isn't a war on. That stuff isn't going to just stop happening on the other side of the Federation, and someone needs to be there to deal with it. Having the most capable ships doing Starfleets normal job because they can do it the most effectively makes an amount of sense. Especially since the crew of the Enterprise while good, are not especially known for their combat skills. That's not their strong point. Avoiding needing to use said skills is what they do best. Fixing problems rather than blowing them up. Sisko is more than capable of handling the war effort in Picard's place, and he has ship designed for war under his overall command.

 

[Timo]

The most relevant in-universe reason we didn't see X in the Dominion War (for any value of X) is that the war took place elsewhere.

Bajor was a backwater before the wormhole was found (despite being a close neighbor of Cardassia and all). And during the war, there was no wormhole - it was either mined shut, or locked up by the Prophets. So there was nothing anywhere near Bajor worth fighting about, and indeed there were no fights there*. All the wartime action involved our heroes getting away from Bajor and DS9 under whatever pretense, and typically that pretense involved stealth and solo missions. Or, twice, an unholy horde of ships where missing a specific one would be a given, really.

So of course we'd miss out on seeing Starfleet's best and brightest. They would be out there fighting the war, while our heroes were not!

Timo Saloniemi

* The one action actually involving DS9, that of retaking the station from the Dominion, was clearly stated to involve fewer ships than Sisko wanted. Those defending Earth refused to budge, say. Again a good excuse for X to miss that fight, including "X=Enterprise-E".

 

[Phoenix219]

They were kept out of harms way in a faraway sector, in case things went bad. They were the embodiment of Starfleets best ideals.

 

[B. L.]

I would think the attack on San Francisco probably did more to demoralize the Federation than the destruction of the Enterprise could.

They don't have to be mutually exclusive.

If they already are perceived as vulnerable after than, think how much worse it would be if they also lost Enterprise?