Shuttlecraft & Shuttlepods

[James Wright]

Sometime ago I asked if Starfleet had any carrier type starships to get fighters into battle, it was pretty much agreed that Starfleet didn't have such ships because starships could carry them into battle if they had to.
I'd like to know how many shuttlecraft and shuttlepods the Galaxy class starship carries and if the need arose could these craft be offloaded and the same number of fighters carried?

James

 

[JNG]

According to the TNG Technical Manual, Enterprise-D typically carried:

10 personnel shuttlecraft
10 cargo shuttlecraft
5 special-purpose craft
12 shuttlepods

There seem to be some other things carried too, like Sphinx workpods.

As for fighters, we've only ever seen one type of fighter, it was awfully big to be carried by most ships, and it was shown operating independently anyway. The Galaxy-class starship is one of the few ships that could probably fit one of those types into the doors of its main shuttlebay (not 2 and 3). "Special-purpose craft" could refer to a fighter, but we saw the fighters operating independently and they seem to have warp performance appropriate to that (probably similar to a runabout).

I guess they could get several of the fighters we have seen onto a Galaxy-class starship, if only for purposes of transporting them all somewhere else or whatever.

 

[Timo]

It might of course be that there exist more compact fighter types, and the known ships can transport meaningful numbers of those; or larger ship types for the known fighters. But one then wonders where these things lurked during the Dominion War...

Perhaps carriers do exist but are few in number and carefully kept out of the way of the enemy? The big fleets of DS9 would have been hopelessly hobbled if some of their craft or ships were only capable of runabout-style speeds; it would be very sensible to load even warp 5 -capable fighters onto a dedicated carrier if this carrier could do warp 7 or better.

It might also be that the fighters we saw were actually small enough to fit aboard most ships with relative ease. There's considerable leeway with the sizing; if the craft is taken to be, say, 17 meters tall, and its outer wings are assumed to fold at the prominent kink, then it's only 13 meters wide and one should be able to insert at least three or four in most known starship hangars. A Galaxy should be able to carry a dozen without trouble, regardless of whether Sternbach or Wildfire style interiors are assumed for the main hangar.

We may also opt to choose in a 30 m long fighter, though, in which case very few ships could carry them.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[BolianAuthor]

Well, the DS9 episode "The Maquis" established that the Maquis fighters seen in that episode (later referred to as Federation Attack Fighters) were warp-capable... so considering how we mostly saw them leaving with large fleet formations from a Starbase, it's likely they can operate on their own, or in groups.

The Main Shuttlebay of the Galaxy-Class ship is massive. I could see 2 Maquis-type fighters fitting comfortably inside one. Any more might be a stretch. The Akira is considered a "carrier" in fanon circles, though that really bothers me, because there's absolutely NO on-screen evidence to suggest this is so. YES, the Akira was conceptualized to be a thru-deck carrier-type of ship... but we never saw it on-screen, and thus, is likely one of those things that never materialized, due to budget or filming constraints.

Also, remember that in TNG, it was established that the Galaxy-Class can carry at LEAST one Runabout... maybe more. It is also feasable to assume that a Nebula-Class can also host a Runabout.

 

[B.J.]

The Enterprise dropped off the 3 runabouts originally assigned to DS9 in "Emissary", so it can carry at least that many, but we don't know where they were stored.

Way back in 2004, someone on Flare showed that the runabouts could fit in Sternbach's version of the shuttlebay here. There's also two different fighter sizes shown. Unfortunately, we didn't think they'd actually fit in the doors height-wise.

 

[BolianAuthor]

^

Actually, the Main Shuttlebay is the ONLY place one of those fighters would fit, height-wise. The Main Shuttlebay takes up the equivalent of four decks, in some places, IIRC... so I can believe it being able to fit.

 

[Reverend]

Ah, this old chestnut.
We did a little speculation about a year back when I was fiddling around trying to develop a hopper from one of Sternbach's non-trek designs and I found that the best candidate for a shuttle/fighter carrier was the Steamrunner-Class. Clicky
Though as you'll see in the thread, that needn't be it's sole function.

 

[ShinRa Actual]

Akira always seemed a bit small to pull off all the jobs the designer said it was meant for... But it does have a double-ended hangar to facilitate some kind of small craft operations.

While the fighters the Maquis use are shown to have Warp, 1) that could just be a Maquis modification, and 2) even if they do have warp...sometimes it can take a few days to get from point A to point B (or longer). It's very likely for long distance transit the fighters would hitch a ride somewhere not only for pilot endurance reasons, but likely fuel and other consumables.

Another ship to keep in mind is the Shelley type; The Excelsior kitbash with additional hangars

 

[James Wright]

Was the Maquis fighter seen in the first episode of Voyager more an armed transport vessel, remember the number of crew Voyager took aboard?

James

 

[JNG]

Was the Maquis fighter seen in the first episode of Voyager more an armed transport vessel, remember the number of crew Voyager took aboard?

James

I wouldn't call that thing a fighter at all. It's pretty big, and carries a good number of people--as you pointed out.

Now the design seen in use by both the Maquis and Starfleet on DS9 can be called that, and it's not a whole lot bigger than modern-day large fighter-bomber aircraft, but it is still rather a lot bigger than the typical personnel shuttlecraft.

Its warp drive is very unlikely to be a modification; it has large, well-defined warp nacelles built into its structure.

 

[James Wright]

I'd brought the Shelley type ship up as a possible carrier in an earlier thread but there was very little agreement.

James

 

[Timo]

The Enterprise dropped off the 3 runabouts originally assigned to DS9 in "Emissary", so it can carry at least that many, but we don't know where they were stored.

Those craft could even have been towed externally. Similarly, the single runabout seen in TNG "Timescape" need not have been carried internally by the E-D, or even been part of the complement of that starship; it may have been a completely separate courier vessel, to be sent to another destination eventually either under an E-D shuttle pilot or even under automatic control.

However, it shouldn't be difficult to fit one runabout aboard the E-D, and three should fit in as well. If the door size becomes a problem, there's always the overhead hatch on the main bay (at least according to the backstage material).

I'd brought the Shelley type ship up as a possible carrier in an earlier thread but there was very little agreement.

There are two possible "logical" sizes for those Curry and Raging Queen kitbashes from DS9: the one scaled according to the Excelsior saucer, and the one scaled according to the Constitution engines. Even the former leaves us with shuttlebay doors of at most Excelsior size, though - and the DS9 fightercraft or runabouts wouldn't fit through those very well.

Even if they did get through, the deck beyond wouldn't be "through". The craft would have to descend at least one deck on some sort of elevator or shaft to reach the main body of the secondary hull. And this hull wouldn't seem to be very large inside, offering limited overhead clearance for most of the length.

So while those ships could carry a number of auxiliaries, they wouldn't be optimal fightercarriers. Not unless fighters of that bygone era were smaller than the DS9 ones...

Now the design seen in use by both the Maquis and Starfleet on DS9 can be called that, and it's not a whole lot bigger than modern-day large fighter-bomber aircraft, but it is still rather a lot bigger than the typical personnel shuttlecraft. Its warp drive is very unlikely to be a modification; it has large, well-defined warp nacelles built into its structure.

Agreed. The estimate of warp 5+ performance is a good one, because these things need to be a bit faster than runabouts or otherwise our heroes would have given chase in "The Maquis". Significantly higher performance is a bit unlikely, but possible - and if these can do warp 7 or 8 with the puny engines (no larger than runabout ones), they wouldn't need carriers for fleet action.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Reverend]

I rather think that the most likely place on an Excelsior hull to dock something the size of an attack fighter or runabout would be that large open facility in the ventral aft scoop of the hull. Even then, you could (at a guess) probably only fit two or three at a stretch, held in place by either docking clamps or tractor moorings.

I'm sticking with the Steamrunner.

 

[USS KG5]

The Main Shuttlebay of the Galaxy-Class ship is massive. I could see 2 Maquis-type fighters fitting comfortably inside one. Any more might be a stretch.

Well if it was stacked up like the deck of a real carrier often is - I can't see why they could not pack in a couple of dozen - as you say the facility is massive.

 

[James Wright]

What are the dimensions of a TOS & TNG shuttlecraft, what are the dimensiuns of a TNG shuttlepod?

James

 

[JNG]

What are the dimensions of a TOS & TNG shuttlecraft, what are the dimensiuns of a TNG shuttlepod?

James

The dimensions of the TOS shuttlecraft are somewhat debatable.

Along more general lines, here is a site I recommend for looking up such information: http://www.neutralzone.de/database/indexfr.htm

Just one of many with tons of Trek info to offer, of course.