Sovereign class vs Galaxy class

[EmperorTiberius]

Galaxy is like a battleship and Sovereign like a Battle cruiser. Or they are both about equal with Sovereign being a stripped-down version of Galaxy, sort of like Diet Coke of Galaxy.

Contrary to video games and fanboys, I see no canon or common sense reason to think that one is vastly superior to another. They'll each have their own advantages, but in the end, they're too close to call.

 

[EmperorTiberius]

Again; Are your armament statistics based on pre or post Dominion War refit?

Stats off MA. The Galaxys we see in the Dominion War would had two extra arrays on the nacelles, so the pre-DW would be 12 arrays/2 launchers and the DW would be 14 arrays/2 launchers.

Even with its shield negated the E-D should should still have kicked the BoP.

That's one of many reasons why Generations is a horrible movie. And basing your assumptions on events depicted in it is the essence of grasping at straws.

You might not like the movie but it happened and its canon.

You had a go at another user for not basing his comment on available information yet you'll just dismiss it if it doesn't gel with your ideas. That's not very fair.

Enough with the nonsensical "number of phaser arrays" argument. That's for newbies. Phasers don't work that way. Otherwise, we could divide the big phaser array on the Galaxy saucer into 100 parts and then -GASP!!- Galaxy will have 110 phaser arrays!!! Lets do the same to the one on the bottom, and it will have 210 arrays!!

Phasers are dependant on the power source, type, and length. Yeah Sovereign might have newer type XII, but the type X on the Galaxy is 2.5 times longer, and that's just the main one. We don't know what power this amounts to and who it gives an advantage to, but they're probably close. And the power generation is probably the same.

Sovereign might have more launchers, but they're nowhere near the same capability as the two massive ones on the Galaxy. We see those fire about 7 torpedos in a second on the Husnock ship, we don't see Sovereign unleash that kind of firepower. But Quantums might make up for the slower firing rate.

Same with shields, Sovereign might have advanced regenerative shields and smaller area to cover, but Galaxy might have more generators overrall, which again puts them in the same ball park.

In the initial run, I'd give Sovereign the edge because of advanced technology which puts it on par or slightly ahead with weapons on the Galaxy, but that's not a fair assessment, since initial Galaxies dont' exist anymore.

Sovereign is not a replacement for Galaxy, it's clearly stated in Insurrection when Picard says "Does anyone remember when we used to be explorers?" Galaxy is still going strong, and sometimes it gets unfairly blasted by people who play too many games. Her original specs:

To provide long term platform for:
-exploratory
-military
-scientific and
-diplomatic

missions. Not jack of all trades, but ace of all trades. As such, she supposed to be fitted with the best of everything in those areas, minor upgrades every 5 years, major every 20. Starfleet is not going to invest massive resources into Galaxies, and then let them be destroyed by any Joe Schmo they come across.

In the end, I can see both ships being about the same, like I stated above, with Galaxy being better at scientific pursuits due to extra labs etc, while Sovereign is more maneuverable, may be faster, more rugged and flexible, etc, - more strategic advantages.

As for the battle in Generations, that's down to Riker not the ship, just like it was down to him in Insurrection, why didn't Sovereign just turn around and paste those Son'a with quantums and photons? Riker likes doing things in unorthodox fashion.

 

[Cyke101]

sort of like Diet Coke of Galaxy.

Funny, I always thought the Nebula was the Diet Coke of Galaxy

 

[EmperorTiberius]

sort of like Diet Coke of Galaxy.

Funny, I always thought the Nebula was the Diet Coke of Galaxy

Ok Nebula can be Diet Coke, Sovereign is Diet Pepsi, little different, but still Diet

 

[Herkimer Jitty]

Yeah. The Sovereign is the New Coke of Galaxy.

Edit: EmperorTiberius.... you little ninja.

 

[EmperorTiberius]

Yeah. The Sovereign is the New Coke of Galaxy.

Edit: EmperorTiberius.... you little ninja.

 

[nx1701g]

Yeah. The Sovereign is the New Coke of Galaxy.

Edit: EmperorTiberius.... you little ninja.

Maybe the Sovereign is Coke Zero?

 

[Deks]

Where do people get the notion that the Galaxy class would have multiple shield generators?
Throughout the series, shield generators were referenced as a singular piece of equipment, with of course a backup generator in case the primary fails.

Also ... I fail to see what the longitude of the phaser array on the Galaxy saucer has to do with power output.
If anything, that one strip should be capable of firing multiple beams if the need is there (which we know is possible).
The length of the array would likely be connected to the coverage and nothing else.
At least I have never seen evidence to support the claim that the longer the strip the pulses that travel through the array and connect at one point would end up producing a more powerful beam in comparison to the beams fired from just one point where the phaser pulses traveled a shorter distance or none at all.

As for the Galaxy's ability to fire 10 torpedoes at once.
Only witnessed 3 times at best ... and that was when the special effects tried to reflect the actual capabilities of the ships technology (early seasons of TNG).
To say that the Sovereign lacks this ability merely because it was never demonstrated is absurd ... especially since the launchers don't really differentiate in size and are likely the same, if not better.
Remember that the special effects focus these days on what 'looks cool' and isn't meant to reflect the functionality.

As for which of the two ships would win ...
Well, if the Galaxy was outfitted with the ability to output more powerful phaser beams (like the ones on the Sovereign), then it just might end up in a draw.
Then again ... the Sovereign (Nemesis refit) does have a potential advantage of more torpedo launchers.
If we take into account the premise that it might also have more torpedoes due to a larger amount of launchers (which would seem sensible) ... it stands to reason it could beat the Galaxy class since it would be able to fire the same amount of photons from each tube, coupled with quantums at the same time, while the Galaxy is limited to only 1 launcher (forward and back).

Of course ... brute force aside, tactics could easily shift the tide one way or the other.
But I would say that either have a decent option of winning against each other, or ending things in a draw.

 

[Pemmer Harge]

The winner would be whichever ship was captained by a Vulcan.

Anything you can do Vulcans can do better, Vulcans can do anything better than you.

 

[EmperorTiberius]

Where do people get the notion that the Galaxy class would have multiple shield generators?
Throughout the series, shield generators were referenced as a singular piece of equipment, with of course a backup generator in case the primary fails.

Also ... I fail to see what the longitude of the phaser array on the Galaxy saucer has to do with power output.
If anything, that one strip should be capable of firing multiple beams if the need is there (which we know is possible).
The length of the array would likely be connected to the coverage and nothing else.
At least I have never seen evidence to support the claim that the longer the strip the pulses that travel through the array and connect at one point would end up producing a more powerful beam in comparison to the beams fired from just one point where the phaser pulses traveled a shorter distance or none at all.

As for the Galaxy's ability to fire 10 torpedoes at once.
Only witnessed 3 times at best ... and that was when the special effects tried to reflect the actual capabilities of the ships technology (early seasons of TNG).
To say that the Sovereign lacks this ability merely because it was never demonstrated is absurd ... especially since the launchers don't really differentiate in size and are likely the same, if not better.
Remember that the special effects focus these days on what 'looks cool' and isn't meant to reflect the functionality.

As for which of the two ships would win ...
Well, if the Galaxy was outfitted with the ability to output more powerful phaser beams (like the ones on the Sovereign), then it just might end up in a draw.
Then again ... the Sovereign (Nemesis refit) does have a potential advantage of more torpedo launchers.
If we take into account the premise that it might also have more torpedoes due to a larger amount of launchers (which would seem sensible) ... it stands to reason it could beat the Galaxy class since it would be able to fire the same amount of photons from each tube, coupled with quantums at the same time, while the Galaxy is limited to only 1 launcher (forward and back).

Of course ... brute force aside, tactics could easily shift the tide one way or the other.
But I would say that either have a decent option of winning against each other, or ending things in a draw.

We get the notion about the length of the phaser array from the Technical Manual and the fact that she tries to fire from the main arrays as much as possible.

And the launchers do differentiate in size, the ones on the Galaxy are much longer, while the ones on Sovereign are decent size, but not the same. The ones in Nemesis are just glued on there is no reason why the 4 existing photon launchers should not be enough (God I wish Nemesis was never made)
When you have launchers like Galaxy (that reload every 4.5 seconds was it?) I don't see the need for extra ones. It's like giving a soldier who already has two rifles, extra rifles and hand guns to look cool.
The only good thing about extra launchers on Sovereign is redundancy, in case their main ones get damaged in battle, but on the flip side, there is a bigger danger of enemy detonating their torpedos when armed.

 

[Deks]

The TM is not canon.
On-screen evidence fluctuates when it comes to the length of the phaser arrays and output of power.
Enemies of equal tech developments were disabled on numerous occasions or were dealt serious damage without the phaser pulses traveling through the entirety of phaser array ... plus the reason why the Galaxies mostly utilize their forward arrays is primarily because virtually all SF ships face their opponents head on.

 

[Herkimer Jitty]

The full capabilities of both ships are not really known to us. Not only are there weapons and shields to account for - there's power output vs. power use, maneuverability, damage control capability and other factors - all just as important as shield and weapons strength - I would even argue that they're more important factors.

Which of course, we have next to no information on.

 

[Deks]

The full capabilities of both ships are not really known to us. Not only are there weapons and shields to account for - there's power output vs. power use, maneuverability, damage control capability and other factors - all just as important as shield and weapons strength - I would even argue that they're more important factors.

Which of course, we have next to no information on.

We do have a bit information on it.
The Enterprise-D specs were stated on-screen on few occasions ... and the Enterprise-E was mentioned by Geordi in FC movie that it was the most advanced ship in the fleet (at the time).

So ... at the time of FC, I would say that the Sovereign class were much more powerful ships compared to the Galaxy classes (at least until SF found a way to modify the Galaxy class to have the phaser power output comparable to the Sovvie).

The only 'lacking feature' would likely be the torpedo launchers on the Galaxy class since there are only 2 of them.
The Sovereign has more, and effectively could survive without 2 launchers while firing from the rest.
The Galaxy would then be reduced to only phasers.

 

[Cyke101]

The full capabilities of both ships are not really known to us. Not only are there weapons and shields to account for - there's power output vs. power use, maneuverability, damage control capability and other factors - all just as important as shield and weapons strength - I would even argue that they're more important factors.

Which of course, we have next to no information on.

We do have a bit information on it.
The Enterprise-D specs were stated on-screen on few occasions ... and the Enterprise-E was mentioned by Geordi in FC movie that it was the most advanced ship in the fleet (at the time).

To be fair, though, "advanced" could mean anything, sort of like how the Intrepid was the most advanced ship but the consensus is that in terms of firepower, the Galaxy and the Defiant outmatch her, with "advanced" being more along the lines of warp speed and science capabilities. Likewise, the fake Dauntless was considered to be super-advanced by the Voyager crew, though they didn't specify through dialogue the onscreen evidence that "advanced" meant speed and clearly not weaponry (which Voyager clearly proved her superiority).

That's not to say anything about the Sovereign's abilities or the Galaxy's standing in the fleet, but "advanced" is a pretty loose and generic term in Trek.

 

[Herkimer Jitty]

So ... at the time of FC, I would say that the Sovereign class were much more powerful ships compared to the Galaxy classes (at least until SF found a way to modify the Galaxy class to have the phaser power output comparable to the Sovvie).

Starship Spotter and Star Trek: The Magazine aren't really all that canon if TNG: TM is out of the picture as well...

As far as onscreen evidence goes, there is nothing to suggest that the Sovereign's phasers have higher output.

 

[freelancephotog]

I looked up a few specs online, based on those Id say with an equally competent crew on both ships the sovereign would have to win the battle. the simple fact is the Sovereign class has a higher output Matter Anti Matter Reactor and therefor has more power to devote to shields and to phasers. That combined with the rotatable turret the ablative armor (extremely resistant to energy weapons ) and the higher total output and new design of the regenerative shielding system that could not be applied to the Galaxy class due to power restraints make it a more powerful battle platform. It has a higher power to weight ration at impulse making it more maneuverable, so theoretically it could maneuver into position into a "photon torpedo blind spot" close to the galaxy class where the torpedos could not track fast enough from the galaxies fixed tubes and use its turnable launchers to continue firing at the Galaxy. The galaxy is Big, and faster at Warp but was designed for more diplomatic situations not direct conflict. Yes it was formidable. What I don't get is how its still faster than a Sovereign class at warp, the sovereign has more power and they say its because of the higher draw from the sensors and deflectors, but couldn't long range sensor power be redirected to increase their warp Yield? IDK, its all theoretical based on Science that is as of yet only fiction anyway.

 

[Cobalt Frost]

HOLY FREAKIN' NECROPOST, BATMAN!!!

 

[AstroSmurf]

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