*Spoilers* U.S.S. Franklin Design?

[Markonian]

Let's talk about crew size, in the context of contemporary (Earth) Starfleet vessels.
The NX class came with 82 personnel (including Porthos).
The Intrepid class has 46, as per Enterprise: Rise of the Federation - A Choice of Futures.

So, what would we have on the Warp Delta/Ganges class, and Franklin's Starship class?

 

[F. King Daniel]

On Trekyards, designer Sean Hargreaves speculated a crew of about a dozen. Considering it's meant as a testbed and/or cargo ship, that sounds about right to me.

 

[Markonian]

Cool. There's a group photo of the crew somewhere. Did anyone count the personnel files closed by Paris and Kirk?

 

[gerbil]

It's entirely possible that the video of the shuttles was from a different point in Edison's command.

 

[F. King Daniel]

It's entirely possible that the video of the shuttles was from a different point in Edison's command.

They have "NX-326 USS FRANKLIN" written along their sides.

I'm pretty sure there's room for a drop-down shuttle bays at the saucer's sides, even if there are no external hatches. Perhaps they hid them for some reason.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

It's entirely possible that the video of the shuttles was from a different point in Edison's command.

Exactly. Not just because there's dozens of people in the early logs (with the shuttles) but they all seem to be rather happy and having a good time. Hardly a kind of clip you'd expect them to record after a major crash. (And besides we know there were only three survivors from said crash, anyway.)

 

[137th Gebirg]

Are there any clear pics of the pods showing Franklin signage on them?

 

[Markonian]

^ Yes, somewhere. USS FRANKLIN NX-326 (or NX 326) is spelled out on them. Has anyone with Blu-Ray written articles on Memory Alpha about them yet?

 

[Tuskin38]

Are there any clear pics of the pods showing Franklin signage on them?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CuXVwsIXYAA3-7C.jpg:large

 

[Crazy Eddie]

Cool. There's a group photo of the crew somewhere. Did anyone count the personnel files closed by Paris and Kirk?

I did, but I forgot the actual number. I think it was about 30

 

[Markonian]

Another question. The warp coils (blue bars in the nacelles) are not visible on the ship, are they? Looks like the nacelles are completely enclosed except for the Bussard collectors.

Also, I wonder if this ship could be the unseen Neptune-class surveyor. The Franklin was the first ship to break warp 4, but not necessarily the first ship of its class. (The non-canon ENT post-series novels identify the other small Starfleet ships as Intrepid- and Ganges- (Warp Delta) class, respectively).

 

[BadMoonRising]

Does it have to be a class-ship? Maybe it was a one-off single-example ship.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

It seems clear that the term "Starship class" used on the Franklin (and also on the NCC-1701) doesn't mean the actual class name, it means the TYPE of ship it is. Meaning, a ship of the line that travels in deep space and is used for missions that we'd expect a starship to be used for.

The 1701's dedication plaque also said "Starship class" whereas we know the real class name is Constitution, so the true class of the Franklin could be anything. Including Neptune, as @Markonian suggests.

 

[BadMoonRising]

We don't see a whole lot of one-offs or experimental builds in-universe. In fact I can't think of any off the top of my head.

Which is odd when you think about it... There should be dozens of one-offs and single-ship classes. As tech changes and new and interesting concepts surface Starfleet would build a testbed or a one-off ship to prove the concept out... before building a class of ships.

That may not apply to the Franklin, as you said some folks are considering it the missing Neptune-class... But I do wonder where all the one-off and single-example classes are.

 

[Markonian]

^ We don't know if there were sister ships to the Phoenix and Conestoga. Ships of the DS9 Frankenstein fleet, and some kitbashes from Wolf 359, may have been one-offs.

 

[gerbil]

I like to think early Starfleet wouldn't have been as shy about trying one or two of a single class as testbeds.

 

[jamestyler]

We don't see a whole lot of one-offs or experimental builds in-universe. In fact I can't think of any off the top of my head.

Which is odd when you think about it... There should be dozens of one-offs and single-ship classes. As tech changes and new and interesting concepts surface Starfleet would build a testbed or a one-off ship to prove the concept out... before building a class of ships.

That may not apply to the Franklin, as you said some folks are considering it the missing Neptune-class... But I do wonder where all the one-off and single-example classes are.

I figured the ship in ENT's First Flight should have been a one off tester ship - the bare bones version, and the NX was the end result. But I guess it's easier/cheaper to re-use that CGI than to create new ones down the line.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

We don't see a whole lot of one-offs or experimental builds in-universe. In fact I can't think of any off the top of my head.

USS Defiant, for one. The only intended to make a single one and built more of them later after DS9 proved the concept.

And Excelsior started off as one but was spun off into a whole class mainly because the production crew liked to reuse models. Enterprise-E was probably a one-off as well, considering we never saw another one in service anywhere in the fleet.

There should be dozens of one-offs and single-ship classes.

Lots of things are single-ship classes until somebody decides to build another one. I get the feeling Starfleet doesn't actually pre-purchase production runs of starships ahead of time; they design a new class, build it, see how well it works, and then decide if they're going to build another one depending on the reviews from the first. Sometimes, the news is bad and the ship gets decommissioned or relegated to rear line service as a training vessel or something (I suspect this may have happened to the Enterprise after the refit). Other times, they take the existing design, modify it slightly, build another one, review its performance, rinse repeat.

 

[BadMoonRising]

In my head-canon the ship is refit, relaunched and goes on further adventures detailed in the novels.... by the time TWOC rolls around the ship is quite worn out. Newer ships are coming off the production lines (NX-2000 and related) so there is no value in refitting the ship any further. The ship is detailed out as a training ship and Kirk assigned as an instuctor.

 

[starburst]

USS Defiant, for one. The only intended to make a single one and built more of them later after DS9 proved the concept.

And Excelsior started off as one but was spun off into a whole class mainly because the production crew liked to reuse models. Enterprise-E was probably a one-off as well, considering we never saw another one in service anywhere in the fleet.


Lots of things are single-ship classes until somebody decides to build another one. I get the feeling Starfleet doesn't actually pre-purchase production runs of starships ahead of time; they design a new class, build it, see how well it works, and then decide if they're going to build another one depending on the reviews from the first. Sometimes, the news is bad and the ship gets decommissioned or relegated to rear line service as a training vessel or something (I suspect this may have happened to the Enterprise after the refit). Other times, they take the existing design, modify it slightly, build another one, review its performance, rinse repeat.

I doubt Starfleet built any of these ships intending them to be a one off, the Excelsior was a testbed for the Transwarp drive but you wouldn't build an entire ship round that project and mean her to be a one off especially at the size she is.

The onscreen dialog for the Defiant proves she was never intended to be the sole ship of her type;

The Defiant was the prototype, the first ship in what would have been a new Federation battle fleet.

There were always meant to be more but due to technical problems and a perceived lessened threat level (both stated onscreen) she was shelved. When those problems were overcome and there was a need they built more.

With the Enterprise-E the one and only reason we only saw one of them is because the producers wanted to keep their current movie ship special, its just like we didn't see another refit Constitution Class other than the 1701 and the 1701-A.

I'm sure there are prototypes out there which never went into production runs, there is some material which suggests the Defiant Pathfinder space frame which became the base for the Nova Class may have been built. The examples you have given however don't support the idea from onscreen statements with Defiant or the likes of the Excelsior or Sovereign as you wouldn't build large state of the art multirole ships and intend them to be a one off, thats a waste even in a society which doesn't use currency.