Starship Builders trials

[James Wright]

Before starships are commissioned into the fleet do you suppose they go through what would be called builders trials for sailing ships?
Depending on where these builders trials are conducted do you think other starships accompany the ship being put through it's paces?
Thanks!

James

 

[Tigger]

The Excelsior in Trek III was said to be preparing for her "trial run", so I would say yes.

Fandom certainly believes this is the case, with terms like PSA - Post Shakedown Availability - having been sprinkled about in various tech fandom publications.

 

[Unicron]

I agree. I imagine there would be more that could be done with simulations than is possible now, but they would still have full trials for some things.

 

[GalaxyClass1701]

I belive they call them a shake down cruise in Trek. IN Generations the ENT-B was going on a small trip out aroun Pluto.

Also I belive they mention Columbia in ENT going on Warp trials several times.

 

[James Wright]

I know that the Enterprise-B went on its brief cruise unescorted but do you believe new ships going through warp trials would be escorted by another starship in case the warp trials didn't go as planned?(aka engine failure!)

James

 

[Mysterion]

I would like to recommend The Yard by Michael Sanders (Harper Collins, 1999, ISBN 0-06-019246-1). This book follows the contruction of an Arleigh Burke class destroyer from keel-laying to commissioning. While obviously not a direct analog to the same processes of building a starship, it might be good inspiration for imagining how that might work. And it is an entertaining read in any case.

 

[sojourner]

^Interesting, I might have to look that up to see how it compares to my yard experience with the Navigator of the Seas. Big cruise ship. I know where all the bodies are hidden behind the bulkheads.

 

[Colonel Midnight]

^^ Thanks, Mysterion -- I'll have to check it out as well.

Was that a DDG built by Northrop Grumman (ex-Ingalls) shipyard, or one of the Bath Iron Works ships, out of curiosity?

As for the original question, I would hope that there's some sort of Builder's Trials, plus an Acceptance Trials similar to RL. If it's a "first of class" type ship, there's typically a few other ones done as well.

For CGC BERTHOLF in 2008, we had 3 trials prior to the official "BT", while "AT" was a couple of months after wards.

Cheers,
-CM-

 

[Mysterion]

^^ Thanks, Mysterion -- I'll have to check it out as well.

Was that a DDG built by Northrop Grumman (ex-Ingalls) shipyard, or one of the Bath Iron Works ships, out of curiosity?

Bath Iron Works, Maine: USS Donald Cook, DDG-51.

 

[T'Girl]

But would it be a civilian contractor's builders trial or a Star Fleet builders trial. Who exactly builds starships? Is there a Star Fleet division that builds them "in house" or are there in fact civilian businesses who build them under contract and then turn the starships over to the Fleet?

 

[Mysterion]

But would it be a civilian contractor's builders trial or a Star Fleet builders trial. Who exactly builds starships? Is there a Star Fleet division that builds them "in house" or are there in fact civilian businesses who build them under contract and then turn the starships over to the Fleet?

Perhaps a combination of both. Representatives of the civilian contractor along with Starfleet observers/evaluators there to test the systems and point out any corrections that need to be made before the contractor releases the vessel to Starfleet and/or before Starfleet will accept the vessel from the contractor.

 

[BK613]

Neither Larry Marvick nor Leah Brahms appears to be Starfleet so there is at least some civilian involvement in the construction process. Whether that implies contractors is anyone's guess.

 

[Unicron]

Given the multirole profile of many starships, it would make sense to have civilian contractors to assist in the design.

 

[Meredith]

The builders that make the Miranda class starship should be put on trial for making such a defective starship. They went through a couple dozen of those in the TNG's run, and several hundred during the Dominion War.

 

[James Wright]

How come nobody bothered to answer the second part of my question even if it is speculation?
It's not the builders of the Miranda class, it's the designers!

James

 

[Colonel Midnight]

^ About escort ships? Hmm... Probably, although in RL most BT's (Builder's Trials) don't really go out very far. With CGC BERTHOLF, we had to go a certain distance to fully test out some of her C4ISR equipment, but with the icebreaker (CGC HEALY), we just doodled around in circles once we were in the Gulf of Mexico.

'Logistics Runs' in both cases were done via helo back to the beach each morning and evening as needed, i.e. to swap out yard personnel, bring spare parts if needed, fly the next Admiral in for a ride, etc.

Moving that same idea into the space realm, then that would probably necessitate the need for an escort ship of some sort.

Cheers,
-CM-