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The Forgotten Enterprise (Pre-1701 - Robert April)

There was also the one story where Orion ships were shown, and they were Battlestars with Stargates bolted on top.

I can't remember what page it was on, but Orci himself confirmed it on Trekmovie once.
Yes, I think I read it on Trek movie too. Not IMDB.
I don't believe it mentions that April was the Captain just that it was the original Enterprise that gets blown up but Paramount wouldn't let them.
 
I'll need a link on that, it it's true. Besides, even if we entertain the idea that it was true, I don't see why they would still keep Captain April (who the rumour claims the scene would have featured) instead of creating Captain Robau. Hell, they'd still be able to keep Faran Tahir as Captain April.
Like I said, I can't remember what article it was that he made the comment. I just know that he confirmed the rumor, although I don't think he mentioned whether they planned to keep April or bring in Robau.
 
Besides the art issues, I like the idea of their being other Enterprises between the founding of the Federation and Pike's era. Be they in Starfleet service or not. For the Kevin Universe, it actually makes some sense that what would have been the original Enterprise was still built as a Constitution-class starship under a design planned possibly before the Kelvin was destroyed, or at least on the drawing boards at that time. That is was destroyed or retired prior to Pike's new Enterprise fits as well. The older novels had Kirk's father as part of Captain April's crew, so having him dead leaves room for Marcus to worm his way into stuff and get the old ship dusted somehow.
 
The fun thing here is the significant size difference between the TOS ship and the Abrams ones. Essentially, the TOS missions now describe the doings of a small and expendable scout (which is what "cruiser" is all about) and not a precious capital ship whose loss results in memorials.

And if April's tiny scout could arm a planetful of primitives and decide/perpetuate a major war (a capacity suggested in "A Private Little War" already), imagine what Robau's capital ship could have done were he to decide to interfere in local affairs...

Timo Saloniemi
 
Except that there was also an Armstrong-type ship in the actual movie named U.S.S. Biddeford NCC-0718, and the TOS ship was from a deleted scene.
 
Except that there was also an Armstrong-type ship in the actual movie named U.S.S. Biddeford NCC-0718, and the TOS ship was from a deleted scene.
And Joseph Gatt's character GATT2000 was renamed Science Officer 0718 in the end credits. July 18 must be a big deal to JJ Abrams
 
^ Gatt did say once that the number 718 was significant to Abrams, but didn't reveal WHY it was so.

Perhaps it's a reference to Brooklyn, NY? 718 is the area code. Abrams was born in New York, though I don't know which borough.
 
Or whatever ship this is that Captain April has was a starship Enterprise built after the NX-01 was retired, but before the NCC-1701 was built (in both universes). (The comic suggests this Enterprise was built sometime before the loss of USS Kelvin) Due to timeline changes, this Enterprise is lost or retired sometime before 2244 were a new Constitution-class starship takes the name with April taking command for is first tour of duty, while in the Kelvin Universe, with April goin AWOL and Marcus taking the ships, it is retained in service until the much larger Constitution-class ship (still named Enterprise) is completed in 2258. The decision to not retire the older ship in the 40s might be like in today's military, were politics can sometimes delay a replacement from being built for a very long time. The planned Connie design didn't work for what the Federation wanted, so another design was considered after some time. The larger ship took a bit more time to finish, leaving the old starship Enterprise long in the teeth by the time she was finally decommissioned by 2257.

This might have happened in the Prime Timeline, again with the Enterprise, but the replacement being the Excelsior-class and its delayed entry into the fleet and potential delay in construction of more of the class until the lead ship was proven. First leaving USS Enterprise in service possibly longer than intended, and then dragging out whatever the NCC-1701-A was originally for seven or so years of service while Excelsior was put through its paces, and an eventual replacement NCC-1701-B Enterprise could be built.
 
Or whatever ship this is that Captain April has was a starship Enterprise built after the NX-01 was retired, but before the NCC-1701 was built (in both universes).
It's been made emphatically clear that in the Prime Universe the 1701 was the first Federation starship named Enterprise (NX-01 predates the Federation).

The comics have almost always operated under the interpretation that the Kelvin Timeline always was an alternate reality, even before Nero's arrival, and they've been using this interpretation long before Simon Pegg or the Chronology established it. Therefore, April's Enterprise is just an example of that.
 
The comics have almost always operated under the interpretation that the Kelvin Timeline always was an alternate reality, even before Nero's arrival, and they've been using this interpretation long before Simon Pegg or the Chronology established it. Therefore, April's Enterprise is just an example of that.

Does it need to be? As I said before, the timelines diverged 12 years before the Enterprise was (presumed by the Chronology to be) launched in Prime. Unless the comic specifically says that April's ship was built before 2233, there's no contradiction with pre-Nero history.
 
The adventure has Kirk stating that April was reported dead "20 years" before the events, and his old ship decommissioned "2 years" before the events. This means the ship was necessarily extant between 2238 and 2256, by the earliest interpretation of the adventure date. In theory, then, she could have been built only after 2233. And there's even a bit of "safety margin" built in to allow the ship to be not-brand-new at the time April was supposed to have died (the adventure might take place later than 2258 etc.).

Timo Saloniemi
 
It's been made emphatically clear that in the Prime Universe the 1701 was the first Federation starship named Enterprise (NX-01 predates the Federation).
When exactly was that made clear? Even in "Trials and Tribilations" Sisko has to qualify "first Enterprise" by adding "Constitution class" before the DTI agents know which one he's talking about. Picard does the same thing in Naked now, the "Constitution class Enterprise" and again in "Relics" when he looks around the bridge and finally recognizes which Enterprise it is.

TOS Enterprise was "the constitution class Enterprise." Nobody ever mentions the NX class because it wasn't Constitution class and is captained by someone way less famous than Jim Kirk. If the next two Enterprises between NX-01 and 1701 had likewise unremarkable careers (or were built as small, rear-line survey vessels or colony escorts that never did any meaningful exploring) nobody would remember them either.

I would be it would be like someone asking Ben Sisko "How many ships called 'Defiant' have served in Starfleet?"
 
Or there is the possible opening of this early starship Enterprise was not part of the Federation Starfleet, but part of another orginization that hadn't yet been intigrated into Starfleet.
 
More like Earth Star Fleet, UESPA, the Star Service or Space Central.

More like those, yes.

I would guess a UESPA ship under April (in the Prime Timeline, if the suggested comic information about this ship being built in April's command from the 2220s is correct), and it was retired or destroyed at some point. Depending on who's version of the timelines you pay attention towards, maybe a conflict with the Klingons, maybe a botched First Contact with some species, or maybe when the Constitutions started coming out, it was decided to retire the old girl and they presented April with a new ship he named Enterprise in 2245. It is also possible that Kirk's Enterprise was still under UESPA until the War with the Klingons started near Organia, at which would it was pressed into Starfleet service, and never official left again.

In the Kelvin timeline, I would gather that after USS Kelvin is destroyed, there is a mass reorganization and most of those agencies get absorbed into the Federation Starfleet early, thus either delaying or repurposing the original Constitution-class design and pulling this April's Enterprise into Starfleet at some point. The original Constitutions being built is some fashion, but without a USS Enterprise. A decade later, the Kelvinverse Constitution-class starship USS Enterprise is under construction in Iowa. One can guess that Captain Pike may be in command of April's old ship prior to its retirement a year or two after he recruits Kirk in to joining Starfleet.
 
IIRC, the comic does hint at April's Enterprise being around in the 2220s.
April says, "I'd been Captain going on ten years" when he went AWOL in '38 or so. You could argue that if the Enterprise wasn't his first command, he would've more likely said "a Captain," but that's not exactly iron-clad proof of him having spent those ten years captaining his Enterprise, specifically.
 
When exactly was that made clear?
Relics
SCOTT: The android at the bar said you could show me my old ship. Let me see it.
COMPUTER: Insufficient data. Please specify parameters.
SCOTT: The Enterprise. Show me the Bridge of the Enterprise, you chattering piece of
COMPUTER: There have been five Federation ships with that name. Please specify by registry number.
SCOTT: NCC One Seven Oh One. No bloody A, B, C, or D.
Five Federation starships named Enterprise:
1) 1701
2) A
3) B
4) C
5) D
Very clear, no room for interpretation.
 
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