The Omega Glory - Info about the Enterprise?

[Mytran]

In short, I don't believe all the Constitution Class ships were exact duplicates at all, at least on the inside.

...but it shared the 1701's modified, 2nd season engineering room. That is significant. I think that automatically sells the notion that the intent was that the Connies were the same internally, while the search for auxiliary control could be written off as the wrecked bulkheads / beams causing slight confusion. They did not spend too much time searching for the room, as it was in a familiar area.

If it's going to be one area that a shipyard will keep up to date, it's the energy production and control facilities. Therefore, a standard model XVII-b Engine Room would have one of the principal upgrades that the Constellation got when she was retrofitted to Enterprise-style specs (that and a shiny new Bridge, presumably)

Also, this is the first time (production-wise) that we saw the new version of the Engine Room. Whether you believe in a single Engine Room starship (that got a major makeover in the mid season hiatus) or a multiple Engine Room one (i.e. the other design was always there, we just never saw it during the first year), the fact is that we had never seen this variation of the space before, so its not a foregone conclusion to visually link this Engine Room to the Enterprise one.

As for Kirk almost missing Decker in the AC room, that may be due to a variation in layout (stemming from the Constellation's life as an earlier class or simply due to a later redesign by the ship's Engineer) or it may simply be that Kirk was on his way to the adjacent records room, where he later sends Scotty.
However, if AC is indeed on Deck 8 (as per the later episode I, Mudd) then that would place it in one of the smaller decks of the ship, so he wouldn't need to know exactly where AC was anyway - just "somewhere" on Deck 8.

Was the Constellation intended to be a carbon copy of the Enteprise? Quite possibly. However, original creative intent rarely makes it through unblemished to the final episode, especially when taken in context of the series as a whole. In this instance, there's not enough conclusive evidence either way.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

or it may simply be that Kirk was on his way to the adjacent records room, where he later sends Scotty.

Yeah, I've never given any stock at all to this "Kirk was confused with the layout" interpretation. It's always looked to me like Kirk was originally intending to go to a different room, such as where the micro-tapes are accessed as you suggest, he paused to briefly check in the open doorway, and then he changed his mind and went in there instead only upon seeing Decker seated at the station.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

...but it shared the 1701's modified, 2nd season engineering room. That is significant. I think that automatically sells the notion that the intent was that the Connies were the same internally...

Heh. I think if anything, the intent was, "How can we shoot this show as cheaply as possible on our existing sets?"

 

[Mytran]

Isn't that the definition of a "bottle show"?

 

[CrazyMatt]

Heh. I think if anything, the intent was, "How can we shoot this show as cheaply as possible on our existing sets?"

You're getting peanut butter in the chocolate!

 

[CrazyMatt]

Also, watch Kirk as they discover Decker. They are looking for Auxiliary Control and that's where Decker is, yet Kirk almost walks past it, only stopping when he notices the person inside, evidently about to pass the room, suggesting he wasn't quite sure where the room should be, which he should have known if the ship was the same class with the same arrangement.

I think that due to the older registry number, the Constellation was refit to bring it up to Constitution specs. The internals probably aren't exact. The Auxiliary Control room could have been in the same general location and maybe Kirk was on his way to the main entrance and just happened to notice Decker because the secondary entrance was open and he saw him. Or maybe the doors were just in a different location.

There could have been internal modifications made during the ship's multi-year mission. Sort of like knocking out a wall in your house to expand the bedroom or kitchen.

In short, I don't believe all the Constitution Class ships were exact duplicates at all, at least on the inside.

I like this theory. Various "canon" sources list the USS Eagle "NCC-956" as a Constitution-class ship. I envision all of the so-called starships with registry numbers below NCC-1700 as originally being Eagle-class, a number of which underwent major refits to bring them up to Constitution class specs.

 

[kirkfan]

It is to be expected that a starship will undergo several refits during its long career.

 

[Ithekro]

In lookng up something else I found a precident for there to not actually be a USS Constitution in the fleet and yet have it be called the Constitution-class. The United Kingdom's Audacious-class carriers. There were four that started construction but only two finished. The lead ship, HMS Audacious, had her name changed only a month or two before she was launched to HMS Eagle. Her remaining sister ship, HMS Irresistible, had her name changed to HMS Ark Royal. There was never a ship named Audacious of that class in commission. Yet they are still the Audacious-class carriers.

Could something like this have happened to the Constitution-class? Some other famous ship is lost shortly before USS Constitution is launched and the ship is renamed, say USS Eagle. Maybe at some later date, a new USS Constitution is built. She is also a Constitution-class starship, but not the class ship. If that was the case, than a ship like USS Eagle (NCC-956) could have been USS Constitution (and thus the class ship) but renamed before she was launched. Yet they would still officially be the Constitution-class. Maybe someone wasn't up on that and decided to call them "Starship-class" as they were all named after famous starships. Even after USS Constitution (NCC-1700?) is built much latter on. She would have the class ship's name, but not be the class ship.

 

[johnnybear]

I always thought the engineering scene was just a panoramic view of the entire section rather than saying there was another engineering section! I know it was a mistake in reality! The four shuttlecraft rule is good but how does it equate with the capture of the missing Starbase four shuttle in Let That Be Your Last Battlefield? Would there be enough room to bring it into the hangar deck if all four are onboard and just where were they anyway? Plus in an emergency could four shuttlecraft contain the entire crew of a Starship? I doubt it! At a push each could take maybe ten to twelve people so that's about 48 survivors out of 430 crewmen and women! Doesn't sound good does it!
JB

 

[johnnybear]

With the Gallileo shuttlecraft it really screwed us viewers up back in the 80s when BBC1 showed Metamorphosis before The Gallileo 7! I mean we get to see The Gallileo II before we see the Gallileo!!!
JB

 

[Mytran]

Actually, I think the "Galileo II" logo didn't appear on the prop until Season 3's Way To Eden.

http://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=61&page=2

http://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=95&page=15

 

[Warped9]

Aboard a starship shuttlecraft are stored below the flight deck. That's what the elevator is for. But in an emergency maybe four extra shuttlecraft could be parked on the flight deck although it would render the turntable/elevator unusable.

 

[Timo]

That's a classic problem with aircraft carriers: ships and aeroplanes (and to an extent helicopters) are rather fundamentally incompatible, and trying to fit one inside the other requires an interesting series of compromises.

The turntable might be an elevator. Or then there are larger, dedicated elevators where ST:TMP shows them to be, a bit farther forward than the TOS camera ever shows; the undercut of the secondary hull would be less of a hindrance for elevation, then. OTOH, shuttles are versatile machines, and might float down to the hangar deck all on their own, through a suitable opening again out of our sight.

It's also possible that the engineers decided to have all the shuttle facilities at one and the same level, and the flight deck and hangar deck are right next to each other, separated by a sliding door, or by a tunnel through the machinery adjoining the nacelle stems, or whatever compromise they ended up with. What they probably would have attempted is minimize the volume of the actual landing deck, which supposedly has to be pumped full of air at recovery and emptied of it at launch.

OTOH, even that is up to debate. Perhaps the flight deck is always at vacuum (despite the "WARNING FIRE" sign!), and our heroes always first park at the separate, smaller, easily pressurized hangar deck and only then disembark.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Albertese]

That's a classic problem with aircraft carriers: ships and aeroplanes (and to an extent helicopters) are rather fundamentally incompatible, and trying to fit one inside the other requires an interesting series of compromises.

...

True story. My favorite example of this is the Imperial Japanese Navy's I-400 submarine. It was the biggest sub of WWII and was, yes, an aircraft carrier. Look it up. It's awesome.

--Alex

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Would there be enough room to bring it into the hangar deck if all four are onboard and just where were they anyway? Plus in an emergency could four shuttlecraft contain the entire crew of a Starship? I doubt it! At a push each could take maybe ten to twelve people so that's about 48 survivors out of 430 crewmen and women! Doesn't sound good does it!
JB

Well, shuttles are for duty first, not escape vehicles unless every other form was busy and/or rendered inoperable (ex. the transporters). That said, it explains why shuttles were designed only able to hold a small number of personnel at a time.

That's the reason Decker--racing against time--beamed his doomed crew down to the planet, instead of launching shuttles.

 

[Kobayshi Maru]

Would there be enough room to bring it into the hangar deck if all four are onboard and just where were they anyway? Plus in an emergency could four shuttlecraft contain the entire crew of a Starship? I doubt it! At a push each could take maybe ten to twelve people so that's about 48 survivors out of 430 crewmen and women! Doesn't sound good does it!
JB

Well, shuttles are for duty first, not escape vehicles unless every other form was busy and/or rendered inoperable (ex. the transporters). That said, it explains why shuttles were designed only able to hold a small number of personnel at a time.

That's the reason Decker--racing against time--beamed his doomed crew down to the planet, instead of launching shuttles.

I believe they have the escape pods for that.

 

[CrazyMatt]

I believe they have the escape pods for that.

Unfortunately, the 2266 version of the Constitution-class ships didn't appear to have them.

 

[Vger23]

At least engineering didn't look like a brewery.

Some people will take any opportunity they get, huh?

 

[Marsden]

Well, when Scotty was in the engine room, it looked like a distillery! Scotch, of course.

 

[Ithekro]

Ach, a five year mission is not nearly long enough to make a good scotch, lad. That has got to sit for a whee bit in a barrel to make it right. Now over the course of multiple five year missions, dock time and such, Enterprise might make a fine scotch. Lets hope he pumped the tanks before they stole the ship.