The USS Drake

[Dukhat]

He made no reaction to it of any kind, it came from a fake, thus it is no data point at all.

Riker was deducing that Rice was fake, or at least coming to the conclusion that there was something very wrong with his friend. When Rice made the warp 3 comment, Riker’s response was focused on the Drake still possibly being operational. So he did have a reaction, it just wasn’t in response to Rice’s top speed comment. In short, there’s no evidence either way that Rice’s statement was true or false.

 

[blssdwlf]

Riker was deducing that Rice was fake, or at least coming to the conclusion that there was something very wrong with his friend. When Rice made the warp 3 comment, Riker’s response was focused on the Drake still possibly being operational. So he did have a reaction, it just wasn’t in response to Rice’s top speed comment. In short, there’s no evidence either way that Rice’s statement was true or false.

That's assuming that the unreliable source, Imposter Rice, knew which ship it was talking about in the first place. And based on it not knowing the name of the real Rice's ship is "The Drake" then giving a 50/50 confidence to an unreliable source seems to be more wishful thinking, IMHO.

RICE: Our top speed is warp three. What's yours?​

RIKER: Is? Then the Drake has not been destroyed.​

RICE: The Drake? ​

RIKER: Yes, your ship.​

RICE: Of course, my ship is the Drake.​

 

[Dukhat]

That's assuming that the unreliable source, Imposter Rice, knew which ship it was talking about in the first place. And based on it not knowing the name of the real Rice's ship is "The Drake" then giving a 50/50 confidence to an unreliable source seems to be more wishful thinking, IMHO.

RICE: Our top speed is warp three. What's yours?​

RIKER: Is? Then the Drake has not been destroyed.​

RICE: The Drake? ​

RIKER: Yes, your ship.​

RICE: Of course, my ship is the Drake.​

Yep, it’s entirely possible Fake Rice was just making stuff up on the fly to get Riker to tell him information about the Enterprise. But that’s not what we’re discussing. We’re discussing how Riker does not correct Rice or point out that there’s no way the Drake’s top speed could possibly be warp 3. For Fake Rice to make such an outlandish statement and Riker not acknowledge it as outlandish indicates that perhaps it’s not so outlandish after all. Perhaps the Echo Papa analyzed the Drake’s technical info before destroying it, and didn’t bother to record the ship’s name.

 

[blssdwlf]

Yep, it’s entirely possible Fake Rice was just making stuff up on the fly to get Riker to tell him information about the Enterprise.

Echo Papa could also be trying to verify Riker's trustworthiness. If Riker gave the same answer it had in its databanks then Echo Papa knows it has tricked him.

But that’s not what we’re discussing. We’re discussing how Riker does not correct Rice or point out that there’s no way the Drake’s top speed could possibly be warp 3. For Fake Rice to make such an outlandish statement and Riker not acknowledge it as outlandish indicates that perhaps it’s not so outlandish after all. Perhaps the Echo Papa analyzed the Drake’s technical info before destroying it, and didn’t bother to record the ship’s name.

Considering the Drake's name should have been visible on the hull it is surprising that the Echo Papa wasn't aware of the ship's name.

You ever wonder how it would play out if Riker corrected Rice on the top speed?

RICE: Our top speed is warp three. What's yours?​

RIKER: You're a fake! Everyone knows the Drake's top speed is warp seven.​

RICE: Thank you for confirming the Drake's top speed. We have adjusted our power output accordingly. You are now a high value source of information. I will capture you now and eliminate the others.​

RIKER: Wait, what!?​

 

[WarpFactorZ]

RICE: Our top speed is warp three. What's yours?​

RIKER: Is? Then the Drake has not been destroyed.​

RICE: The Drake? ​

RIKER: Yes, your ship.​

RICE: Of course, my ship is the Drake.​

Riker was testing him. Everyone knows the USS Drake was destroyed by the USS Kendrick Lamar.

 

[knightgrace]

First you have to be awake, in order to understand what is going on. This means that one of the classes at Starfleet Academy must have more than a few training simulations about something like this.

 

[Mres_was_framed!]

Maybe it's an NV/Intrepid or warp delta from ENT

I do think the Drake could be an older cruiser converted into a cargo carrier.

the Light Cruiser's alleged top speed

The Wambundu class, which official sources claim is the Drake's class, is also called a Medical Transport, so

By TNG, the Drake's warp 3 max could have been warp 7 in the old scale, when the ship was originally built.

I understood from things Micheal Okuda said in several official publications that each Warp Factor above 1 was basically twice what is was in TNG, so Warp Factor 3 in TNG should be about Warp Factor 6 on the old scale. That figured into my theory below.

The thing is, there has never been anything canonically stated that the warp scale changed. It was always just an assumption based on several factors.

It is mentioned in background materials about the creation of TNG and is in several official publications, but of course that is not the same thing as having it said onscreen.

Numerically speaking, TOS' Warp 8 in interstellar space is faster than Voyager's Warp 9.9.

I'm confused

I might be the person the original poster was referring to. On another thread, I made the point that the Drake and its class were called both "Light Cruisers" and "Medical Transports," and thus made the argument that perhaps the Drake and the others like were cargo carriers made like the Constitution-class desktop model shown in TNG, with cargo doors instead of windows in come places, and sideways nacelles. Warp Factor 3 on the TNG scale refers to the maximum normal "cruising speed" of a Constitution-class ship, then called Warp Factor 6. Medical Ships and cargo cariers have sometimes been shown using models of older ships.

It sure would explain why the Drake was never shown, nor the other ships of the Wambundu class. The producers or studio at the time would not have wanted a Constitution class ship to be shown in normal use, out of concern that it would be miskaten for Kirk's ship showing up in the episode that night

 

[knightgrace]

A medical transport that is also a Light Cruiser, explains a great deal. Some medical supplies have been said to be strictly regulated. So a high security ship, is appropriate. In other words a Light Cruiser.

 

[Dukhat]

The nautical terms TNG was using for the first season really shouldn't be used as evidence for anything. Both the Constitution class and the Ambassador class were referred to as heavy cruisers, the Constellation class and the Hokule'a class were cruisers, and the New Orleans class was a frigate. But really, what exactly makes those ships have those designations? They're really pretty arbitrary, which was why they were probably dropped after the 1st season and never used again.