TOS Phaser batteries

[Wingsley]

I was just looking over a new fan-created art thread, showing 3D artwork of the Starship Defiant (presumably from "The Tholian Web") and I noticed that the artist placed multiple phaser banks on both the primary and secondary hulls, similar to what Franz Joseph Schnaubelt did with his mid-1970s "Technical Manual" and booklet of blueprints.

This got me to thinking:

Where are the phasers supposed to be placed on any Constitution-class vessel? Where are the photon torpedo launchers supposed to be? We never actually see them in TOS.

In "The Trouble with Tribbles", Scott is supposed to be reading his technical e-journals, looking at some article on starship phasers. If I'm not mistaken, at that stage of TREK's development, Enterprise was still considered a "Starship Class" vessel, suggesting there may only be one class of Federation starship. I realize that the technical journal schematic was supposed to indicate the phaser was a "Constitution Class", so the waters were already muddied even then.

ENT's "In a Mirror, Darkly" two-parter clearly confirmed that Defiant employed aft phasers and at least one aft torpedo launcher, thereby retconning that Constitution/starship class vessels all have aft weapons. It was not clear to me where specifically those weapons were located.

To further muddy the waters, the original TOS footage from such episodes as "Obsession" suggest that the saucer's ventral forward phasers were not at the very bottom of the saucer's underside vortex, but further apart and perhaps on a higher deck. Original phaser imagery from "The Corbomite Maneuver" and "Arena" seemed to also show this.

Is there anything definitive or otherwise useful to indicate where all of these weapons are supposed to be, or are the images all so vague and contradictory that they just seem to move around from story to story?

One thing is for certain, "Balance of Terror" confirmed that Enterprise had multiple weapons banks, and "Space Seed" seemed to back this up as well.

 

[David cgc]

ENT's "In a Mirror, Darkly" two-parter clearly confirmed that Defiant employed aft phasers and at least one aft torpedo launcher, thereby retconning that Constitution/starship class vessels all have aft weapons. It was not clear to me where specifically those weapons were located.

If I remember right, the torpedo came out of the glowing dome above the shuttlebay, and the rear phasers came from either side of it (the same place where two phaser turrets were located on the refit). I believe someone on the behind the scenes said the torpedo was the result of a miscommunication, and they intended for the aft torpedo tube to be the little circular hole in between the impulse engines.

 

[Albertese]

I believe the first version of Bjo Trimble's Star Trek Concordance, made contemporary with the show, already assigned Constitution as the name of the particular starship class the Enterprise belonged to. This can be justified in various ways, as many fans have done, but I am comfortable agreeing that the Enterprise during TOS was still a Connie, dedication plaque notwithstanding. I would argue that "STARSHIP" defines is mission rather than its configuration and is more an indication of it's personal and fit out.

That said, I tend to imagine, in my own head-canon, the main phasers being near the lower sensor dome, secondary phasers on the saucer dorsal, port and starboard of the B-C deck superstructure (where they are on the refit, but not the forward one, the P and S). and the secondary phasers on the secondary hull in corresponding positions to the refit. Also, I have no problem thinking that the Defiant was differently equipped from the Enterprise and it was one of a few (or perhaps the only) Connie equipped with aft torpedoes. Further, I would retcon they to the intended "between the impulse exhausts" position, rather than the much lower position.

Using visual effects from TOS to determine the location is a tricky proposition, because, the truth is, the phasers came from the visual effects department.

If you go with TOS-r (as I'm sure you don't) they did some weird things too. Check out my analysis of a shot from "The Doomsday Machine" suggesting there may be a group of secondary phasers in a circular configuration in the neighborhood of the windows of the lower saucer:

--Alex

 

[Wingsley]

I agree with you on the original (non-"remastered") "Arena". The phasers seem higher on the hull than other images, particularly remastered TOS.

On "The Doomsday Machine", I may have to veer from you, though. Those phaser beams could also come from the saucer's topside, a la TMP forward-topside placement. YMMV.

In theory, I (think) there's no problem with the TOS phaser placements being roughly the same in number and in locations to the TMP placements. I prefer to think that "Balance of Terror" implied there are phaser and torpedo placements strategically placed all on both the primary and secondary hulls of all TOS Constitution-class vessels as part of the class spec.

 

[MantaBase]

There are two ports on the model on the top front of the "saucer" con structure and two ports on the bottom of the saucer in about the same spot. The top are labeled on the Roddenberry approved FJ blue prints as Photons and the bottom as phasers - but in the show they are used interchangeably - so I would just think of them as weapons ports. I consider the FJ plans as canon because they were approved by GR -others may not. Amarillo Design Board's SFB game had 2 variants of the Connie class. One had a rear phaser/weapons port located just over the shuttle hangar. Never saw it used in the show and it isn't canon - but you can see the structure on the Enterprise.

 

[Wingsley]

Quoting from "Balance of Terror":

[Bridge]

SPOCK: Sweeping the area of Outpost two. Sensor reading indefinite. Double-checking Outpost three. I read dust and debris. Both Earth outposts gone, and the asteroids they were constructed on, pulverised.

KIRK: Open a channel to our nearest command base. Quarter hour reports on our position and status.

UHURA: Yes, sir.

KIRK: Call battle stations, Mister Sulu.

SULU: Battle stations. All hands to battle stations. Battle stations. Battle stations. All decks acknowledge. All decks acknowledge, sir. All stations show green.

KIRK: Energise main phasers, Mister Styles. All weapons to full power.

STILES: All weapons to full power. Phaser control room.


[Phaser Control]


STILES [OC]: Energise. Acknowledge.

ANGELA: (to the intercom) Phaser control acknowledging. All weapons energising to full.

ROBERT: Happy wedding day, almost.

ANGELA: You won't get off my hook this easily. I'm going to marry you, Mister, battle or phaser weapons notwithstanding.

ROBERT: Well, meanwhile, temporarily at least, I am still your superior officer. So get with it, Mister.

TEC 1: Port weapons show ready.

TEC 2: Starboard and midship weapons show ready.

ANGELA: Acknowledge. All weapons batteries ready.

This passage seems to confirm that Enterprise employs multiple weapons, oriented in multiple directions. The Technical officers seem to organize their weapons checklist into port, starboard and midship. So one can assume midship is the term for fore and aft weapons, which a starship is more likely to use in advancing or retreating with any amount of speed. In "In a Mirror, Darkly", Defiant used aft weapons repeatedly to escape the dock. I assume this is true of all Constitution-class starships, and maybe true of most or all starships-of-the-line, depending on how heavily they would be armed.

 

[Albertese]

...
On "The Doomsday Machine", I may have to veer from you, though. Those phaser beams could also come from the saucer's topside, a la TMP forward-topside placement. YMMV.
...

If you are referring to the TOS-r version of the phaser shot I reference in the above image, then the beam absolutely doesn't come from the upper surface of the hull. If you notice the second still down, the beams are definitively coming from somewhere under the forward edge of the upper hull.

I'd have to review the non-remastered episode to comment on that, but I seem to recall a shot where there might be a beam coming from the upper saucer, but my recollection is that it would have seemed to be a side battery rather then a central forward one.

Regarding other Connies, I don't think we have any evidence to say that they are all universally armed the same. All we know is that the Enterprise had an array of phasers covering most or all directions, and torpedoes at least firing forward, but ambiguous about aft. We also know that the Defiant explicitly did have an aft torpedo launcher. But in real life, ships in the same class are often equipped differently. There's no reason to assume that all starships are equipped all the same.

I would argue that the lack of an aft torpedo on the refit would suggest that the Enterprise at least may have lacked an aft launcher the whole time. But I suppose they could have removed the aft torpedo coverage in the refit, but it seems like a weird step.

--Alex

 

[Mytran]

The aft torpedo launcher on the refit could well have been that odd collection of red lights above the flight deck. Some plans label them as windows, but there's no onscreen mention, FWIW

 

[Timo]

ENT's "In a Mirror, Darkly" two-parter clearly confirmed that Defiant employed aft phasers and at least one aft torpedo launcher, thereby retconning that Constitution/starship class vessels all have aft weapons.

I rather think the scene and, more generally, the episode confirms two interesting features:

1) phaser banks can suddenly appear where none were seen before (even on this particular ship)
2) ships looking superficially like Kirk's can and will differ in lots of details (as seen in the interior scenes)

The first thing is nicely in line with what we see in ENT: phaser turrets popping up (and down) from trapdoor silos. In ENT, the trapdoors were discernible in close view. In TOS, they are not, which takes us to the second point and allows us to believe in totally arbitrary placement for phaser emitters in all TOS starships seen, different for each of them.

If a phaser really is no bigger than the silo in which the emitter sits, i.e. there is virtually no infrastructure surrounding it but power leads that can take any shape, then the vast and featureless saucer might be modular the same way a VLS cell in modern combat vessels is: you can never tell which hatch hides a SAM and which hides an ASW rocket or a cruise missile / you can never tell which silo on the multiple rings of equipment silos hides a phaser, which hides a targeting scanner and which hides a planetary science sensor.

The Technical officers seem to organize their weapons checklist into port, starboard and midship.

Or then the list also specifically includes aft, and that is the province of Angela Martine, so the roger for that item is silent, that is, Martine-internal.

As far as the Defiant goes, we never saw exactly where the torpedoes came from. Might have been near the phaser emitters, might have been near the connecting dorsal, might have been between the pylon stems. Amusingly, the TMP refit shows four recesses that might very well be aft torpedo launchers atop the secondary hull, exactly where the Defiant most probably had them...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Wingsley]

^ Agreed.

 

[Maurice]

The aft torpedo launcher on the refit could well have been that odd collection of red lights above the flight deck. Some plans label them as windows, but there's no onscreen mention, FWIW

They're supposed to be the flight deck control room, and there are two related red windows INSIDE the hangar, as seen in the first shot of the cargo bay. You can see human figures in it in Andy Probert's cutaway of the ship (link).

 

[Timo]

Regarding the utility of aft torpedoes...

While Kirk's TOS adventures never featured dialogue to the effect of firing "aft" torpedoes, they did feature an instance of firing torpedoes aft, even if by sheer writer oversight/incompetence. In "The Changeling", the target for a single torpedo is indicated to be at a bearing "123.18", that is, to the aft (as 123 > 90). We see the torpedo fired forward, though, so this is an over-the-shoulder shot. Which makes sense, as Kirk in this fight is losing shields fast, and might wish to present an unconventional angle of his ship to the enemy right until taking his shot.

Since ST6 shows us a torpedo that is definitely maneuverable enough to do over-the-shoulder, we could say Starfleet does just fine without aft tubes.

Why does the Miranda have them, then? Well, the submarines that had aft tubes didn't really have those for covering the aft angles, either. They had those because there was no more room for further tubes at the bow. So extra tubes were installed wherever they fit: aft, amidships, outside the hull proper. Perhaps Starfleet just wanted to pack four launchers in the Miranda pod without making it excessively wide (for whatever reason).

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Wingsley]

While weapons do not necessarily have to be pointing in a specific direction while being applied in open space, close-quarters maneuvers like "In a Mirror, Darkly" make it clear that any cruiser needs to be surrounded by firing arcs during battles. It also makes sense not "to put all your eggs in one basket" by having all of your weapons concentrated in one part of a ship, lest that area becomes damaged in a battle.

It also helps to have multiple weapons located all around your ship if you are surrounded by multiple attackers.

 

[Mytran]

The aft torpedo launcher on the refit could well have been that odd collection of red lights above the flight deck. Some plans label them as windows, but there's no onscreen mention, FWIW

They're supposed to be the flight deck control room, and there are two related red windows INSIDE the hangar, as seen in the first shot of the cargo bay. You can see human figures in it in Andy Probert's cutaway of the ship (link).

Oh I know exactly what Probert intended them to be - but the fact remains that they (along with many of his other ideas) were never established as any such thing on screen. Kirk's flyby takes them very close to those "windows" and they never appear as anything except red lights of some description.

And while the function of the red lights is unclear, the fact there at least four torpedo bays on the Enterprise (as seen in TWOK) and those tubes have to exit somewhere.

So, there's at least the chance that those red lights could be something other than a room with a view, isn't it?

 

[Wingsley]

Either there or somewhere nearby on the aft of the secondary hull.

 

[Go-Captain]

And while the function of the red lights is unclear, the fact there at least four torpedo bays on the Enterprise (as seen in TWOK) and those tubes have to exit somewhere.

I love the conclusion image the four stacked pairs of tubes.

 

[MantaBase]

OK - now that I have had more time to review. Both the ST SF Tech. Manual and the FJ Blue prints contain:

Two starboard phaser (in 1 bank) top of primary hull.
Two port phasers (in 1 bank) top of primary hull.
Two mid-ship phasers (in 1 bank) bottom of primary hull forward facing.
Two Photon torpedo launchers mid-ship top of primary hull on con structure forward facing.

That is the original Constitution Class and would be "as built" after the pilot refit. Of course, what happened at starbases while we were not watching is up in the air, and ADB/SFB's placement of an aft phaser bank just aft of the navigational beacon above the hangar bay is about the only place you can put an aft weapon and give it a clear view. In SFB, these are Connie class Command Cruiser (as opposed to Connie class Heavy Cruisers). SFB is a licensed product, but I am nearly positive it's not canon. Still, about the only place for it.

 

[David cgc]

...
On "The Doomsday Machine", I may have to veer from you, though. Those phaser beams could also come from the saucer's topside, a la TMP forward-topside placement. YMMV.
...

If you are referring to the TOS-r version of the phaser shot I reference in the above image, then the beam absolutely doesn't come from the upper surface of the hull. If you notice the second still down, the beams are definitively coming from somewhere under the forward edge of the upper hull.

I wouldn't place too much stock in that. I didn't make the shot, but it looks like the beams were cheated to make a better composition precisely because their origin was behind the ship. It could be when the artist set up the shot, the beams were coming up through the saucer when they were parented to the TOS-R phaser bank locations, but that's just an educated guess. I'd bet that if you rotated the camera around in the scene, the beam objects would be coming from arbitrary points on the lower saucer, a la the second image, assuming they intersect with the ship at all.

I suppose it might be possible to get a more precise fix on the beams by following the entire shot and seeing how the perspective changes, but given that my entire point is that it should be disregarded...

 

[Wingsley]

If we were to retcon TMP phaser locations onto TOS-era Constitution-class vessels, there are four phaser guns (presumably two banks of two each) on the belly of the secondary hull. These would provide excellent firing arcs for the ship's underside, fore and aft, as well as port and starboard.

Going beyond the TMP emplacements, I don't see why a phaser bank couldn't be situated on the Constitution-class' secondary hull bow above and behind the main dish, with one gun on each side of the dorsal-fin neck. But that's just me.

All strictly non-canon, of course.

 

[Go-Captain]

One of the problems with the TMP phaser banks is the ball turrets actually have poor flexibility. The model shows they have a centered emitter, but such an emitter would only be able to point upward from the hull. An off center emitter would be able to depress and close what should be a coverage angle gap.

http://imgur.com/AipV1dE