The Enterprise has as many decks as plot needs.
U.S.S. Enterprise - how many decks?
- Thread starter Citizen Cook
- Start date
No, it doesn’t.
Yeah, actually, it does. It's all a fictional construct.
<insert end of MST3K lyrics here>
True but the one on the E just seemed to go forever and the Viceroy just keeps falling with no satisfying noise at the end.
To suck all fun out of this, though, we may count the decks: the set only features three, with the ceiling of the shaft visible one deck above that silly bridge, while the extending mattework accounts for a further seven at best. There's a nice shaft starting on Deck 11 and going all the way down in the MSD, and the top of that would actually be a nice spot for the Viceguy's raiding party and Riker's blocking party to meet halfway at.
Timo Saloniemi
Timo Saloniemi
During Court Martial, we get the following dialog:
.
SPOCK: B deck, in or near Engineering.
KIRK: Seal off B deck, sections 18Y through 23D.
I interpreted this to be in engineering in the secondary hull (the B deck? versus the A deck being the saucer?), and Kirk seals off a chunk of the secondary hull. I think 18 and 23 are the deck numbers, and Y and D to be sections designated from front of the neck (section A) to the stern of the ship or maybe just up to the hangar (section Y). Of course, this also identifies that the two story engineering room must be below or sit on deck 19 to be sealed off. YMMV KIRK: Seal off B deck, sections 18Y through 23D.
.
I get it that the Makers of ST2:TWoK (and perhaps TMP) may have tried to tie together loose ends by applying the "double standard" where Deck 1 is also Deck A. However, it seems the loose ends they chose were their own shoelaces... The actual TOS references to lettered decks don't really work in that scenario.
But I could well buy into naval jargon where the ship has "bee decks" and a "H for Hangar deck" but not, say, any such thing as a D Deck or K Deck. And we have McCoy's in-your-face door sign saying 3F 127 to match our section designation models against. Both 3 for Deck 3 and F for Deck 6 might work, but I personally prefer the former, since it would make sense for the Captain's Yeoman (one Janice Rand, 3F 125 or 3C 46) to cohabit the Top Officer Deck with the skipper (who resides on Deck 3 in the aforementioned movie) and all the rest (every single one of whom has 3 as the first symbol on their door). References to temporary accommodations elsewhere during diplomatic hullabaloos, major renovation work or the like don't affect the concept of Deck 3 being the Top Officer Deck.
But lettered decks are fine, since we run out of 'em letters right about where we run out of decks to squeeze into the spaceframe. OTOH, I'd really hate for the ship to have 127 decks...
Timo Saloniemi
But I could well buy into naval jargon where the ship has "bee decks" and a "H for Hangar deck" but not, say, any such thing as a D Deck or K Deck. And we have McCoy's in-your-face door sign saying 3F 127 to match our section designation models against. Both 3 for Deck 3 and F for Deck 6 might work, but I personally prefer the former, since it would make sense for the Captain's Yeoman (one Janice Rand, 3F 125 or 3C 46) to cohabit the Top Officer Deck with the skipper (who resides on Deck 3 in the aforementioned movie) and all the rest (every single one of whom has 3 as the first symbol on their door). References to temporary accommodations elsewhere during diplomatic hullabaloos, major renovation work or the like don't affect the concept of Deck 3 being the Top Officer Deck.
But lettered decks are fine, since we run out of 'em letters right about where we run out of decks to squeeze into the spaceframe. OTOH, I'd really hate for the ship to have 127 decks...
Timo Saloniemi
The TNG Technical Manual describes the "Internal Coordinate System" the set designers used to get the door signage correct (because the pesky fans would certainly let Mike Okuda know whenever he made a mistake.)
It consisted of three sets of numbers, the first telling the deck, the second the sector of the ship in the saucer (36 sectors numbered clockwise) or engineering section (nine sectors fore to aft), and the third the compartment or station number in that sector.
If we accept that the TOS signage follows the same order, 3F 125 would mean deck 3, sector F, room number 125.
And that does work fine, if we
1) ignore the time Kirk was living on Deck 5 (the dignitaries in "Journey to Babel" would have taken over Decks 2 through 4, including the big bar and adjoining pool),
2) ignore the time Kirk received Mudd and his women on Deck 12 (that was his office or cabin-in-exile after all the damage from "Where No Man") and
3) decide that Specialist Fisher's call from Rand's door does not specify the deck he is on (because Uhura should be able to tell that simplky by glancing at her pannel) but merely tells us that he's Specialist Fisher from Deck 12.
No big deal.
Timo Saloniemi
1) ignore the time Kirk was living on Deck 5 (the dignitaries in "Journey to Babel" would have taken over Decks 2 through 4, including the big bar and adjoining pool),
2) ignore the time Kirk received Mudd and his women on Deck 12 (that was his office or cabin-in-exile after all the damage from "Where No Man") and
3) decide that Specialist Fisher's call from Rand's door does not specify the deck he is on (because Uhura should be able to tell that simplky by glancing at her pannel) but merely tells us that he's Specialist Fisher from Deck 12.
No big deal.
Timo Saloniemi
But… what was 3C 42 doing on the right-hand side of the captain’s chair in “Where No Man Has Gone Before”?
Yup, it's the "return to" address in case of intoxication.
...No, really, those labels have nothing to do with the room or its location. They give the occupant's blood type (in most cases "Cold") and other vital stats, and are carried in wallets in addition to being attached to workstations and pieces of personal property.
Timo Saloniemi
...No, really, those labels have nothing to do with the room or its location. They give the occupant's blood type (in most cases "Cold") and other vital stats, and are carried in wallets in addition to being attached to workstations and pieces of personal property.
Timo Saloniemi
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