If the Enterprise were to find herself underwater would the warp drive be able to be engaged from underwater?
Underwater...
- Thread starter MBBrooks0927
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I don't see why not. Warp fields have been shown to be compatible with having some matter within the field when it's activated. In VOY, ships flew at apparent warp speed in what was considered "fluid space", suggesting they were immersed in gas or liquid while warping. And we've seen ships engage warp within atmospheres, which are just slightly thinner forms of oceans...
Also, if the deflector systems can keep tiny specks of dust from doing harm to the ship at warp nine, they should probably be good enough to keep oceans or mountains from doing harm when the ship is at warp one.
However, I'd assume that starships could have a few weaknesses and incompatibilities with underwater operations, because they wouldn't have been specifically designed for those. It shouldn't be a big engineering challenge to "waterproof" the ship (including not just patching up the leaks but also making sure that things like thermal regulation worked underwater), but it's not a challenge the engineers would bother to tackle.
Timo Saloniemi
Also, if the deflector systems can keep tiny specks of dust from doing harm to the ship at warp nine, they should probably be good enough to keep oceans or mountains from doing harm when the ship is at warp one.
However, I'd assume that starships could have a few weaknesses and incompatibilities with underwater operations, because they wouldn't have been specifically designed for those. It shouldn't be a big engineering challenge to "waterproof" the ship (including not just patching up the leaks but also making sure that things like thermal regulation worked underwater), but it's not a challenge the engineers would bother to tackle.
Timo Saloniemi
Didn't TAS have an episode where they had underwater craft? I haven't seen all the TAS episodes, so I can't be sure if they were warp capable.
In VOY the Delta Flyer was opperated underwater but nothing about if warp was capable of being engaged. Someone elsewhere tried to say the Bussard Collectors would get "water logged" 
I don't think a ship cabale of leaking water has any business flying around in space.
Why not? Water pressure can easily be more intrusive than air pressure; were the Enterprise to submerge deep enough for her bridge to be underwater, her lower decks would feel an outside pressure of close to ten atmospheres, which would be significantly more than the usual inside pressure of one atmosphere.
In "Obsession", a gaseous lifeform forces its way into the ship while the ship is flying through the vacuum of space and maintaining a breathable atmosphere inside. That sort of suggests that the ship has permeable membranes standing between the air and the vacuum, and that a sufficiently determined gas cloud can exert more than one bar of pressure and thus seep in...
In "Ambergris Element", the heroes venture underwater in a large shuttlecraft that has obvious warp nacelles to the sides. That doesn't necessarily mean this particular propulsion system could operate underwater, of course. Theoretically, there should not be obvious showstoppers; in practice, the machinery may well be unable to perform that task.
Timo Saloniemi
In "Obsession", a gaseous lifeform forces its way into the ship while the ship is flying through the vacuum of space and maintaining a breathable atmosphere inside. That sort of suggests that the ship has permeable membranes standing between the air and the vacuum, and that a sufficiently determined gas cloud can exert more than one bar of pressure and thus seep in...
In "Ambergris Element", the heroes venture underwater in a large shuttlecraft that has obvious warp nacelles to the sides. That doesn't necessarily mean this particular propulsion system could operate underwater, of course. Theoretically, there should not be obvious showstoppers; in practice, the machinery may well be unable to perform that task.
Timo Saloniemi
I'd guess probably no.
I don't recall any evidence they can actually go to warp in an atmosphere, and water would be much worse.
Now, maybe you could use the shields to slowly push the water away from the hull, but I think going to warp while there is a significant amount of mass inside the warp field (beyond the ship itself) would be a major problem.
I don't recall the Voyager ep mentioned above, but I will say it might be better/easier if the shields have been up the whole time: the shields keep the fluid outside the warp bubble around the ship.
I don't recall any evidence they can actually go to warp in an atmosphere, and water would be much worse.
Now, maybe you could use the shields to slowly push the water away from the hull, but I think going to warp while there is a significant amount of mass inside the warp field (beyond the ship itself) would be a major problem.
I don't recall the Voyager ep mentioned above, but I will say it might be better/easier if the shields have been up the whole time: the shields keep the fluid outside the warp bubble around the ship.
They went to warp in Earth's atmosphere in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
The USOs that are allegedly going in and out of the ocean around Florida are supposed to work on some sort of warp drive and they have no trouble going in and out of the water.
Check out the History Channel's UFO hunters and watch their episodes on USOs. This may help answer your questions.
Check out the History Channel's UFO hunters and watch their episodes on USOs. This may help answer your questions.
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