USS Hood and USS Farragut

[EJA]

I try to avoid nitpicking as much as possible, but when the Federation fleet warps to Vulcan from Earth, the Enterprise appears to be the only Constitution-class vessel in the group. But dialogue in the film cofirms that the USS Hood and the USS Farragut were among those starships, and shouldn't they have been Constitutions as well, considering that they were in the Prime Universe?

I'm also a little bit miffed that the film seems to treat the Enterprise as though it's the only one of its kind in Starfleet, but to me this just doesn't make sense. There's some indication that the Constitutions had been around for quite a long while by the TOS era of the prime universe (The Constellation had a much lower registry number, NCC-1017, suggesting it was commisioned decades earlier than Enterprise), and the new reality can't be that different from the prime one.

 

[Dukhat]

Admittedly, there are some issues, but there are also ways around them. In a strictly TOS sense, the Connie Hood seen in TOS could have been brand-new, while it's namesake in Abram's movie could have been it's predecessor. Conversely, it was never proven canonically that the TOS Farragut was a Connie; it's only listed as such in the Encyclopedia. I personally have always thought it was an older class of ship myself, and now the movie proves it. Whichever ship the Antares was could definitely have been the same ship from "Charlie X," TOS-Remastered notwithstanding. And the Truman, Walcott, Newton and "Mayflower" are all new names, so there's no conflict there. The only real problem is the Defiant, which according to the concept art on the DVD extras has the same registry as the TOS Connie Defiant. But that might just be concept art and not representative of what was shown in the movie. We just have to wait for CGI renders to surface for name and registry info.

As for the Enterprise being the only Connie in Starfleet: Remember, the timeline divergence happened in 2233. For all we know, the Constitution class program in the prime universe could have happned much later than that. Basically Orci and Kurtzman have already explained that because of the Narada's incursion, Starfleet knew much more about future technology than in the prime universe (and apparently about Romulans as well), and this affected ship production from that point onward. This is also kind of a lame excuse as to why the Enterprise is so frakkin' huge and advanced looking - because it incorporates 24th century technology.

 

[Major Chord]

I couldn't imagine it containing much 24th centur tech...I mean, all the SF engineers would be working from in terms of future tech were scans the Kelvin took. I don't think you could reverse engineer (remember, this was also Romulan tech, not Federation) all that much from that data. They might have employed 24th century concepts, but since technology wasn't as advanced (obviously) as in the 24 century, there was far less miniaturization, hence the huge size. Random piece of tech A could function the same as the 24th century version of the same Random bit of tech, but may take up three times the space.

 

[EJA]

Well the Enterprise is still refered to as being of Constitution class, so it therefore stands to reason that the USS Constitution is already in service by the time Enterprise is launched.

 

[FrankR]

Well in this universse they might never have been connies.

There is a non-cannon comment by someone (one of the writers I think) that was basically "the constitution program was delayed by the Kevlin incident."
Given that, the names USS Hood & USS Farragut used on different ships.

-frank

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The only problem I had is that Uhura acts some kind of pissed when she originally is assigned to the Farragut. It's implying that this isn't a good assignment, that the Farragut isn't a desirable career choice. What's so bad about that ship that would make Uhura so angry about being assigned to it?

 

[Mirren Audax]

These names could now be used for new Constitution-class vessels as the original ships were destroyed by the Narada at Vulcan.

The problem for me is I don't know which ship is which! In the past books about the production design on films - eg. First Contact - were published, and you knew each new ship by class. Sadly, nothing like this has happened with the new film and in my view there should've been given the 'new' look of the 23rd Century. It took me a little while to adjust to the new design of the Enterprise, and I quite liked the Kelvin, and why no decent model kits of them for the dedicated hobbyist?

The only model of the Kelvin I have is from Burger King...

 

[SalvorHardin]

These names could now be used for new Constitution-class vessels as the original ships were destroyed by the Narada at Vulcan.

The problem for me is I don't know which ship is which! In the past books about the production design on films - eg. First Contact - were published, and you knew each new ship by class. Sadly, nothing like this has happened with the new film and in my view there should've been given the 'new' look of the 23rd Century. It took me a little while to adjust to the new design of the Enterprise, and I quite liked the Kelvin, and why no decent model kits of them for the dedicated hobbyist?

The only model of the Kelvin I have is from Burger King...

Give it time, the thing isn't even completely out of the theaters yet.

An art of the movie book is already coming in November, QMx has already said they will be making Kelvin models etc etc

The only problem I had is that Uhura acts some kind of pissed when she originally is assigned to the Farragut. It's implying that this isn't a good assignment, that the Farragut isn't a desirable career choice. What's so bad about that ship that would make Uhura so angry about being assigned to it?

No, all that it's implying is she was expecting to be assigned to the newest and best ship, the Enterprise, based on her Academy performance.
It's a bitch when your expectations and hopes are shattered. The Farragut's status or desirability had nothing to do with it.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

The only problem I had is that Uhura acts some kind of pissed when she originally is assigned to the Farragut. It's implying that this isn't a good assignment, that the Farragut isn't a desirable career choice. What's so bad about that ship that would make Uhura so angry about being assigned to it?

Unfortunately, I think that's a byproduct of Orci and Kurtzman's love of TNG where the Enterprise is the flagship and the most prestigious ship to serve on. Pike even calls the Enterprise the "Federation flagship" in his pep talk before launch.

In TOS, the Enterprise was just another ship, only special because we the audience were watching its adventures.

However, the sense I got was that Uhura put in for her assignment on the Enterprise before the Vulcan attack and that it was granted. So she was supposed to be on the Big E after graduation. Spock, however, changed it because he didn't want to show favoritism. Hence why she was super pissed. He f'ed with her career without talking to her first.

Of course, we could speculate that the Big E was a plum assignment because it was due to go on a "five-year mission" of space exploration, and Uhura would get the chance to translate and study new alien languages.

The Farragut could be a patrol ship, touring the Federation or protecting the boarders. In that case, Uhura would get limited opportunities to stretch her lingusitic talents.

 

[BenRoethig]

Personally I see it one a couple ways. Also remember that we never did see Farragut in the original series and they didn't have the budget really for other classes.

1. Either Farragut and/or Hood are earlier ships with the name.

2) Either Farragut or Hood is the larger and more modern Miranda looking thing.
2A) Farragut is that ship and was never a constitution-class ship in the First place.
2B) Farragut and/or Hood were both meant to be Connies, but one of those two names was given to that ship instead.

 

[Mirren Audax]

And whilst I'm at it, the discrepancy of Enterprise size is a bit of an issue. We have a primary hull that seems quite similar to the design of same we see in the The Motion Picture, save for the bridge window which in itself should be an indicator of scale. But it gets a bit vague when we see the shuttle bay and the 'engine room'.

I don't think the new ship is meant to be larger than the Enterprise-E; there was probably no agreement on how big it was supposed to be in production, which, given the fastidious attention to detail that Trek fans have for these things, is a bit of an oversight - hence these threads and posts!

I liked the new movie so much I saw it four times; by-and-large I give a thumbs-up for the design ethos, and hopefully the next film sorts out this particular issue.

Dammit - it's a starship, not a brewery!

 

[KlingonPredator]

I go with Farragut and Hood being not originally part of the Connie class,but when they were destroyed, those names were used on new Connies that were either being built or were planned to be built.

 

[EJA]

I can accept that the Farragut was never a Constitution in the prime universe, so there's not really any trouble there. The USS Hood and USS Defiant that are in the movie probably would have been decommisioned long ago and their names given to new Constitutions had the Constitution project not been postponed. But as things happened, they were never deactivated and were instead probably upgraded with new tech to last longer in the field.

Yes, I thought the Enterprise's status as Federation flagship was a bit strange too, there's no real reason why it should be.

 

[Timo]

Let's remember that the two universes diverged in 2233. While Trek episodes have never quite officially declared the birthdate of the Enterprise in the prime universe, it's rather unlikely that the ship could have been built before the 2230s. Her sisters would then also be products of a world that did not happen because Nero intervened.

The latest Paramount/CBS backstory (as printed in the Encyclopedia and other reference works) assumes that the original Kirk's ship and her sisters were built in the 2240s in the prime universe - and apparently these were not built at all in the STXI universe. Instead, Starfleet built lesser vessels in the 2240s (and gave some of them names like Farragut), and built a vessel significantly mightier than the Constitution class in the 2250s and named her Enterprise.

No continuity clash there, then. Just good continuity with the idea that Starfleet loves old British or American ship names, and keeps applying and reapplying them.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The only problem I had is that Uhura acts some kind of pissed when she originally is assigned to the Farragut. It's implying that this isn't a good assignment, that the Farragut isn't a desirable career choice. What's so bad about that ship that would make Uhura so angry about being assigned to it?

No, all that it's implying is she was expecting to be assigned to the newest and best ship, the Enterprise, based on her Academy performance.
It's a bitch when your expectations and hopes are shattered. The Farragut's status or desirability had nothing to do with it.

Well, if the Enterprise is the best, then somewhere there must be a ship that's the worst, right? Uhura's attitude did seem to suggest that.

 

[EJA]

The Enterprise is referred to as Constitution class in the online promotional material.

 

[SalvorHardin]

The only problem I had is that Uhura acts some kind of pissed when she originally is assigned to the Farragut. It's implying that this isn't a good assignment, that the Farragut isn't a desirable career choice. What's so bad about that ship that would make Uhura so angry about being assigned to it?

No, all that it's implying is she was expecting to be assigned to the newest and best ship, the Enterprise, based on her Academy performance.
It's a bitch when your expectations and hopes are shattered. The Farragut's status or desirability had nothing to do with it.

Well, if the Enterprise is the best, then somewhere there must be a ship that's the worst, right? Uhura's attitude did seem to suggest that.

Once again, no.
Uhura's anger had nothing to do with the Farragut, nor did it intend to suggest anything about the Farragut.
It had to do with her wanting and expecting to get the Enterprise. She didn't get it so she got upset.
The whole scene also served as a way to give us a clue about that much talked about Uhura-Spock relationship.

Anyway,I love pizza.
But if I have an appetite for pasta, order it and you deliver me a pizza I'll probably get angry.
It doesn't mean pizza is suddenly awful.

 

[PhasersOnStun]

What's so bad about that ship that would make Uhura so angry about being assigned to it?

We don't know this of course, but perhaps her main reason for wanting to be on the Enterprise was not because of it's status, but because her boyfriend was first officer?

Perhaps, if Spock was assigned to the Farragut, that is where she would have wanted to be assigned.

We'll never know, since that's not how the movie plays out. And Uhura is certainly a capable Starfleet officer looking for a distinguished career, not just a fangirl of a dreamy half-Vulcan. But humans often give relationships top priority in career choices; if she is in love with him, it would be quite reasonable for her to do so as well.

 

[JuanBolio]

The Constitution-class was designed and built over a decade later in the nu-universe as opposed to the prime. The Enterprise was only the first or second ship of the class to be launched. The Hood and the Farragut as seen in the movie were probably the predecessors of their Constitution-class counterparts in the prime universe.

 

[Sharr Khan]

The only problem I had is that Uhura acts some kind of pissed when she originally is assigned to the Farragut. It's implying that this isn't a good assignment, that the Farragut isn't a desirable career choice. What's so bad about that ship that would make Uhura so angry about being assigned to it?

I took it to be she desired to be assigned to "The Flag Ship" which was all new and shiny. And yes they've continued on the Trek tradition of misusing the title flag ship...

Sharr