• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Was the reveal of the Enterprise-A a big surprise?

I remember a drawing of the refit design, with transwarp nacelles. It looked pretty cool.

I remember that picture but can't remember where I saw it. Thought it was Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise but it wasn't.

Was it this one?

Looks similar. But the one I saw was pointed the other way and the lines didn't seem quite as thick.

But it's probably been twenty-five years. So that could be the exact same one. :lol:
 
I was hoping it wasn't Excelsior, but that it was a bit more advanced than the refit. Cranked nacelle supports, Raan type nacelles or something--three torpedoe tubes--just some tweaks to Probert's work.
 
Ugh. Those nacelles don't belong on that ship. I'd prefer something like this:

enterp10.jpg


That's by me, by the way.
 
I was 14 when Voyage home came out and I had no idea they would get the same designed ship. I thought when the music boldly came on and they were rising above the Excelsior the name would have been changed to Enterprise. I had no idea another constitution class refit was on the other side.
 
Something I've always wondered: Was the Ent-A supposed to be an all new ship, or just another Constitution Refit that got renamed "Enterprise" for Kirk's benefit?

I think most people assume the former (given the dialogue in TFF), but it seems weird to me that Starfleet would commission a complete recreation of a refit that was built out of another ship. In that case, why not just recreate the original TOS-E?
 
Something I've always wondered: Was the Ent-A supposed to be an all new ship, or just another Constitution Refit that got renamed "Enterprise" for Kirk's benefit?

There is nothing said about it in canon. But Roddenberry is quoted as saying the Yorktown was renamed Enterprise. I assume she was scheduled to be decommissioned. But to honor Kirk and his crew she was rechristened Enterprise 1701-A.
 
The almost-canon sources state it was indeed the Yorktown, but dialogue from TFF (Scotty's "They don't make them like they used to") implies it's "new". One more problem with canon ! :P
 
I remember having a discussion here on this subject some time ago.

There was a theory that it is the Yorktown, briefly mentioned in IV. This can also explain the system failures the Enterprise is facing in V; suggesting the ship's computers were still affected by the probe's wave. My only issue with that is, I find it weird that an entire crew would be reassigned and the ship renamed, all for Kirk and crew's benefit, but I don't know how the military works in that sense, so. But it may also explain why that Enterprise had the shortest lifespan, since she was decommissioned in VI.

But even with the decommissioning of the Enterprise-A in VI, I wonder if it was about that time the Constitution class ships were taken out of service.
 
Dialogue in ST V suggests that it was a new ship. There is nothing on-screen to suggest otherwise. What Roddenberry said doesn't matter because he had nothing to do with the production of the movies at this point and just liked to make statements like that so nobody would forget he was there.

It doesn't seem all that mysterious. A ship was being built when the 1701 was scuttled. After the destruction of the 1701 it was descided to name the new ship "Enterprise." While ship names are often chosen even before construction is started, it is not uncommon for names to be changed before actual commissioning. In fact, the descision to name her Enterprise may have come at the same time Star Fleet decided to decommission the 1701 before Kirk stole her.
 
Dialogue in ST V suggests that it was a new ship. There is nothing on-screen to suggest otherwise. What Roddenberry said doesn't matter because he had nothing to do with the production of the movies at this point and just liked to make statements like that so nobody would forget he was there.

It doesn't seem all that mysterious. A ship was being built when the 1701 was scuttled. After the destruction of the 1701 it was descided to name the new ship "Enterprise." While ship names are often chosen even before construction is started, it is not uncommon for names to be changed before actual commissioning. In fact, the descision to name her Enterprise may have come at the same time Star Fleet decided to decommission the 1701 before Kirk stole her.

That's another thing. The Enterprise was going to be taken out of service in III, but I always wondered if another Enterprise was on the drawing board. Perhaps the E-B was to originally be its successor, but the E-A was quickly rushed into service?

It's fun to theorize about.
 
That's another thing. The Enterprise was going to be taken out of service in III, but I always wondered if another Enterprise was on the drawing board. Perhaps the E-B was to originally be its successor, but the E-A was quickly rushed into service? It's fun to theorize about.

Could be. But she was in service from 2287 - 2293. I doubt it would take them 5 yrs to build the B. Not to mention, the Excelsior class completed her trials and a 3yr mission under Sulu's command.

She should have taken a mortal beating by Chang. Sufficient damage to warrant such an early decommissioning.
 
Dialogue in ST V suggests that it was a new ship. There is nothing on-screen to suggest otherwise. What Roddenberry said doesn't matter because he had nothing to do with the production of the movies at this point and just liked to make statements like that so nobody would forget he was there.

It doesn't seem all that mysterious. A ship was being built when the 1701 was scuttled. After the destruction of the 1701 it was descided to name the new ship "Enterprise." While ship names are often chosen even before construction is started, it is not uncommon for names to be changed before actual commissioning. In fact, the descision to name her Enterprise may have come at the same time Star Fleet decided to decommission the 1701 before Kirk stole her.

That's another thing. The Enterprise was going to be taken out of service in III, but I always wondered if another Enterprise was on the drawing board. Perhaps the E-B was to originally be its successor, but the E-A was quickly rushed into service?

It's fun to theorize about.
It's subject to speculation, all right. In lack of any canonical answer, one theory about the ship is as good as another, IMO. The only thing we can say for indisputably about the Enterprise-A is that she came after the original, was in service for about a decade (more or less), and then decommissioned.
 
But it may also explain why that Enterprise had the shortest lifespan, since she was decommissioned in VI.

Actually, VI implies that it's the crew that were being decomissioned, though Generations, set a short while after, shows the launch of 1701-B.
 
LONG BEFORE IV was released there was fan talk of the excelsior, but by the month or two months before the movie was released materials started coming out. Interviews on TV, magazines, ect that left it very clear that the ship would be the same.

You didn't have to look for spoilers, to discover that.

But of course it's like Trek II, I didn't know the ship got destroyed until the ads ruined it.

Say what you will with the reboot Trek, and its far superior in keeping some things from fans.
 
I recently saw a 1986 interview with the cast around the time The Voyage Home came out and they were being interviewed on the set of the Enterprise. As we all know, the Enterprise doesn't make an appearance in the movie until the last two minutes of the movie.

So that just leads me to ask, was it a surprise ending or did you know the Enterprise was going to return?

I don't know if it was a surprise to me. But I was dissapointed a bit. I would've prefered a different ship. I've never been too keen on maintaining the statu quo in a show. :)

Excelsior would have been pretty cool.

But then what ship does Sulu later captain? :)

The Enterprise-A.

Duh.

:D
 
Yes, absolutely a surprise for me. I remember there be much discussion about what would happen to the ex-Enterprise crew. As has been mentioned, some thought that--as in the DC Comics version--Kirk and Crew would be assigned to Excelsior.

Agree. I even thought it was going to be Excelsior renamed Enterprise 1701-A.
 
Dialogue in ST V suggests that it was a new ship. There is nothing on-screen to suggest otherwise. What Roddenberry said doesn't matter because he had nothing to do with the production of the movies at this point and just liked to make statements like that so nobody would forget he was there.

It doesn't seem all that mysterious. A ship was being built when the 1701 was scuttled. After the destruction of the 1701 it was descided to name the new ship "Enterprise." While ship names are often chosen even before construction is started, it is not uncommon for names to be changed before actual commissioning. In fact, the descision to name her Enterprise may have come at the same time Star Fleet decided to decommission the 1701 before Kirk stole her.

That's another thing. The Enterprise was going to be taken out of service in III, but I always wondered if another Enterprise was on the drawing board. Perhaps the E-B was to originally be its successor, but the E-A was quickly rushed into service?

It's fun to theorize about.

If the Enterprise A was a brand new ship, not a refit and rename of an older ship, then why was it decommissioned after Star Trek 6, a mere 5 years after it was commissioned? It was not that badly damaged.

Also, wasn't the production of Constitution class ships winding down by that point? Why build another Constitution class ship, if only to decomission it in 5 years?
 
I remember conversations taking place on old BBS's about Kirk and crew getting the Excelsior. I'm not sure if anyone even considered the Excelsior being re-named Enterprise with the Alpha tag at the end of the registry number though..I have to admit, I personally would have liked that (I also like the Enterprise B..big fan of the Excelsior class.) I recall one guy that would write on one board on a local BB seemed adamant that IV would be the last Trek movie with the old crew, and that all focus would be on the new TV series. One of the good things about the old BBS's, very little in the way of spoilers, but a lot of speculation.

There is a lot of confusion as to which ship the Enterprise A was before, I have heard that she was the Yorktown, but have also heard she was the Ti-Ho. I think the Ti-Ho was a complete new build though, before being re-named Enterprise.
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top