What is the age of the Enterprise (NCC-1701)?

In Star Trek 3, the C-In-C said the Enterprise was "almost twenty years old".
But, if we add the original voyage of the Enterprise, under Robert April, which was 5 years, plus the time between "The Cage" and "The Menagerie", which was 13 years, plus the time between "Space Seed" and Star Trek 2 (which happens after "The Menagerie") which is 15 years we get 33 years.
Plus, the time between the intervals I mentioned (very little).
33 is more than 20.
How did Cartwright make such a serious mistake?

 

The Admiral would seem to be referring to something that occurred to the Enterprise prior to Kirk even taking command, something more profound than the refit we saw the results of in TMP. If the refit was a "almost" entirely new Enterprise, then the event that the Admiral spoke of was essential a (not almost) new ship from what existed before that point.

The ship might have been involved in a event that almost destroyed her.

†

 

But even if there was a refit, it is still the same ship, so those 33 (or more) years still count.

 

I tend to think Morrow was talking about the Enterprise in her refit configuration, and doing some serious rounding up.

Though I wouldn't use "five year missions" as a barometer. The only one that we can truly consider to have happened was Kirk's and even that can be finessed to some degree.

 

But five year missions are what the Constitution vessels were designed for. And barometers have nothing to do with the age of starships. They measure wind pressure.

 

Not necessarily. We know there are a dozen of them, we also know they are the backbone of Starfleet defenses. Tough to defend your space if you've sent all your big guns away for five years at a time. The Enterprise herself spent more time running errand for the Federation than seeking out new life and new civilizations. So, while a catchy tag line, I'm not sure how applicable "five year missions" were in-universe.

I like you, kid.

 

Those errands were part of the 5 year mission.

 

And so is war. If it occurs what would be your 5-year mission.

 

Then there primary mission really wasn't exploration. Put on top of that, that they were always very close to Federation space and I think that the five-year mission stuff is romanticism on Kirk's part.

 

Most Starships (except for Warships and Science Vessels, of which the Enterprise was neither; it was a Heavy Cruiser) had no primary mission. They were multi-purpose ships, for the most part. The 5 year mission is the work of a Starship. Not just exploration duties, not just war, not just medical duties, not just diplomatic duties, not just cargo carrying, but a mix of them all.

 

The five year mission that Kirk spoke of could have been a unique one time thing, and the Enterprise alone had such a mission, and only on a single occasion.

†

 

Why would that be?

 

All I can do is interpret the material we have...

In "The Ultimate Computer", it is four Connie's that are pulled for war games. If you have warships, why not pull them?

In "Amok Time", the Enterprise is one of three starships set to make an appearance that will send signals straight to the Klingon Empire. If you're wanting to make a show of strength, why not send your warships?

In "Errand of Mercy", the Enterprise is put right on the front lines of a coming war. If you have warships, shouldn't they be sent first?

In "Balance of Terror", it is the Enterprise sent to investigate outposts going quiet. Shouldn't that be the work of a warship?

 

It wasn't Cartwright, it was Admiral Morrow.

And he just misspoke. Or he was specifically referring to the "refit" version of the ship.

Kor

 

This is Star Trek. We will not stand for such simple explanations!

 

Wrong person. Sorry. Point still stands.

 

He's pretty high up in Starfleet, I'll take his word for how old the most notorious ship in the fleet is.

 

The warship is the Federation class Dreadnaught (from the Franz Joseph Starfleet Technical Manual). The Enterprise may have been the closest ship in those scenarios

 

He made a math mistake. I don't care whether he is a Fleet Admiral or a Cadet, he made a big mistake. Besides, unless I have proof, I don't trust anybody (or have faith; no faith for me, no religion, ).

 

The Dreadnaught is conjecture because it never appears on screen. But, the Enterprise (and other Connie's) were always the closest? Hard to believe.