What ship type fulfilled the role of the Runabouts and Defiant in the "Lost Era"?

[DEWLine]

That would not be a surprise, I suppose. Interesting to know of the practice and protocols. Scotty would be comfortable travelling like that, I suspect.

I can't see Starfleet operating passenger liners, though, and Vash would likely have been asking for trouble by trying to catch a ride by such means in her day.

 

[Redshirt214]

I'm loving the thoughts so far! Here's an additional question: do you think that the shuttle-tugs we see in the movies (See this old thread: https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/that-spacedock-shuttle-is-actually-a-tug.146067/) are a Spacedock exclusive, or might they have been seen on other smaller stations (which might still have ships dock with them)? I think we only see them in proximity to a Spacedock (In Earth Spacedock or on Earth but presumably based on the Spacedock, and at Starbase 79), so there function may only be required when a ship docks inside a structure but it seems to me having powerful little docking tugs that might do many other interesting things with their tractor beams would be a useful kind of craft to have about.

Should we consider the Erwhon a distinct type of ship or retcon it into a Raven class? I know the prop on the screen doesn't match the Raven's design at all, but the era, ship type, and missions (TNG era personnel transport\small civilian ship) seem to match up really nicely and we never really saw all of the Erwhon anyways, just the crashed remains. Heck, we saw more of the wreck of the Raven than of the Erwhon!

Here's my thoughts so far on a Lost Era\Early TNG breakdown of space station assigned craft:

Raven class transport (Possibly also Oberth or related variants, depending on era & mission?)
Heavy Shuttles (SD-103 type or Type 7)
Medium Shuttlecraft (Types 4 or 6)
Workpods (Types Bee & Sphynx)

Which I think would probably suit most stations. Ships like the Sydney class transport, the Vulcan Warp Shuttle, and Mirandas I imagine might be frequent visitors to most stations dropping off and picking up passengers & freight. More serious starships would I think come less often, though apparently Excelsior class starships in their later years did much moving from base to base. The question is, assuming there is at least one serious starship in the same sector as a given base, is there a need for the base to also have an permanent resident starship? I think in some cases, like research stations that would need dedicated research ships or stations on trade routes where a emergency situation might demand a ship for defense or search and rescue, as "local patrol" or "guard" ship makes sense. Of course, by the DS9 era that might not truly be the case, if runabouts are so jack of all trades.

 

[Timo]

I'm loving the thoughts so far! Here's an additional question: do you think that the shuttle-tugs we see in the movies (See this old thread: https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/that-spacedock-shuttle-is-actually-a-tug.146067/) are a Spacedock exclusive, or might they have been seen on other smaller stations (which might still have ships dock with them)? I think we only see them in proximity to a Spacedock (In Earth Spacedock or on Earth but presumably based on the Spacedock, and at Starbase 79), so there function may only be required when a ship docks inside a structure but it seems to me having powerful little docking tugs that might do many other interesting things with their tractor beams would be a useful kind of craft to have about.

It's interesting how so many of these things are parked outside what is supposedly a prominent UFP government facility in ST4:TVH, and how one of them flies the SAR sortie to our drowning heroes in the end. Odd things both for a tug! Although the former is odder; I'd assume smartly dressed people would tap at the windows of those parked tugs with the barrels of their phasers and make highly suggestive nods to the effect of "Clear this pad now or we'll clear it for you".

Just about any starport might have small tugs, but perhaps Earth gets to harbor a specific legacy type, or alternately gets the very newest; other bases, of which we saw very little, could well have distinct types. I gather the current and upcoming 23rd century spinoffs would get a kick out of using this model in the background, but only if there's the spare processing time for making the CGI. Lower Decks would absolutely use this, but it's the wrong era... Although we did get the Air Tram already.

Should we consider the Erwhon a distinct type of ship or retcon it into a Raven class? I know the prop on the screen doesn't match the Raven's design at all, but the era, ship type, and missions (TNG era personnel transport\small civilian ship) seem to match up really nicely and we never really saw all of the Erwhon anyways, just the crashed remains. Heck, we saw more of the wreck of the Raven than of the Erwhon!

Absolutely distinct - there are never too many ship designs in Trek! Also, possibly completely different categories: Erewhon might be a people/cargo/cattle hauler for small-scale settling, while Raven would be a prospector, with little in cargo space but a lot in endurance, onboard analytics, and sensors.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Dukhat]

The Erewhon was a Federation ship, but it wasn’t a Starfleet vessel. So unless it was a Starfleet ship that just happened to be decommissioned and used as a civilian ship, the class probably wasn’t used in any runabout-style capacity at Starfleet space stations.

 

[Shamrock Holmes]

Found an old thread on the board that gives us an approximate scaling to the Erewhon-class:

Redesigned nose and bridge.

Not sure how much that helps but...

 

[Reverend]

^VERY approximate. It could easily be twice as wide and/or long. I picked that configuration mostly for aesthetics. The one-deck amidships height restriction imposed by the set piece means that having it be much bigger only increases the likeness to a steamrolled frog...
And as for functionality; I wouldn't call it at all runabout like, despite having some similar structural features as the Danube. I pictured it as an old short haul passenger transport/heavy shuttle. Basically an inter-system ferry or bus that'd been repurposed as a small, single-hop colony ship.

 

[Redshirt214]

Found an old thread on the board that gives us an approximate scaling to the Erewhon-class:
Not sure how much that helps but...

Loving that take on the Erwhon, better than anything else I've seen before. Very much looks like it'd fit in well in universe.

 

[Shamrock Holmes]

While it's probably not old enough to cover the entire "Lost Era", there are hints at an earlier version of the runabout that may have been in service for at least some of the period in DTI: Watching the Clock as the USS Brin (named for a scientist/author) was deliberately not named using the usual pattern, but that's about all we know.

 

[publiusr]

Found an old thread on the board that gives us an approximate scaling to the Erewhon-

That name will always be Dr Omen’s flying asteroid base to me (the novels)