What was the Enterprise-A's problem in STV (Other than bad writing)?

[Jose Tyler]

Was sort of in-universe explanation is there for all of the Enterprise-A's issues in Star Trek V? I find it hard to imagine that Starfleet would build a vessel that would not even pass basic inspection. I know they were on a shakedown cruise, but that should not be for silly things like doors and squeaky chairs. It is after-effects of whale probe? A mothballed ship with technical problems? A computer virus or bad code someplace? I've always been interested in NCC 1701-A and would love a good theory as to what was going on.

 

[DonIago]

Re: What was the Enterprise-A's problem in STV (Other than bad writing

Faulty wiring?

Just kidding...I'm not aware of this ever being explained non-canonically, much less canonically.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Re: What was the Enterprise-A's problem in STV (Other than bad writing

I like to think that the Enterprise-A was simply pressed into service before she was fully ready as a public relations move. Not only was it probably to show that the Enterprise name lived on, but also because Kirk and his crew had just saved Earth from destruction and were the heroes of the moment. In that regard, quickly trotting Kirk out in a new Enterprise was great press for Starfleet, IMO.

They could always work the last bugs out of the ship later, which they appeared to have ultimately did by the time the Enterprise left for the Great Barrier.

 

[Mysterion]

Re: What was the Enterprise-A's problem in STV (Other than bad writing

I agree with C.E. Evans. 1701-A was put into service probably before all her yard availability and shakedown periods had been completed.

 

[Saturn0660]

Re: What was the Enterprise-A's problem in STV (Other than bad writing

Thats what happens when you buy "federation" instead of going "off system"..

 

[F. King Daniel]

Re: What was the Enterprise-A's problem in STV (Other than bad writing

The failure of her transwarp drive (seen on STIV bridge displays, but not in STV), perhaps? Then again, her trip to the galactic centre is pretty strong support for a functioning superfast drive.

 

[Starlock]

Re: What was the Enterprise-A's problem in STV (Other than bad writing

The parts needed to finish the Enterprise - A were supposed to be installed next Tuesday...

 

[SchwEnt]

Re: What was the Enterprise-A's problem in STV (Other than bad writing

The real reason for the problems?

They wanted to insert gags and awkward humor into the script, so the Enterprise-A became a laughing stock. Lovely.

Yeah, it really was the bad writing.

 

[Ian Keldon]

Re: What was the Enterprise-A's problem in STV (Other than bad writing

I vaguely remember reading in a few non-canon sources that it was software incompatibility issues between the central computer and various subsystems.

 

[MyClone]

Re: What was the Enterprise-A's problem in STV (Other than bad writing

I always liked the idea suggested by someone in this forum that the Enterprise-A had been thrown together from structural spares, resulting in a ship that looked great but had serious systems integration problems.

Best, Ken-A

 

[Boris Skrbic]

Re: What was the Enterprise-A's problem in STV (Other than bad writing

The ship was probably an existing Constitution which served as testbed for all the new production design (Okudagrams, TNG-style warp core, a new shuttlebay, a new type of shuttlecraft...). They might've given Kirk a better ship if one had been available, but what if all the other Constitutions were still in the style of STI-III (and quite possibly taken by other captains, as opposed to this testbed), while the Excelsior was undergoing reviews and wasn't ready either? For all we know, the 1701-A might've been the best-equipped ship around, save for a few bugs that needed to be worked out.

 

[T'Girl]

Re: What was the Enterprise-A's problem in STV (Other than bad writing

I hold to the idea that the Enterprise A was originally name something different, and was quickly renamed "Enterprise" for Kirk's sake.

Years ago a sailor (who was chatting me up) told me that it is incredibly bad luck to rename any ship. If only Kirk had remembered to appease Poseidon

And so the malfunctions.

http://boatsafe.com/nauticalknowhow/rename.htm

")

 

[Timo]

Re: What was the Enterprise-A's problem in STV (Other than bad writing

Years ago a sailor (who was chatting me up) told me that it is incredibly bad luck to rename any ship.

...Yet something like 90% of the ships sailing today have been renamed at least once. Ships are expensive things, not to be thrown away until, oh, ten years after the last safe date for doing so, and thus they accumulate quite a number of owners and names.

And the navy (in the modern sense) has never had that superstition - it's a merchant thing (or so they insist, naturally). A fighting sailor cheers when a prize vessel gets a new name, preferably one mocking the previous one!

Timo Saloniemi

 

[F. King Daniel]

Re: What was the Enterprise-A's problem in STV (Other than bad writing

Or it was the prototype TARDIS technology which squeezed 78 decks into a ship meant for 21. I imagine that would cause some glitches!

 

[Timo]

Re: What was the Enterprise-A's problem in STV (Other than bad writing

When the E-D began malfunctioning in much the same way in "Lonely Among Us", it was considered a "virtual impossibility" - but probably only because a year had already passed without such malfunctions. But when serious problems again emerged in "Contagion", Captain Varley seriously considered the possibility of flaws in the design or execution of the ship or the ship class.

I guess the latter should count as evidence that complex systems like this could still be integration nightmares in the 23rd or 24th century... And that shakedowns taking as long as a year are quite necessary. The E-E supposedly did such a shakedown; it's something of a mystery why the E-D plunged headlong into a demanding deep space exploration mission so soon after launch, especially since Picard at the end of the first season exhibits the sentiment that the first year has served to "prove" the ship.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[C.E. Evans]

Re: What was the Enterprise-A's problem in STV (Other than bad writing

.. And that shakedowns taking as long as a year are quite necessary. The E-E supposedly did such a shakedown; it's something of a mystery why the E-D plunged headlong into a demanding deep space exploration mission so soon after launch...

I think generally a Federation starship undergoes a shakedown cruise before its actually commissioned--basically just to see if the vessel is spaceworthy, warp-capable, and won't blow up. There may still be minor bugs to work out of the vessel afterward, but nothing too serious that would prevent the vessel from being deployed on a mission, IMO. Like a newly-built house, it may take a good year or two for a ship to fully settle in and fix all the little kinks that might be discovered along the way.

But...if we were to go by the commissioning date on the Enterprise-D's dedication plaque, there were several months between the ship's launch (stardate 40759) and when Picard first took command of the vessel (stardate 41148) where a shakedown cruise could have occurred.

 

[Timo]

Re: What was the Enterprise-A's problem in STV (Other than bad writing

This would work. Apparently, though, a starship is such a multifaceted thing that a thorough testing would involve all aspects of a typical exploration and defense mission... A bit like how the M-5 was put through its paces, in a mixture of "real" and simulated duties. One might then argue that the shakedown would not differ much from operational use, and that it would thus be a good idea to do it post-commissioning. As long as the first few months only involved operations close to home base, that is!

Sending the Voyager to the Maquis hunt basically straight out of the dockyard makes some sense, as the mission would be a short one and wouldn't necessarily task the ship much. Plus, a small ship might get its characteristic kinks worked out faster than a Galaxy or a Sovereign.

Still, all the individual hero ships in question were early models and supposedly were launched not particularly long after the prototype. It sounds a bit foolhardy to send the E-D past Deneb so soon after launch, unless there was a combination of intense pre-commissioning and/or pre-launch testing, plus exceptionally satisfactory (even if brief) experiences from earlier Galaxy class ships.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[lennier1]

Re: What was the Enterprise-A's problem in STV (Other than bad writing

I hold to the idea that the Enterprise A was originally name something different, and was quickly renamed "Enterprise" for Kirk's sake.

Many people consider her to have started life as the "Yorktown", as a reference to an earlier name for the TOS ship, before they decided on "Enterprise".

 

[C.E. Evans]

Re: What was the Enterprise-A's problem in STV (Other than bad writing

It sounds a bit foolhardy to send the E-D past Deneb so soon after launch, unless there was a combination of intense pre-commissioning and/or pre-launch testing, plus exceptionally satisfactory (even if brief) experiences from earlier Galaxy class ships.

If we go by the TNG Tech Manual, that's exactly what happened. The Enterprise spent five years undergoing extensive testing of all her systems at the edge of the Sol System prior to being officially commissioned. During that time, lessons learned from the earlier commissioned and already in service Galaxy were incorporated into the Enterprise.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Re: What was the Enterprise-A's problem in STV (Other than bad writing

I hold to the idea that the Enterprise A was originally name something different, and was quickly renamed "Enterprise" for Kirk's sake.

Many people consider her to have started life as the "Yorktown", as a reference to an earlier name for the TOS ship, before they decided on "Enterprise".

I recall Gene Rodenberry saying that, but the Yorktown was disabled at the start of STIV. Would they have had time to repair it, replace all the bridge graphics, rename and relaunch by the end of the film? And what about the Yorktown's crew? Did the solar sail fail and they all die? Was Kirk given a Ship of Death?

FWIW, "Mr Scott's Guide to the Enterprise" says the Enterprise-A was originally the USS Ti-Ho, the first Enterprise-class ship equipped with a scaled-down version of the Excelsior's transwarp drive.