When the Federation goes to war...?

[jealousblues]

why dont they seperate the saucer sections of the ships?

I dont know which can and cant do this, but whenever you see a massive pre planed battle why are they still connected?

I know they would look ugly for TV, but they would be smaller targets ect...

 

[Timo]

It very much seems that Galaxy was the first Starfleet ship class designed to do separations. That alone should suggest that it's not a necessary idea, or even a good idea, as several centuries' worth of space combat vessels had managed without such a feature.

Separating the saucer might make for a smaller target - but why not build a ship that is small to begin with? An Akira is about the size of a Galaxy stardrive section, so why not just build more Akiras? Certainly it wouldn't make sense to separate the Akiras...

The reason Starfleet gave Galaxy the ability to separate the saucer in non-emergencies, and then reattach it without the help of spacedocks, seems to have been proven invalid during TNG already. Sending part of the crew elsewhere when battle is imminent is not a valid maneuver when the separated part then becomes vulnerable to enemy action. And splitting the ship into two independently combat-capable sections is pretty inane: why not build two separate ships to begin with?

It was probably just a "see what we can do" gimmick anyway; if it had been a valid procedure for protecting Starfleet lives, surely it would have been extended to other ship types ASAP, with the now unacceptably risky non-separating types quickly retired.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[JoeZhang]

It very much seems that Galaxy was the first Starfleet ship class designed to do separations. That alone should suggest that it's not a necessary idea, or even a good idea, as several centuries' worth of space combat vessels had managed without such a feature.

Clearly Starfleet thought the idea has merits with a bit more work...

 

[All Seeing Eye]

The prommie was the first one (the prototype) to have seperation ability based solely for combat reasons which is why all three sections have nacelles and their own warp cores and the Galaxy saucer doesnt, the Galaxy saucer seperation is mainly for evacuation purposes incase theirs going to be a warp core breach, the Galaxy saucer once seperated doesn't have the warp core of the engineering hull to power it's shields and weapons and wouldn't hold up as long in a fight, only time we've seen them seperate for battle purposes was against the Borg, all other times the Saucer was left behind and the engineering half was the half that went into battle.

Galaxy class ships are more powerful as a whole rather than split in two, the seperation ability was mainly because the Galaxy is a ship carrying hundreds of civilians, when at war the civilians arn't on board and the ship has no reason to seperate. As I said before, the Prommie seperation ability is built specifically for combat.
Although the Prommie was designed to seperate for combat there's no reason to believe all other future ships will have this feature and there's no reason to believe Starfleet feels the idea was a good one, it was afterall just a prototype and their may never be any more Prommies built.

 

[BigC]

I seem to remember reading somewhere once, that the TOS 1701 could separate it's saucer but would require a dry dock to put the ship back together.

 

[JuanBolio]

Yeah, the whole point of having a primary hull separate from your engineering hull is so that you can blast the ship's company away from the reactor if it ever goes critical. Early antimatter reactors were probably too large and integrated to simply eject.

 

[Gotham Central]

actually the only reason the galaxy class had a more routinized saucer sep function was because it was the first starship class designed to cary civilians. Picard says in the pilot that the feature was in place so that the families and civilians could be sent to safety in an emergency. However, repeating the sequence during every fire figt proved both expensive and time consuming for the producers so it was simply ignored. Its a safe bet that following the massacre at wolf 359, starfleet decided to rethink it policy regarding families on starships.

 

[captcalhoun]

it's suggested in "The Apple" that the 1701 could seperate.

a saucer sep manouevre was planned for TMP's finale during a battle with Klingons, whilst a Connie is seen seperating in the "Mirror Universe Saga" comic book. (from pre-1986)

 

[robjkay]

why dont they seperate the saucer sections of the ships?

I dont know which can and cant do this, but whenever you see a massive pre planed battle why are they still connected?

I know they would look ugly for TV, but they would be smaller targets ect...

The Galaxy was the first ship that was made to separate, its hulls were capable of reversible saucer separation and were both equipped with independent flight and combat capabilities. Generally, civilians and non-essential personnel would evacuate to the saucer module, while the senior staff confronted a threat in the battle section, which contained the majority of weapons systems. Afterwards the Prometheus was designed to separate into 3 section which each had there own warp drive to where each are able to operate separately. Its been rumored that the Intrepid and the Akira could separate, but has never been mentioned or shown.

Also the Constitution Class (1701 & 1701-A) in case of an emergency was able to separate by using explosive bolts at the seams where the saucer connects to the neck. By doing this the saucer section would be able to get away from the secondary hull incase of a warp breach. Afterwards the saucer section would need to be towed back to a Starbase. The Excellsior also was supposedly to perform this type of separation.

The reason a ship like the Galaxy does not normally separate in a battle is because the ships is alot more powerful as a whole then seperated. Also you need to remember the saucer section of a Galaxy is not warp capable, so if the ship needed to leave the area in a hurry. The saucer would be left behind to fend for itself, being its only impulse capable and it would take to much time to reconnect to the secondary hull.

 

[USS Excelsior]

I wonder if the Nebula Class starship can also seperate in a similar way.

 

[robjkay]

I wonder if the Nebula Class starship can also seperate in a similar way.

It was speculated that the Nebula was made to carry around the saucer section of a Galaxy Class, which would have the capability to pick-up a stranded saucer and take it back to a starbase. It would seem that this was wrong being the Nebula was a class entirerly made to perform mission like exploration, deplomatic, military missions much like the Galaxy. But both ships were made to work hand-in-hand much like the Constitution & Miranda classes have done.

It would seem that unlike the Galaxy, the Nebula saucer is connected directly to the engineering hull with the nacells attached above the secondary hull.

Memory Alpha states that the magazine ST: Communicator states that the Nebula is capable of saucer separation, but had alot of inconsistencies and is non-canon.

 

[All Seeing Eye]

I wonder if the Nebula Class starship can also seperate in a similar way.

It was speculated that the Nebula was made to carry around the saucer section of a Galaxy Class, which would have the capability to pick-up a stranded saucer and take it back to a starbase.

Funnily enough when I first ever watched the film Star Trek: Generations, at the end of the film after the saucer had crash landed there was a Nebula Class seen flying away from the planet, at that time i'd never seen (or at least remembered) a Nebula class ship before and thought that it was the Ent-D's saucer being transported away from the planet.

 

[robjkay]

I wonder if the Nebula Class starship can also seperate in a similar way.

It was speculated that the Nebula was made to carry around the saucer section of a Galaxy Class, which would have the capability to pick-up a stranded saucer and take it back to a starbase.

Funnily enough when I first ever watched the film Star Trek: Generations, at the end of the film after the saucer had crash landed there was a Nebula Class seen flying away from the planet, at that time i'd never seen (or at least remembered) a Nebula class ship before and thought that it was the Ent-D's saucer being transported away from the planet.

There have been Nebula Class starships shown before Star Trek: Generations. TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds", "The Wounded", & "Redemption".

Also in ST: Generations, at the end of the movie. It shows immediately after Picard and Ricker is transported off the old bridge of the Ent-D, there transported directely to the Nebula Class Starship. Hence there is no way the saucer section from the Nebula could have been from the Enterprise.

 

[Timo]

Actually the only reason the galaxy class had a more routinized saucer sep function was because it was the first starship class designed to cary civilians.

Perhaps, perhaps not. Certainly many other starships of earlier design have also carried civilians, suggesting that the relationship between the saucer-sep function and the family-carrying function is not particularly close.

The Galaxy was the first ship that was made to separate, its hulls were capable of reversible saucer separation and were both equipped with independent flight and combat capabilities.

Yeah, it's that latter part of that sentence that is important. Most ship classes probably could split into their component parts even back in the mists of Starfleet prehistory - no doubt Archer's ship could discard her nacelles if need be, too. But the supposed new thing about Galaxy was that the saucer could detach and reattach at will, perhaps even an unlimited number of times, and that both halves could continue to operate after separation.

Even that wasn't really spelled out on screen, though. There is no onscreen mention whatsoever that the Galaxy would have been the first Starfleet ship class built with this capability, just like there is no onscreen evidence that the Intrepid would have been the first one capable of planetfall and re-takeoff. It's just something the writers may have intended, and something other writers then put in writing in the paraphernalia books.

(Nor is there any evidence that the Galaxy saucer would have lacked warp drive, and indeed every indication that it had a pretty good independent FTL means of motion. The only time we really see the saucer used supposedly as intended, to evacuate part of the people while the other half goes to a battle of her own choosing, is in "Arsenal of Freedom", and there the saucer is separated at sublight speed. In "Encounter at Farpoint", we saw an exceptional separation at high warp, followed by evidence that the saucer reached a distant star system in a matter of hours, at what must have been FTL speeds. So perhaps a "flying start" with separation at high warp allows for that? No, can't be, because then "Arsenal of Freedom" should also have employed a flying start - and since it did not, when it could have, we must deduce the saucer can work its own way to warp.)

Timo Saloniemi

 

[erastus25]

actually the only reason the galaxy class had a more routinized saucer sep function was because it was the first starship class designed to cary civilians. Picard says in the pilot that the feature was in place so that the families and civilians could be sent to safety in an emergency. However, repeating the sequence during every fire figt proved both expensive and time consuming for the producers so it was simply ignored. Its a safe bet that following the massacre at wolf 359, starfleet decided to rethink it policy regarding families on starships.

Apparently not, though, since we still saw families aboard in seasons 4-7. However, I'm going to assume starfleet would have been smart enough to take families off most ships once the Dominion war started. That would have negated much of the need for saucer separation (in an emergency the actual starfleet personnel could use escape pods), thus allowing the galaxies to use the resources of the saucer in combat without risk to families.

it's suggested in "The Apple" that the 1701 could seperate.

That's always the assumption but it doesn't seem quite true to me. The actual dialogue from the episode refers to "jettisoning the nacelles" which sounds like something different from saucer separation.

 

[All Seeing Eye]

It was speculated that the Nebula was made to carry around the saucer section of a Galaxy Class, which would have the capability to pick-up a stranded saucer and take it back to a starbase.

Funnily enough when I first ever watched the film Star Trek: Generations, at the end of the film after the saucer had crash landed there was a Nebula Class seen flying away from the planet, at that time i'd never seen (or at least remembered) a Nebula class ship before and thought that it was the Ent-D's saucer being transported away from the planet.

There have been Nebula Class starships shown before Star Trek: Generations. TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds", "The Wounded", & "Redemption".

Also in ST: Generations, at the end of the movie. It shows immediately after Picard and Ricker is transported off the old bridge of the Ent-D, there transported directely to the Nebula Class Starship. Hence there is no way the saucer section from the Nebula could have been from the Enterprise.

Yeh I know, like I said, at the time thats what I thought because I had forgotten about seeing Nebulas before, I now of course remember the times i've seen Nebulas on TNG, i've rewatched quite a few since the first time I saw Generations.