Why only 150?

[Tribble puncher]

Just a random thought, Janeway barks orders like shes got 1000's of people on board. I'm just curious as to why the writers decided on such a low crew number. The intrepid class is half the size of a galaxy class ship. Why not a crew of 300? still lots of room for everyone. I'm thinking of netflixing all of voyager and keeping track of how many crew members were killed during the course of the show.

 

[CaptainMatt]

Best of luck, friend. I don't have the patience for netflix. I am oldfashioned and prefer DVDS and VHSes.

 

[Tribble puncher]

Actually nevermind, It's been done: http://www.tv.com/shows/star-trek-voyager/forums/voyager-crew-378-173551/

 

[You_Will_Fail]

Going by the episodes where characters specifically mention how many people are onboard (in bold), it never makes sense.

The 37's (S2E01) - 152 crewmembers (excluding Kes, Neelix and the Doctor)

9 deaths - Alliances, Meld, Investigations, Innocence, Basics Pt 2, Unity, Latent Image (Ensign Jetal)
1 Addition - Naomi Widman

Net loss between The 37s and Distant Origin = 8 crewmembers

152-8 = 144 crewmen + Kes and Neelix = 146 people aboard

In Distant Origin (S3E23) there are 147[lifesigns detected, so who knows where the additional lifesign came from

7 deaths - Scientific Method, Ashes to Ashes (Lindsay Ballard), Living Witness, One

Net loss between Distant Origin and In the Flesh is 7, 146-7 = 139

In the Flesh - The doctor says there are 127 people aboard which would imply that 12 have died offscreen since Distant Origin.

Next mention of the number of crew is in Gravity (S5E13)when Tuvok mentions there are 152 crewmembers. So suddenly the crew count has jumped up to the number mentioned in the 37s. He isn't talking about Voyager's original crew complement as that was 141.

2 episodes in later in Dark Frontier (S5E15), the Borg detect 143 lifesigns on board the ship which contradicts both Gravity by being drastically lower in a very short space of time, In the Flesh by being much higher, and even "Distant Origin by having only 4 less lifesigns detected since then despite 7 deaths having occurred since then. Although if we're in the mood for fanwankery, Distant Origin and Dark Frontier are the easiest to reconcile if we assume that some of the dead crewmembers were miraculously revived.

But then in Someone to Watch Over Me (S5E22) it is mentioned there is a crew of 146, so Voyager has gained 2 crewmembers since Dark Frontier (not 3 since the Doctor wouldnt have been included in a lifesign scan but Neelix would have included him)


3 Deaths - Equinox Pt 2, Friendship One
6 additions - Icheb (Collective) and the Equinox crewmembers
Net addition - 3 between Someone to Watch Over Me and Author, Author

So the final mention is in Author, Author (S6E20) - 147 people on board. Counting from S5E22, there should now be 149 aboard but it isn't a stretch to believe that 3 people have died offscreen....

Overall though, when taking into account what I've written above and that huge casualty list seen in "Imperfection" full of the names of people we hadn't seen die and its obvious that the writers simply didn't care about keeping continuity with the numbers. And frankly, most people who've watched and enjoy Voyager don't care anywway.

 

[WarpCore]

Just a random thought, Janeway barks orders like shes got 1000's of people on board. I'm just curious as to why the writers decided on such a low crew number. The intrepid class is half the size of a galaxy class ship. Why not a crew of 300? still lots of room for everyone. I'm thinking of netflixing all of voyager and keeping track of how many crew members were killed during the course of the show.

How do you get 1/2 the size? ~640 m vs ~340 m? Don't forget width and height. So it's roughly 1/8 the size.

150 * 2 * 2 * 2 = 1200. So a crew of 140-150 seems about right.

 

[RoJoHen]

Best of luck, friend. I don't have the patience for netflix. I am oldfashioned and prefer DVDS and VHSes.

What does that have to do with patience?

 

[Saito S]

Just a random thought, Janeway barks orders like shes got 1000's of people on board.

Huh? The number of people on the ship has an influence on... the inflection Janeway uses when giving orders? Or doesn't, but should? What are you trying to say here?

Best of luck, friend. I don't have the patience for netflix. I am oldfashioned and prefer DVDS and VHSes.

What does that have to do with patience?

I was wondering that, too.

 

[Gov Kodos]

Assuming three shifts, the ship only needs 50 or so people to operate it. I imagine a lot of the thing is pretty quiet for the most part. She might need to wake people up on some of the quieter decks.

 

[Sandoval]

They started at DS9 with over a thousand crew. Most of these died when the Caretaker strummed his banjo and brought them to the Delta Quadrant but Janeway massaged the figures to make things look a little less disastrous.

True story.

 

[Timo]

He isn't talking about Voyager's original crew complement as that was 141.

Actually, Tuvok is rattling off the ship's specs in that scene, so it would make at least some sense for him to quote the Starfleet regulation crew strength instead of the true number of people aboard.

And 152 may well be the regulation complement, with 141 from "Caretaker" being a figure lower than this because the ship wasn't crewed and equipped for a full mission, merely for a quick Maquis hunt.

So I think we can safely sidestep the "Gravity" bit and assume that there are 127 people aboard the ship at that point (minus, of course, Tuvok himself). Or perhaps more like 139, rather, because the EMH isn't just listing people, he's listing people who need to be tested for whether or not they are Species 8472 in disguise or not. Some people might be above and beyond scrutiny for various reasons.

Also, Neelix in "Someone to Watch Over Me" is again quoting specs, so 146 could well be his idea of what the crew count ought to be, rather than any up-to-date assessment of how many people there are aboard. He's just disagreeing with Tuvok by six people for some reason.

that huge casualty list seen in "Imperfection" full of the names of people we hadn't seen die

That's probably mostly "Caretaker" casualties anyway, though. There are a couple of LtCmdrs and a Cmdr there, and we should have noticed these people if they had been part of the crew after the pilot and during the early seasons.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[You_Will_Fail]

So I think we can safely sidestep the "Gravity" bit and assume that there are 127 people aboard the ship at that point (minus, of course, Tuvok himself). Or perhaps more like 139, rather, because the EMH isn't just listing people, he's listing people who need to be tested for whether or not they are Species 8472 in disguise or not. Some people might be above and beyond scrutiny for various reasons.

No one would be above a test where they're trying to figure out if there's an imposter onboard, it doesn't make sense - the whole point is that it could be anyone!. And if you really are going to assume there are 127 people on board then that totally contradicts every episode afterwards where the crew count/lifesigns are said. Even if there were 139, that's also too low considering later figures that are said.

Also, Neelix in "Someone to Watch Over Me" is again quoting specs, so 146 could well be his idea of what the crew count ought to be, rather than any up-to-date assessment of how many people there are aboard. He's just disagreeing with Tuvok by six people for some reason.

I don't see that at all. Neelix is describing the ship to the visitor, it makes no sense as to why he'd be giving the ship's "intended" crew complement. He's talking about the ship there now.

that huge casualty list seen in "Imperfection" full of the names of people we hadn't seen die

That's probably mostly "Caretaker" casualties anyway, though. There are a couple of LtCmdrs and a Cmdr there, and we should have noticed these people if they had been part of the crew after the pilot and during the early seasons.

Fair enough. But everything I wrote still showed the wild inconsistency. And let's not forgot the random Vulcan shown in "Repression" which totally contradicts the rest of the show.

 

[Timo]

No one would be above a test where they're trying to figure out if there's an imposter onboard, it doesn't make sense - the whole point is that it could be anyone!

But the people exempted from testing might be people who have already been tested in another context. "Two down" could well be in addition to another ten down already, or in addition to people who pose no threat currently because they are already locked up or down for the count. Or off the ship on another assignment, so they fall within another quota.

Note how the EMH declares Chakotay and Tuvok clear, and then says "two down", meaning he hasn't tested Janeway yet. Yet the characters present implicitly trust Janeway!

the writer clearly had no idea how many people were meant to be onboard

That goes without saying - the challenge is in figuring out whether the numbers can fit regardless...

Another wild card out there: various cultures might have various ideas on whether the EMH counts as a "lifesign" or not. I mean, he can probably be detected - he's not utterly invisible unless shut down. And while he's not biological, some cultures might not make a distinction there.

Which means that the lifesign count would vary depending on what sort of holoprograms the live crew are running at a given time... If they're running a sentient routine, that adds to the count!

Timo Saloniemi

 

[You_Will_Fail]

I'm not really interested in trying to make something make sense via wild speculation and invented off screen occurences when the writers didn't even feel the need, I was just pointing out the lack of continuity regard crew members when it comes to the script.

 

[The_Baroness]

Or maybe they were counting Neelix's cheese...

 

[F. King Daniel]

FWIW, over 150 extras appeared as nameless background crew during the 7 seasons of Voyager.

Voyager is only supposed to have 15 decks, but in an early episode Janeway mentions a deck thirtysomething. Does anyone remember which episode it was?

 

[Sandoval]

First I've heard of 'deck thirtysomething'.

 

[Guy Gardener]

I'm looking at several reference to "sections" numbered into thier 30s, as if a small area of a deck,

RELATIVITY

Deck four, section thirty nine. I've found the weapon.

The Haunting of Deck 12.

COMPUTER: Lieutenant Torres is in Engineering. Ensign Trumari is on deck four, section thirty. Commander Tuvok is on the Bridge.

iNFINITE REGRESS

[Corridor]. JANEWAY [OC]: Bridge to Tuvok. Seven's been contained. Deck ten, section thirty two. TUVOK: Acknowledged. We're nearing her position. Seven?

 

[F. King Daniel]

Maybe it wasn't thirty. But I definitely remember Janeway saying something and thinking, "Voyager only has 15 decks!"

Maybe I'm brainmushing Voyager's "shuttlebay 2" (their onetime designaion for their one and only shuttlebay) and Nemesis' "deck 29" on the Enterprise-E, when First Contact claimed the ship had 24 and, later (in the same film!) 26 decks.

 

[The_Baroness]

and Nemesis' "deck 29" on the Enterprise-E, and, later (in the same film!) 26 decks.

Maybe the 6 on the door had fallen down, becoming a 9....

 

[Deks]

There was an episode in Season 7 where 204 Klingons were beamed temporarily onboard Voyager.
The crew of 146 had to double up in quarters so that everyone would have somewhere to sleep (no cargobays or holodecks were mentioned to be used in this scenario).

Anyway... the episode itself implies that the ship itself might not be able to house more than 180 or 200 crew-members - and we've also seen from 'Good Shepard' episode that Celes was sharing quarters with someone else already (but this might not be an implication of having limited space, but more along the lines that certain crew members of the same rank as Celes would have to share quarters until they are promoted, which would give them their own space).

Aside from that, we also know that Janeway and Chakotay were talking about the minimum number of people needed to run the ship in episode 37's.
I think they mentioned that 70 people would be needed to run the ship.

Plus, Voyager had most of it's deaths occur in the pilot 'Caretaker' (which accommodates for the big casualty list from the episode where 7's cortical node was shutting down).
They also gained a lot of people from the Maqui raider ship along with the Borg kids and the Equinox small crew compliment (of 4 or 5 people?).

I will agree that the numbers did fluctuate in words, but honestly, since 146 was repeated more or less as the continuous number, we can say that Voyager housed more or less that number through it's journey in the D.Q.
As for the max. crew compliment... as I said, it's probably within the area of 180 or 200, but hardly more due to the issues of having to doubling up in quarters to accommodate 204 Klingons.