Galaxy Class Starship
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- Опубліковано 1 чер 2024
- The Galaxy Class starship has born the United Federation of Planets and Starfleet through its Golden Age of Exploration and was the literal flagship for everything Starfleet could muster. Among its lineage was the famous USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D but like the Constitution before it, such a vessel was a marvel all by itself. Let's analyse its development and take a look at its specs.
Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:10 Development
01:10 Golden Era of Exploration
02:50 Prototype and Production
04:42 Alterations and Upgrades
07:12 Dominion War
08:36 Saucer Separation
09:37 Specifications
11:07 Auxiliary Craft
11:48 Conclusion
Music from bensound.com, purple-planet.com and freesfx.co.uk
Star Trek Online developed by Cryptic Studios and Perfect World.
Star Trek, Star Trek Enterprise/Voyager/Deep Space Nine/Discovery/Lower Decks/Picard/Prodigy and The Next Generation are all owned and distributed by CBS.
Star Trek Films are owned and distributed by Paramount Pictures
Image stills are from Trekcore
This Video is for critical purposes with commentary - Ігри
My head cannon is that the Glaxy class war re-fits would have been total combat monsters. They had tons of room for extra shield generators, auxiliary power generators, extra phaser banks, Redundant EPS conduit runs, extra torpedo launchers and all the space needed for ammunition. Hell they could have fit extra thrusters for manoeuvrability, extra structural field emitters and ablative armour with the mass saved from not having swimming pools and Anbo-jyutsu rings.
Given the Galaxy-X design of All Good Things I think it's clear all those sleek First Contact ships can still learn a thing or two from the Galaxy class. Quantity is a quality all its own after all.
The galaxy class ships were really beefed up during the Dominion war. Imo, their full potential was finally realized.
That is what happened. Semi finished hulls where filled with weapons and shields. They where used in wings to anchor battle lines or as line breakers.
The idea of these being mobile starbases is true. They had the facilities and in a pinch could easily make more sick bays and living quarters for say troop movements. Once the war was over I could see them becoming ships for a whole sector with it's own admiral coordinating on board. The whole idea of families on the ship makes some sense in a time of peace. They had to rethink that once the Borg were made known of
In canon, the Galaxy X refit still didn't use all the space, it was a rush job that still had a of its Saucer volume not utilised.
What would have been terrifying is if it was fitted with a bunch of extra torpedo launchers and the extra space just racks and racks of thousands of photon torpedoes in magazines.
It could just rain massive salvos of torpedoes - a few dozen photons hitting a single capital ship could take care of it.
You know the older I get the more I appreciate the design of the galaxy class, as a kid I thought it looked really silly, but it's grown on me so much.
I had that same experience too😮
same for me
as a kid i thought it looks stupid. also the uniforms in S1 of TNG. but - after a few years - oh boy i douldn't tell how much she had growing on me, especially now where i'm 43.
this is a star ship of the mighty galaxy class, this is the USS Enterprise NCC1701D, this is a ship where, when ever it appeared on the screen, you feel you coming home. due to her abillities and her technology but also due to her captain and her crew, this ship was (and still remain today as) a shining beacon of hope in the darkness of space.
"let's make sure history never forgets the name ....
ENTERPRISE!"
I thought it was silly as well … now I love the design
The Hotel in space approach to the Galaxy class was almost genius in terms of narrative design considering how a large portion of Next Generation's stories were more character focused and even had Slice of Life elements.
It feels like being home whenever I watch an episode of Next Gen, and the aesthetic of the ship sets mirror that perfectly
It's also a great way to keep your crew on really long missions from going insane. When you read about long voyages or deployments in RL, boredom, getting sick of your co-workers, mental health issues, morale, and chronic loneliness frequently come up. I can speak from experience that even just having quarters of your own does wonders on morale and sanity. Cracking down on discipline only goes so far until you've got a mutiny on hand.
Ditto.
Exactly! This ship feels the most livable of all of them
Some other little known facts:
The main bridge has its own Shield Emitter, a fusion power generator, its own Subspace communications, and its own life support systems. It was also designed to act as a lifepod for the command crew on the bridge in case of an emergency. It could jettison from the main ship and could connect up with other life pods in a lattice to be a central nexus that supplies power and life support for the other pods. They had planned for this for a few episodes but budget issues stopped them from doing it on the show.
This also explains why it appears to only take days to redesign the bridge in between some episodes, its because they don't, they simple remove the bridge unit and put a new one in.
Too bad it couldn't protect the Yamato
@@AshuraH well the Yamato has a massive design flaw, luckily the same flaw didn't hit the Enterprise till much later. They called the flaw "Plot".
@@jacara1981 it was that alien probe not a design flaw
@@mem1701movies one cool thing that I recently learned was from the set, each station had power and control connection behind them so the set crew could hot swap them as needed between episodes and even durning a few episodes being filmed. Looking at the viewscreen the wall to the right had 3 slots behind the wall panel and to the left that wall had 2.
This kinda works for in universe as well as a great design that would allow new stations to be added mid mission.
@@AshuraHshots fired...
I had a fellow Trekkie coworker who had been a theater student. One acting teacher was Leah Brahms actress Susan Gibney. He found a set of Enterprise D “Blueprints” and had her sign them.
From the hand of the master.
thats awesome
Talk about something to frame on a wall.
Does he have the blueprints at home?
As a commanding officer, you knew that you had arrived when offered command of a Galaxy. In the eyes of Starfleet, you were going places.
Basically a Starfleet cruise ship that has all of the space and amenities one could possibly need. Plus your family can tag along too so that they could also understand just exactly how tense you felt as you rode into battle.
I always liked how despite being dimensionally similar in saucer volume, the Nebulas appeared much more spartan than the galaxies did. In the same manner as buying an entry spec car and noticing that your dashboard doesn’t have as many switches and a smaller screen than if you’d ticked the options boxes.
I love the idea of Starfleet finishing up the Galaxy Class and then going, "Crap, this thing is an absolutely OP destructive beast. How do we keep the entire galaxy from seeing it as an unofficial act of war?"
"Ummmmm, kindergartens, violin concertos, and a bar and grill?"
Welp I assume that them adding a large civilian population made most people think “there heavily armed to protect them”
The cardasisns will believe that because of their family first culture.
Klingons will accept it due to protecting your clan.
And romulans well they had there own military variant so they didn’t much cared. The ferangi would have seen this as a large mobile trade colony and as such would say “good idea protecting the trade assets”
My favourite class of starship in Trek. When a Galaxy Class comes over the horizon, you know you're safe. You know you're home.
(So long as you're not in an episode of DS9!)
Yeah, all those ships seen in DS9 had the explodiun upgraded hulls like the war canoe Uss Grissom.
Not surprising that one of the first ships in Sector 001 to greet Voyager was a Galaxy Class
@@RobertWilke😂😂😂
Except for the little issue where the whole thing blows up if you so much as sneeze on the port nacelle.
STO has a mission where you get to experience this. You are sent to investigate in a shuttle a Romulan science installation, that you discover has a Borg Sphere in it. Of course your shuttles presence is detected and you have to escape the installation, enemies chasing after you and when you get out in the installation, the cavalry is waiting in a form of Galaxy that makes short work of the enemy ships.
The combination of combat, functionally and comfort makes me think of the old spanish galeons; which basically were renaissance castles at sea.
And what happened to them at the Spanish Armada, so some serious strengths but weaknesses depending on the situation. Great historical analogy by the way.
If I could choose any starship to cruise the galaxy, I would choose the Galaxy in a heartbeat. It is literally designed with the idea that the passengers onboard may never get off the ship, so they brought all the comforts with them. My only stipulation would be for it to be kitted out with Post-Dominion War weapons systems.
I like the idea of the captain of a ship allowing civilians to use the empty space for morale purposes. 10 Forward and the like.
Well since Starfleet is big on how it's "not a military force" --- everything is for civilian use, technically
It's not the captain that decided that. The UFP decided to allow it.
The Galaxy class could hold the mother all of go-cart tracks in the spare 35% volume.
Did we ever really see unattended civilians in 10Forward though?
@@benjo_5 I disagree. Starfleet is still considered service. Just not a militaristic one.
A neat idea for a star trek series could be a Voyager-esque show about the Civilians aboard a Galaxy Class attempting to reestablish contact with the federation after the Starfleet Crew is killed by some sort of phenomenon. It wouldn't even need to go anywhere: exploring the ship and learning how to repair it's systems and navigate it from aft to stern could be fascinating in itself.
Or even set it on the Enterprise J, which is just crazily huge. An designed to go to other galaxies.
In '87 I thought it was ugly. 35 years later I have come to love its design.
It's still ugly. That saucer section is too big
I felt the same but then realized that as StarFleet met new aliens, new engineering philosophies were learned from these aliens which no doubt added to the more organic look of the Enterprise. And then things started to make more sense to me about what the design was saying to the viewers. Humanities understanding of space travel was evolving along with the evolution of the human race. This gave the 24th Century an added element of difference from the 23rd century.
I'm still split. I still think the Constitution Refit is perfection incarnate, it looks well proportioned from almost any angle. But the Galaxy looks imposing from the bottom and side, and top rear. Less so from the front because of the way the saucer slops down. Much like the Sovreign saucer, it reminded me too much of a hat.
I still think it’s ugly
Why do people see this class as ugly?
I bought the published deckplans years ago when they came out. The Galaxy-class shuttle bay was so huge that it could’ve served as a fighter carrier.
The main hanger wasn't much smaller than a Defiant class. 😅
During The Dominion War, It Was Used As A Carrier, Home To Wings Of Peregrine-Class Attack Fighters. They Added Pilot Birthing, Maintenance Shops, Briefing Rooms, And Armories For Fighter Weapons In Place Of Some Of The Civilian Facilities They Removed
Peak Federation.
Sleek and powerful. A statement to the friends and foes a like.
Like watching a superhero arriving at a disaster and you just know, that everything is going to be ok.
If you look at the blueprints of this class ship, you’ll quickly see that we know very little about the Galaxy class. One thing is that it carried dolphins to aid in space navigation which is something never explored or mentioned. There were also many more lounges than just 10 forward that sat along the rim of the saucer section. There were many areas that were simply vacant rooms designed to be turned into things as needed during its deep space missions. There was so much more to explore about the Enterprise-D, that I was surprised they simply abandoned it during TNG’s movie phase. By all rights, the Galaxy Class would still be the flagship class if all newer technologies were installed into it as time went on, because this class ship was deliberately designed to be upgraded as new things were invented.
I would love a tv series, probably not set in the star trek universe, where exploring a ship is the story.
Those details would only appeal to die hard fans. I doubt if casual Trek fans would want to go that deep into the lore.
The most beautiful of the Enterprises - elegant design, superb engineering and went way before her time.
Respectfully I think the sovereign class is much better looking
The Sovereign was built for war, I like calling the Galaxy class the Federation's most heavily armed cruise ship 😆
But I do like the design of the Galaxy class more. It looks like the ultimate diplomatic starship. But if I had to take a canon ship into combat, it would be the Prometheus or the Sovereign.
The Galaxy is a Fencer, the Sovereign a Brawler
I know that's subjective, but i find the galaxy design ugly. Something about that flat squashed secondary hull just doesn't vibe with me.
Sovereign and odyssey have my joint as the most beautiful design of a enterprise
I LOVE the Galaxy class ship. It's the most beautiful starship in Trek.
My head canon is that the loss of their status as the top-of-the-line ship of the Federation to ships like Sovereign-class has been a boon for the Galaxy-class after the Dominion war. Free from the curse of being the flagships, the ship is now free to embark on what the original designer has envisioned : a long-range exploratory vessel that can operate independently in uncharted territory for years.
The new post-war batches of Galaxy-class, unofficially designated by some as "Galaxy-II" to denote upgrade derive from advancement on ships like Sovereign-class, form the core of the revitalized exploratory branch of Starfleet, which were massively curtailed following the Wolf-359 disaster and the following Dominion war, and launch the Federation into a new golden age of exploration.
Do you realize how good you've become at making these?
I've still always had the notion that the idea of the Galaxy-class ship was to start making the Federation a truly spacefaring civilization, and the armaments and other capabilities were there *because* it's basically taking a college town to space and it darn well better be protected from various known and unknown potential threats. Being a good battlewagon without all the 'town' stuff just came in handy. :)
I would have loved a scene filmed on location on the street at some outdoor cafe with townhouses or whatever around, where some random episode dialogue happens...and you pan out and you realize you are still in the ship and all that is contained in some multideck structure as an indoor recreation area.
I always thought that when a war started they could ditch the saucer and dock on a battle section with more shields and weapons..
Mission specific saucers would make it truly modular.
The ships shields and weapons are actually more powerful with the saucer connected and its Reactors are used to supplement the weapons and shields.
@Tin Watchman while possible, it's most likely easier to build ships specifically designed for combat than trying to make a current ship fit that roll.
Same here, the standard saucer section is a massive target, drop that and you lose 2 phasers and a torpedo launcher that can't get used when joined anyway.
A small saucer section, I would say a little larger than the separation plane itself, with auxiliary reactors and a nebula style weapons pod mounted on top would reduce the overall profile and give the ship a load more torpedoes and launchers to fight with.
A skeletalised saucer could be set up as a fighter carrier for mass attacks, maybe even carrying a bunch of small ships like the Defiant instead.
A broadside torpedo boat, have a load of nebula weapons pods on a spinal mount, stick them on gimbals so they can rotate to point port or starboard and you have a small head on profile that can run almost straight at an enemy formation to unload a few dozen torpedoes as it passes. The spine can also have a phaser lance if you really want to go nuts.
The possibilities are as varied as you can imagine, but starfleet are on the back foot and not exactly used to war.
More likely, they would have just modified the saucer so that it could house a division of MACOS or Space Marines or whatever ground combat forces the Federation used. Imagine trying to fight 10,000 or so space Marines after they were beamed into your capital city. Between the oversized shuttle bays to carry fighters and landing attack craft if needed, and the large cargo transports that could put down a tank, this ship would make an excellent mobile Army or Marine base. With the added bonus that few local defense force ships could deal with it being in orbit.
Its an elegant sculpture of a ship. There was a design linage that culminated with the galaxy class and then oddly abruptly changed sadly. I miss Andy Proberts work on Star Trek.
Thank the Borg and the Dominion. Starfleet got a nasty wakeup call and decided to trim the fat so to speak with the Sovereign.
Also the Sovereign wasn't a direct successor to that lineage. The Sovereign is the Excelsior's direct offspring. A younger cousin if you will. What do you think of the Ross class?
@@benn454 I think it's more design aesthetic from individual minds on the show rather than a deliberate in-universe reaction from the Federation, sadly.
The Galaxy Class is like a battleship heavy equipped with Luxury liner rooms, bars and many other things, it is also built like a mini airport in its aft section, especially witnessing the main shuttle bay in that virtual tour of the Enterprise D.
Ah yes, the infamous warp capable hotel in space! Glad you mentioned the design's temperamental warp core that made this flagship a glass cannon in TNG and according to its writers, the easiest way to apply tension to the plot! 😆
The Galaxy Class' deflector shield systems were so much more advanced than previous designs that it was probably assumed there was no real need to make its internal systems more robust. Part of that little arrogance problem Q alluded to.
@@Lennis01 that would make sense, but i think you are giving the writers too much credit. Just like the chief of security having his behind handed to him on almost every occasion, it's probably just another overused plot device 😒
She is a beautiful powerhouse of a ship! My favourite 😊
Awesome video once again Rick!
a hundred year lifetime... Starfleet's B-52!
At the time that was held by the Excelsior class.
@@RobertWilke Now that I think about it, the Oberth's longevity comes to mind.
The biggest thing that always bothered me about the Galaxy class was, as mentioned, the lack of warp capability of the saucer on separation. If the idea is to drop the saucer before going into an overly dangerous situation - and Starfleet had the impression that this would happen a lot more often than it did - it feels an oversight (to me) that they wouldn't stick a smaller core in there. Just enough to give the saucer warp one to gtfo if needed. We see with the Nova class that a ten to twenty deck core isn't really needed...though maybe its a mass relation thing, idk. But yeah, giving the saucer at least a /little/ warp, as a treat :) , would not have gone amiss.
This is actually my favourite Enterprise. Awesome episode.
I was always perplexed why the Galaxy class in the Dominion War was running around with the saucer attached. Why weren’t they just deploying the star drive sections and saving the saucer resources to produce more star drive units?
Because the tactical doctrine for Galaxy class ships shifted from the original 'fast line ship' stardrive section to using the whole ship as a fleet command vessel/ artillery ship.
Most of the comms equipment and sensor suites were in the saucer, as is the biggest phaser array. By not including saucer separation and all the internal civilian spaces they could also cut down on build time and stuff the bulkheads where labs and lounges should have been with extra armour, ammunition. Shield generators and more.
Please make more of these videos featuring the Galaxy Class. I love this ship and have for 30 odd years.
Im always torn on my "favorite" star trek ship, while I think the sovereign is beautiful and sleek, the Galaxy is the one i grew up watching, and i think I will always have a HUGE soft spot for her. Im hoping to see more Galaxy class models done in Picard S3, in some way or another, as showing that ship with modern CG make it look amazing.
"COOLANT LEAK!! We got a coolant leak here!"- Every Galaxy-class Chief Engineer ever.
Some more lore; The Galaxy class was the first starship series in the federation to use isolinear chips of all sorts for it's warp core processes, enabling it to reach and hold high warp speeds.
This is my favorite class ship. Defiant class second, sovereign third.
This ship IS the perfect ship for a TV series. Because of its civilian aspects, you can think of the people serving on the ship akin to modern military families that have their families living on-base... and it would cause the captain to be FAR MORE diplomatic than he should be because every battle is likely to kill civilians via ship damage.
The Galaxy Class is a perfect diplomatic vessel. It serves as a representation of the Federation. It's a ship that says "this is who we are. Explorers. Researches. Engineers. Families. And also armed to the teeth."
the "uprated" Galaxy Class of the Dominion War had a faster warp drive (9.9) additional phaser arrays and two additional torpedo tubes. it's also likely they more fully utilised the saucer section fusion generators and impulse engines
the uprated Galaxy Class was certainly increased capability.
Just a beautiful design. I grew up with it, so naturally I'm a fan, but I always felt that, by accident mind you, Paramount or who ever designed this, made a true piece of art. And also rather fitting that it presents the Federation at the height of their hubris.
Anyway, have a like and see you next time
This is still my favorite enterprise. This is the one I grew up on. Its still so beautiful to me. Just a small city with defensive capabilities flying through space LOL. Just a gorgeous ship.
What a beautiful starship
This is an excellent overview of this ship class! I think knowing how big this ship really was sets a bizarre feeling seeing tng episodes because I never quite felt it's scale as I assume the show's creators really wanted to convey, but small ish tv show budgets only allow so much, and they did a fantastic job with what they had.
Great video!
This ship and the Romulan Warbird ... I still remember thinking that they will merged together with the saucer section went inside the Warbird massive gap to create a super ship. And together they'll fight the enemy. Years later, I see that there are several others who thinks the same. I saw a fan art strip comic where the two ships merge in a Megazord-esque transformation style 😅
Go go Starfleet trekkers, you mighty warping Starfleet trekkers...!
@@lordirish3054 😂😂😂
The future galaxy-x from all good things was my favorite variant.
Perfect video for end of the week; thanks for making it a good
This is an incredible video. Finally got the info I wanted about this awesome ship.
Thank you for making a playlist about this ship & the Akira & luna class etc, love all your videos, Rick
Keep up the awesome work!
Various sizes and configurations made some sense for the saucer
Yes, it may take hours. We eagerly await that video!!!!
For decades now, I've rated the Federation Galaxy Class starship as literally the most beautiful man-made object ever designed for the purpose of causing human beings to change location in all of fiction. And no design shown since then has even begun to rival the masterpiece.
I would like to have one, with a phased cloak so that I can casually park it inside of the moon to evade any reasonable concern of 21st century mankind catching wise through direct observation of near-Earth space. And then with that out of the way I'd have to figure out how to marshal such an instrument to covertly (and hopefully constructively) ease worldwide poverty because that's muh prime directive. Gazing at the stars and sipping exotic drinks in the holodeck or transporting to vacation anywhere I'd like would probably also happen but only during off-hours. :S
For such a big powerful ship class it sure couldn't take much of a punch to start with. I'm sure the Borg threat and Dominion War changed that in later ship builds but the early Galaxy class ships had a glass jaw imo. Don't get me wrong i loved the Enterprise D but it all ways seemed to me it and its sisters ships were more of a fancy luxury liner then any thing else.
The Odyssey was a pre-war Galaxy and seemed to take many hits without shields before they were destroyed by a suicide run.
The destruction of the Enterprise-D is down to infiltration by the Duras and some poor command choices by Riker, not a fault of the Galaxy frame itself.
I can imagine the Glaxy Class and the Texas Class (if done a bit smaller and less falty) could very well be very effective in constructing fully operational outposts.
Just imagine the Sorcer secction being detached in order to land on a plannet as a fully operational base with additional structures being provided by the Texas class.
Since the Galaxy Class has two bridges I would say if the one in the body would actually be the main tachtical bridge and the body being equipped with some propper defence mechanisms and put it on the helm of at least two Texas class ships with predetermined flight patters after being detached.
The sorcer secction would have more of anti air weapponry and ground forces as well as the main medical and research ficilitys as well as housing.
This would bring two things
1. A fully operational base with all the equipment and comodetys needed to house the reserchers for more long term projects and can ve retrived when the Mission is over to be used in other places
2.A planetary defence force squadron orbiting the planet as the first contact with attacking enemy forces.
Even if they couldn't defeat them it would certainly buy enough time for the sorces secction on the ground hail for help and or get away.
The Galaxy Class Ship will always be my Favourite.
STILL my favorite starship class!
She’s a beauty!
Wow, that had to take some work. Great Job.
when I first saw the Galaxy, I thought what a "Love Boat"..but I was a fan of the show
I always loved that they had a Bolian barber on board. The irony of a bald alien species cutting hair is just so star trek to me. I wouldn't doubt it if Roddenberry himself mandated it from the beginning. I could just imagine imagine "oh, we're gonna have a barber shop on board and make the barber a bald blue alien."
Imagine if a galaxy class was stranded in the delta quadrant instead of Voyager?
Last great explorer of the Golden age. Future generations would marvel at the ideas it represented… and how quickly they passed into history.
What I always thought was take advantage of the modular nature of the detachable saucer section. Have a saucer that was effectively a battlestation or weapons platform - nothing else, no crew except for maintenance access, minimal life support (or uses drive sections life support) ect. It's fitted to a Galaxy's secondary hull when needed, swapping out the 'nice' friendly peacetime hull, and relying on the battle bridge, warp core and shields (although it may have extra shielding and armour, along with fusion reactors or even another warp core) ect of the drive section. And then it just rains down massive long range barrages of photons at range, sort of like a souped up version of the homewold missile destroyer. Imagine a fleet manoeuvre where as an opening salvo hundreds of photons rain down on the enemy fleet as they approach for engagement.
And while fitting it with an arsenal of phasers is tempting and useful, it's still just one ship with one set of shields and can be destroyed as such, if you can withstand the fire. At close range it would be priority target number one of the enemy fleet, and it needs the power for all the extra phasers (secondary reactors?). Still some more phasers would be handy for missile defense and eliminating fighters and corvettes, say double the number of phasers wouldn't tax the systems too much.
Using it as a missile truck/artillery barrage is a better use of it's abilities. The saucer could hold thousands of photon torpedoes (not quantum torpedoes, they are 'expensive' and in limited supply, and space is not an issue) and dozens of launchers for simultaneous launch of large salvos. Plus the massive computer systems of the Galaxy could handle the processing of all that targeting information.
It could have similar firepower to DS9 (which had 5000 photon torpedoes), but in a mobile package.
It could also be disguised to look like a regular saucer section to sensors, with dampening fields hiding the arsenal if the extra expense was warranted in peacetime. If expecting trouble (say going to Romulan space on a piece of unconfirmed intelligence) it could be swapped into the drive section and potential adversaries would never know what they were facing.
Or just keep them in reserve in Federation facilities without the extra build requirements of *Q-ship systems in case of a hot war. Also since they are just a standard hull design without a warp core, navigation, sensors or other complicated components they are easy to build. Since the same saucer is used for the Nebula class saucer Starfleet obviously has mass production for it.
*Q-ships were used in WW2, it was a freighter turned into a gunboat with hidden rapid fire cannons behind panels ect. It was designed to sucker submarines into surfacing to use their deck guns to destroy lone unarmed ships instead of wasting expensive, limited torpedoes. As soon as the sub surfaced and before the deck gun could be manned the panels fell away and the sub was sunk before they could react.
It truly is a shame they killed the virtual recreation program. There are so many different games and other projects that could of been built off that platform. Counter Strike style games, hide and seek, vr chat, and so on.
One little detail you got slightly wrong, in the Star Trek the Next Generation Technical Manual, written by Rick Sternbach and Michael Okuda, it was revealed that the galaxy class ship had 3 photon torpedo launchers, though we never saw the third in the show. The third launcher was mounted in the Saucer section, but could only be used when the Star Drive section was separated. Once separation was complete, the launcher would drop from it's stored location, into the main turbo shaft connecting the Main Bridge with the Battle Bridge, facing aft, and could fire torpedoes aft of the Saucer. I suppose the theory being to discourage hostiles from chasing the Saucer as it attempted to evade whatever hostile might have caused the need to separate in the first place.
Lots of channels make much ado about the Galaxy's short comings. The trek stories needed to introduce weaknesses necessary for drama, but it was the "best ship yet" for its era. It was a step forward.
That was sooooo rad dude!
Great, very informative video about my absolute favorite ship in Star Trek. Thanks a lot, Rick!
Just one thing: You refer to the D's bulk bringing down its top speed. Maybe within an atmosphere, somewhere. But, space is big and empty, so...
I think a new version of a city ship could be fun for a new series. But with all civilian and non essentials on the saucer and ACTUALLY USE IT! "We are heading to the natural zone. Separate the saucer and leave the civilians here are the starbase"
The Galaxy Class was just a huge flex 💪.
The way it was described the Galaxy Class sounds like a combination of an Aircraft Carrier with a luxury liner as described by Captain DeSoto of the U.S.S. Hood from the Season 3 episode 'Tin Man' and a Battleship with how heavily armed these ships were armed with 14 type 10 phaser arrays and 2 photon torpedo launchers one forward and one aft and a high capacity shield grid with a warp core capable of generating 12.5 billion GigaWatts of power.
12:02 that's a really good line
I've long been intrigued by the idea of multiple variant saucers being the best way of refitting the class. In particular, mini starbase and carrier saucers could be interesting tools in Starfleet's chest.
Love the galaxy class
Loving your videos Rick! Been watching through them again, I love the detailed information you give. I’m debating what my favourite ship is, for a long while it was the Intrepid class but after watching your videos again there are couple of new contenders for my top spot, the Galaxy class and Steamrunner class…..sorry Rick no Excelsior class in my top picks 😂
I would have used a bunch of that extra space and added another warp core to the saucer. Put a whole bunch more weapons and such on both and you have one heck of a battle ship. Put everything on it from the all good things future with that extra warp core lol
The galaxy class ships, and the fleet in general, were really beefed up due to Wolf 359 and the Dominion war. Which, in my opinion, showed their full potential. And the "All good things" was what you could call a dreadnought.
@@dougsmith6262 okay so I would make it a dreadnought lol.
As I recall many Galaxy class ships were also fighter carriers during the war.
I don't know if anyone else's commented on this but I'm hammering the nail home during the domain War the Galaxy class starship was serving as a Frontline battleship but before that it was about my eyes anyway
I think the problems with the Galaxy Class design stem from the fact that it was supposed to be so powerful that it would never have to fight, leading to it underperforming its specs when in reality there were plenty of ships or races ready to challenge it. The tall and wide design gave it a ridiculously large hitbox, and its overly large saucer section compared to the stardrive section made it slow in turning. This meant that even with its powerful shields, it was going to take a ton of punishment in any fight that lasted more than a few seconds. Moreover, the engineering section was not designed with the kind of protection one would expect for any vessel expected to face combat, leading to the problem of potential war core breaches if any damage was done to the secondary hull.
The ship classes designed to fight the Borg and the Dominion got rid of the tall profile and went for shapes that would turn much faster, reducing the chances of the enemy hitting them in combat, which really shows the problems in the Galaxy's design.
In large-scale battles like Operation Return, the Galaxy Class actually lived up to its potential because it wasn't the sole focus of the enemy fire. Other ships that maneuver better at impulse speeds went in first and took the brunt of the enemy's attacks while the Galaxies came up behind to support, getting the chance to use their own powerful weapons without taking enough hits to overwhelm their shields in the process. The best way to use Galaxys in combat wasn't to have them get up close and personal like the Defiant class, but to hang back and fire from afar where it wouldn't be targeted as often and have to do much fancy maneuvering and where its command and control functions would be better served watching the whole battle.
@ 10:49 if memory serves there is actually a 3rd photo torpedo launcher that was in the saucer section, but would only be clear for firing after a saucer separation. (edited for spelling mistake)
its amazing that the Federation had it so good, that they thought nothing of sending families and children into uncharted space, making first contact with species, exploring dangerous space anomalies etc... even in what is essentially a warship dressed up for a party. it must have been a point of pride for a family to be able to live such an exploring lifestyle , "StarFleet families" kind of like today's military if you have a home on the base and family. or just a civilian scientist working for the UFP stationed on a Galaxy Class would be the chance of a lifetime.
The Galaxy Enforcer however...
Video just about Warp Drive on Galaxy would be wondrous, if we could understand how it works with Manual also, including "where comes warp plasma if annihilation gives radiation? - from PDT that did not annihilated?" and entire Start Up, Warp Factors and energies for each, cooling and shielding working Orchestry would be fair and awesome. Currently I am learning that from the Manual and Krauss Star Trek physics to get it well ;)
i can imagine a purpose built battleship version with ablative armor. the extra space used for troop transport, medical facilities and act as a carrier.
Basically a combo of the Yesterday's Enterprise Ent-D and the Dominion War refits. Would be a good warship.
I would not be surprised if a Galaxy class refit for war was more powerful than a Sovereign. The Sovereign might be newer and built with more advanced technology in mind, but the Galaxy had more volume to work with and could have been more powerful if less efficient. So much available space for additional weapons, generators and armour.
The Flying Hotel. How I love the Galaxy class.
I would just rotate them into the civilian operations of starfleet. Use them for core world travel and the like. Since they are outdated now after the dominion war etc.
@@braddl9442 With their massive size, being on the borders supporting exploration, science, and colony development is their only real use. Heck it's strange folks want to bury them in the Picard era of all times when we have a canon (at least in one universe) version of the Galaxy that does fine going up against the biggest threats of that era. Heck, they aren't even outdated IN the Dominion War, where we don't see a single Galaxy outside the Odyssey lost in the entire conflict.
So true.
But because of them sending an untrained family in to deep space.
We got 7 of 9.
Great and informitive vid. Thanks Rick.
My fav. ship after the legendary Constitution.
Mark Felton meets Star Trek :-)
A what if… What if with the design, being very customizable and modular, the Enterprise was specifically set up as a *Diplomatic Explorer* in the uncontested regions and that's why it had the _full cruise ship recreation_ and _university campus packages_ installed.
And different captains could get different options fitted. …
*New Galaxy Captain:* Ok, I'll get the full science pack as well, along with extra sensors, that'll stop them fighting over access, and detecting problems at long range is always preferable, a _tachyon detection grid_ as well, I want that running full time in addition to the regular sensors. Skip the civilian stuff beyond standard facilities for passenger transport and dual use assembly areas, just stick in a couple of extra Holodecks to take up the slack if necessary. Any crew reproducing can be handled on a case by case basis depending on their species maturation cycle. Ship brats grow up fast anyway and can be assigned monitoring AI software to keep them out of the way and care bots, and the Holodecks can take care of teaching and learning about the consequences of actions ect.
Actually double that to 32 Holodecks total, they can be used by the science teams for bespoke labs and simulations if necessary and I intend for the rest to be used for crew training to keep everyone in top form. They're great for boarding action and intruder alert rehearsals as well, I intend for everyone to have full combat training and basic medical and first aid. Oh, and the database, I want holo experts and advisors in every imaginable skill area, and I definitely want it to run on a separate isolated system to the main computer, with its own power supply that has a physical manual override - I've heard some horror stories.
Replicators - as well as the standard personal ones I want a industrial replicator next to each shuttle bay, with cargo holds adjacent, a extra large one, colony rated, by the main bay, and cargo transporters next to each, can you combine them into one unit as they both use matter energy converters? No,… really should look into that, a combo replicator/transporter/holodeck for small science vessels would be useful.
Anyway the walls should be pressure doors to allow movement of items, just copy the hanger door design for safety. And I want a independent back up power supply for the largest replicator.
And one near main engineering, one near main medical, same back ups. Also stick a couple of holodecks and a cargo bay near main medical, just in case of mass casualties.
As for the bridge, no it's going to be located in the centre of the saucer section on the vertical plane, set back a bit so it's a straight drop to the drive section on the horizontal front back plane.…We don't use windows anymore, so why?
And install viewers on all surfaces, just copy the astrometrics displays so we get full 720° coverage … if you suffer from vertigo you shouldn't be on a spaceship anyway. Stick astrometrics next to it anyway, we'll need access a lot of the time.
And I want the _Away_ teams ready room next to the bridge with access on the other side and large holoviewers so they can be kept apprised of the situation…seriously? What sort of *idiot **_uses bridge crew on away missions?_* …yes, besides the first officer…Who controls the ship? The second stringers? And swapping over in an emergency is just asking for trouble, with over a thousand crew I'm sure I'll have more than _ten competent crew members._
In fact, stick a couple of extra seats on the bridge for some away team members, they can act as bridge security in the meantime. And have a full security station nearby as well, the main bridge is often a target in boarding actions. Put in another main security station next to engineering, both should be set up for defensive actions for the same reason…you've never had Cardassian boarders try to disable your ship, have you?
Set up the battle bridge with exactly the same physical layout as the main bridge, can't be told apart by viewers…could be useful for deception, and at least crew familiarity, another security station next to it, don't want to leave a vulnerability.
Now as for the warp core, in addition to _2 spares in storage,_ and I want the full replicator pattern for the main replicator, just in case…well, install a holodeck next to the replicator, it can make bespoke factories to construct the non replicatorable components and we just assemble from the ground up.
I also want one warp core and drive installed and running in the saucer section, so it can move at full warp if necessary…without the _dolphin tanks and the arboretum_ there'll be enough space, and besides the extra power could be useful. But don't skimp on the battery back ups, I want mini generators for life support in each section as well, and emergency suit lockers in every room, with extra air bottles to run as a back up, mini optimized air replicators or air processors as well…fine a small arboretum, just a greenhouse next to life sciences, but purely for research and a emergency air processor, not recreation, it's weird how it becomes unbreathable as soon as _life support goes offline._ I want some give in the system.
The old bridge location at the top of the saucer…no, not an observation lounge, I want the biggest phaser you can mount with full coverage…something meant for planetary defense, that's another reason I wanted the extra warp power nearby, besides the colony replicator and saucer escape. By the way, any chance you could stick a second deflector dish nearby, a bit in front, the saucer would need it for independent warp travel and having vital system backups is part of my design paradigm, oh, spare computer cores as well, kept offline.
Yes, and stick extra phaser strips, here, here, here, here, here here, and here.
Now as for photons, 8 extra launchers, how much extra space do we have with everything included so far? … Well 5000 torpedoes … yes, you heard me right, 5000… you're right, make that 8 extra launchers above the standard 2…no 7 in front, 3 behind, that'll allow a 35 torpedo volley in front as a opening shot.… damn, can you put 2 impulse engines facing forwards?
That way we can point the heavy guns while keeping … sorry, just been spending some time in full Newtonian simulations. …I know we can replicate torpedoes, but not in the middle of a confrontation.
And before I forget, that second warp core, I want heavy power conduits leading to the secondary deflector array…so we can feed *warp power* to it without overloading the main drive of course.
Speaking of the power conduits, ever heard of circuit breakers?…well, just don't run them behind control interfaces, keep them behind armoured shrouds and run the controls through isolinear cabling. *And stop using rocks as insulation!*
I want seat belts at all vital bridge stations, no inertia dampers aren't perfect, they only compensate for the ship's drive, not pot shots taken at you.…and that's why I want security personnel permanently stationed on the bridge, if the weapons officer is in hand to hand combat they can't shoot the enemy ships.
And stick a pattern disperser on the bridge with a _manual on/off_ switch, I lost my left arm and both eyes to a Cardassian phaser when our shields dropped once … damn right I want a second shield emitter grid, that was a great suggestion, and some ablative armour, especially on the nacelles and neck.
Y'know it was a mistake to sue for _peace with the Cardassians,_ we had the upper hand and could have steamrolled them in space, if we brought the Klingons into it with treaty obligations. They'd have loved a *good war by our side,* I know what they _thought._ Mark my words, someday we'll have to fight Cardassia again, and they may get allies, imagine if they teamed up with the Romulans. Now you know why I want a battle wagon - and we don't know who else is out there, but they're possibly not friendly.
Yeh, _both artificial,_ got a exographic sensor installed in the left eye, the bulky fake one with the surrounding plating, and a tricorder and phaser installed in the left arm, linked to my optic nerves.…really? A Vulcan officer on the USS Strata suggested it? Micro transporter and projectile weapon? I'll look into it thanks…hang on, he's just been resigned to the Grissom according to Starfleet … I've also got a PADD linked into my cybernetics.
The right eye is just a standard cybernetic, I'm actually _full Betazoid_ but you can't tell without natural eyes. Don't worry, I'm not reading your mind, learnt some Vulcan focusing techniques to keep me polite …that's only the _females,_ in our species the romantic roles are the reverse of humans.… yes, I've imagined what a human male would do with my abilities. I've met commander Riker as well…you pushed the image into my mind, Vulcan discipline notwithstanding… and you're right, that's why I got training in shutting out other minds, that man's thoughts are a sewer, only empaths can tolerate him for long.
[Sigh]…okay, I'll check what your partners feelings are about his ex, but only as a favour for the shield grid suggestion, I don't make a habit of it and I don't want you distracted from your work… _humans!_
How long will the ship installation take with the customization?…
Don't worry, I'll get clearance from the Admiral.
[Smirks to himself, humans and their sexual insecurities, no wonder telepaths make them nervous].
I always thought the galaxy class would be very intimidating to have over your city. That huge saucer. Or just intimidating in general. Looks so alien, like it could just mess you up. And it could
The Cadillac Escalade ESV Platinum Model of interstellar space. Still my favorite Star Trek ship.
I loved the Galaxy class. It was definitely an exploration ship even though it was armed to the teeth (how well that offensive capability was depended on the episode). I never understood why they'd send the saucer section into battle during the Dominion War. Seemed like building a ship 2/3 bigger for a few more phaser banks was a bit much.
Yeah I think it fell into some episodic writing traps regarding hyping drama where it seemed like its phasers could do nothing and it's warp core was actually suffering from some suicidal intent.
@@rubaiyat300 Yeah, sometimes it seemed like the warpcore would breach if someone looked at it wrong and othertimes it seemed to be all powerful.
The saucer section was where most of that empty internal volume to presumably used to store torpedoes, and fighters spare parts, etc. They basically left out the civilian facilities and turned that into giant support depots not just for itself but the other ships that it was supporting as well (as mentioned during the dominion war they were used as mobile command battlecruisers and with that much available space they would also make great mobile resupply points for Akira and steamrunner class starships that were designed for war not long term deployment.)
This is THE Star Trek ship.... even today
I always feel like the Galaxy Class was born out of Starfleets belief that there was nobody who would want anything more than to join them and nothing they couldn't handle if they didn't. I believe the arrogance people like to cite came from hope, not from obnoxiousness. (Always thought Obnoxion was a better version but maybe one day)
Imagine if they beefed up the weapons, shields, and added ablative armor, then converted a good bit of the saucer section to a hangar deck, and added a secondary warp core. You could then have a carrier/dreadnought hybrid that can act as a command ship as well. Warp into a system, deploy a flotilla of nebula class and a few others e.g. Akira, steam-runner, defiant, and a few others. Separate the saucer section leaving it in the rear and deploy strike and interceptor craft.
If I remember my TNG technical manual correctly there was a third torpedo launcher in the saucer section somewhere near the rubber ducky room. Although I might me misremembering that.
Excellent overview of the galaxy class, thank you 🖖🏽
Should be in the notch of the saucer that the cobra head latches onto facing aft.
@@andiholman2543 I knew I hadn’t imagined that!
@@cha02psc I’ve seen a few sources erroneously declare that Galaxies have only two but you’re quite right, there are three.
I've always been confused by the decision to say that a third of the Dominion War Galaxy class ship's internal volume was empty. I would think they could claimed that these wartime Galaxies have quadruple the medical space, expanded torpedo storage, or just a lot more cabins for Starfleet ground forces. I would think this kind of alteration would still be faster than building out all of the diplomatic suites and civilian services, and would move a Galaxy from a "moving Starbase" to a "readily available Forward Operating Base".
That's probably what did happen later. The need though was to push out as many as possible and as fast as possible. So long as what needed to work was there the rest could come later. I have no doubt that many of these when sent for refit did just that. Screw the family quarters, we need more power and armament.
65% Completion and yet the ships were not only space worthy but combat capable as well with all being core capital ships in a Galaxy wing fleet groups during the war. So Starfleet really did create something like a floating hotel rather than a mission oriented capital ship.
If this were the real world but with all the same technology, we'd have ditched all the windows and gutted the entire interior living space in favor of a massive holodeck. Then simulate a general holographic command and living center that mimics a virtual adjunct to Starfleet headquarters. All ships would just be an extension of the Earth base and would allow a separation of ship assignment from the reality of the inside of the ship. Essentially, you would be living on Earth but would be able to visit a "building" that was the bridge, or the shuttle bay. Mobile emitters would allow crew members to participate in landing party expeditions if they were on another ship or on Earth physically. Every crew member would have their own bubble of holodeck space and everything (including other crew members) would be simulated from inputs from the other crew members' bubbles. Meaning no more passing of transmittable disease, and even a central location for bridge functions. Since the subsystems would manage where you physically were in the holodeck layout, you could always have the crew close to wherever the subsystem would think you need to visit (shuttle bay, engineering, etc.) Wherever you go, there you are, so to speak.
Let the ship manage crew relocation ultra fast via either transporters or using holodeck forcefield tech. Could move the people around pretty quickly without them even knowing. Good for fast evacuation or separations. Even the escape pods could have holo-emitters so in the event of an emergency, they would still be able to perform their normal duties until contact was lost with the ship. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't mind doing my work on my back deck in the sunshine on an actual planet in a house. 🙂Why sit in a box (crew quarters) or fight over limited holodecks? (Since everyone is in a holodeck, they would all have the option at all times to visit a holodeck whenever they wanted to). It would technically allow for long duration missions to become permanent ones as social interactions and where you live would be entirely software defined. Getting relocated for relationships would not effect your duties. Just where your physical body would be.
I'd like to think that a few massive galaxy class starships served as troop carriers during the Dominion War considering their incredible internal capacity - 15,000. Starfleet could have even configured it with extra transporters or shuttle bays for combat deployments. With its ability to separate the saucer, the Galaxy class is an ideal troop carrier, able to send the troop carrying saucer to relative safety under the protection of the drive section.
I imagine a galaxy class carrying an entire division of Klingon warriors into battle. As the warriors step onto the massive modified transporter pads, the Starfleet transporter techs salute them with a "Qapla'!" before energizing the beams and sending them to the planet or station below.
I can see it now. An alternate timeline featuring a Federation-Romulan War in the late 2360s to early 2370s. In the lead-up to conflict Section 31 has several Galaxies discreetly refitted for combat, as they were always meant to be. In the opening engagement USS Odyseey's shields eat over fifty plasma torpedo hits before a lucky shot triggers a catastrophic warp core breach, but not before she takes down with her in detail three whole D'deridex class Warbirds destroyed and another half dozen out of action for the majority of the war, buying enough time for the rest of her task force to complete their mission relatively unmolested. The Romulans quickly learned to deploy in large, concentrated formations when facing a potential Galaxy class.
She wasn't my first but she was certainly my favorite.
-- Picard, ST:P season 3
Great video, as always!
Personally, I was never overly fond of the Galaxy Class. It was pretty ugly compared to the Sovereign or the Constitution classes. I also didn't agree with there being children or civilians in general allowed to live on them; which was a pretty clear example of how arrogant Starfleet had become at that point, and it came back to bite them several times.
The inclusion of families would make sense in a ship designed for extremely long-duration missions. No one can reasonably expect crewmembers to put their lives on hold for ten years while they're on deployment in deep space. Pretty hard to retain talent that way. That brings up the question of whether the doctrine of long-duration missions is viable, however.
The most beautiful ship in fiction, that's a hill I'm prepared to die on.