I find it a little funny how a ship that was supposed to be the inverse of the iconic Enterprise essentially became standard for many of Starfleet’s ship design because of how well known the Miranda is due to Wrath of Khan
It was irl more because of Constitution fatigue in TNG, and availability of the models. In canon, I think it was because of utility? In the stargazer episode it was supposed to be originally a constitution, but last minute changed to the newer class constellation. You can even find old footage of Geordi saying Connie instead of constitution in a scene. But was overdubbed later.
@@sullythemic My personal view is that the ship has two navigational deflectors, mounted in the upper slope of the saucer, one either side of the bridge. These may have been intended to be more phaser cannons, or sensors of some kind, initially, though.
@@sullythemic ....my question about this class of ship as well..."Where's the Deflector Dish?" IF It Were My Call...in retrospect...I would put in an NX class kind of Deflector on this ship... but...that's just me, Sully. Several Federation starship designs that I've drawn...we all do that, design our own ship....I have used this kind of Deflector Dish...I think it covers more area in front of the ship than that silly blue stripe going half way around the primary hull like on the Proto Star...but I could be wrrr...wrao....I could be not correct, Sully. Until later, LLAP
@@sullythemic instead of a standardized deflector dish like some ships it had a defuse deflector array made of up smaller deflector shield projectors. you can see one on the top of each engine just behind the bussard collectors. all a deflector shield needs to do is deflect debris and particles away from the ship when it is outside of warp. the warp bubble protects it during warp. at impulse speeds even a fleck of paint could be dessasterous if hit at speed
I always saw the Miranda as the "Ship of Theseus" design. It stayed in service for so long that the ships being built near the end of the 24th century had nothing in common with the original ships other than hull form.
One of the greatest ship designs. In the (very old) Starfleet Command 1/2 games, the Miranda is such a beast of a light cruiser. Torpedo tubes you do not want to be on the receiving end of.
I beg to differ, the Galaxy Class Starships is by far the best design, elegant with smooth lines and the saucer separation mode makes it a very formidable combat vessel, everyone has their favorites!
I'm of the opinion that the poor performance in the Dominion war was due to the inability to upgrade the hull playing leaving only the shields as defense. So, if Mirandas were needed on the frontline, they SHOULD have upgraded shields as much as possible, and replaced all the cargo bays with torpedo storage and launchers. That would give you a Destroyer/gunboat type vessel, get in fast, launch massive amounts of firepower and retreat before shields are depleted, meanwhile the heavier ships that can tank damage but are slower can then move in and take advantage of the enemy ships that have lost or reduced shield protection. Instead they just hang around and get outmatched on the show.
I really like the Miranda class ships from the Star Trek universe. There's just something about its compact and modular design that strikes my fancy, even if it's an old design... lol.
Overall I love the Miranda class. It has that original starfleet design flair that helps suggest a shared history with the Enterprise while giving off a more stocky and utilitarian feel.
i'm playing STO with Miranda only. Gives me the Khan feels, to overcome the shortage with tactics and strategy... and it increases the difficulty of the game, wich makes more fun to me.
Thank you for the videos as always, my good sir! The one thing I always sorta laugh about, though: "With a Miranda-class Starship, your helmsman and tactical officer *have* to be working in sync with one another. After all, you never want to fire forward photon torpedoes while pulling a hard positive climb in one of those, unless you *want* to get rid of the entire command staff... Along with, y'know, the bridge." :P
TOS and TMP Miranda classes are my favorite class of ships. Surprisingly the Miranda class survived all the way into the 24th century as seen in the Dominion War on DS9.
I always loved the miranda class. Its a great design and in reality would be so much more maneuverable than the Constitution class. The weapons roll bar gives it so much more punch.
Love the Miranda class. Something about them feels more 'realistic'. Also, 150,000Tons... thats only 50,000 more then a Nimitz/Ford class carrier lol, putting it in that terms really makes it feel like something we COULD actually build. You forgot to mention the best feature of the class... the ability to do some wicked backflips when they get hit by a torpedo lol
If i had a starship it would be a Miranda type. I clearly remember seeing it it for the first time in Wrath of Khan , being stunned that I was seeing a brand new type of ship in Star Trek !
@dragonsword7370 I keep thinking of getting into that. I'd like a Miranda with a Constellation style saucer section and a small secondary hull please .
@@vasp99 So an ersatz constellation? Referencing STO, the Miranda has the MOST kit bashing capacity for parts in the game right now. The only secondary hull part you can find is the Centaur's bottom piece, but that adds interesting angles to the nacelle pylons. The hull itself doesn't have many variations except for TOS version, Soyuz and some of the newer post 23rd century remodels. Unfortunately a stargazer thicc saucer module isn't available with that... but that ship is available to start from too. Now I'm tempted to try it in kitbashing again now. Oh cool thing with the miranda is now you can make a chunky looking "Starfleet made a Bird of Prey after watching Balance of Terror one too many times." 🤣
@@vasp99 I have come back. The ShiKahr was a somewhat recently added TNG era build of the Miranda. It's not thick but it has both Shuttle bay doors in the back, AND two more recessed in the edge of the saucer section that are open to space. The Stargazer has 4 variants that are hit and miss. The Constellation TMP era nacelles have a Beta variant that adds orange to the bussard collectors near the top.
One of my favorite starship designs ever. Always gets flack from the fandom but I don't care. I always thought of Miranda class ships as flinty little workhorses who could punch above their weight.
If the Constitution-class is a heavy cfuiser, ss established in ToS, i guess that makes the Mirandas a light cruiser. And that mission pod gives it back some versatility.
I saw the Miranda as a leaner, meaner more tactical ship than the refit Connie, as it has a more trim frame, and sports more weapons, the two aft torpedo launchers and those beefy phaser cannons. even those the Enterprise is a "bigger" ship in TWOK i feel like the Reliant is the tactically superior ship. I say "bigger" as EC Henry did a video a few years ago where he did an analysis of the interior volume of the Miranda and refit Connie and found surprisingly that the Miranda had more potentially habitable space in it's one hull than the Connie with her two hulls.
This has always been my favorite of all star trek ships. its design comes off as more practical, with space and the ability to be modified into multiply roles makes it real.
Love ur videos matey! This is my fav Starship variant also. This and the Nebula Class. Two absolute favs! U prefer the roll bar variant rather than the other variants such as with the sensor pods etc. Your videos are amazing. Full of detail, well produced and always 5 star! Well done on another great video! Sending love and support from Belfast, Northern Ireland
🖖😎👍Very cool and very nicely well done and very well informatively explained and executed in every way shape and form and detail possibly provided indeed, And the Miranda class starship has always been one of my all time favorite vessels for sure. And I myself own all of the different Eaglemoss variations of this wonderful ship as well as having various model kits and still have a few of the Micro machines of it as well👌.
The Miranda class was a key part of the Federation's successes in the Dominion War. The Miranda class could fulfil the role of a Destroyer typically operating in threes escorting other vessels like Excelsior cruisers or Galaxy explorers The Starfleet fleet reserve also allowed many Miranda class to be returned to service quickly. This alongside the Excelsior allowed the Federation to boost ship numbers considerably. Had a very under rated role in the Federation staying in the fight until the Romulans eventually entered the war
I keep saying it and I keep meaning it. I love your videos, especially the shiplore. You are an excellent writer and presenter and are highly appreciated!
I love Star Trek as much as so many others, but really, it is just a television show, turned into movies for entertainment. I am truly amazed at the way this show has become such a thought-provoking icon with ALL with the fabricated background history of ships, planets, aliens and made-up characters. Books and magazines abound, (even I have some) of technical manuals, character histories, etc. as if you needed to repair a ship feature, or "study to enlist in Star Fleet", (LOL). Like I said, I love Star Trek too, but really, I am 70 years old, watched from the beginning and can honestly say, NO other television show or movies has attempted to explain so much about themselves and the things they use or themselves, as in depth as in Star Trek. Truly an icon and a fan base that wants to know so much about stuff that doesn't exist.
As a fan of all the Miranda variants, I've been fortunate enough to secure all of the modification kits which have allowed me to build all of the known variants all the way back to the TOS Miranda. They look really sweet hanging in my hobby room & all of them lit up.
You definitely did a good job with this presentation. I always felt the Miranda was over used in Starfleet same with the Excelsior. I'm not sure why they decided to stop building the Connie Refit but kept up with the Miranda and Excelsior ships. I remember when the Reliant was first designed its nacelles were flipped to be at the top of the hull. They flipped them to the underneath so as stated fans wouldn't get confused on which was the Enterprise and which one was the Reliant.
I thought it was due to the person who was green lighting the Miranda design was looking at it upside down and approved it and te design team then went along with the underslung naceles instead.
First off: EXCELLENT video on a ship that, as you stated, has been a popular and oft-seen Federation ship ever since Warth of Khan. There's one thing I just HAVE to comment on: When Wrath of Khan was being promoted, it was noted that the Miranda (though not named) was a newer, faster, and more heavily armed ship than the Enterprise. But you say it wasn't heavily armed during this phase of its life. What gives? Oh! And anyone remember the toy Enterprise that, after popping off the nacelles, could be converted to look like a Reliant? I miss that toy!
I like the class a lot, though I've come to really love the "modern" Reliant-class from STO more...it's been my main ship for STO, only the fleet version being better there and it's one of the cheapest T-6's there
Miranda (and Exclesior) were made at the height of the Klingon Cold War, so Starfleet invested heavily in shipyards across the Federation. They intended to pump out hulls even over low-tech planets. When the Cold War ended those shipyards were left in place. Later designs like Centaur, Ambassador, Galaxy didn’t receive such widespread investment. New designs came and went but the old shipyards just kept pumping out parts and hulls.
According to the Star Trek Encyclopedia, the Miranda-class was named for a character in William Shakespeare's last play, The Tempest. But in the first draft script of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, it was called the Reliant-class which was later named for the 25th century variation of the Miranda-Class in Star Trek Online and Star Trek: Picard.
Back in the 1980s this was called an Avenger class starship, until Star Trek retconned their entire continuity in the 1990s following the events of The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. Afterwards, it was called Miranda class.
Yes you are correct for I have volume one of Ships of the Star Fleet 2290-91 which refers to the Miranda class as the Avenger class heavy frigates and showing it with various different types of pods on the roll bar👍
@@stevenewman1393 Yep, I remember those Star Trek books from the 1980s. I collected them all - Ships of the Starfleet, Worlds of the Federation, and Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise. They're all useless now because Paramount retconned everything after 1994. The Avenger class became the Miranda class. Remember the Enterprise A was originally designated an Enterprise class? Now it's a Constitution II class. Remember when there were five founding member planets of the Federation? Now there's only four - Earth, Vulcan, Tellar, and Andor. Alpha Centauri, which was Earth's original first contact until the 1996 TNG movie came out, was retconned out of canon.
@@44excalibur Yes well you know how the major studios of movies and TV just love to destroy and do away with true Canon and turn it in to something that it's not!.
@@44excalibur Also, the old Early Voyages comic, set in Captain Pike's era, in 2254, featured two ships pretty clearly intended to be either TOS era Miranda-class ships, or a direct predecessor. The USS Cortez NCC-1834, and the USS Achilles - both lost. As for other founding members, novel author Christopher L. Bennett has Alpha Centauri join the founders very soon after, with other worlds, including Sauria, joining within a few years. And some of the Rigel worlds, too.
If I was to be offered my own ship in real life I would want something like the Miranda Class myself. Give it the most updated parts possible and make sure to have a few holodecks and I'm good to go!! I would like to know how long it was able to stay on missions without resupply though.
I never bought the Miranda Class as anything other than a Light(er) Cruiser. Given it's heavy armament (phaser cannons or mega phasers and forward and aft torpedoes) it's role as a combat/exploration vessel is similar to the Constitution Class. I know that there is at least one unofficial source (blueprint set) that classified it as an Avenger Class heavy frigate which gave it a more combat profile.
@@thegreenmanofnorwich Yeah, I saw a video that showed it had a slightly larger volume. It was pretty cool. The Miranda has always been a favorite of mine.
The venerable Miranda and it’s variants are one of the few tmp era ships still in use well into the early 25 century later making multiple refit versions or brand new versions when you see it you think aww cute then it kills you
I love those ToS styled ship designs that came from the early Trek RPG and fleet wargaming material. The variety of craft they offered were revolutionary and fascinating if you were a Trekker at the time. Even if you never actually played the game, just the source books alone were nice things to have for coffee-table (and bathroom!) reading. Cylindrical nacelles with built-in 'rocket' engines and all!!! The ships of this era came from a time when the concept behind warp drive as a fully reactionless star drive had not been standardised. That factor changed a lot about how Trek ships looked and functioned. At that time the warp drive did not do any actual 'moving' of the ship. It effectively just cancelled its mass or perhaps its inertia. They still needed some form of thrust to push them along. However the presence of the warp field allowed that thrust to propel them at hyper-luminal velocities. In this they harkened back to the Golden Age of SF in the 1930's and 1940's, specifically the inertialess 'Bergenholm' drive from E.E. 'Doc' Smith's Lenseman stories. I have read that both Roddenberry and also Jeffries were big fans of those books--I hope it is true! The motion picture and perhaps more so 'Phase II' caused a great deal of background material and in-universe 'facts' to be established where previously in ToS it was left more woolly and at the individual script writers' discretion.
I think there might be a small problem with the subtitles (unless that's just a bug showing up for me right now?). The entire subtitles of the entire video seem to be timestamped to approximately 0:02 - 0:04.
I thought the Excelsior was their favorite. I know it's mine lol. Even the admiralty loved using it throughout TNG. If you're gonna reference the TOS-era Miranda, any plans on the Repulse (the Discovery-era Excelsior class)? It'd probably be a short video given the limited info lol
I assume the Reliant was so unusually fitted weapon wise was directly related to its participation in the highly classified highly sensitive Genesis Program. Starfleet definitely did not want what was potentially on the ship falling in to the wrong hands.
@@AlternicityBlogspot lots of secret ship operations didn't have escorts. why do you think the USS Indianapolis had so many shark attack deaths after dropping the uranium and components for Little Boy at Tinian Naval Base?
A great ship for its time but hopelessly outclassed by the time of the Borg and Dominion War. Saratoga, Sitak, Majestic - none of them stood a chance and still valiantly did their duty.
Love the Miranda class. Non-canon but I like it's FASA TOS version the Anton-Class that were refit into Mirandas (or Reliant-classes as they were originally called in FASA). If you somehow merge in Discovery's Malachowski, an Anton-Like design makes a nearly perfect stepping stone between the two designs.
Oddly, I have a miniature of the USS Reliant that has rear-facing torpedo launchers in the "armpit" section of the nacelle pilons, or at least some greebling that looks like it has them.
At first I was not a fan of the Miranda Class. But it's design has grown on me. But if I could change some things I could make a Miranda Class and Centaur Class ships into an almost unstoppable juggernauts. I would add an extra torpedo roll bar and phaser strip along with its already phaser pods (or whatever you call them) and use them for escort/border patrols.
I never met a ship like you before, Miranda (Miranda) And I'd do anything for you if you'd just ask (Miranda) Ask me to do anything for you, Miranda (Knock knock) But please don't ask me to upgrade your class. It's against the code of Starfleet! But you know how much I love you, darling So...come to my starbase?
In my head canon, the Miranda and Constitution were always together, much like the Nebula and Galaxy. I loved how it was incorporated into the Star Trek: Vanguard novels.
I'm currently leveling an alt in STO that is driving around the Legendary Miranda...one interesting thing about that particular ship in the game is that because the Miranda has such a long and varied history across all the canon, the L-Miranda is a kitbasher's wet dream. You can make it a Miranda (w/three different nacelle versions), a Centaur, a Shi'kahr, a Saratoga, a Soyuz, a TOS Miranda (two versions), a Picard Reliant, a Malachowski from DSC, or a Clarke...or you can mix and match the hull, pylons, and nacelles from ANY of them. So I'm driving around a Saratoga hull, no rollbar, retrofitted with Clarke pylons and nacelles. Even made up a backstory for it that it's a Block I Miranda, retrofitted into a Saratoga, salvaged after the Dominion War, mothballed, then recalled and equipped with the more modern Clarke nacelles and system updates after the losses from the Iconian War. And the USS James Madison, NCC-1987, rides again. You can make some very interesting, or very cursed, combinations.
Originally the Defiant had its nacelles in the upright position - the rollbar being slung underside. But when they sent it to the modeling agengy they didnt know which way was up. So they decided to put the rollbar on top.
It should be noted that the Miranda class has been properly succeeded by the Reliant class, seen in Picard S3, ensuring that its design continues for another few decades.
I know it was for budget reasons, but I really like how often we see the Excelsiors and Miranda variants in TNG/DS9. The Excelsior seems like the cheap do-everything workhorse, with the Miranda as the even cheaper variable specialist ship. I imagine that in the Dominion War they'd serve as scouts or fleet pickets but with how often they exploded I sure hope Starfleet got the crew count down through automation by then.
The miranda class and its successors based on its designs such as reliant and shikahr are my personal favorite ships used by the federation. Sure not as large as the constitution , excelsior, or galaxy class but still a good ship. Would like to see a spin off series cartoon or live action where you get to see miranda or miranda like vessel as main ship of said series.
I really like the more compact profile of the miranda. It reminds me of the more combat oriented ships of the later generation like the Saber and the Defiant.
I love the Miranda, it looks and feels beautifully efficient. No long arms to support nacells or to a secondary hull, just boom, right there.
I find it a little funny how a ship that was supposed to be the inverse of the iconic Enterprise essentially became standard for many of Starfleet’s ship design because of how well known the Miranda is due to Wrath of Khan
It was irl more because of Constitution fatigue in TNG, and availability of the models. In canon, I think it was because of utility? In the stargazer episode it was supposed to be originally a constitution, but last minute changed to the newer class constellation. You can even find old footage of Geordi saying Connie instead of constitution in a scene. But was overdubbed later.
Where’s its navigational deflector ??
@@sullythemic My personal view is that the ship has two navigational deflectors, mounted in the upper slope of the saucer, one either side of the bridge.
These may have been intended to be more phaser cannons, or sensors of some kind, initially, though.
@@sullythemic ....my question about this class of ship as well..."Where's the Deflector Dish?"
IF It Were My Call...in retrospect...I would put in an NX class kind of Deflector on this ship...
but...that's just me, Sully. Several Federation starship designs that I've drawn...we all do that, design our own ship....I have used this kind of Deflector Dish...I think it covers more area in front of the ship than that silly blue stripe going half way around the primary hull like on the Proto Star...but I could be wrrr...wrao....I could be not correct, Sully.
Until later, LLAP
@@sullythemic instead of a standardized deflector dish like some ships it had a defuse deflector array made of up smaller deflector shield projectors. you can see one on the top of each engine just behind the bussard collectors. all a deflector shield needs to do is deflect debris and particles away from the ship when it is outside of warp. the warp bubble protects it during warp. at impulse speeds even a fleck of paint could be dessasterous if hit at speed
I always saw the Miranda as the "Ship of Theseus" design. It stayed in service for so long that the ships being built near the end of the 24th century had nothing in common with the original ships other than hull form.
One of the greatest ship designs. In the (very old) Starfleet Command 1/2 games, the Miranda is such a beast of a light cruiser. Torpedo tubes you do not want to be on the receiving end of.
Where’s its navigational deflector ??
@@sullythemic the design shown here, the deflector is above the saucer. Which is a really awkward design it seems Starfleet never did again.
Where’s it’s navigational deflector ?
@@sullythemic Stop.
Ships with missiles were the real beasts in SFC
One more reason why Wrath of Khan is one of the very best Trek movies.
Be nice if you were in town, whenever I yell Kahn in a store people side eye me. I’m thinking you’d be yelling right back
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂😂😅😅😅😅😅😆😆😆😆😆
No.
I'd argue that it is THE best TOS movie... LLAP
My all time favorite starship. The design is just classic.
she definitively slots in with "Form follows Function" idea
also "Treat her like a lady and she'll always get you home"
credit Cpt. Montgomery Scott
I beg to differ, the Galaxy Class Starships is by far the best design, elegant with smooth lines and the saucer separation mode makes it a very formidable combat vessel, everyone has their favorites!
I'm of the opinion that the poor performance in the Dominion war was due to the inability to upgrade the hull playing leaving only the shields as defense. So, if Mirandas were needed on the frontline, they SHOULD have upgraded shields as much as possible, and replaced all the cargo bays with torpedo storage and launchers. That would give you a Destroyer/gunboat type vessel, get in fast, launch massive amounts of firepower and retreat before shields are depleted, meanwhile the heavier ships that can tank damage but are slower can then move in and take advantage of the enemy ships that have lost or reduced shield protection. Instead they just hang around and get outmatched on the show.
I really like the Miranda class ships from the Star Trek universe. There's just something about its compact and modular design that strikes my fancy, even if it's an old design... lol.
its got a nice bit of aggressiveness that other designs lack until Defiant comes along.
It's a fundementally pragmatic design, and an intensely logical aesthetic for how to best practically integrate a saucer section.
Overall I love the Miranda class. It has that original starfleet design flair that helps suggest a shared history with the Enterprise while giving off a more stocky and utilitarian feel.
Simple me when I played Star Trek online: "I love the Miranda, I can't wait to get one." Cryptic: "First day? Have a Miranda." Me: "GG"
I love the design of this ship, it is well armed, tidy and compact. It's like the roadster of Starfleet ships.
i'm playing STO with Miranda only.
Gives me the Khan feels, to overcome the shortage with tactics and strategy...
and it increases the difficulty of the game, wich makes more fun to me.
Thank you for the videos as always, my good sir!
The one thing I always sorta laugh about, though: "With a Miranda-class Starship, your helmsman and tactical officer *have* to be working in sync with one another. After all, you never want to fire forward photon torpedoes while pulling a hard positive climb in one of those, unless you *want* to get rid of the entire command staff... Along with, y'know, the bridge." :P
TOS and TMP Miranda classes are my favorite class of ships. Surprisingly the Miranda class survived all the way into the 24th century as seen in the Dominion War on DS9.
I always loved the miranda class. Its a great design and in reality would be so much more maneuverable than the Constitution class. The weapons roll bar gives it so much more punch.
I love the Miranda class for all of its utility. Short sweet and to-the-point design that gets the job done.
Love the Miranda class. Something about them feels more 'realistic'. Also, 150,000Tons... thats only 50,000 more then a Nimitz/Ford class carrier lol, putting it in that terms really makes it feel like something we COULD actually build.
You forgot to mention the best feature of the class... the ability to do some wicked backflips when they get hit by a torpedo lol
That was a great job of one of the best ships in sci-fi
If i had a starship it would be a Miranda type. I clearly remember seeing it it for the first time in Wrath of Khan , being stunned that I was seeing a brand new type of ship in Star Trek !
In that case, have you played Star Trek Online? It's an old game but fun and free. The starting feddie ship is a Miranda.
@dragonsword7370 I keep thinking of getting into that. I'd like a Miranda with a Constellation style saucer section and a small secondary hull please .
@@vasp99 So an ersatz constellation? Referencing STO, the Miranda has the MOST kit bashing capacity for parts in the game right now. The only secondary hull part you can find is the Centaur's bottom piece, but that adds interesting angles to the nacelle pylons. The hull itself doesn't have many variations except for TOS version, Soyuz and some of the newer post 23rd century remodels. Unfortunately a stargazer thicc saucer module isn't available with that... but that ship is available to start from too. Now I'm tempted to try it in kitbashing again now.
Oh cool thing with the miranda is now you can make a chunky looking "Starfleet made a Bird of Prey after watching Balance of Terror one too many times." 🤣
@dragonsword7370 I definitely see the resemblance to the Bird of Prey too. Maybe that stems from the warlike musical theme they used for Khan .
@@vasp99 I have come back. The ShiKahr was a somewhat recently added TNG era build of the Miranda. It's not thick but it has both Shuttle bay doors in the back, AND two more recessed in the edge of the saucer section that are open to space.
The Stargazer has 4 variants that are hit and miss. The Constellation TMP era nacelles have a Beta variant that adds orange to the bussard collectors near the top.
I always liked the Mirandas. Not very elegant, but there was always just something I liked about the design.
One of my favorite starship designs ever. Always gets flack from the fandom but I don't care. I always thought of Miranda class ships as flinty little workhorses who could punch above their weight.
Aw, no mention of the Lantree and Antares classes? ;)
Very nice video, regardless.
If the Constitution-class is a heavy cfuiser, ss established in ToS, i guess that makes the Mirandas a light cruiser. And that mission pod gives it back some versatility.
But the miranda is significantly more voluminous than the constitution. EC Henry did a really detailed video to analyse the total volume.
Miranda-Class is Love; Miranda-Class is Life!
I saw the Miranda as a leaner, meaner more tactical ship than the refit Connie, as it has a more trim frame, and sports more weapons, the two aft torpedo launchers and those beefy phaser cannons. even those the Enterprise is a "bigger" ship in TWOK i feel like the Reliant is the tactically superior ship.
I say "bigger" as EC Henry did a video a few years ago where he did an analysis of the interior volume of the Miranda and refit Connie and found surprisingly that the Miranda had more potentially habitable space in it's one hull than the Connie with her two hulls.
I don't care what you say! I got me that 23rd century miranda (the one that levels up with ya) Love them retro ships!
This has always been my favorite of all star trek ships. its design comes off as more practical, with space and the ability to be modified into multiply roles makes it real.
USAF veteran Aerospace & 84 grad; saw Wrath of Kahn in theaters..it was GLORIOUS TO BEHOLD !
Thank you for covering the Miranda
Love ur videos matey! This is my fav Starship variant also. This and the Nebula Class. Two absolute favs! U prefer the roll bar variant rather than the other variants such as with the sensor pods etc. Your videos are amazing. Full of detail, well produced and always 5 star! Well done on another great video! Sending love and support from Belfast, Northern Ireland
Thanks, Ricik, you are like the go-to for starship lore at this point!
🖖😎👍Very cool and very nicely well done and very well informatively explained and executed in every way shape and form and detail possibly provided indeed, And the Miranda class starship has always been one of my all time favorite vessels for sure. And I myself own all of the different Eaglemoss variations of this wonderful ship as well as having various model kits and still have a few of the Micro machines of it as well👌.
The Miranda class was a key part of the Federation's successes in the Dominion War.
The Miranda class could fulfil the role of a Destroyer typically operating in threes escorting other vessels like Excelsior cruisers or Galaxy explorers
The Starfleet fleet reserve also allowed many Miranda class to be returned to service quickly.
This alongside the Excelsior allowed the Federation to boost ship numbers considerably.
Had a very under rated role in the Federation staying in the fight until the Romulans eventually entered the war
I keep saying it and I keep meaning it. I love your videos, especially the shiplore. You are an excellent writer and presenter and are highly appreciated!
Can't help but think about the Farragut-Type used by Capt. Kirk in SNW finale.
I love Star Trek as much as so many others, but really, it is just a television show, turned into movies for entertainment. I am truly amazed at the way this show has become such a thought-provoking icon with ALL with the fabricated background history of ships, planets, aliens and made-up characters. Books and magazines abound, (even I have some) of technical manuals, character histories, etc. as if you needed to repair a ship feature, or "study to enlist in Star Fleet", (LOL). Like I said, I love Star Trek too, but really, I am 70 years old, watched from the beginning and can honestly say, NO other television show or movies has attempted to explain so much about themselves and the things they use or themselves, as in depth as in Star Trek. Truly an icon and a fan base that wants to know so much about stuff that doesn't exist.
You did a wonderful job Rick. Thank you.
My 2nd favourite ship after the Connie refit. Beautiful.
The true workhorse of Starfleet. And my absolute favorite Federation starship. I fervently hope we see a SNW Miranda at some point. Thanks, Ric.
Till the California Class arrives in the 2380s
Wasn't that the Farragut from Ep 10?
@@darcmattr2112 Lower Decks main ship, the USS Cerritos
As a fan of all the Miranda variants, I've been fortunate enough to secure all of the modification kits which have allowed me to build all of the known variants all the way back to the TOS Miranda. They look really sweet hanging in my hobby room & all of them lit up.
Great run thru. Thx! 🎉
You definitely did a good job with this presentation. I always felt the Miranda was over used in Starfleet same with the Excelsior. I'm not sure why they decided to stop building the Connie Refit but kept up with the Miranda and Excelsior ships.
I remember when the Reliant was first designed its nacelles were flipped to be at the top of the hull. They flipped them to the underneath so as stated fans wouldn't get confused on which was the Enterprise and which one was the Reliant.
I thought it was due to the person who was green lighting the Miranda design was looking at it upside down and approved it and te design team then went along with the underslung naceles instead.
First off: EXCELLENT video on a ship that, as you stated, has been a popular and oft-seen Federation ship ever since Warth of Khan. There's one thing I just HAVE to comment on: When Wrath of Khan was being promoted, it was noted that the Miranda (though not named) was a newer, faster, and more heavily armed ship than the Enterprise. But you say it wasn't heavily armed during this phase of its life. What gives?
Oh! And anyone remember the toy Enterprise that, after popping off the nacelles, could be converted to look like a Reliant? I miss that toy!
I like the class a lot, though I've come to really love the "modern" Reliant-class from STO more...it's been my main ship for STO, only the fleet version being better there and it's one of the cheapest T-6's there
Those views of the ship and the earth behind are brilliant
Miranda (and Exclesior) were made at the height of the Klingon Cold War, so Starfleet invested heavily in shipyards across the Federation. They intended to pump out hulls even over low-tech planets. When the Cold War ended those shipyards were left in place. Later designs like Centaur, Ambassador, Galaxy didn’t receive such widespread investment. New designs came and went but the old shipyards just kept pumping out parts and hulls.
According to the Star Trek Encyclopedia, the Miranda-class was named for a character in William Shakespeare's last play, The Tempest. But in the first draft script of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, it was called the Reliant-class which was later named for the 25th century variation of the Miranda-Class in Star Trek Online and Star Trek: Picard.
The Connie will always be my number one, but I love me some Miranda and Excelsiors.
Back in the 1980s this was called an Avenger class starship, until Star Trek retconned their entire continuity in the 1990s following the events of The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. Afterwards, it was called Miranda class.
Yes you are correct for I have volume one of Ships of the Star Fleet 2290-91 which refers to the Miranda class as the Avenger class heavy frigates and showing it with various different types of pods on the roll bar👍
@@stevenewman1393 Yep, I remember those Star Trek books from the 1980s. I collected them all - Ships of the Starfleet, Worlds of the Federation, and Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise. They're all useless now because Paramount retconned everything after 1994. The Avenger class became the Miranda class.
Remember the Enterprise A was originally designated an Enterprise class? Now it's a Constitution II class. Remember when there were five founding member planets of the Federation? Now there's only four - Earth, Vulcan, Tellar, and Andor. Alpha Centauri, which was Earth's original first contact until the 1996 TNG movie came out, was retconned out of canon.
@@44excalibur Yes well you know how the major studios of movies and TV just love to destroy and do away with true Canon and turn it in to something that it's not!.
@@44excalibur Also, the old Early Voyages comic, set in Captain Pike's era, in 2254, featured two ships pretty clearly intended to be either TOS era Miranda-class ships, or a direct predecessor.
The USS Cortez NCC-1834, and the USS Achilles - both lost.
As for other founding members, novel author Christopher L. Bennett has Alpha Centauri join the founders very soon after, with other worlds, including Sauria, joining within a few years. And some of the Rigel worlds, too.
We usually call the Miranda a workhorse, but the definition of the word workhorse is Miranda Class Starship.
Just as 'Saratoga' and the phrase 'starfleets whipping boy' go together so well.
Such an unfortunate ship, no matter the class.
Great job Rick. Love the detail you put in to these
I've never liked the class, but I do appreciate the lineage it provided. It's the Granddaddy to the Nebula, Akira, Luna, etc.
If I was to be offered my own ship in real life I would want something like the Miranda Class myself. Give it the most updated parts possible and make sure to have a few holodecks and I'm good to go!! I would like to know how long it was able to stay on missions without resupply though.
Thank you Rick.
Really enjoy these videos.
I never bought the Miranda Class as anything other than a Light(er) Cruiser. Given it's heavy armament (phaser cannons or mega phasers and forward and aft torpedoes) it's role as a combat/exploration vessel is similar to the Constitution Class. I know that there is at least one unofficial source (blueprint set) that classified it as an Avenger Class heavy frigate which gave it a more combat profile.
Well it's somewhat bigger in terms of volume. There's nothing much to suggest it's less prestigious or powerful than the Constitution.
@@thegreenmanofnorwich Yeah, I saw a video that showed it had a slightly larger volume. It was pretty cool. The Miranda has always been a favorite of mine.
The cool thing is that the Miranda design lives on in the Reliant class, originally from STO but canonized in Picard s2.
The venerable Miranda and it’s variants are one of the few tmp era ships still in use well into the early 25 century later making multiple refit versions or brand new versions when you see it you think aww cute then it kills you
Miranda and Nebula are my fav's
I still fly my T6 Reliant in STO from to time because it is just so iconic.
I love these videos man.
Big fan of this class! Great video Thanks.
certainly my favorite ship class for federation
The soyuz class will always be my favorite star trek ship design.
I love those ToS styled ship designs that came from the early Trek RPG and fleet wargaming material. The variety of craft they offered were revolutionary and fascinating if you were a Trekker at the time. Even if you never actually played the game, just the source books alone were nice things to have for coffee-table (and bathroom!) reading. Cylindrical nacelles with built-in 'rocket' engines and all!!!
The ships of this era came from a time when the concept behind warp drive as a fully reactionless star drive had not been standardised. That factor changed a lot about how Trek ships looked and functioned. At that time the warp drive did not do any actual 'moving' of the ship. It effectively just cancelled its mass or perhaps its inertia. They still needed some form of thrust to push them along. However the presence of the warp field allowed that thrust to propel them at hyper-luminal velocities. In this they harkened back to the Golden Age of SF in the 1930's and 1940's, specifically the inertialess 'Bergenholm' drive from E.E. 'Doc' Smith's Lenseman stories. I have read that both Roddenberry and also Jeffries were big fans of those books--I hope it is true!
The motion picture and perhaps more so 'Phase II' caused a great deal of background material and in-universe 'facts' to be established where previously in ToS it was left more woolly and at the individual script writers' discretion.
I think there might be a small problem with the subtitles (unless that's just a bug showing up for me right now?). The entire subtitles of the entire video seem to be timestamped to approximately 0:02 - 0:04.
My favourite class love the design Awesome
Always loved this design...
In 2401, a commemorative plaque at Starfleet Academy depicted the Reliant alongside other historically significant ships.
Oh I've been waiting for this one
I thought the Excelsior was their favorite. I know it's mine lol. Even the admiralty loved using it throughout TNG.
If you're gonna reference the TOS-era Miranda, any plans on the Repulse (the Discovery-era Excelsior class)? It'd probably be a short video given the limited info lol
You always do a great job 👏🏾
"Reliant Is Closing"..love this ship.
It's very funny just started the tos event on star trek online and my main ship I picked for that character is the t6 reliant class
I assume the Reliant was so unusually fitted weapon wise was directly related to its participation in the highly classified highly sensitive Genesis Program. Starfleet definitely did not want what was potentially on the ship falling in to the wrong hands.
Really good point.
Interesting it didn't have its own escort as well to be honest.
@@AlternicityBlogspot lots of secret ship operations didn't have escorts. why do you think the USS Indianapolis had so many shark attack deaths after dropping the uranium and components for Little Boy at Tinian Naval Base?
A great ship for its time but hopelessly outclassed by the time of the Borg and Dominion War. Saratoga, Sitak, Majestic - none of them stood a chance and still valiantly did their duty.
Its a beautiful craft! I love them. A very efficient design too.
Love the Miranda class. Non-canon but I like it's FASA TOS version the Anton-Class that were refit into Mirandas (or Reliant-classes as they were originally called in FASA). If you somehow merge in Discovery's Malachowski, an Anton-Like design makes a nearly perfect stepping stone between the two designs.
Enjoyed watching this...thanks!
There are so many Miranda class
Oddly, I have a miniature of the USS Reliant that has rear-facing torpedo launchers in the "armpit" section of the nacelle pilons, or at least some greebling that looks like it has them.
Constitution, Miranda and Excelsior Classes are THE Three most Beautiful Lasses to ever Grace the Stars.
There is something about the late 23rd century aesthetic that's rather lovely
Great work on the video
At first I was not a fan of the Miranda Class. But it's design has grown on me. But if I could change some things I could make a Miranda Class and Centaur Class ships into an almost unstoppable juggernauts. I would add an extra torpedo roll bar and phaser strip along with its already phaser pods (or whatever you call them) and use them for escort/border patrols.
Somehow the Miranda class design looks both utilitarian and utopian. My favourite Trek ship.
It's my favorite class too!
I never met a ship like you before, Miranda (Miranda)
And I'd do anything for you if you'd just ask (Miranda)
Ask me to do anything for you, Miranda (Knock knock)
But please don't ask me to upgrade your class.
It's against the code of Starfleet!
But you know how much I love you, darling
So...come to my starbase?
In my head canon, the Miranda and Constitution were always together, much like the Nebula and Galaxy. I loved how it was incorporated into the Star Trek: Vanguard novels.
Hey Starfleet, what's your favorite ship? "Miranda class"
Yoda - "This is why you fail.."
I'm currently leveling an alt in STO that is driving around the Legendary Miranda...one interesting thing about that particular ship in the game is that because the Miranda has such a long and varied history across all the canon, the L-Miranda is a kitbasher's wet dream. You can make it a Miranda (w/three different nacelle versions), a Centaur, a Shi'kahr, a Saratoga, a Soyuz, a TOS Miranda (two versions), a Picard Reliant, a Malachowski from DSC, or a Clarke...or you can mix and match the hull, pylons, and nacelles from ANY of them. So I'm driving around a Saratoga hull, no rollbar, retrofitted with Clarke pylons and nacelles. Even made up a backstory for it that it's a Block I Miranda, retrofitted into a Saratoga, salvaged after the Dominion War, mothballed, then recalled and equipped with the more modern Clarke nacelles and system updates after the losses from the Iconian War. And the USS James Madison, NCC-1987, rides again. You can make some very interesting, or very cursed, combinations.
Originally the Defiant had its nacelles in the upright position - the rollbar being slung underside. But when they sent it to the modeling agengy they didnt know which way was up. So they decided to put the rollbar on top.
You mean the Reliant.
Love the Miranda class
It should be noted that the Miranda class has been properly succeeded by the Reliant class, seen in Picard S3, ensuring that its design continues for another few decades.
The Reliant class is gonna get its own video :D
will you cover it's variants?
Great job!
I know it was for budget reasons, but I really like how often we see the Excelsiors and Miranda variants in TNG/DS9. The Excelsior seems like the cheap do-everything workhorse, with the Miranda as the even cheaper variable specialist ship. I imagine that in the Dominion War they'd serve as scouts or fleet pickets but with how often they exploded I sure hope Starfleet got the crew count down through automation by then.
The Soyuz was primarily a Customs and Excise enforcer. Morgan Bateson even fited blue flashing police style lights to his precious "Police Boat"
I consider the Miranda as the ship that started the new tech that Enterprise was refited in. the TOS version is just stupid
Didn't Enterprise show with the flashforward scenes that the Prometheus class was somehow still in service after over 200 years?
The miranda class and its successors based on its designs such as reliant and shikahr are my personal favorite ships used by the federation. Sure not as large as the constitution , excelsior, or galaxy class but still a good ship. Would like to see a spin off series cartoon or live action where you get to see miranda or miranda like vessel as main ship of said series.
I really like the more compact profile of the miranda. It reminds me of the more combat oriented ships of the later generation like the Saber and the Defiant.