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==USS Eagle (NCC-956)== | ==USS Eagle (NCC-956)== | ||
The USS Eagle (NCC-956) was a Federation starship in service in the 23rd century. | The USS Eagle (NCC-956) was a Federation starship in service in the 23rd century. It was of the few to also undergo refit. | ||
The Constitution class was introduced around 2240. At that time the Constitution class was the fastest and most powerful ship type of the fleet and the only one officially designated as a "Starship". 12 ships of this class were in service by the year 2267. Starting with the USS Enterprise in 2271, a number of Constitution-class ships have undergone a complete reconstruction that included new warp nacelles, modification of the engineering hull and "neck", enlargement of the saucer section and a new bridge module. The ships may have been decommissioned at the end of the 23rd century, one of them is displayed in the Starfleet Museum. | |||
1) The Constitution-class starship was designed by Matt Jefferies. Its original look lacks the now familiar discernable thrusters and docking ports although we can take for granted the ship has them too. There were several slight modifications to the Enterprise filming miniature after the first pilot and again after the second pilot. Most notably, the model originally had a somewhat taller bridge dome. The nacelle end caps changed from a flat surface in "The Cage" over a hole pattern in "Where No Man Has Gone Before" to the most familiar "white ball" in the series version. These modifications may be taken as hints that the ship was refitted a couple of times even before 2270. | |||
2) A new model of the Constitution was built by Greg Jein for DS9: "Trials and Tribble-ations", and a CGI model for ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly". Both of them faithfully reconstruct the look of the old TOS Enterprise and Defiant, respectively, in the series version. In the latter episode we see that the double beam of the aft phaser array fires from either side of the dome above the hangar deck of the Defiant, and aft torpedoes are available too. Moreover, the port, starboard and aft thrusters of the ship are mentioned. | |||
3) The Constitution refit was designed by Andrew Probert, based on a preliminary model with suggestions by Matt Jefferies. The Enterprise and Enterprise-A are the only reconstructed Constitution-class ships that were shown. Gene Roddenberry proposed that the latter was first designated as USS Yorktown and later recommissioned as Enterprise 1701-A, which is just an offhand mention and not really canonical. It is a reasonable assumption that most of the remaining ships were refurbished likewise in the 2270s. A schematic of the refitted version labeled as USS Constitution NCC-1700 is visible in TNG: "Datalore", so we can add at least this one to the list of refitted starships. | |||
4) Although the actual number of Constitution starships is at least 17, Kirk's statement that there are 12 of them as of 2267 (TOS: "Tomorrow is Yesterday") can be maintained taking into account that some of them (namely Constellation, Defiant, Excalibur, Intrepid) were lost, while more ships might have been commissioned in the 2260's. | |||
5) The dedication plaque ("Starship Class") of the original Enterprise and a note in The Making of Star Trek suggest that "starship" was no generic term at that time, but was specifically used for ships akin to the Enterprise. The tradition to name a ship class for the prototype ship might have been established later, although this is now questionable considering that Star Trek Enterprise has begun using letter-style as well as "real" class names. | |||
6) A sign in "Star Trek II" unmistakably says "Mark IV Simulator - Enterprise Class". The (sub-) class name "Enterprise class" makes sense, considering that the refit has hardly anything in common with the original Constitution, and is not really contradicted anywhere else. | |||
7) The engineering hull at Wolf 359, which definitely stems from a Constitution refit, suggests that these ships may have been still in service or at least served as reserve ships in 2366. The issue is also discussed here. | |||
8) Some of the names and registries never appeared on screen together. Many of the registries were listed on a wall chart on Starbase 11 in TOS: "Court-Martial", but without names. Names from the episodes and from The Making of Star Trek were correlated with the registries by Mike Okuda and Greg Jein already for the first Encyclopedia, but strictly speaking they are conjecture. In some case it is not even clear if the ships belong to the Constitution class at all. | |||
9) Like the 3D model from ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly", the CGI used in TOS Remastered is an authentic reproduction of the original Enterprise miniature. It is noteworthy that the color of the phaser beams, which used to be sometimes blue and sometimes red in TOS, was redone to be consistently blue. The Constellation, which looked somewhat different in TOS: "The Doomsday Machine" due to its nature as a coarse polystyrene model, is a standard Constitution in the remastered episode, not a slightly different ship type as some fans used to conjecture. In TOS-R: "Court-Martial" we can see damage on the Enterprise's starboard hull beneath the hangar deck. This is where the ion pod is located (that Kirk allegedly ejected with Finney still inside). | |||
10) Also in TOS-R: "Court-Martial", we can see the Intrepid for the first time, with the registry NCC-1631. Although it would not have been mandatory, this registry cannot be found on the wall chart in Stone's office that lists an "NCC-1831". But the latter could be any other ship, also taking into consideration that the bar shows 100% completion, whereas Stone verbally states that work on the Intrepid would be postponed in favor of the Enterprise. | |||
The Eagle was among the starships that would have been assembled for the abandoned assault code-named Operation: Retrieve, which would have rescued Captain James Kirk and Doctor Leonard McCoy from Qo'noS in 2293. (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country) | The Eagle was among the starships that would have been assembled for the abandoned assault code-named Operation: Retrieve, which would have rescued Captain James Kirk and Doctor Leonard McCoy from Qo'noS in 2293. (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country) | ||
==USS Eagle NCC-69782== | |||
Eagle Class (2361) | |||
The Eagle class is a parallel development to the Buenos Aires class and is also classified as a heavy cruiser. Saucer and warp drives of the two ship types are essentially identical, including the impulse-powered auxiliary craft ("boat"). Eagle-class ships are lighter and more versatile. Nevertheless, already in their basic configuration they feature recent sensor and weapons technology as well as extensive scientific laboratories. In addition to the standard equipment the ships can be supplemented with different sensor and weapon modules which are compatible with the Pacifica class. Most of the Eagle-class ships are currently equipped with a combined photon torpedo and long-range sensor pod. The original operation area was mainly well inside Federation space. During the Dominion War, almost all ships of the fast but moderately armed class were ordered to the Tholian and Talarian borders, where they successfully prevented incursions, largely without the support of other ships. Considering the recently necessary rearmament of Starfleet, it is expected that Akira-class starships will be the preferred design in the future, although Eagle-class starships fulfill all requirements. Contracts for the production twelve more ships of the class had been signed just prior to the Dominion War. It is possible that they will be built as modified Eagle variants. | |||
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