Galaxy class starship
In the Star Trek fictional universe, the Galaxy class of starships, named after USS Galaxy, are designed to be able to accommodate families as well as crew quarters; USS Enterprise had a crew complement of 1,012, but was capable of holding 15,000 people if necessary. The saucer section (the saucer-shaped module which forms the "head" of the ship) can be separated before a battle in order to put civilians out of danger in a serious battle situation. However, doing so robs the ship of energy generation capabilities and firepower which are crucial in combat, so such a move is seldom performed. (See Saucer separation.) The most notable Galaxy class starship was the USS Enterprise, the flagship of the United Federation of Planets, and the primary setting of . When it was destroyed, it was succeeded by the Sovereign class NCC-1701-E. At least two Galaxy-class ships had names which possessed honorable histories in Starfleet; Enterprise (named in honor of the famous NCC-1701) and Yamato (named in honor of the NCC-1305).
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2 A Troubled Development 3 Specifications 4 Known Galaxy class starships 5 See also 6 External link |
The Galaxy class of starships were the largest and most powerful in Starfleet during the 2360s and early 2370s, after which point they were exceeded by the slightly smaller Sovereign class in sheer power. However, they remain the largest ships in Federation Starfleet, at 42 decks and 641 meters in length. While only six had been completed in 2364, by the early 2370s several more had been completed and were in service. Several "Galaxy Wings" composed solely of Galaxy class starships were instrumental in defeating Dominion forces in the battle to retake Deep Space Nine (also known as the Battle of Bajor) in 2374 during the Dominion War. Not a single Galaxy class ship was lost during this fleet action (however, the Galaxy class USS Odyssey was the first major loss caused by the Dominion several years earlier during the Battle of New Bajor (2370) when a Jem'Hadar fighter rammed its engineering section after shield power had been redirected to weapons).
The Galaxy-class starship was originally intended to be a smaller design, but mission creep and specification creep during the design process resulted in the largest starship Starfleet has ever produced. However, during the re-specification process insufficient power generation was allocated (most glaringly, the stardrive section only has a single fusion reactor complex, versus two in the saucer section) and as a result the starship, while large and magnificent, was underpowered for its displacement. Under certain combat conditions even a Klingon Bird of Prey cruiser could defeat it. This led to the Galaxy-class being considered something of a white elephant early in its lifespan; the first round of midlife refits and upgrades (unfortunately, after the loss of Enterprise) included more power generation capability, which largely fixed this deficiency.
Additionally, the Galaxy-class is sometimes seen as devoting too much space and energy to creature comforts rather than mission equipment (sometimes derided among less charitable persons as the "Flying Station Wagon" for this reason). Spacious crew quarters, while a benefit to morale on the deep space exploration missions the Galaxy was originally developed for, are a hindrance to the patrol, diplomatic and combat missions the class found itself performing during the drastically heightened military tensions in the 2360s and 70s. The inclusion of families among the crew also proved to be disastrous (Enterprise's captain once noted that while one's life is at risk whether on a starship or on Earth, Earth is not likely to be ordered into hostile territory to repel an alien attack), as several ships of the class were lost with their full complements, including families. The beginning of the Dominion War suspended this policy and it has not been reactivated.
By the beginning of the Dominion War, three Galaxy class ships had already been lost, all of them due to damage to their warp drives: Yamato from an alien computer virus which had taken over her major computer systems, Enterprise from Klingon torpedoes and Odyssey from impact damage to her neck and starboard warp nacelle resulting from a Jem'Hadar attack ship.
Many Galaxy class ships were produced during the runup to the Dominion War, to fill the fleets out with heavy combatants until the Sovereign-class heavy cruiser could be procured in numbers. These "War Galaxy" ships were completed without most of the luxury fittings of their peacetime counterparts and with more powerful (and more stable) warp cores.
History
A Troubled Development
Specifications
Known Galaxy class starships
Canon
Apocryphal
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See also
External link