Galaxy class starship
In the Star Trek fictional universe, the Galaxy class of starships, named after the USS Galaxy, are a make of vessel produced and used by Starfleet, designed to be able to accommodate families as well as crew quarters. 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. (See saucer separation.) The most notable Galaxy class starship was the USS Enterprise-D, the flagship of the United Federation of Planets, and the primary setting of . 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 External link |
The Galaxy class of starships were the largest and one of the 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. Few Galaxy class ships were lost in action during the Dominion War(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 and torpedo launchers 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, the power systems turned out to be somewhat vulnerable, especially during enemy attack. The ejection systems for the warp systems were known to be vulnerable to failure.
The Galaxy class was sometimes seen by those of a more military background as devoting too much space and energy to creature comforts and family support, such as holodecks, schools, gymnasiumss, amphitheaters, and a bar, rather than mission equipment. Spacious facilities, while a definite benefit to morale on the deep space exploration missions the Galaxy was originally developed for, were seen by some as a hindrance to the patrol, diplomatic and combat missions the class found itself performing during the drastically heightened military tensions in the late 2360s and '70s.
The inclusion of families among the crew also proved to be a somewhat questionable policy (the 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 enemy attack). At least one ship — the Yamato — was lost with its full complement, including families. Another ship — the Odyssey — was lost but had managed to offload families and non-essential crew beforehand.
The beginning of the Dominion War suspended this policy and it has not been revealed whether or not this policy had been reactivated following the war. By the beginning of the Dominion War, three Galaxy class starships 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-D from Klingon torpedoes which damaged the warp core, and Odyssey from impact damage to her neck and starboard warp nacelle resulting from a kamikaze run by a Jem'Hadar attack ship (however, it should be noted that it is unlikely any ship would've survived such an attack, given similar circumstances). It is worth noting that Starfleet took note of the problem with the Galaxy class warp core vulnerabilities and took steps to fix the problem. Galaxy class ships in the Dominion war suffered far greater damage then the Odyssey, Enterprise, and Yamato and continued to fight. The Galaxy suffered major primary and secondary hull damage at the battle of Chin'Toka and continued on to fight. The upgraded Galaxy class design is commonly called the War Galaxy. The Venture is an example of some of the modifications the Galaxy class recieved.
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 explorer could be procured in numbers. These ships were completed without most of the fittings of their peacetime counterparts — some ships were sent into battle with only the facilities needed for minimal crew life support and to make them ready for battle because the need for ships was so great at times during the war. It's not known how the ships were fitted following the war.
History
A troubled development
Specifications
Known Galaxy class starships
Canon
Apocryphal and non-canon
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See also:
External link