Header Truth OR Myth? - Starfleet Starships- Franz Joseph Designs (Updated)

Truth OR Myth? – Starfleet Starships- Franz Joseph Designs (Updated)

Hello and welcome to Truth OR Myth, a Star Trek web series that takes a look at the truth or canon information, to dispel the myths that have surfaced on any given topic.  In today’s article, we’re taking a look at the Starship Designs from the Franz Joseph Technical Manual, to better understand their place, in Star Trek History… I hope you enjoy it…

Though most fall into Beta canon, Star Trek fans have no shortage of reference material for their favourite show.  And today, we are going to look at some of my favorite starship designs that originated from Beta Canon, to become full-fledged members of Alpha Canon…

When I was a kid and ran across Star Trek: The Original Series, of course, I was mesmerized.  I loved the way it sparked my imagination and immediately wanted to devour any information I could about the show.

Heading down to the public library, yes, this was before the internet as we know it today, I borrowed 2 Star Trek books.  The first is The Star Trek Compendium, an original edition hardcover that I would buy several years later at that particular library’s yard sale, and the second is the Starfleet Technical Manual by Franz Joseph.

This Manual was filled with Original Series info.  Everything from Uniforms to the internal workings of the bridge consoles, this manual even had the articles of the Federation.  I read that thing from cover to cover over and over again.  And a few years later I would end up buying my own copy, the copy I’m using for this video actually.

You see, as I’ve often said, I love the original series…  But that being said, there is a SERIOUS lack of starship classes shown within it.  In fact, the original run showed basically none.  We saw a few other Constitution Classes sure, but that was about it.

Even my child brain knew there MUST be more classes to Starfleet than just the Constitution Class and for me, this Tech Manual filled in all those voids rather nicely.

Franz Joseph was able to take the design of Constitution Class and create a bunch of new classes that meld seamlessly into the Star Trek universe.  So seamlessly actually that many of the Star Trek movies and even Star Trek: Discovery would use the manual as a reference and as such, would make much about what is in this work of fiction, canon.

When I originally made this video, early in my channel’s career, I had yet to find my voice or writing style.  But like a trooper, I went ahead and cobbled together that video.  I had no access to 3D models for most of the classes back in that day.

But now, having Space Engine, and with me porting starships into that wonderful program for use in these videos, along with Great 3D modellers having already included some in the addon, I’m able to give you the “Full Monty” so to speak, on these amazing designs.

So now we’ll dive into each of the separate classes and the information provided about them…

Constitution
(CBS) Constitution Class Starship
The Constitution Class

Okay so the Constitution Class itself wasn’t a Joseph Design, being created by the great Matt Jefferies, but it was the class that Joseph started from.  And the information provided about the class in his manual would become canon in various screen displays through out Star Trek‘s run.

The Constitution Class is 288.6 Meters long with a width of 127.1 meters.  The standard ships compliment for this class was 43 Command Level Officers and 387 Crew members.  These numbers, of course, fluctuate depending on mission-specific requirements like transport duty.

Classified as a heavy cruiser, this class had a maximum safe cruising speed of warp factor 6, with an emergency speed of warp factor 8. Tactically, it was equipped with 3 Phaser banks, each included 2 emitters and 2 Photon Torpedo launchers.

The class itself had an 18-year lifespan of service before it needed to be refit or decommissioned altogether. 

On the back of the classes, the page is a listing of all the starships of the class commissioned by Starfleet, including their registries, and let me tell you, there are a lot…

Saladin
(CBS) The Saladin Class
The Saladin Class

Going against the imaginary rule of always having even numbers of nacelles on a ship, the Saladin Class would basically be a saucer section that connected, via a neck, to a single warp nacelle.

The Saladin Class is 242.5 Meters long with a width of 127.1 meters.  The standard ships compliment for this class was 20 Command Level Officers and 180 Crew members. 

Classified as a destroyer, this class had a maximum safe cruising speed of warp factor 6, with an emergency speed of warp factor 8. Tactically, it was equipped with 3 Phaser banks, each included 2 emitters and 2 Photon Torpedo launchers.

This class had a lifespan of 9 years of service before it needed to be put in for refit or decommissioning.

It should be noted that this class is in fact canon, though the information about it, sadly is not.  If you look closely in Star Trek 2 and Star Trek 3, you can actually see this class on display monitors being looped on consoles through out the bridge.

Hermes
(CBS) The Hermes Class
The Hermes Class

Virtually identical in look and shape to that of the Saladin Class, the Hermes Class was classified as a scout vessel.

This Class is also 242.5 meters long with a width of 127.1 meters.  But The standard ships compliment for this class was 20 Command Level Officers and 175 Crew members,  as opposed to the Saladins, 180 Crew members.  I’m not sure what the extra 5 officers did on the Saladin Class, but I’m sure whatever it was, it was important to that classes mission profile. 

Having a maximum safe cruising speed of warp factor 6, with an emergency speed of warp factor 8,  this design was Franz Josephs answer to a pure Starfleet Science Vessel. Tactically, this class was less equipped than its virtual twin, having only 1 Phaser bank, with 2 emitters, and no Photon Torpedo launchers.

This class also had a lifespan of 9 years of service, before it needed to be put in for refit or decommissioning.

Once again, this class is canon, as it also can be seen in the early Star Trek movies scrolling past the audience on bridge displays, but the information for it again is sadly not…

Ptolemy
(CBS) The Ptolemy Class
The Ptolemy Class

This is a class I’ve always found very interesting.  In a lot of ways, it looks like the Miranda Class but since it’s classified as a transport/ tug vessel it serves a unique function. Having a tow pad at the bottom of its neck, allows this ship to connect transport containers to its hull.  These containers than would be hauled around the Federation to their various destination. 

The containers come in a variety of designs. 1 for products, like machine parts or clothing or other smaller cargo. 1 for refrigerated goods. 1 for Dry Bulk Products like quadrotritically, which would be stored in large vertical bins. 1 for liquids, again stored in special cube bins. And lastly 1 for personnel transport.

I guess what I’ve always loved about this design is that it makes sense.  Starfleet is constantly having to freight around supplies to colonies and is trading with other worlds.  So a ship dedicated to this mission profile just hits all the right notes for me. 

This Class, without the pod,  is 222 Meters long with a width of 127.1 meters.  its standard ships compliment was 22 Command Level Officers and 198 Crew members.

Again Having a maximum safe cruising speed of warp factor 6, with an emergency speed of warp factor 8, Tactically, this class was equipped with 2 phaser banks, with 2 emitters each, and no photon torpedo launchers. This class also had a lifespan of 9 years in service, before it needed to be put in for refit or decommissioning.

And surprise, this class is ALSO officially Canon, as while analyzing frame by frame bridge panel readouts from the early Star Trek Movie the P’Tolemy Class CAN be seen for a split second, though again, the information on it would not be canon…

Federation Class
(CBS) The Federation Class
The Federation Class

What never made sense to me in Star Trek, was the lack of visual evidence that Starfleet had any dedicated warships.  Now I know it’s a peaceful, exploratory organization, but they have to be able to protect their space and Federation Citizens from say giant amoebas and return home Space Probes.  Yet all the visual evidence in canon we have seems to suggest that the heavy cruiser is as far as Starfleet will go, at least in the Prime Timeline and up until the Borg attack at Wolf 359.

But Joseph thought the same way I did and created the Federation Class.  Classified as a Dreadnought, this class was designed by Starfleet to be a fast and powerful class of starship.

Having 3 warp nacelles, this class had a standard safe cruising speed of warp factor 8 and an emergency speed of warp factor 10.

This class stood at 320 meters in length, with a width of 140 meters.  Its Standard crew compliment was that of 55 Command Officers and 445 Crew members. Tactically, this class was equipped with 5 phaser banks, with 2 emitters each, and 2 Photon Torpedo launchers.

A few interesting components of this design was the inclusion of a shuttlebay in the front of the ship just above the main deflector dish, and a serious lack of shipboard windows.  And to me that all makes sense given the mission profile for this class… As to whether this design is canon or not was a long time debate. 

Federation Class Front
(CBS) The Federation Class Front Elevation

You see Star Trek: The Motion Picture used Joseph’s Technical Manual as a reference through out the film.  During the first scene with Comm Station Epsilon 9, the starships named, and their registry numbers heard in the background,  are straight out of Franz Joseph’s Manual.

In most releases of TMP though, much of the underlying dialogue is simply muffled and can not be heard…  However, on my laser disc version of the movie it can be and one line, in particular, may lend credence to this class actually being canon.  In the movie, there is a Starfleet Officer calling in from the Dreadnought USS Entente NCC-2120, another direct reference to the manual that we as fans can cling to… 

And in remaking this video, I took another gander at all the older Trek movies to see if I could get a simple glimpse at the Dreadnought Federation Class.  And going Frame by Frame, there were 2 things that happened to me.

One, I got a headache, and Two, I wasn’t able to find it…  But if any of you good “Tri-Naries” out there HAVE found it, and can point me to the scene and time, I’d be eternally grateful to finally put that argument to rest for all of fandom.

But for now, the Federation Dreadnought Classes Canon status is still very much up for debate.

Franz Joseph Designs
(CBS) The Franz Joseph Designs

It’s amazing how much we as fans hunger for Star Trek starship designs.  I’ve discussed and debated different ones with you all over the past few years of this channels lifetime.  And although this video is a bit of an unusual departure from my usual ones, I thought you’d all enjoy the break.

Lastly, I just wanted to give a personal thank you to Karen Schaubelt, the daughter of Franz Joseph.  When I originally made this video, she took the time to thank me for it and to explain and put into perspective her fathers work.  That’s something that touched me deeply being her fathers work meant so much to me growing up.

So I hope if she is still watching this channel, that Version 2.0 means just as much to her as the original did!  Sadly Franz Joseph passed away on June 2nd 1994, so I never got to thank him for the inspiration he’s given me through out all these years.  But I hope wherever in cosmos he is, that he’s enjoyed these videos about his designs as much as I have made them.

Also, I hope you’ve enjoyed this deep dive into my childhood imagination, and can appreciate, as much as I do the hard work and talent of Franz Joseph, he will never be forgotten…

Want to help the channel to continue to boldly go? Then just click HERE to become a channel Patron…below.

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Thank you for watching today’s episode of Truth OR Myth.  What do you think of the Joseph designs? 

How do you feel about me stepping outside the canon box, would you like to see more videos like this one? Well, leave your comments in the section below.  And don’t forget to like the video and subscribe to the channel.

Thanks again for watching, live long and prosper…

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