Truth OR Myth – Starship Designs – The Galaxy Class (MegaMix)

Note from Triangulum Audio Studios;  We often get requests for our multi-part or related videos to be combined into 1 video.  And although we constantly update or create playlists with these videos, we still end up getting these requests.  So this video, on the Galaxy Class, is a test to see what the reaction would be to these Mega Videos.  So please feel free to leave a comment on the video in regards to this format.  Thank you

Hello and welcome to Truth OR Myth.  In today’s episode, we’re taking a look at the Galaxy Class of Starships and it’s role in the new era of Star Trek.

Launched in the early 2360s, The Galaxy Class would represent the largest most advanced Exploration Starship Starfleet had ever created to this point…  This would not only be a shining jewel in Starfleet’s Crown, but also the symbol of an era.  An Era of relative peace and prosperity for the United Federation of Planets…

Standing 42 Decks tall, the Galaxy Class represented the forefront of Starfleet technological development and comfort. Being crewed by over 1000 officers, the Galaxy Class was also able to transport 10000 passengers or troops if the need arose.  Measuring 642.5 meters long and 463.73 meters wide they were constructed at the Utopia Planitia Ship Yards orbiting Mars.

(CBS) Galaxy Class MSD

The Galaxy Class incorporated the latest in Warp Technology.  Having a standard cruising speed Warp 6 and an emergency speed of warp 9.6, the Galaxy Class was designed for deep space exploration and defence of the farthest frontiers of the federation.

This Starship Design also incorporated a new defensive system which allowed the saucer section to detach from the engineering hull.  This allowed for the saucer section to be used either as a lifeboat, ferrying crew, civilians and passengers to safety, or another battle-ready target for an enemy to contend with.  Up to this point, most starships with 2 hulls had the ability to separate its primary section in this way but did not have the ability to recombine unless aided by Starbase facilities, and the power quotient on both sections was greatly reduced.  But improvements in fusion impulse reactor technology and a newly redesigned and constructed latching system overcame these design limitations.

During separation, the Stardrive Section would be controlled from what was known as the battle bridge.  this bridge, located on deck 8, was a more cramped and traditional bridge, mimicking the standard bridge layouts on most other starships.  This battle bridge would also receive periodic updates and refits through out its history. The Galaxy Class had a forward and aft torpedo launch system and originally 12 enhanced and much larger phaser arrays, though this number of arrays would be increased in future Galaxy Class designs.  These larger strip-like phaser arrays allowed the Galaxy Class to fire at any target in a 360-degree arc.

The main Deflector dish of the Galaxy Class could be modified into a weapon as well.  A concept that had been developed by Starfleet to combat the Borg.

In 2363, the U.S.S. Enterprise D, the newest flagship of the federation, was launched under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, and would prove herself time after time as a force to be reckoned with in the Federation.

(CBS) The Enterprise – D Bridge As Seen In TNG S3

The Main Bridge

Before the launch of the Galaxy Class, Starfleet Starship Bridges were cramped but extremely functional.  But while designing the Galaxy Class, one of the biggest starship every created by Starfleet’s core of engineers up to that point, it was decided that the entire style of bridge would get a complete overhaul, and so the Galaxy Class Bridge Design came to be…

Access to the bridge was achieved by 2 port side turbolifts.  1 forward, 1 aft.  An emergency turbolift, that also functioned as a direct route to the Stardrive Section’s Battle Bridge, was located on the starboard forward side of the bridge. The bridge was separated into 3 distinct sections.

The first was the aft upper section.  Along the back wall of the bridge stood 5 consoles.  During its initial launch in 2264, these consoles were Science I, Science II, Propulsion, Emergency Manual Override, and Environment, but by 2365, a year later these consoles were changed to Science I, Science II, Mission Operations, Environment, and Engineering.  A configuration which would remain the standard for this class.

The Science Stations would be used for scientific analysis and library computer access, with the Mission operations station in charge of monitoring away team and shipboard missions.  the environment station was in charge of monitoring all shipboard environmental systems such as life support, Temperature and gravity control aboard ship.

Each of these stations also had pull out seating that could be tucked back out of the way when not needed. All control panels aboard this class were touch screen controls.  This allowed any station to be configured or reconfigured easily in emergency situations or to accommodate different requirements of different officers.

(CBS) The Enterprise Bridge, Rear and Tactical Stations

Directly in front of these 5 stations was the tactical station.  Mounted on a horseshoe-like pedestal, this console was responsible for controlling all shipboard offence and defence systems.  This included Phaser Emitters Arrays, Torpedo Launches and Defensive Shields.  As well as being responsible for the tactical systems, this station also monitored and was responsible for all security functions aboard ship.  This station would also be primarily in charge of ship communications though at times this function could be handled by the Operations station.

The second section, in the midsection of the bridge, was that of the Command Area.  here stood 3 Command Chairs.  The Captain, or commanding officer would typically occupy the Center Chair, the first officer would typically occupy the chair to the Captains right.  The chair to the Captains left would be occupied by the Ships Counselor or a mission-specific officer or guest, 2 other bench seat were available to either side of the 3 command chairs.

All 3 chairs had access to ships functions and monitoring via special stations.  the captain’s chair having originally 2 consoles, one on each chair’s arm with a flip-up cover.  By 2365 however, this cover had been removed.  The right Panel on the command chair was used for log entries, library computer access and retrieval, viewscreen control and intercoms. The left arm of the chair was equipped with a panel that acted as a backup conn and ops panel, plus armament and shield controls.

The Port and Starboard sides of this section contained equipment lockers and circuitry access behind wooden panels, though these wooden panels would ALSO be replaced by fabric panels in 2365…

The 3rd and Final Section contained the helm and operations stations.  The helm on the starboard side of the area was in charge of all navigational functions including ships course and speed.  While the Operations station on the port side was in charge of monitoring all ships functions and primarily in charge of the ships main sensor array. 

(CBS) The Enterprise Bridge, Command, Ops and Helm Consoles

Directly in front of these 2 stations stood the main viewscreen.  One of the largest Starship Viewscreen ever designed.

A door in the forward port side bulkhead leads directly to what was known as the Captains Ready room.  Essentially an office for the Captain or commanding officer, this room would allow for small meeting or updates as well as allow the captain to work while still being on duty and readily available should the need arise.

On the aft starboard side of the bridge was 2 doors, one lead to the bridges head while the other lead to a special conference lounge.  This large room allowed for senior officers to have mission-specific meets while not being too far away from the bridge in case an emergency arose.

With hostilities mounting within the Alpha and Beta Quadrant Starfleet decided to modify the galaxy class bridge to include 6 more consoles along with the port and starboard walls replacing the equipment lockers originally housed there.

As a result, all wall-mounted consoles were reconfigured for the new layout.  The 3 stations on the starboard wall became Science stations 1 2 and 3, while the 3 stations on the port wall became Communications stations 1 2 and 3.  This was done to allow each Galaxy Class to act as a command and control ship if necessary during fleet battles…

Along the aft wall, these stations were configured as follows; Science 4, Mission Operations, Environment and then the Engineering station was expanded to Engineering 1 and 2. The Tactical station would also receive its own chair similar to the aft consoles. In addition, the command chairs were raised by two steps above the helm and ops stations, to provide the captain with an unobstructed view of the forward viewscreen. New carpeting and handrails were also added.

Though an amazing and expansive design this Bridge Module has come to symbolize an age where Starfleet was unprepared for what awaited them.

(CBS) The Enterprise D Warp Core – Deck 36 – Main Engineering

Main Engineering

With advancements in both Warp technology and panel interfaces, it was decided early on that even though the Galaxy Class was a large starship, it’s engineering section would be the smallest yet most advanced engineering section ever created. Located on deck 36, Main Engineering, like the Main Bridge was broken into 3 sections. The first section was a 3 level complex that contained the warp core.  The warp core itself was capable of generating approximately 12.75 billion gigawatts of power to keep the starship running.

The warp core spanned 12 decks…  With the Deuterium or matter tanks being located at the top of the core on deck 30, and the antimatter tanks located at the bottom of the ship on deck 42. Warp speeds above 9.3 were beyond the red line. The maximum emergency warp speed for the Galaxy Class was warp 9.6, which could be maintained for a few hours, though many Galaxy Class starships would surpass this speed limitation. The warp core itself could be monitored and observed from either the upper or lower levels accessed by a wall ladder or a single person lift.

Magnetic Constriction Segments connected the matter and antimatter reactant injectors to the Reaction chamber which contained the Dilithium Crystal Articulation frame that could be accessed via a hatch on the chamber itself. The Dilithium Chamber could also be accessed from the main level…  Allowing swift and easy maintenance of the core itself. The Chamber included Dilithium Regulators and Antiproton Injection Seals.

A theta-matrix compositor was integrated with the Dilithium articulation frame, allowing re-crystallization of the Dilithium Crystals to take place within the warp core while the core was online.  Power transfer conduits lead from the reaction chamber to the EPS power taps which then either ran the warp plasma to the Nacelle Plasma Injectors and then the warp coils to initiate warp travel, or to the EPS power Distribution Nodes which then provided system power through out the ship.

Coolant conduits, responsible for keeping the core temperature at spec levels ran through the back of this room.  And a main engineering component panel was located to the left of the core itself. In emergency situations where the warp core was either in danger of overload or if coolant began to leak within the section, an emergency door could be brought down to isolate this section.  Although this door could not prevent a warp core breach from destroying the ship, It could prevent lethal chemicals and radiation from permeating the rest of the ship.

Other emergency procedures include shutting down the warp core or ejecting the entire core assembly through a jettison port at the bottom of the ship. If the core was still intact and not in danger of explosion, it could be monitored and controlled from either outside the emergency bulkhead door in Engineering itself, or from the engineering console on the main bridge.

(CBS) Engineering Office – Main Engineering

The second section was known as the Engineering office.  This section housed a transparent aluminium Glass over a desk like a console which looked upon the warp core…

From here the Chief Engineer or any engineering officer could monitor the core, ships systems or conduct research for any mission-specific requirements.

The main bank of isolinear chips located to the left of the Engineer’s desk provided the necessary informational links and operating system programming between ships systems and consoles throughout the ship.  Without these chips, the ships command functions could not be accessed.

The third and final section was the main staging area for engineering itself. In the centre of this area stood a large table which could access any and all systems aboard the ship.  It was from this area that most engineers would be stationed to monitor the vital systems on the ship. 

The ships auto-destruct feature was required to be activated from this centre table as well.  here’s the Commanding and the First officer would authorize the sequence and then termination of the self destruct could only be executed from the main bridge.  originally the Destruct Function had a 5-minute time limit, however after upgrades were completed on this class this time limit was lifted and left up to the commanding officer to decide.

(CBS) Main Engineering Situation Table and Ship MSD

Directly beyond the table between the access corridors to the rest of the ship, stood a large Mater Systems Display Panel, or MSD.  having a large graphic of the ship itself, this MSD could notify the engineering department immediately should an irregularity in any of the ship’s systems occurred aboard the ship. Other consoles designed to monitor specific ships functions including impulse propulsion and life support lined the walls of this area.

The Impulse Engines were powered by their Fusion reactors.  these reactors were capable of powering other ships systems though at a fraction of the amount generated by the warp core.  these reactors were also fed on the ships Deuterium fuel Supply, but no antimatter was required. Due to the relativistic time dilation paradox that is created as a starship reaches speeds close to the speed of light, impulse power was limited to 25% of that of the warp 1.  But in emergency situations, this speed could be increased, though at extreme risk to the ship and crew… In emergency situations, the impulse reaction assembly could also be ejected.

Engineering was also responsible for monitoring the navigational deflector system.  This deflector was necessary for safely traversing interstellar space by emitting a field in front of the ship which pushed interstellar particles aside.  This was necessary, especially during warp travel.

Another 2 important Engineering systems were that of the Structural Integrity Field and Inertial Dampening system.  The structural integrity field was responsible for keeping the ship structurally sound during flight operations like warp travel while the Inertial Dampeners were responsible for counteracting relative speeds aboard the ship and prevent fatal crew and passengers injuries that would be caused by extreme acceleration…  This was accomplished by a generating a controlled series of force fields which absorbed the inertial forces…

Multiple system redundancies and backups were included in every starship system to prevent catastrophic failure.  In fact, Starfleet Starships were renowned through out the Alpha and Beta Quadrants for the safety precautions they included in all their starships! A door in the starboard bulkhead served as an entrance to the Jefferies tube network, allowing the engineering officers to access ships components that may require maintenance, repair or replacement.

Engineering would see many improvements and upgrades through out the Galaxy Classes lifetime.  And these upgrades would further increase the power availability of class of starship.

(CBS) Picard Using Main Engineering As A Back-Up – TNG – “Brothers”

Main Engineering could also serve as a backup control centre in the event of failure of both the main and battle bridges.

A new Warp Core using interphase technology would even be tested and become the standard for this class, though this design for a starships engineering section was revolutionary, it was quickly discovered that it was inadequate for control of such an immense starship, and Starfleet would expand all-new class designs to have larger engineering sections to better facilitate a starships requirements.  The only exception to this rule was for ship classes the size of the defiant class which housed the main engineering roughly similar in size to that of the Galaxy Class.

Starships classes such as the Intrepid and Especially the Sovereign-class would get immensely larger Engineering sections. And would go back to a closed area rather than an open area off of the ship’s corridors… Though the Engineering section of this class was a great experiment that proved to be lacking, this section did indeed succeed in providing Engineering Advancements for all  Starfleet starship classes that would continue to drive the imagination of Starfleet’s Core of Engineers as well as breakthroughs in warp technologies that would allow newer classes to achieve vastly superior speeds such as warp 9.975 and above… 

Other Areas

The Computer Core was the largest most advanced ever created for a Starfleet Starship.  It would receive minor upgrades during its lifetime to continue to keep it at the forefront of Starfleet’s technology, and until the development of bio-neural circuitry, it was believed that that new type of core would remain Starfleet’s best, unfortunately, though that wasn’t to be.

The Galaxy Class also had the largest scientific section ever created in Starfleet History.  Labs aboard ship included Stellar Cartography and Astrophysics. The Galaxy-class starship housed over one hundred separate scientific research labs.

The Galaxy Class also included a new innovation in Starfleet Starships, that being the inclusion of families and civilians aboard ship.  In an emergency situation the bulk of these civilians could be evacuated in under 4 minutes.  By using transporters, escape pods and shuttlecraft.

Most crew quarters on the Galaxy-class were located in the ship’s saucer section, in order to provide safety for civilian and non-essential personnel during a saucer separation. However, the engineering hull also contained crew quarters, generally containing engineering personnel and their families.

(CBS) Typical Crew Quarters

The quarters on board this starship were generally spacious and luxurious by Starfleet Standards.  Containing large open spaces and multiple rooms for families and officers.

The captain’s quarters were located on Deck 8, and were slightly larger than the standard officers quarters.  The captain had a large desk and work area in the main room. VIP and diplomatic guest quarters shared the same layout. Officers quarters lined the edge of the saucer section and contained a living area, a bedroom, and a bathroom area. Junior officers’ quarters were smaller units that were also comprised of a living area, a bedroom, and a bathroom. Crew members with the rank of lieutenant junior grade or above were given their own quarters, ranks below this such as ensigns were however required to share quarters aboard the starship.

The medical facilities aboard this class were expansive and extensive.  Having 3 Main Medical wards through out the ship, with the main sickbay located in the saucer sections, these facilities were not only designed to treat onboard medical emergencies but also those that could be found through out the Federation.  In the event of extremely large medical emergencies, areas such as cargo bays, shuttlebays and crew quarters could be converted in to further medical facilities.

A large lounge/bar area was located at the front of deck ten called 10 forward.  Other recreational facilities included a Gymnasium Complex on Deck 12 and the newly invented holodeck facilities.  These holodecks, using photons and force fields, could allow the user to experience any scenery, landscape or story that the programmer could think of.

The Gymnasium Complex contained a variety of recreational equipment for a variety of sports and leisure activities. These included aerobic studios, martial arts areas, parrises squares areas, a squash court and an Ambo-Jitsu court. There was also a fencing room where those aboard the ship could practice their swashbuckling talents. A phaser range was also located on Deck 12.  Here a person could hone their weapons skills by firing at moving holographic targets from a platform in the centre of this room.

(CBS) The Ambo-Jitsu court

There was also a large theatre aboard, which could also be used as a concert hall for musical performances by crew members, a replicating centre provided an area where crew members could replicate items which were too large or complicated for a standard food replicator terminal, with the addition of families aboard ship, this class also contained facilities such as schools and workshops to provide children with the most advanced education the Federation Could provide.

Galaxy-class had twenty transporter rooms located all throughout the starship.  These transporters were also the most advanced of the time and contained all the new improvements in technologies, such as the bio-filters, that Starfleet had to offer..

There were numerous multi-level cargo bays located all throughout the ship. Some of these bays even contained cargo transporters, and some even had exterior hatches.

Though very advanced, however, is designed during a golden age of Starfleet Design, the Galaxy Class was not exactly up to the task of major combat as it’s original designers had hoped.  Starfleet’s lacklustre approach to Offensive and defensive technology during these 75 years of relative peace, quickly became a thorn in Starfleet’s side.  Here they had a rather large starship that could be outdone and outfought by the much smaller Defiant Class.

Desperate times then bred desperate measures and with the potential destruction of the Federation from both the Borg and the Dominion, as well as other emerging possible threats like the Romulans Return to Galactic Politics and the hot and cold relationship with the  Cardassian Union, Starfleet began the process of a complete systems redesign and development of the class bringing it up to the new standards all Federation Ships would adhere to.

This would make the Galaxy Class a force to be reckoned with once again.  Unfortunately, though the Enterprise D was destroyed in 2371 while protecting the Veridian Star System from destruction and was subsequently replaced by a new, much more powerful, Sovereign Class Starship.

During the Dominion War, the Galaxy Class would prove her worth and would continue to serve Starfleet and The United Federation Of Planets with distinction and valour…

Thank You for watching today’s episode of Truth or Myth.  What do you think of the Galaxy Class?  Well leave your comments in the section below and don’t forget to like the video and subscribe to channel, hitting that little bell icon so you won’t miss a single video we release.

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Thanks again for watching…  Live Long and Prosper…

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