New Inquiry Variation Class Starships

[@wne2361]

My 2 cents: The Inquiry class wouldn't get nearly as much hate if it were introduced as a standalone ship, or even a squadron. The entire copy/paste fiasco was just the product of a last minute inclusion into the series and they definitely made up for it in S2/3. Watching the visual upgrades it's received to bring it more in line with Starfleet aesthetics has been a fun ride.

[@Tezunegari]

Using only a small squadron of Inquiry class ships at Coppelius would also drive home how powerful this new ship is and how much Starfleet was sandbagging due to the arrogance developed in the pre-TNG and early TNG era. Or how far the Romulan Free State had fallen compared to the Romulan Empire.

[@james13sylar]

I agree, I didn't hated that introduction, but it would have been better if they had been... maybe 8 ships? Perhaps add a few of other classes, but having few of them and seeing Riker boost about them, would sell really well how powerful they are. Heck, they could have a short skirmish with the Romulan enemies before they open communications. On a similar topic, I think it would have been better if the Romulans also had fewer ships. They are supposed to be a fanatical cult within the Tal Shiar, there shouldn't be many of them, but there wasn't any reason for them to be so many, even a single spaceship could have glassed a world without any protection. They tried to make it more grandiose than it was by adding a lot of ships, while keeping it small could have made it more meaningful.

[@Darmok_]

Yeah aside from the deflector “grill” I actually really like the design. It looks practical and thought out.

[@blacktronpavel]

Precisely

[@shanenolan5625]

They described the task force as a squadron in the previous episode. . I'd argue it was a fleet battle squadron. . Some sort of rapid reaction fleet . ?

[@hellfish2309]

definitely feels like a warship… the Enterprise-F is out there great for entertaining ambassadors and showing off Starfleet’s engineering prowess for strong, defended cruisers; whereas the Inquiry asks the the question: “what if war?” Given the size of her impulses compared to her hull, she feels like a destroyer

[@808INFantry11X]

Well the Enterprise F in ad of itself is very much a war ship but with favor toward exploration and very much a flagship. The inquiry reminds of the arleigh Burke class destroyers here in the US Navy such USS Bulkley, Chung Hoon and Mason. They are work horse warships doing things such counter piracy escort missions for battle groups and commerce.

[@hellfish2309]

@@808INFantry11X true but they had the reliable Intrepid class already, and in modernizing the slot it filled they went and committed to a combat forward fleet doctrine If I were some regular gleep glorps greeted by the UFP from the bow of an Intrepid, I don’t think I’d be as menaced as I would be if it were from that of an Inquiry

[@joecostantino3684]

Always wanted to believe that these ships were a "Warship Fleet in Reserve" deployed when a major problem/threat needs sorting out in a timely manner. I mean of course they have exploration capabilities, all Starfleet ships do (even the Defiant did to a point). Clearly though this isn't their best role as exploration is probably best left up to ships like the new Enterprise G.

[@BNuts]

@@joecostantino3684 You mean the _Titan-B_ ? Yes, I still feel they should've called it that. Rick did a video on _Titan_ s, and there was one before Riker's. And since the _Titan_ has a legacy of its own, I believe the name of _Enterprise_ could have been given to a different vessel. One more capable of a flagship's duties. Not that there can't be _Trek_ without an _Enterprise_ , because there can be.

[@L1z43vr]

What is war Aliens can’t hurt me Can’t hurt me No more

[@scottgardener]

The real-world rushed quality can fit in with in-canon logic; it was cranked out quickly to fill fleet shortages, and the emergency involving the Tal Shiar prompted the launch of every available ship from the ship yard where they were launched, with some incomplete and missing things like their registry numbers. Some might have lacked a full compliment of weapons and might have even been included as a bluff to inflate the appearance of numbers. The following Tuesday would no doubt be a pretty busy day for Planet Express.

[@iyadmajdi]

I’ve always thought that the numbers were simply an en masse hologram trick by Riker. But this theory makes sense too, although I don’t think Starfleet would crank out this many of a single class even despite losses

[@MrPaladino]

@@iyadmajdi with them using Industrial Replicators (at last...) in "Children of Mars" (a failing of Star Trek I always thought absurd), they could crank out ships by the thousands in short order, if necessary. They only needed to "hard build" a ship once, thus fulfilling the more "romantic" notions of shipwrighting seen in earlier iterations of Star Trek and then fart out clones of the ship en masse with reckless abandon after. And even in TNG, they implied that mining wasn't always people scraping ore off walls as much as mass-beaming entire veins up from orbit for processing. So supply shouldn't be an issue. I've always contended that the speed at which the Federation operated in the old days was absurdly slow. 10 years to build a Galaxy Class? Oh, please. Maybe if you built the damn thing out of Legos. lol

[@Jiub_SN]

@@MrPaladinothe issue with using the replicators for ships in the past was its inability to replicate duranium/tritanium and most other special materials they used in their starships

[@Plaprad]

@@MrPaladino I'm really showing my age here.... I was watching late night QVC back in the 90's when they had a Star Trek "show" (I guess). They even had a guest from the series on, I think it was George Takai, but I'm not 100%. One thing I do remember is them talking about how in TOS ships were built by hand and took months to build. Then they started talking about how by TNG, ships were produced en masse with replicators and a Galaxy Class could be built in under a day. Seemed odd to 12yo me, but since one of the cast members was agreeing with it, that's what I was going with. Then DS9 got to the Dominion war and I was confused as to why they were running short on ships.

[@lhei_tayuun]

I had a similar thought to @scottgardener at first. In context, it's about the only thing that makes sense. It seems like the fleet was organized in a hurry and all came from the same place, but that doesn't quite make sense as the ships all seem to be *new*, and Riker boasts about their capabilities. This would imply they were basically created for this sortie, or at least in anticipation of such a singular event, as any other hastily organized effort would have undoubtedly included a wide variety of ships, like in a Star Trek show. Remember when theorizing was something passionate fans did for fun instead of a desperate attempt to patch holes and poor decisions of the property itself? I think it's pretty clear the people that should have thought about this just didn't, resulting in a poorly written and poorly executed story beat betraying just how little interest Star Trek has in actually being Star Trek outside of combing through memory alpha for references to make and keywords to distract from poor attempts and plausible technobabble. I'm being harsh. I even enjoyed Picard season 1. I'm just tired of being handed -flavored paste and then looked at quizzically when I'm not overjoyed. "What, I thought you liked ." It's not like I wouldn't have met it half-way, if only it felt like it cared rather than that I wasn't supposed to. I just can't any more, but I can't deny it's still in my bones. Until they boot Kurtzman or give Terry Matalas his own show, Lower Decks just isn't enough to sustain me as a fan.

[@FeeriiEekii]

The season 2-3 refit looks so much better. Funny lifecycle of this ship: Originally concept art for STO > eventually used 10ish years later for Picard season 1 > Cryptic makes a more detailed model for STO and adds some 'missing bits' > model from STO goes back to Picard season 2-3 VFX people to add more details and further refinement to eventually come full circle and become a pretty good looking ship imho.

[@Mazra42]

The Picard S2 designers took the design and just squished the secondary hull in various places to make it "sleeker" and fit a deflector dish. The result is oddly jagged angles under the deflector, a secondary hull that does not properly line up with the saucer, a squished deflector because they wanted to fit a deflector on the new squished secondary hull, nacelle pylons that are no longer connected to the hangar, and an overall design language clash of angles vs curves. It doesn't matter in Picard S2, because it's in a 2-second shot in the dark where you can't see shit, but when Cryptic then reimported the design into STO, they decided to not fix any of the stupid stuff, because they wanted to be faithful to the show. WHY?!

[@FeeriiEekii]

@@Mazra42 dunno what to tell you, I like the refit/redesign and regularly fly it in STO🤷‍♂️, imho a big improvement over the (very much unfinished) version in season 1, but taste is subjective ofcourse.

[@baystated]

I love those wavy decks with windows curving up and over like they were just texture maps laid in a rushed and sloppy manner over the model's curves. I wonder what kind of warped mad fun house haunted mansiony hallways they have inside. A flattened design but not flat floors.

[@bipolarminddroppings]

Maybe this is a ship for beings who come from a planet with weird shaped buildings and hallways and they wanted them to feel at home?

[@mr.headcrab31]

I had always thought that the Inquiry Class was a product of advanced industrial replication. With U.P. destroyed, Starfleet could finally upgrade the manufacturing facilities to create entire hulls, with the drive and life support systems only needing a final fitting, or maybe the addition of some non-replicatable components. a monolithic construction like that would be way more structurally rigid, but would be an absolute nightmare to service in the long term. But, when you need a fast, tough fleet for defense, sometimes a stop gap is what you need until you can ramp up production of the better designs. As for the brush bar on the deflector, I assumed it was something to do with protecting the deflector from damage when the shields go down, or maybe damage from planetary landings. Either way, it was removed from later iterations. Great video, as per usual.

[@peoplez129]

I think what it shows is that star fleet is soo ideologically bankrupt, all they can really do is create one ship and then copy paste it. In reality it would be poor judgment to create a singular design in such numbers, since any weaknesses it has would be able to be exploited for all other vessels. The only advantage is that a whole fleet of them is easy to calculate the combined capabilities and to just add more or less ships based on the task. But given that starfleet has soo much technology, big ships like these shouldn't even be needed. Just like the enterprise was mostly empty compartments, the crew couldn't even fill one deck of the ship. Space isn't needed for long range missions, because they have holodecks that simulate space, and we've seen ships before that basically are one big holodeck on the inside, so things like sleeping quarters, common areas, etc....all can be condensed into a holodeck. You could nearly pack crews in like sardines, and they wouldn't even know it, feeling like they're in a space ship the size of a whole planet. The ships are supposed to show how powerful they are, that they can just add all that extra mass to the ship, but a smaller ship with stronger weapons and shields and thicker armor would be far more advantageous in every way. Of course the first thought that would arise in people's mind is the Defiant class ship. But I think they can do even better than that. Given the mass of these ships, they could make smaller ships 1/10th the size, with 10 times thicker armor, multiple warp cores, and way stronger shields.

[@andrewh7868]

"Ship, Inquiry class, with quantum slipstream. Also, tea, Earl Grey, hot."

[@DarthArachnious]

When I first saw the fleet of identical ships in Picard, then Riker described how powerful they were. It made total sense to me. Every time the Borg or the Dominion attack Earth. The Federation scrambles to bring in ships from all over to Quadrant to hold the line. This is why several Admirals have tried to militarize Star Fleet. But now they built a fleet that wasn't made for exploration, no laboratories or Stellar Cartography. Just Phasers, Torpedoes and Shields. Always on standby, ready to deploy to a combat situation. And almost instantly I realized that's not what the writers and producers intended. It was a cut and past job to save time and money.

[@chadwickmccarty4944]

The Inquiry's introduction in the series was spotty but in the game STO I find it performs really well.

[@distortedsoul27]

If you're able to get it, that is. Lol.

[@macklee6837]

I've just started playing STO and I love it! I really want the Inquiry now. Riker sold it hard, so it's gotta be good! 🤩

[@AverageBritishNerd1138]

I really loved the original 'Archer'-class (iirc?) concept by John Eaves, and was a bit sad when the Inquiry showed up and wasn't as curved as the concept. Thankfully, it looks like they've corrected that now, so I'm hoping they'll update/add to the STO model with the new visuals! It's a really solid ship too, with the Miracle Worker abilities and Bridge Officer seating.

[@blacktronpavel]

The USS "Copypaste" wasn't controversial per se... Just the fact that the fleet was 100% comprised of them. There's a great fan rendition where multiple legacy ship types warp in that saves the scene. The easy thing is because this is digitally available (except for limited Blu-ray releases) this can be fixed after the fact easily with more ship models that were used in Seasons 2 and 3. No one would be bothered by this at all.

[@BluegrassGeek]

Easy, but expensive to do, and they wouldn't make the money back from the change. So I don't expect Paramount to ever do this.

[@MrPaladino]

The problem with a "Legacy" fleet is that many of those "legacy" designs were retired. And retrofitting them so they could keep up with the Inquiry at Warp 9.99 would've been a monumental undertaking (as an in-universe explanation). The Galaxy Class would be hampered at Warp 9.7 and fall hours or even days behind the rest of the fleet in a matter of moments. I think people forget everything we learned from the show about Warp Field dynamics and the geometric range of the Warp Factors past 9.0. 9.1 to 9.9, for example, is several orders of magnitude greater. New 25th Century design could do it, and the specifically retrofitted classes like the Sovereign Class (which could already sustain Warp 9.9 for an obscene amount of time in the 2370s) an obvious exception. That's the only true "Legacy" design seen left in the amassed fleet in season 3 of the show. Otherwise, it was all things like Inquiry, Pathfinder, Odyssey, Reliant, Duderstadt, Sagan, Connie III, Gagarin, Excelsior II, uhhh... that weird flat ship they had at Daystrom (can't think of it off the top of my head) and a few others unidentified at Frontier Day.

[@MrPaladino]

Also Ross, and Sutherland.

[@zerrodefex]

The warp factors seem to be meaningless in Picard, especially in Season 3 where even shuttlecraft appear to cross the Federation in mere minutes.

[@wmlukepriest8012]

Loving the rapid releases of lore videos recently! Definitely my favorite kind of contact from you.

[@Peregrine57]

Yeah, the copy/paste fleet was not a great moment for the ship, but if its introduction is the worst thing about it, I think we can get over it. I have very little issue with the design other than that. The grill deflector is... different. But I can hardly fault them for trying different things.

[@StrikeNoir105E]

IMHO given the advancements in CGI implementation in shows, couldn't they just... well, change things up from the "copy paste" scene on future re-runs and BD's of the show? For example, they can use some of the CG models they used in S2 and S3 for the scene in order to give it more variety. This is a standard you frequently see on the other side of the Pacific where the shows' post-production get touched up after the show's initial airing.

[@Peregrine57]

@@StrikeNoir105E it's technically feasible but I doubt it's very likely. The studio would have to pay for it, and for that to happen there would need to be some expectation to recoup the cost. And the shows done now, so I don't think there's any interest. There was some digital touch-up done post original airing, and ahead of the blu-ray release. But aside from that, I think they're done with it.

[@RandomTrinidadian]

The Copy n' Paste class starship 😁

[@Carlos0619ASmith]

Forever remember as so, as long it exist

[@sillyrabbit734]

I'd love to see the latest refinements to the model introduced to Star Trek Online

[@AverageBritishNerd1138]

You and me both! I've got one in STO, but I've kit bashed it to remove the grille-type deflector. It looks great, but not the same as the S2/S3 version. Though the original concept art is definitely what I loved first.

[@TheChillee]

I hope the S2/S3 Picard version comes out as a Legendary Inquiry. I’d open as many Lockboxes as needed to get one.,. hear me, Cryptic/Gearbox??? Will spend $$ 😜

[@Efyhxsl59m]

In STO I love my Inquiry/Arbiter/Avenger/Fleet Avenger kitbashed ship, looks great, don't see too many like it, and it's powerful as hell.

[@flatline8580]

I find it hard to give up my Arbiter even though I got the legendary anniversary pack a few months ago, lol...

[@Efyhxsl59m]

@@flatline8580 the 10th anniversary?

[@flatline8580]

@@Efyhxsl59m Nah, 13th I think? Decade of saving up Zen, lol... Whole bunch of legendary ships including the Constitution. I just really like the Avenger look, hehe...

[@Efyhxsl59m]

@Flat Line 12th and 13th which I have are all Terran non Legendary shios, they're great but not Legendary. I don't have the 10th or 11th which is all Legendary ships, i was gonna get the 10th but the 13th was too appealing to pass up so I got that instead. I've got a few Legendary bundles like romulan warbird bundle, calien, dominion bug ship, Miranda, and galaxy dread. I live them with all the skins, traits and consoles you get with Legendary ships. The more kitbash I can do with a ship the more I tend to like it. My current favorite ship to fly is the Terran Monitor (nebula) carrier.

[@flatline8580]

@@Efyhxsl59m Ah yeah it was the 10th Anniversary bundle when it when on super sale! Not sure how kit-bashy the parts are, havent experimented much.

[@cask82]

Hey Rick Rick here, you give the greatest Starfleet videos. Keep it to, love the narrative voice

[@Evil0tto]

It gives off a definite Galactica vibe. I'm glad they refined it... it's not a terrible design, but it also needs work to fit into the Starfleet style.

[@NACLGames]

It's pretty lucky that the design, while obviously wasn't intended as such, ended up pretty close to classic Andorian ship design, with it's tapered spinal hull and sweeping nacelle configuration. It might have been a happy coincidence, but it really does make sense to me that this ship's design was refined at and built at the Andorian Imperial Shipyards, possibly with little influence beyond a requirements list from Starfleet and Utopia Planitia.

[@Reepicheep-1]

_"This is my Inquiry. There are many like it, but this one is mine."_ It felt like a shipyard had a bunch awaiting refit just floating around, then grabbed whatever crew they had to aid Riker. We did this in WW2 as well: factory runs nonstop on the original design, then planes/tanks/etc. get taken elsewhere to modification centers for upgrades to latest specs, then on to combat.

[@GregPrice-ep2dk]

The Connie III class also has a two-type phaser system.

[@ericzaiz8358]

It makes sense to me. How many times in tge show has Hero Ship been the only Ship in the sector to run to the rescue? Having a unified ship class to be the cav riding to the rescue is a plus.

[@stevieturner9338]

Thanks again Rick. I really look forward to these informitive videos.

[@Iceflkn]

I'm so glad I decided to, "look into" the, "Inquiry" class video! 😉

[@_Omega_Weapon]

Hey Rick. You should do more videos on the STO ships. Like the Chimera, Buran, Edison etc. Great vid as always!

[@bipolarminddroppings]

Unknown alien species: This Starfleet sounds a lot like a military, to me. Starfleet First Contact Officer: No, no, no. We are explorers. Alien: Then why do our scans show 14 phaser banks and 9 torpedo tubes on a ship with a crew of 13? Starfleet FCO: Well, you see we do a lot of planetary surveying and those phasers are perfect for boring small holes into the surface, heating up parts of the atmosphere, that kind of thing. The fact that they also happen to function as rather effective death rays is a happy accident. Alien: and the torpedo tubes? SF FCO: Those are actually for launching drones and probes. I mean yes, they *can* launch a tri-cobalt device that will render an entire solar system uninhabitable for a thousand years, but we would totally never use them for that... Alien: how do we join?

[@Daedalus-BC308]

It's been long established that the bridge modules of a Federation starship are interchangeable. With that in mind, it would be nice to see that redesigned too. I feel like the current bridge sticks up too much.

[@zerrodefex]

Like how the Defiant-class has the bridge module sunken into the hull and armored over.

[@tommyzDad]

0:44: Close to hundreds of years of naval warfare history at their fingertips and they still bunch up their ships. Nothing a cluster of torpedoes couldn't take out.

[@augurseer]

An awesome little ship. It's intro was messed with by the copy paste

[@lezhilo772]

Finally someone who pronounces Zhang He correctly!

[@darinbauer8122]

Those engineers need to create a transwarp solution pronto! ❤

[@ODST_Parker]

Gotta love the fanbase and their ability to retcon in some lore to fix issues the actual producers messed up very badly. We will always remember the copy/paste fleet, and hopefully avoid ever doing that kind of thing again. The fact a modern, mainline Star Trek production couldn't get the time or resources to get that done is just sad. I'll say it, I'm finally coming around to the Inquiry. After the deflector redesign, I actually like it. I HATE the grill version, and I still don't like the forward-swept nacelle pylons, but now at least it looks like a proper Starfleet ship. The rest of the design, if it's indicative of the era of Picard, has been changed well enough that I can appreciate it for what it is. It's funny, because the Inquiry is referred to as a "battlecruiser" in Star Trek Online. They even went so far as to make it the third ship in the line descending from the Avenger class, going all the way back to the discovery of the Solanae Dyson sphere. The Avenger, Arbiter, and Inquiry share a console set and interchangeable parts. If they add this updated Inquiry to the game at some point, it MIGHT even become part of my custom ship design. Currently, I think the Arbiter hull looks fantastic with the rest of the Avenger's pieces (flat pylons, not the upward-swept ones), and it gets a black hull material unique to that trio of ships. I think it makes for a great stealth battlecruiser.

[@Rune20042]

So this is the starfleet equivalent of F around and find out. Awesome!

[@DSborg15]

it give me hope that more STO ships coming to TV; was not wrong - I appreciate that in Picard

[@raideurng2508]

Honestly, it looks almost Klingon in design. Blade-like nacelles, sharp and aggressive angles, dark paneling, oversized impulse engines, and initially lacking a prominent deflector dish.

[@michaelgreenwood3413]

Well, Worf WAS part of Starfleet.

[@joshuahadams]

I’d say it almost looks like pre-Federation Andorian ships, like the _Kumari_ in ENT. It’s like they took their old battle cruiser and modernized it into a standard Federation layout.

[@moronnucleosus3339]

So I think you may be missing something with the speed portion. "Fastest" may have been in reference to its battle speed/agility. Might be something to look into and perhaps include as a separate category perhaps.

[@darinbauer8122]

It would be nice to have combat control at highest sublight. I think that you are correct, it must be this particular ship that can pull it off. I don't have Starfleet Engineering stats to find out for sure however it would seem that may be the case here.

[@Twist-The-Friendly-Hunter]

I actually really love this ship. Its not large, overly complicated and as a standard hull it could be adapted for various purposes. So get WHY in cannon as it makes sense starfleet could mass produce this ship and make a massive fleet that's able to be deployed quickly whilst the main fleet is out exploring. This ship can be adapted for various missions, have various designs and as you say... armed to the teeth. Hence why i love the ship, its a general use, good looking ship that would make potential attackers think twice before engaging. Do i think the copy paste was excessive? Yeah it was, they should have added some other ships in the mix. You have to hand it to the designers.

[@jamescrawley7993]

This is a very nice ship one of my favorites as of today! I would like to see a tutorial of the Chimera class starship!

[@pathfinderdiscovery9395]

I love the design of this class , it’s tuff an heavenly to look at

[@zeekfarrongaming5302]

Love my Inquiry class in STO. Mine is definitely made to be a warship and is armed to the teeth

[@kerviuskuroshiba5120]

Appreciate the info on the Inquiry Class. After the sour taste of her debut, this update on her is most welcome to attempt to make amends. While she does have a lot of teeth and potential with that munitions factory, I am still biased in commanding the Prometheus Class for all of my combat needs 😇

[@korrthemighty1]

My fave ship is the Resolute class cruiser. When it went up for sale last month. I snatched it up lol

[@thepartydontstoptilliwalkin]

The one in the thumbnail looks excellent and everything I wish it had looked like in the show.

[@Momo-tc7sc]

The Inquiry Class. Because you can get more with a kind word, a type 15 phaser array, and an unlimited supply of quantum torpedoes than you can with just a kind word.

[@deusexaethera]

The copy/paste fleet is the only fleet in Star Trek canon that makes any sense. You don't design a hundred different hulls and build like 5 of each. The R&D costs would be totally impractical, not to mention the costs for training all those highly specialized engineering crews. You design 5 different hulls and build like a hundred of each. That's how the world actually works.

[@limabravo6065]

Right and in reality that makes lots of sense. But do you know what most people don't want In their serialized space opera?, well turns out mundane real life isn't what folks are looking for, unless you're a Robert macnemara type (no I don't care if I spelled his name wrong ). So maybe keep that in mind

[@gregbadioli_915]

The only issues I had with the ship design were the Deflector and the sensor pods that looked to much like windows. Now that both of those issues are fixed I can truly say that this is one of my favorite ships.

[@PelhamExpress]

My head cannon was that after Mars, the Inquiry class became Starfleets version of the Clemson/Fletcher/Essex swarms of the US Navy, war emergency mass produced ships designed to quickly replace the ships lost in the Synth attacks.

[@shanenolan5625]

I believe it was . Or that's what they said in the lore . They were built for rapid construction and with a duel , defence/ exploration role .

[@CaptainKeen]

Feels like a mashup between the Sovereign and Voyager

[@jonnybridin]

Thank you for this great video. I never understood the hate on this ship, I love my Inquiry class in STO, its one of the best ships in the game. its looks have grown on me over time too. If i had to nitpick anyrhing I'd say the forward shuttle bay is a bit out of place, and all the flat un-used space behind the impulse engines is a bit wasteful. They could have designed them more like the sovereigns and had a greater internal volume. Really hope they bring the updated deflector to STO soon! 13:01

[@Droma_9]

There's a Federstion ship in STO called the Battlecruiser, or something to that effect. When the Inquiry appeared on screen, I could have sworn that is that that ship. I still think they look quite similar.

[@entropy11]

The refit does so much good to the Inquiry. But I still think it's too big in canon, it should have been a solid little pocket battlecruiser.

[@incogni-bro8276]

Love the Inquiry design (even its deflector)

[@mickeyholding7970]

We never got a Nebula version of the Inquiry class. I'd love to see you come up with one.

[@Tricky117]

I always look at the Inquiry as a more combat oriented Intrepid. Like the Pathfinder branch went down exploration and science, and the Inquiry went down the more rapid tactical response route. Always looked like a more militarised Intrepid class to me with less moving parts and more armour. Like someone looked at the Sovereign and said "Those guns" points to Intrepid "That frame" type of thing. Just seems weird to have it as a replacement for the Nebula when they ultimately went for the Sutherland class around the same time.

[@linus11vf1j]

Starfleet always holding a a phaser to your head and telling you they're peaceful explorers.

[@radeakins]

I would describe it as a starfleet version of WW2 mass weapons productions. B-17s, Liberty Ships, T-34s, etc. Mass production to win by weight of numbers.

[@siatelecomsltdLondon]

It has just occurred to me that when you change the two narcels on Startrek ships with landing decks, you have a Battlestar Galactica design. 😮

[@Deltarious]

I do kind of like the class name for the type of ship it is, all it's missing is an AI type voice when it gets ready to fight things, hail the opposing fleet: "Inquiry: Are you ready to die?"

[@JessWLStuart]

"Hey, its a retcon! But it's an explanation I'll grab on to!" - Certifiably Ingame, 2024

[@watcher24601]

Is there a video on the Miranda class? Looks like it was Starfleet's favourite go to, appearing in every battle from Kirk to the Dominion

[@dswynne]

I can also see that a rapid response fleet would also have a contingent of soldiers stationed on board, like the USS Sulaco had from ALIENS. These ships would also be crewed by a much smaller crew compliment as well.

[@zazaranger5]

Hey Rick, do you think the newer deflector dish for the Inquiry is available on Star Trek Online yet?

[@josephhein9497]

It is not, unfortunately. I still love mine, though.

[@thebaccathatchews]

My main concern isn't the Inquiry fleet numbers, but that, because considering the resources the Federation have access to, *every* ship class should have Inquiry fleet numbers, because scifi writers have no sense of scale.

[@schlirf]

Would love to see a video about the "Hot needle of Inquiry".

[@samcarpenter_]

I really like the updated Inquiry, but I really wish the nacelles weren't angled with the pylons but instead stood upright like the Sovereign's.

[@mandroid-rb4uy]

Hello Captain Rik Happy Coronation Day

[@stevengalloway8052]

The Inquiry class kicks butt, and then some... 😏

[@peterthx]

For its role as a rapid response vessel it would need Quantum Slipstream to respond to threats anywhere in the Federation at a moment's notice. The grille is armored deflector dish / quantum slipstream emitter.

[@bluehydro88]

I didn't hear mention but how big is this ship?

[@pantherslair]

So with all of these videos on the different classes of ship designs AND following the successes of Voyager against the Borg so it could return to Earth in End Game, why is it we never hear or see in future ship designs, the "Deployed Armour" technology or the use of "Transphasic Torpedos" that Admiral Janeway brought with her from the future? Is this technology and weaponry only useful against the Borg? Can it not be adaptive or utilised against other hostile encounters?

[@georgecoons6872]

Does it have Borg and dominion technology.

[@mariokajin]

For this reason I really like the Terran empire. Because they are not going around with a 10 ft sailboat to fight a USS Gerald Ford fleet like the federation did.

[@DoctorX17]

It's kinda weird, but I like it. Very curious about the flat cutout area in the front of the saucer -- is that another modular section? Or a shuttle bay? Some sort of sensor array?

[@MrMikellsof88]

You know I just realised that Riker's fleet in Season 1 of Picard would have had to warp through the planet's gravity well to come out of subspace facing the Tal Shiar fleet. Yet more lore breaking since Kurtzman got involved in the franchise.

[@zerrodefex]

That and the whole dropping out of warp and stopping on a dime so close to one another just irks me whenever I see it.

[@MrMikellsof88]

@@zerrodefex Staple of "Star Trek" since JJ made those stupid movies. They've been depicting a warp bubble collapse like that since 09 and it's so stupid.

[@alexxbaudwhyn7572]

I do like the beefy, swept forward nacelle struts

[@HistoryVideoGamesMiscStuff]

What is it's impulse engine capacity? Perhaps it's speed is in reference to its non-warp capacity?

[@christelting1359]

Now that is a ship I would want. Never been a fan of the secondary hull. The secondary hull only really made sense when you had saucer separation capability. Although I believe the original Constitution class had the capability, with the Galaxy Class it really made sense being a ship filled with family's and civilians; a traveling small town. This ship though screams being able to take a lot of damage and still keep going. And fast to boot. Image a small fleet of a dozen of these being sent out on a exploratory mission. One ship of possibly another design takes point and the rest spread out and do survey's and mining or trade for resources in the background; ready to come to any ship's rescue. Screw with the little brother and the big brothers show up.

[@MiquelGorbiviUS]

This vessel could have so much they could have done. Big shuttle launch bay on the rear of the saucer section instead of impulse engines, allowing for at least a dozen delta flyer. The dorsal and ventral side could fit multiple torpedo launchers or pulse phase weapons. That would be a dream ship of war.

[@diver-wi9th]

Ship looks awesome

[@robertdavies9957]

Studio "Double Negative"*, which actually rebranded as DNEG (the truncation) many years before making Picard season 1, as per your graphic 👍

[@AmeliaNeek]

The deflector dish bit is more of a retroactive explanation rather than a retcon. A retcon is when canon is changed and we're expected to simply forget all about it.

[@Rajalord27]

The inquiry class is the most advanced and lethal ship starfleet has ever built so advanced and lethal that it was seen once and that's it

[@firemanjoe9491]

Question. Why not put the money into doing a “reshoot” of that scene and upload it to the streaming server to include redesigned ships?

[@christopherg2347]

Not every ship needs a Quantum Slipstream Drive. Not every ship needs a cruise speed of Warp 8 or 9. It is save to assume that installing or designing for a QSD has tradeoffs. And not every ship can afford these tradeoffs. Especially if it is a replacement for the defiant - as a spamable combat ship - such things might be detrimental to have.

[@Buddy74656]

The Inquiry class has grown on me.

[@Devest8er]

Is there a Fleet Version?

[@ALM1GHTY.PEANUT]

Being a response battle group. You would think they would come with quantum slipstream drives to get anywhere immediately to deter an enemy engagement. An enemy knowing about a battle fleet that can get just about anywhere very quickly would prevent even more squabbles

[@carmz0237]

What the voyager deployable Armor, what happened to that one?

[@Rubix003]

Wish it wasnt a lockbox ship. Needs to be in the Cstore

[@Sam_T2000]

I like the angle of the nacelle pylons (which is unique, as I usually find that the weakest part of many designs), but I really dislike the flatness of the top of the saucer, and even the bottom of the fuselage. the nacelles themselves could be moved back a bit, too.

[@terryforsdyke306]

What happened to the Inquiry class of ship? They had 200 of them in season1 of Picard, yet in season 3, they said every ship in the fleet was at Earth Space Dock for the last 2 episodes at the end of season 3, and it looked like there were fewer ships total in season 3 than there were Inquiry class ships in season 1.

[@Pantherblack]

I never cared about the put/paste, that made sense for a fleet that needed replenishment quickly... I did think the Inquiry was ugly af tho. It's grown on me since then, even the deflector grill (I actually kinda wanna see that on more ships). The Sovereign is still the peak of Starfleet design, but I could stand to see more of these pop up.

[@CtrlOptDel]

"Yes... Federation battle cruiser." ~ Torg, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

[@drksideofthewal]

This class is basically the answer to the question, “What if Starfleet mass produced battlecrusiers like the Klingons?”

[@PhilipWeberAB]

think it's neat we have an entire fleet if galaxy class sized warships ready to rustle your jimmies. Keeping them around should instill a more peaceful period for the federation.

[@bobrobinson1576]

Must be good for warp 10 with all those go faster stripes.

[@josefgonzalez9029]

I thought of the "deflector grill" as a retractable grill of ablative armor to protect the deflector dish during subluminal flight speeds. I imagined it retracting for warp speeds, but no evidence of this of course. That was my theory in my head while playing STO.

[@shaftoe195]

*_Orbit over Coppelius, alternate universe_* Riker: Right now I'm on the bridge of the toughest, fastest, mo-... Oh: Inquiry isn't the fastest. Riker: What?! Oh: The Inquiry-class is NOT the fastest ship in Starfleet. Riker: No, lady, I am pretty sure you are mistaken! Oh: The Intrepid has sustain higher warp factor for longer, and the Odyssey has limited slipstream. Riker: NERD! Oh: Retarget weapon systems, prepare to fight!

[@gislasson]

amaizing video

[@JazmanGames]

Why would you have phaser arrays on the Nacelles? 😞