Why The Excelsior Was a Game Changer!

this week i take a detailed look at the iconic and fan favorite excelsior class. delving into its significance and importance both in universe and behind the scenes. looking at its various features and technologies. and comparing it to its contemporaries.
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[@resurrectedstarships]

Great analysis - I agree with pretty much everything here and made me consider some new things! On disagreements - nah I don't think we have disagreements about Trek tech and canon - just parallel views. I bet someone already mentioned that in the FASA lore the 'transwarp drive' are speeds over warp 10 in the old warps scale - like 12-14 top speed; and the 1701-A also got this refit - all of which is 'implied' by Scotty - especially his dismay in ST3 when they told him there would be 'no Enterprise refit' - so then most ships in the lost era would have this version of the transwarp drive. And then Ent-D uses something else entirely 'ultra warp'. Transwarp as technobable was poorly appropriated in TNG era LOL.

[@venomgeekmedia9886]

glad you liked the video. there is a lot of contradictory information on transwarp drive. some say it failed, others say it went on to become normal warp drive. For me it was something unique which i explain in "the great experiment" basically warping space time ahead of the ship to slow time down, but this didn't change the passage of time on the ship, so the crew would effectively age faster when using the transwarp drive. so it became un-viable.

[@josiahclinch6219]

@@venomgeekmedia9886 what RS SAID he was talking about the 1st Gen of D-7s the class that came out around 2245 won't take a tos era Conine but i agree the TMP ones would give Starfleet a run for it's Credits i believe that why the Enterprise was refitted to a mark two.

[@garyhill2740]

Love the video. Would love to hear your thoughts on the USS Ingram NCC-2001 featured in the collector's edition blueprint set.

[@philly83]

The cloaking device, that comes the next Tuesday.

[@SR-71_blackbird]

The deflector dish comes in next Tuesday as well

[@joe9739]

Don't tell me......Tuesday?

[@harryzimmerman7991]

Was it this Tuesday or next? Because we just have the cloaking device, well parts if it anyway, the deflector dish, will be in the following Tuesday🤞🖖🙏

[@michaelaldredge-greenwell1692]

Giggles

[@occultatumquaestio5226]

I wholeheartedly agree. The Excelsior is indeed a game changer and yeah it is basically the Sovreign of the 23rd Century. Designed by a more military minded Starfleet, it has significantly superior speed, scanning, & durability and comparable firepower & maneuverability to any of its contemporaries for around 50 years. As I said in the "Great Experiment" video, similar to a Nimitz supercarrier. It definitely contributed to the 24th century pax period. Also, I like the Excelsior cloaking device theory.

[@venomgeekmedia9886]

equally its like dreadnought. a ship that is well armed, reasonably tough, and goes at a decent clip.

[@nunya3163]

I would argue that the Sovereign is the 24th century Excelsior.

[@TheLAGopher]

This may have something to do with Starfleet recognizing that the Organians were not enforcing the Organian peace treaty in the face of multiple Klingon violations in the years between ST:TMP and ST II. The mass fielding of the K'Tinga class to match the refitted Constitution class, may have convinced Starfleet Command that a war was coming. The Excelsior seems to have been built to militarize the best traits of the Constitution class by making them bigger and more robust.

[@jhallam2011]

My God that’s a big ship…. Leonard McCoy, Undiscovered Country.

[@nunya3163]

"Not so big as her Captain." There really should have been a series with Sulu and Excelsior.

[@joeswanson733]

it would've been funny if sulu poached all the senior officers off the enterprise to go with sulu insetad of kirk . so spock, chekov, uhura, mccoy, scotty all go to the excelsior. :D

[@jhallam2011]

@@joeswanson733 yes!

[@Spector-yj5hk]

I played the Playstation 2 game the shattered universe was alternate universe that show cased the excelsior

[@TheLAGopher]

@@nunya3163 I would have been funny to have Captain Sulu have to deal with an Admiral Styles, who was still sore that Sulu was part of the "Steal The Enterprise" Incident where Scotty disabled the Excelsior under Styles command.

[@SierraThunder]

The Enterprise-B secondary hull was designed that way by the studio to accommodate the damage from the Nexus ribbon without actually doing damage to the original Excelsior model as they only had the one.

[@quazz79]

and then they found they couldn't remove it without damaging the original model sooooooo....

[@mikewilson858]

Interesting. Makes sense, it’s funny how much people talk about these cosmetic changes when they are often made for budget reasons or some practical filming reason. Really preferred the cleaner silhouette of the original design

[@Rick_Cleland]

@@quazz79 Yeah, used the wrong kind of glue and couldn't get it off.

[@sdswood3457]

Came here to say this as well lol

[@LgiovanniF]

Yeah people around the nineties were obsessed with rounded edges.

[@Phil-D83]

The Lakota refit in ds9 was awesome. Kind of like refitting the us iowa class battleships in the 1980s.

[@sgt_s4und3r54]

You mean the Enterprise B? Lakota was a refit because they couldn't get the added bits off the Excelsior model after Star Trek Generations. Though I do agree that it was awesome design and look.

[@Phil-D83]

@@sgt_s4und3r54 the effect reasons aside, the refit made it a comparably modern ship

[@TheWoblinGoblin]

That's a really interesting analogy

[@Phil-D83]

@@TheWoblinGoblin you take a good design and bring it into modern times. Keep the good features and upgrade many other things

[@Phil-D83]

Fyi video; kzbin.info/www/bejne/imHRoaWXa6eng9k

[@ChairmanMo]

Having watched this again, I think that the Excelsior was a game changer because it took so long for everyone else to come up with a counter for it. In the race to build ships that are of that size the Excelsior won hands down. The fact that the ship is still a good and capable until the end of the Dominion War is a testament to its design.

[@joelbilly1355]

Yeah in that period it had the power of a battleship but could operate like a cruiser and they could mass produce it.

[@barrybend7189]

STO has the Excelsior be eternal. It's one of the few transwarp ships with an improved Quantum Slipstream drive.

[@crysisrevelation6132]

You know, that makes me think of how HMS Dreadnought changed the way we built warships in the lead up to World War One. The Excelsior was effectively the Dreadnought of Star Trek.

[@canisblack]

I've always felt like the Sovereign was the successor/replacement for the Excelsior class in-universe.

[@joeswanson733]

well that means starfleet really likes to use a particular class until it rusts apart or it really lacks creativity since it relies on one class for too long. that's just my take on this. you would think the sovereign class is the replacement for the last gen heavy cruiser starflee fielded so maybe ambassador class. I wouldn't compare the svoereign to the galaxy class because they're two different ships classes. galaxy class isn't even a heavy cruiser. or at least it doesn't seem that way

[@venomgeekmedia9886]

Yeah the two have far more in common with each other than they do the Connie and galaxy.

[@canisblack]

@@joeswanson733 The Ambassador always felt like a prototype for the Galaxy. Like the ships feel they had a similar design intent/were designed for similar roles. And it does kind of fit as the Excelsior was designed as a military ship originally while the Ambassador feels like it was intended to be more of a show piece/ambassadorial ship (hence the name) in much the same way the Galaxy actually was. While they could certainly fill a military roll similar to that the Excelsior was built to fill, that was not what they were intended or designed to do.

[@randallsanchez3161]

@@joeswanson733 You don't scrap ship hulls unless they're obsolete. Large hulls had plenty of space for new tech. As far as the shapes go they really didn't impact the function except as to how much you can pack into it. Compare that to modern day Navy ships. The shape and size has more to do with the tech being laid over it such as new radar systems. The follow up ships in the Federation just got bigger with the exception of the Defiant class which was a glass cannon. The Lakota which was decades old still put up a huge fight against the most modern combat dedicated escort ship of the century. Note about the shuttlebay. By this period, shuttles were being used less and less as transporter tech had been highly refined at this point. There wasn't as much need for a shuttle bay anymore. You rarely saw them in use except for long range transportation.

[@laveroflove]

@@randallsanchez3161 You could also see Shuttles as more as picket/scout ships in a system. They would make it so you can see in planet shadows and to increase the range of your scanning bubble. While you could use unmanned probes, they aren't as great as having Mark 1 eyeballs out keeping a watch, plus a shuttle crew would be able to tell if they are being hacked/spoofed.

[@baalzamon3593]

My favorite ship. She wasn't originally built to be a flagship, but became one after proving herself. She carried the Federation through the Klingon and Romulan wars. She was broadly used by Admirals during TNG era. She was refit as a battlship during the Dominion War. There's never been a TV series with a hero ship Excelsior making it more likely to get additional screen time. Finally, you get to say "EXCELSIOR!!!" when talking about it

[@mattbrown817]

There was a reason that Admirals often choose utilize the Excelsior class as their "personal requestions" when traveling to the front lines of conflict. The only thing I would change is the verbiage of Phaser Turret to Phaser Emitter as they are two separate weapons. Phaser Turrets are literally turrets with a 360' range of fire, and are slightly less powerful than the phaser emitter(s); sacrificing power for area of effect. The Phaser Emitter that generates either the pulse or the stream generally cover an area of 280' but have more bite than the turret. Realistically they should both be capable of the same power level but this information is from B cannon onwards because sadly, we do not have phasers.

[@harry-thepug76]

I love star trek like any other fan. Dude, you do realise it's not real?! It's a T.V series!!

[@TheWoblinGoblin]

There could be many, many other factors like speed, room for staff, battlefield role... For my two cents, Starfleet has a category of major capital ships (like battleship/battlecruiser fleets in the first half of the 20th century) with Excelsior's being the smallest of those, followed up by ambassadors, galaxys and then sovereigns. Depending on fleet size and era Excelsiors are just the right size to serve as fleet flagships while not taking away space, resources and flexibility away from the frontline heavy hitters

[@venomgeekmedia9886]

@@TheWoblinGoblin yeah it's why the excelsior was in service so long. Striking a good balance between speed firepower and defenses. Means that it never found itself at too much of a disadvantage.

[@trazyntheinfinite9895]

You got your techno babble mixed up. 1.) The Phaser (and any other energy weapon in trek) always is emmited by an emitter. Phasers are organized into Banks for fire control and general management. The build type of the phaser is not relevant for this term. 2.) We generally differentiate between gimbal mounted Phaser emitters, found on most pre TNG designs. That is what the conny and Excelsior mount. They sure as fck don't do 360° shooting. The power of these phasers is dependent on the general technological sophistication of the emitter system. The term gimbal is also only half right because final target adjustment is done via energy fields lensing the beam where it needs to go. You can observe this in most handphasers, where the beams flight path has little to do with where the emitter is pointing. These might fire beams or pulses depending on construction. 3.) Phaser Arrays, found on most post TNG ships are large strips of interconnected emmitters. Each emitter can generate its own charge, hold it, hold the charge handed to it by another emmitter next to it and in turn hand that charge over to the next emitter until 2 charges meet at the discharge point where energy fields will lense it towards its target. The advantage is that the Firing Control can divide an Array into differently sized sections and have multiple Discharges at specific strength towards different targets. Or have 2 charges combined run the full length of the array, resulting in lots of oomph. The crew can customize these a lot, length if charge, powersetting etc... Downside is that the whole setup is very complex and needs serious cooling.

[@TheDetailsMatter]

I believe the term for the phaser strips on TNG ships is "collimator." The only places I've seen actual turrets in use for phasers are in the god-awful reboot movies, Enterprise, and Discovery (the alternate universe franchises). Ships of the TOS era used fixed-mount phaser cannons arranged in banks of two or three distributed around the saucer behind large circular gun ports (distinct from windows which were small and square). The banks were placed to cover 90° firing arcs at port, starboard, and fore positions. (None rear-facing to avoid the possibility of damaging the warp pylons.)

[@alanmike6883]

Definitely one of the best ships of the Federation. Strong. Reliable, long life. A good platform for peace and war. A guilty pleasure. Plus the bulky neck fixed a underlined weakness in designs since during that time, federation ships had no Armour

[@1zeisele]

No guilt, just pleasure.

[@alanmike6883]

@@1zeisele Indeed. And when upgraded with ablative Armour.. A absolute beast

[@davfree9732]

I never liked the neck, but the engineering hull was starting to push in a good direction that finally came to realisation in the Sovereign hulls design. Still, no argument it was a ship that propped up Starfleets efforts in the lore.

[@Kieselmeister]

@A dudes thoughts literally how the enterprise refit is crippled in ST:2 wrath of Khan... A raking shot to the neck torpedo room where the refit warp core housing passes directly between the torpedo launch tubes protected only by the exterior hull and it's own shielding. The refit replaced the old front-to-back warp core buried deep in the secondary hull with a new transverse design which could only fit in the much more vulnerable neck. (The original constitution design had enough redundancy between the saucer and secondary hull to at least remain semi-functional so long as the neck wasn't severed completely, but the refit warp core also took up the space formerly occupied by the secondary fusion powerplant in the saucer section, which meant the impulse drive and phaser batteries had no backup power in the event that the warp core was offline.)

[@paWikangbaHi]

"Fly her apart then!" - The most badass command in Starfleet history. Captain Sulu made the Excelsior legendary.

[@glennlaroche1524]

A couple of thoughts: First, the real-world reason for the bulges on the engineering hull of the Enterprise -B was so they could show hull damage w/out damaging the body of the Excelsior model----ironically, the model-makers did too good a job, and the model was damaged when they tried to remove them---this is the reason a digital Excelsior model was built for DS9 (or one of the reasons, anyway) Second, the additional "impulse" engines on the B were originally intended to be warp-speed enhancers, according to the designer--the designer identifies them as such in an interview w Trekyards, I think. This is why they line right up with the main warp nacelles---as impulse engines, they would pretty much blast right back into the Bussards. They might even have had warp-sustainer capabilities during saucer separation maneuvers---not totally sure about that, tho. Anyway, another great episode, Venom! I was always a huge fan of the Excelsior design myself, and tbh saw no good reason for the refit.

[@venomgeekmedia9886]

Interesting we don't see warp enhancers again. So it's quite an unusual design feature. Didn't know that was why they kept the refit model.

[@JeanLucCaptain]

a practical reason is extra storage space. those could easily be Fuel or Water tanks or whatever the Replicator uses.

[@That80sGuy1972]

@@venomgeekmedia9886 I think the "warp enhancers" were why "transwarp", as well as that, were phased out... and "transwarp" was redefined in later canon. TOS and TNG have different warp scales. TOS has a speed of the Warp Factor cubed as how many times light speed it is. TNG changed that drastically with a really odd scale that eventually made Warp Factor 10 infinite speed. Also, after the TOS era, have warp-speed ships ever "accidentally" entered any kind of wormhole by going warp speed? Never heard of it happening after that one movie? Neither have I. I think the "warp enhancers" became part of the standard design, thus no longer "warp enhancers" but just part of the warp drive and thus normalized with the new (post-TOS) scale. Just food for thought, though.

[@adamlytle2615]

I like that warp enhancer idea - I had heard that the original concept art for the modifications had those added elements as extra shuttle bays, but the model builders misinterpreted and made them extra engines. God knows the Excelsior could use a shuttle bay or two on the saucer - but these would have the same issue as the impulse engines: very awkward to have to pilot a shuttle out of the bay and immediately have to fly around the warp nacelle.

[@90lancaster]

If they were only designed to use when separated then their placement wouldn't mater otherwise. I think That the ship can separate has come up before even if it's in novel. Though I might even have been mentioned on that Voyager Episode (or it's novelisation at least).

[@vulpixgrant]

I've always felt the Excelsior was the best realistic sci-fi ship that Star Trek ever had. Slender but still has heft and just looks like it could take anything the galaxy threw at it. I love that sources stated the hull was far overbuilt to accommodate the Trans Warp Drive, making the skeleton of these ships incredibly strong even by 24th Century designs. That was one of the explanations why Admirals always seemed to ride Excelsior's in TNG era. The fact the Sovereign looks very much like a modernized adaptation of the Excelsiors lines I felt was homage to how they both were designed for war. Your expiation about the Cloke and the Excelsior Refits is awesome, it's the first 'New' Theories I've seen about the old girl in many years that really make sense! Well done video.

[@this.is.a.username]

When I see those two ships next to each other I just think of the difference between a frigate or even a schooner and a ship of the line in the age of sail. Connie looks like she soars through space, while the Excelsior just bulldozes through. I love that ship design so much.

[@VME-Brad]

The Excelsior class was kind of like the B-52. They found a frame that was incredibly effective at it's job, so decided to keep upgrading the internals to keep it modern, since nothing else they designed was as good at it's job. Yes, that's basically what happened with the B-52 (plus it's so good a bomber that we're disallowed by treaty to make new airframes of the class, meaning we have to keep the ones we have flying)

[@nathanielmeade5731]

One of the prettiest ships ever designed for a Science Fiction setting

[@casbot71]

It (and the Miranda class) just have _perfect proportions_ that "work", the lines seem to flow. It's balanced.

[@johanwittens7712]

Totally agree. The excelsior and the intrepid are the prettiest ships in trek for me. Far, FAR nicer than those ugly abominations in modern trek.

[@joeswanson733]

the excelsior is not the prettiest ship in sci fi...that would be the refi constitution class ..at least to me. that is .

[@miamijules2149]

She’s a beautiful ship; took some getting used to but yes sir, agreed; and that Lakota after the Dominion refit.... yes please.

[@miamijules2149]

@@johanwittens7712 Lolol get ya but modern Trek isn’t Trek. 🤣😃

[@matthewbardos4424]

The launch, and apparent mass production of this class was likely a significant factor in forcing the Klingons into the Khitomer Accords. The Klingons knew that an alliance with the Romulans was impossible, and given their economic situation, there was no way they could maintain a fleet strong enough to contend with both the Federation and the Romulans at the same time. Making friends with the Federation was basically their only choice.

[@crownprincesebastianjohano7069]

This is actually a good point. The Ktinga was their frontline ship at the time, and if things more or less held up like TOS, the refit Constitution Class was still quite superior (with the Enterprise surviving the V'Ger weapon when the Ktingas did not) 1-on-1. And now this even more powerful ship comes along, ready for mass production. The Klingons could not possibly hope to keep up. In plane parlance, I think the Constitution Class was not unlike the F-4 Phantom, already superior to the Klingon D7/MiG-19. But then the Klingons come out with the Ktinga/MiG-21 to even the playing field some, only to see the Federation field the Excelsior Class/F-15...

[@matthewbardos4424]

@@crownprincesebastianjohano7069 exactly.

[@joeswanson733]

@@crownprincesebastianjohano7069 and yet somehow in that star trek TNG episode yesterdays enterprise the federation was losing the war with the klingons like wtf. that would be like the US losing a conventional war agains he sovies in the 1980s.

[@crownprincesebastianjohano7069]

@@joeswanson733 Very true! Never made much sense. But, so much can go wrong when the fighting actually starts. Look at how the Union botched things in the first two years of the American Civil War despite massive superiority. Or the Russians now. And the Klingons and Federation are much more equally matched than my two examples. I should think the Federation must have utterly botched the first years of the war. Or perhaps the Klingons beat the Federation to developing that 5th Generation (NX Class/G1, Daedelus, D-5/G2, Constitution Class, D-7, Ktinga/G3, Excelsior/G4, Galaxy, Vorcha, D'Deridex/G5) capital ships by fielding the Vorcha Class in numbers well before the Galaxy and Nebula Classes were in service.

[@venomgeekmedia9886]

yeah the klingons were trying to make a counter but they were just too far behind technologically. they couldn't just brute force the problem this time round.

[@Tirak117]

I had never thought about the Excelsior having that 1980s Japanese asthetic, but now that you mention it, I can't unsee it, that's a really good observation.

[@crimsonninja6995]

3:21 I don't know if you meant to say it this way, but you're very correct. The original designer for the Excelsior started the design with the question "What would the Enterprise look like if it were designed by the Japanese?"

[@venomgeekmedia9886]

Yes it's very much from that era of tech giant Japan.

[@JustinStrife]

I'd like to think that the Japanese could have made it look better.

[@antwan1357]

When I was a kid , I always wanted to see a Captain Sulu series after reading a comic where he is chatting with Captain Kirk via ship to ship before warping away. I would never get to see an alternative non enterprise ship until Voyager . It would have been really great to see the classic Excelsior doing the Voyager series as time tested classic.

[@venomgeekmedia9886]

Aye such a missed opportunity.

[@MediumRareOpinions]

Similarly I would have liked to see a short series following the Enterprise C That feels like the "lost" era of Trek we've never explored

[@antwan1357]

@@MediumRareOpinions if I could give your reply a thousand likes i would . Love your comment.

[@pike100]

Sulu: "... then fly it apart!"

[@casbot71]

A refit that would have solved the hanger/shuttlebay issue would have been to extend the secondary hull at its thickest point all the way back, instead of having it only go a third of the length before curving up. That would have added a _lot_ of internal space, it could basically become a carrier. It could be considered a minor refit! A 3D analysis of how much extra volume that would create would be interesting.

[@venomgeekmedia9886]

Yeah the ventral Bay does have a large capacity. And extending it would be a good idea.

[@samharper4289]

Love the Excelsior, but my favorite has always been the Enterprise refit! 😉

[@kdrapertrucker]

Actually Enterprise was designed by Matt Jaffries, Roddenberry told Jeffries what he didn't want to see. (Rockets, fins, etc) Jeffries had an Aerospace background and had press material from the all the major manufacturers of air and space craft to draw from.

[@bettyswunghole3310]

I've got a considerable amount of bulk to me, but no-one ever describes me as "impressive"! 😂

[@TheRiskyBrothers]

I definitely get some HMS Hood vibes from the Excelsior class. Able to outrun anything it can't outfight and vice/versa, but there isn't much that can outrun or outfight them in the first place. Honestly sad we never really got to see an Excelsior as the main hero ship of a series/movie.

[@trazyntheinfinite9895]

Eye its criminal we never got a sulu series. Ds9 only used the Excelsior as a jobber.

[@TheRiskyBrothers]

@@trazyntheinfinite9895 Look, Wolf 359 was a tough time for everyone lol

[@bairdrew]

@@trazyntheinfinite9895 Not really. I mean, there's the Lakota, but you wouldn't expect a test ship for new weapons systems with a very green crew and captain to stand up to Defiant. And, I mean...the Borg. But did you see the nonsense USS Hood got up to? She was throwing hands at the very forefront of the Dominion War, fighting fights that Nebulas and Galaxys didn't dare get in to, and was consistently the only ship that wasn't explicitly a hero-ship (Defiant, Rotaran) to be in that position and survive - indeed even the battle that killed the first Defiant didn't kill her. And Hood was hardly a new ship herself - she's an older Excelsior (part of a tranche of the ships that were seemingly explicitly names after historical battlecruisers), which makes me wonder that maybe the UFP intentionally undergunned their ships between Khitomer and at least Wolf 359.

[@leiderdawg]

This is the first analysis of the Excelsior-class that convinced me of its purpose and beauty. Now I understand why it's lasted over a century in service.

[@QuinnCat1918]

Excelsior is my favorite ship. 😌

[@ThatEnglishGent]

Just a quick correction. The K'tinga has two torpedo launchers. Remember the beginning of TMP when the last K'tinga is fleeing it fires one more Torp back from it's aft at the ball of energy thingy before it's inevitable demise.

[@venomgeekmedia9886]

true but it can only really bring one to bear at any given time.

[@kristianfletcher5497]

Excelsior and Miranda both fabulous designs that where Starfleet's backbone. But the numbers that UFP was able to produce was what also separate from other powers as well

[@AtomicVisionary]

Great video, and I've personally always preferred a more militarized Starfleet and Federation in general.

[@Revan2908]

Nice to see some love & respect for the _Excelsior_ class.

[@hemaccabe4292]

The Klingon D-7 has a second rear firing torpedo launcher depicted in the TMP.

[@miamijules2149]

Dude you’re right!! Just saw that yesterday actually.... nice catch; yeah, nice.

[@esecallum]

GENERATIONS. GOLDEN COLOUR IN ONE SHOT...AWESOME

[@travisdouglass5459]

Greetings, my name is Travis., from Morrisville, VT. Just wanted to say I really liked your presentation. I'm a huge fan of the Enterprise-B. Its my favorite Enterprise. Keep up the great work. Thank you. " Jolan Tru "

[@theodoremccarthy4438]

The limited small craft capacity of the Excelsior helps explain why the Constellation class was produced and operated contemporaneously.

[@venomgeekmedia9886]

yep that thicc saucer can come in very handy.

[@rmcdudmk212]

The Excelsior refit is one of my all time favorite ships in the Trek universe

[@shanenolan8252]

Cheers. One thing i believe 23rd century katinga had two torpedoe tubes. ( motion picture, one front one aft ) still half the fire power in torpedoes, and around 25 percent of phasers

[@jkeelsnc]

This is the most timeless of all the Starfleet designs. Even by the time of TNG they were the back bone of the fleet. Beautiful, elegant, powerful.

[@joeswanson733]

if you're using a excelsior class to haul cargo between starbases the class has become pretty much a red shirt.

[@Sephiroth144]

@@joeswanson733 TOS had the Enterprise doing just that, so...

[@joeswanson733]

@@Sephiroth144 but in tng there were excelsior class ships whose whole job was just to haul cargo between starbases. in TOS the enterprise was hauling cargo sometimes but to remote outposts.

[@Sephiroth144]

@@joeswanson733 "Whose whole job..."; where did you get this information? (I mean, if they were using 80-year old warships, seems kinda silly; but still better than mothballs. And what the hell happened to the Federation Merchant Marine?) The Enterprise (pick a letter) did supply runs on the regular, when it was needed. Heck, I remember a d'Deridex being a "Romulan Supply Ship". (cough cough- it surely couldn't be a budgetary thing and they didn't want to make an Antares-class for TNG or anything cough cough) Plus, Excelsiors weren't Mirandas; they weren't getting bodied in the Dominion War. Hell, give them some upgrades and they'll make a Defiant stand up and take notice.

[@MrAranton]

@@joeswanson733 Sorry, but the idea that there were Excelsior class ships whose whole job was to haul cargo doesn't make sense. A top of the line warship/explorer doesn't usually have a lot of cargo-space because it is packed with weapons, scientific equipment and quarters for the huge crew such a ship needs to function. Sure, you could remove a lot of that stuff and modify the ship to be operable by a much smaller crew; but then it wouldn't be an Excelsior-class ship any more, just the repurpose hull of one.

[@archades115]

I used to hate the Excelsior class, because it was new. But it grew on me. It is now my favorite Starfleet vessel. It was a near perfect balance of range, speed, maneuverability, offensive and defensive capabilities. The best testament to the Excelsior's success was not only how long it remained in service... But was updated with many of the latest technologies by the time of the Dominion War and was brought back up to the equivalent role of heavy cruiser. By contrast to the Miranda class, an only slightly older ship that was hopelessly outdated and outmatched in every category.

[@dr.x4050]

For a long time, I always thought trans-warp was just anything over warp 8 and uses a new calculation for speed instead of light speed = warp ^ 3. The great experiment was just checking if speed over warp 8 worked with a full manned crew because I'm sure many people tested speed over warp 8 thousands of times before making a full-size commissioned starship. I think The Excelessor class did warp 9 after running in full active duty. If a full-sized starship maintaining warp 9 was a great experiment, then the "great experiment" should have been a success instead of a failure. This got me confused when the Galaxy-class did not trans-warp for some dumb reason but did have a new warp-speed calculation. I must be missing something. my 2 cents. The Excelsior did seem a lot more durable since all the Constitution-class ships at the time were all falling apart and getting decommissioned. The Constitution was revolutionary when it first came out, so this makes me think the pre-Consitution ships were extremely fragile. EDIT: From what little I gather, a handful of Constitution-class decimated the Klingon fleet at Axinar. A combination of 4 torpedo bays, faster warp, phasors, photons that can hit ships at warp speed, able to maneuver at warp speed, shields that worked & easily absorbed disruptors make a front-end assault against the D7s possible and fairly easy. if this is true, then the Constitution is at least as much a game-changer as the Excelsior. (I try to keep Constitution-class ship enthusiasm down in this Excelsior thread).

[@barrybend7189]

The great experiment was a partial success. After the excelsior class was done with the initial teething problems the warp scale was rescaled to account for the new knowledge of warp mechanics. Trans warp was used for Borg tech because it does what the original experiment was proposed to do.

[@pike100]

Please don't hold back on your enthusiasm for the Connies just because we are in an Excelsior thread! 😂

[@paulkirby2761]

Nice vid. I was raised on a diet of TNG myself and find myself reacquainting myself to my old Trekkie ways lately lol. I always found the Excelsior a beautiful ship and a bit of mystery in the sense that it never seemed to get the proper screen time as the main ship in a series unlike the Constitution, Galaxy, Defiant, Intrepid etc but I guess the Ambassador is even more shunned. To compare the Construction to the Excelsior. Like night and day really. Let's just focus on the Exploration side of things. The Constitution reminds me of an old WW2 destroyer or sub. Utilitarian, cramped, probably noisy and things like comforts and space were hard to find would be my guess. Indeed if you were a new crewmember, the notion of leaving your comfortable planet to spend months, perhaps years traversing space in a Constitution... well you would indeed want to have a hearty constitution for it! Personally I wouldn't be raising my hand for that adventure any more than I would to become a WW2 submarine crewmember! The Excelsior on the other hand. That looks like the opposite. It's a big, spacious ship that looks like it adds comforts and would be a tranquil place by comparison that "soaks up the miles". It can do everything the Constitution can but better, without breaking a sweat, and a lot more. Yes, I'd imagine a new crewmember would be excited about joining the crew of an Excelsior and that such a grand ship would encourage people to enlist and actually want to explore space on board a ship like that unlike the Constitution that I'd imagine would send most people running the other way. 🤣🏃 Edit- To be fair to the Constitution, I'm sure that probably felt like a big spacious and advanced ship that was a lot more comfortable and a more attractive proposition to serve on board compared to its predecessors.

[@barrybend7189]

9:38 one thing I will note the entire rear section could be one large hanger deck just underneath the bay. As there's enough room to have a hanger and maintenance bay for the shuttles.

[@farshnuke]

It's interesting you mention the cloaking device because in the books it's revealed that after or sometime during the Dominion War there's a decision known only to a few to give Starships the capacity to create and install cloaking devices in the event of an emergency at the consent of an admiral. The Enterprise E uses it for a time in a dire emergency and deconstruct the cloaking device once the situation is resolved. So the Sovereign and Excelsior are more alike

[@ebenezer1690]

USS Excelsior and your work Big V make my whole.

[@jonmcgee6987]

It is a good ship and design. I could never really get used to it because of the ship's look. It took me a few years to get used to the Galaxy class's design. Like many older fans, I watched TNG when it first came out. I also saw the first 2 movies before that. I guess I just love the look of the Constitution refit more than any other ship design in Star Trek. However it will never beat out the space Battleship Yamato. That was the first ship in Sci-fi/anime I ever saw.

[@westower7898]

I agree. Grew up on the Original Series in syndication, then carried that mystique over into the Movie Era with the refits. But Star Blazers, and later watched Yamato subbed.

[@grimmfandango832]

I think the elegance of Japan in relation to the Excelsior Is minimalism which as a branch of zen Buddhism basically less can be more if applied correctly nice video tho, I approve

[@grimmfandango832]

for instance, Romulans are zen too, less is more, we esp with the old bop. in the other hand the ddiridrx was more with less, same with hl the galaxy class. Extremely inefficient pound for pound imo

[@grimmfandango832]

I think the elegance of Japan in relation to the Excelsior Is minimalism which as a branch of zen Buddhism basically less can be more if applied correctly nice video tho

[@grimmfandango832]

yeah ktinga would lose, flashback proves that, kang was trigger happy but he backed off

[@scottjackson5173]

I have always loved the aesthetic of the Excelsior class design. Seeing it for the first time in FASA's Star Trek RPG, Ships of the Federation. We are of course talking about Star Trek, before The Search for Spock movie. BEFORE the design became "cannon." There was TOS, and two movies. That was Star Trek then! In the TOS series; NCC-1701 had achieved speeds greater than warp 10 numerous times. Perhaps the most amazing was the invaders from another galaxy. Took over the ship, the modified it to travel between galaxies at the speed of warp 11. In another episode: NCC-1701 barely survived being transported and "reassembled," slightly out of phase. Resulting in a terrifying Nantucket sleigh ride accross space. Reaching an incredible speed of warp 13. Before Scotty managed to restore control of the warp drive. So in 1982, we looked forward to seeing the Excelsior's Transwarp performance. There was also a book, about Star Trek, (based on TOS). I forget the title; that talked about standard warp 1 to 10, transwarp 11 to 15, and hyperwarp 15+. Fans like myself were excited about future designs like Excelsior. Then the Search for Spock was released. Instead of Transwarp drive, it was Transwarp flop! Fans were FURIOUS! Transwarp became a dirty word at Paramount. TNG's reinterpretation of the warp scale, just rubbed salt into the transwarp wound. Also the Excelsior's model cost a lot of money to make. So the Excelsior class became a part of Star Trek. Then the writers of Voyager began redefining the concept of Transwarp travel. Transwarp won, and Paramount lost? Lol! Who's to say? So in greater Star Trek universe, the Excelsior class has become a hundred years of legacy service to the Federation. Often upgraded, the frequent use of Excelsior class ships fueled a certain mystique. I clearly remember a scene screened at the theater. A Klingon ambassador weaves a terrifying image. Federation ships using Transwarp drive, cloaking devices, and genesis torpedoes to transform the universe into the Federation. What Dr. Lenard McCoy called "universal armageddon." When I looked for the scene in post theatrical video released? The scene was cut out of the movies. No one ever said anything about it. Afterwards my friends told a joke. No one ever saw an Excelsior cloak, and no one ever detected an Excelsior at Transwarp speed! Gee! I wonder why?

[@KappaSigDAW]

This video is terrific and validates all my joy about this class of starship. I fell in love with it the first moment I saw it in the theater - and to this day - no other design has captured my attention like this one. Some originals need no changes at all. This is the primary example.

[@jaredcolon4535]

I really like the double Impulse drive system for the Excelsior Refit /Enterprise B

[@geraldward5318]

Excellent video analysis! I do like the Excelsior class! Its sheer mass and upgrades over the connie make it formidable! I dont think its got as clean a lines as the connies and proportionally from some angles it looks a little odd but that being said it would be the marker going forward for 100 years on what a front line federation ship would encompass.

[@Kiyosuki]

I've always seen it as Starfleet's first "super ship". A dreadnought of the fleet so to speak (even if the wording's probably not entirely right for an exploratory organization.). The NX ships were the first outing, and the Constitutions were all'rounder cruisers to backbone Starfleet along with the ship variations for different purposes, which served Starfleet well for a time, setting the precedent for their fleet's setup, but even though the Connie was so successful that it warranted a fully upgraded 2nd version of itself (and arguably influencing starship design for over a century.) I think time and the advancement of other Alpha Quadrant powers, and the various fates of many of the Connies showed the necessity for a robust "super ship" to anchor the fleet, leaving more room for different cruisers and lighter ships for different purposes. The fact the Excelsior class was used for almost a century, longest class life of any Starfleet ship class before and after, I think speaks to how successful it was. You can even see the Excelsior design's influence in future super ships and even lighter cruisers in the late 24th century and even early 25th. The Refit-Connie's "clean, retro lines." and slender look are sexy but the robust features of the Excelsior just seems better, considering how many ships that came after it seem to take design cues from it. I like to think the Transwarp feature, which didn't pan out, wasn't the only reason for its creation. They wanted to make the "ship of the future" probably in every way and hey, even if Transwarp was a fluke at least the ship's design earned that title.

[@TAnders877]

Excelsior was always my fav looking ship. AIts just really good looking.

[@halljustin4306]

The Excelsior was still kicking serious ass deep into the Dominion War. Nuff said.

[@edkrach8891]

The Excelsior design is my favorite. The Constitution refit is my second.

[@Phrancis5]

same here

[@MrSpike320]

The Sovereign class will always be my favorite, but the Excelsior is a close second. Like you said, the sleekness and aerodynamical design is what I love about it. Apparently, Starfleet does as well since Picard takes place in 2400 and they're still using Excelsior classes.

[@hudsonball4702]

I know it's been a while since you put this video out, but i HAVE to completely disagree with you about the flaring out secondary hull of the type twos (Enterprise-B Laokta types). You are correct about the Excelsior being a product of a more militaristic time for Starfleet, but it came pretty much at the very end of that militaristic time. After the Khitomer accords ALL this changed. With the Klingons no longer in a cold war with the Federation, Starfleet could finally get back to exploration as their main objective. Adding a large flared out section to the secondary hull to add in more sensors for deep space exploration on a more militaristic design makes perfect sense. It was a sign that the Excelsior was adapting to the new times. remember 8-9 years had passed since the accords were signed. So there was plenty of time to adjust the design for more exploration type Excelsior types. Also I think the flaring out also give it a connection to the Galaxy class which also has a flared out secondary hull.

[@ironstarofmordian7098]

I didn't expect this. And I'm glad I was surprised.

[@Spade-bx9rh]

The Excelsior is one of my favorite ship as well as the retro fit good job!

[@KertaDrake]

I find the thought that the reason Starfleet gave up cloaking devices was because everyone around them realized "Oh s***! Starfleet is actually terrifying when they use cloaks!" to be amusing. The rare times Starfleet is seen to use one, it's pretty much always used to great effect, whether all the stuff the Defiant did, or creating that phase cloak that probably actually would work perfectly if not for all the stuff that went down on the Pegasus.

[@miamijules2149]

Venom, you outdo yourself sir! I’m one happy Cubano....

[@SilverFox-qr1ci]

Excelsior may be bigger faster, more powerful, but the Constitution refit is way sexier.

[@JustinStrife]

Facts by someone who isn't drunk.

[@Deepingmind]

I always assumed the bulbs on the Gen 2 Excelsiors were anti-cloak systems, well presented video.

[@patandthecats5983]

The excelsior class is one of my favorite ship designs.

[@christophermills7693]

just as a reminder, bigger is not always better.

[@JodianGaming]

I agree with pretty much everything, except the cloaking device theory. Setting aside that the flares were added solely so the studio would be able to give the "ribbon" something to hit. We also, in the same movie, see the interior of this area as Kirk navigates it. Kirk's work in this area was focused on the main deflector, which is what this area was actually used for, and it should be noted the area was rather empty aside from the deflector equipment. This is also confirmed when they switch to the exterior camera showing Bones, Scott, and Checkov standing on the railing with the outer hull missing. That area was fairly hollow and didn't appear to house anything other than the deflector systems Kirk worked on. In addition, every time we see a cloaking device in the Star Trek universe, it's not some massive ship system that would require a complete hull redesign to "fit" it into the ship. We see a Romulan cloaking device in TNG, which is nothing more than a draft ball sphere with nomad's head on it. Kirk easily carries it. We see a phase cloaking device in TOS, which is nothing more than an approximately 3ft tube, again easily carried by one person. In DS9 we get to see a Klingon cloaking device carried by Rom and Quark through the corridors of DS9, and while this device is a little bigger, it's also a complete system which includes a power source so it can even cloak itself. In short, cloaking devices aren't big. You can fit them into a small access area, the size of a console, right in Engineering, so there would be absolutely no reason to flare out a hull design to install one. That said, when we specifically start talking about the Enterprise B and it's hull flaring, we should probably turn our focus to the fact that Starfleet, at this time, was starting to develop multi-role starships. Their purely scientific ships, like the Oberth Class, were extremely vulnerable to attack and their purely combat starships, like the Constitution, were limited in what they could do scientifically. I think this would better explain the hull flare design of the Enterprise B, an Excelsior (practically battleship) design, reengineered to fit more scientific equipment into it's hull. This would begin to explain why there were systems in this area tied to the main deflector, a device that we know (in the constitution design anyway) was also used as part of the duotronic sensor array. As a warship, she would be fully capable of handling herself in combat. Add scientific capabilities and she could better map the edge of known space where unknown dangers might lurk. This also feeds better into the "Exploration" role that was at the core of Starfleet. So, while cloaking devices on Excelsior Refits would be cool, I think it's more logical to say these areas were for expanding the scientific capabilities of these already battle-capable ships.

[@highcommand4786]

Love the idea of the variant Excelsior class ships carrying cloaking devices! Makes perfect sense! Fits in neatly with my headcanon of the Soyuz class being designed specifically to detect clocked ships with all the extra sensor pods to triangulate any subspace distortions. Also fits with the Soyuz having that 3rd larger shuttlebay fitted. Imo for fighter craft that while ineffective against shields would be deadly against a cloaked (therefore unsheilded) ship.

[@babylon218]

Literally the only thing I disagree with you on is the intention behind the Ent-B refit: yes, it's being built by the typically-militaristic Starfleet of the late-23rd Century, but it's also being built just after the signing of the Khitomer Peace Accords. I can't honestly see Starfleet building a fleet of cloaked battlecruisers (because that's what the Type-1 Excelsior is really - a battlecruiser) after having established a genuine, lasting peace with their biggest enemy. On the other hand, Starfleet might use the opportunity to redesign their battlecruisers for greater utility as Explorer Starships, by fitting more labs. The bulges almost flank the main Deflector, which on-screen evidence indicates was often used to bolster the primary sensor systems, so those bulges would be the perfect place for additional sensor equipment. Of course, that doesn't mean Starfleet didn't leave room to *fit* a cloaking device with that additional space, especially if tensions with the Romulans ramped up before the Treaty of Algeron.

[@7gmeister]

I played Star Fleet Battles back in the day and the heavy cruisers were powerful ships that were extremely well balanced while other ships smaller out larger had to trade one thing for another. Battleships were rare mainly because you could build several CAs for the cost of one battleship and it gave you larger ship numbers to defend your borders which was important but you had more firepower as well. 3 heavy cruisers could easily take down a battleship but battleships were extremely hard to take down. The other thing to note is that larger ships had better range to their weapons and much more powerful shields. Their one Achilles He’ll though was That they were expensive so losing one had a much bigger impact than losing a couple of heavy cruisers especially since they took so long to build

[@MH-jt3lx]

I like them because they look like they are built to last,take a beating and looks like it can be used for anything from first contact to repelling a sneak attack across the nutrias zone by its self.

[@midnightblue6668]

My favorite design is still the Constitution Class Refit (ST movies), but I do love to see differing designs. I'd love to see the Saber Class used in a ST-TNG era series/movie as the primary ship.

[@Shadow200001]

the bulges on the Lakota version are due to the deflector technology, IE it's deflector system was given a massive upgrade. And required more area and space. Hence the buldges.

[@venomgeekmedia9886]

Why? What was wrong with the original?

[@Shadow200001]

@@venomgeekmedia9886 It was an upgraded deflector system, I can't actually find the entry now that details it so I have to call into doubt my statement now. Other than In less than a decade, the Excelsior design underwent a second, more significant overhaul, as introduced with the launch of the USS Enterprise-B. While remaining true to the original design, this new configuration added several modifications to the basic hull, including the addition of a second pair of impulse engines, an expanded scoop surrounding the deflector dish, and the addition and removal of a number of fins located on the saucer and nacelles. But I do like your idea of the cloaking device, but in the TOS it was small enough to fit on a table, but was hooked up to the deflector if I recall. Though in my own head cannon I saw the bulges as more sensor domes. After all more powerful the sensors, the farther you can see the enemy from and plan accordingly, and perhaps detect things like ionized plasma from engines on cloaked ships.

[@michaelkenny7314]

Refit Connie has two aft phasers above the shuttle bay and four on the bottom of the engineering hull. As for the Bulges Expanded, internal volume for sensors remember this a post praxis galaxy.

[@nunya3163]

I like to think of the bulges being some sort of particle projector tech, intended for exposing cloaked ships. I think this makes more sense than either the official explanation about being an exploration module, or the theory about it being a cloaking device. It's way to big to be a cloak, and modules would fit better on the back end of the secondary hull.

[@venomgeekmedia9886]

but not a post Tomed galaxy. federation isn't out of the woods just yet.

[@marz2467]

Torpedo Bulges. The term you'd be asking Drach about. Many older Dreadnoughts and Super Dreadnoughts were refitted with them. Looks like the old ships put on a little weight.

[@UkrainianPaulie]

They needed a place to "get rid" of Kirk.

[@paulbeaney4901]

I could tear up an Excelsior with a K'tinga in klingon academy. Your are spot on with the mismatch in firepower but, the Excelsior can't maneuver for toffee. Thats how i used to beat Excelsior, out maneuver and stay behind it, yes there are phasers but those torpedo launchers are useless from a dorsal aft arc. But if you try and keep it at mid range and don't watch Excelsiors firing arcs, it will blow you out of the sky pretty quickly.

[@birdmonster4586]

Excelsior has a Regal nature. When we first see her she is the new Queen of Starfleet. When we see her in TNG she is the Elder statesmen. The Excelsior's Tactical layout I think shows not just a generational increase in capability, but also the influence of the Cloaking device on the design. Better all around firing arcs became more important than focused limited arcs. The shuttlebay, if configured properly might be able to hole 4-5 good sized warp capable shuttles. Maybe there's an Elevator to a Shuttle storage bay but probably not. We know Starfleet shuttlebays are generally very simple affairs., Strange thing is that the Shuttlebay looks almost like a module that could have been expanded, but starfleet never did that. That large bay on the excelsior I always thought of as a modular mission bay. During those big 5 year missions it could have a large cargo module added for additional carrying capacity. Quite important since replicator technology isn't so developed. I don't think I like the idea of the Cloaking device in the bulges. But The ENT-B is fresh out of dock about 10 years after Excelsior. Plenty of time to bring in a Tranche-2 upgraded spec and design which explains the additions and changes.

[@venomgeekmedia9886]

as i say, starfleet has had a romulan cloaking device since the 60s. theres no way they don't have one. interesting idea about the shuttlebay because your right, they do look incomplete, there's plenty of space on that top deck. i mean really why don't more star-ships just use vertical shuttle pads like on DS9

[@lawneymalbrough4309]

The excelsior class was forerunner if the galaxy class. Star fleet was opting for longer missions. They needed ships that could keep the crew happy on longer missions. So they needed more space.

[@Wildcard120]

Thanks for video. I am waiting for the Romulan Nova class to make a small or big screen appearance.

[@venomgeekmedia9886]

As am I 😉

[@SkepticalChris]

The Excelsior really is a gorgeous looking ship, even compared to modern designs. Its skeel, its elegant, its stylish, its dignified, its classy and says regardless of any age, an Excelsior commands respect by its sheer presence, and despite not being nearly as big as the mighty Sovereigns and Galaxy-Class, she is still the representation of of a very fine ship.

[@45580677]

The Excelsior the only real warship left since the Defiant as fight off swarms the Dominion throw out only for Birds of Prey

[@busnut33]

She'll fly apart. "Fly her apart then!" Capt. Sulu

[@Duchess_Van_Hoof]

You know, I now understand why everyone talks about this ship. Thank you

[@davidbrunelle4740]

Cool video man. In 2230’s star fleet gambled on accurately predicting the future of technology in regards to upgrading their fleets but they where wrong. But I’m the 2270’s they got it right and that’s why all newer ships like Miranda and excelsior lasted so long and older designs like the constitution and constellation did not.

[@k1productions87]

13:40 Considering when we see that section blown open, it was a Deflector Control area. "facilities for long range exploration" could just be for PR, whereas what they actually are is enhancement for the Main Deflector, giving it extra combat ability. Though its non-canon, we see the Excelsior in the DC-Comics "Mirror Universe Saga" using things like anti-cloaking pulses and tracking phasers. In-canon, we see Kirk modifying the Deflector relays to create a resonance burst large enough to simulate the antimatter discharge of a Photon Torpedo blast. So no doubt these extra relays and equipment are to give the Main Deflector some extra combat applications. Which would totally fit the era. More combat ability, cloaked behind the guise of exploration

[@alexion2001]

While this could also be true and does seem likely, I like to think it's specifically because of "cloaked Excelsiors" that the Federation was banned from using cloaking devices at the treaty of Algeron.

[@k1productions87]

@@alexion2001 That too could be PR. Perhaps the anti-cloaking tech is what we are really giving up in the treaty. that could be why we do not see upgraded Excelsiors in the 24th Century. We just say we dont get to cloak either, to save face. Us being able to cloak too is hardly enough to scare the Romulans… but negating their advantage would be

[@Nikephorus]

I know for me there were two things that made me realize the Excelsior was a very successful ship for Starfleet. First; the original Excelsior was commissioned in 2285 and the class was still in service during the Dominion war 100 years later. That's an impressive service life. The second was when the Lakota went toe to doe with the Defiant, a modern dedicated warship, and the battle was basically a draw (granted both ships were holding back).

[@tarn1135]

My only real complaint about Picard 3 the ship flying around like the millennium Falcon. I want my capital ships to be lumbering capital ships and flying into the Death Star isn’t something it can do.

[@LoneWolf0568]

When the flared section says, " Mission specific equipment modules mounting structure", it doesn't have to be "Exploration" missions. It could be for M.A.C.O. equipment or any other Military mission since it is in the same section as the "dock" that we never see used in the movies or shows. Good place to isolate top secret Black Ops missions and personnel from the rest of the ships crew.

[@venomgeekmedia9886]

exactly ;)

[@tudogeo7061]

At 20:35 the klingon ship's behind looks like a happy face 😂

[@garethfairclough8715]

Tbh, I always thought the transwarp drive of the Excelsior was an early form of the TNG era "warp drive", which was a huge leap in performance over then conventional drives of the time (a la Connie, Miranda, etc). This would help explain how/why the Excelsior covered so much ground so quickly at the end of ST6, as well as the ST Generations Enterprise-B "only ship in range" idea. That last one being that while other ships were closer, the Enterprise B was the only one that could actually get there in a reasonable time. I based an entire fic around this, with a battered old Connie refit having to make its way home with a scratch crew, covering a distance that will take them almost a decade to cover, while the Excelsiors of the day could do it in a year or so. A way is later found for the Mirandas and their derivatives to run at similar speeds, but this comes too late for the Connies which have pretty much all gone by this point (very early 24th century). This enables the feds to keep using the Mirandas in frontline roles without them becoming strategically irrelevant.

[@joshuahadams]

Halo’s UNSC Infinity-class super carriers carry their own internal escort. They have vertical launch tubes for *ten* frigates. The basic idea is that they’re mobile orbital defence platforms the UNSC can send out anywhere they need a massive task force ASAP with the main ship, probably Infinity herself, using its massive propulsion system to get those frigates where they need to be, then supplying covering fire from massive arrays of guided and magnetic weapons. And occasionally powering up the ODP cannons to blow through anyway short of like a moon.

[@dawfydd]

I also think the golden age is because there were so many excelsiors, when a massively armed cruiser is your response for 80% of issues, you get those resolved without firing a shot, When the galaxy comes around and maybe it has better shields slightly better weapons, its a much easier target as the issue of even more crew as hostages so nobody wants to fight to the death.. that's when races start poking up, also Galaxies were pretty rare you'd get aged excelsiors sent out to 50% of areas and they were dated with crew who hadn't had to fire a shot in 10+ years so they kind of became the weakness of the end of the golden age.

[@dontdrunkimshoot8220]

The excelsior succeeding the refit constitution was like an Iowa class succeeding the modernized standard battleships after the ~15 year hiatus on building new battleships from the 20s to late 30s. There really was a conspicuous gap from the 2240s constitution, modernized in the 2270s, and the debut of the excelsior at about 2390. Only a naval treaty could explain why there wasn't some intermediate clean sheet step between them. An excelsior is 3.7 times the volume of a Connie refit, it would have triggered every escalation clause in the quadrant 3 times over lol. A lowly ktinga, that wile almost none of its mass is wasted on anything not contributing to combat performance, very unlike starfleet ships, is 5.4 times smaller than an excelsior. klingon ships should not be underestimated on size, they are hyper optimized for combat duty, they have an extremely short operation period measured in weeks to months not years, in a fight at least half the mass of a federation ship is useful for little more than damage soak. I'd say a Klingon ship is a match for something federation general purpose 2.5 times its weight, but an excelsior is well beyond that, 2 ktinga would give it some trouble though ~2290. The enterprise B configuration is a peculiar 1 off thats not so easy to retcon. I decided on it being an enhanced ultra long range explorer type, hyper optimized at trailblazing beyond friendly or even charted territory. The more than doubled impulse drives probably provides enough extra fusion reactors to run the ship at a limited warp speed if needed, or allow the ship to operate in combat with no diminished performance if main power is knocked off line, at least until it runs out of gas. A design benchmark not seen again until the sovereign class, and shown in practice with it's battle against the scimitar. The bussard collectors, while a very secondary feature on ships operating inside of federation supply lines, could be of critical importance were mission parameters include having to farm a nebula for gas to continue a journey, the B's were clearly enhanced. The torpedo blister on the side struck me as a multi purpose expansion to store more fuel, and/or house science labs displaced in the primary hull by the additional impulse drives. I imagine these B type excelsior are so rare because of the increased cost, on whats probably already the most 'expensive' ship class starfleet had ever built. likely the variation never was constructed outside of the 'block 1' excelsior production run as well. And why don't we ever see any? because none of the episodes of the week take place in deep space were they would operate! The lakota was likely just back from a long deployment, and then made a testbed for a new modernization program that was being developed on the assumption a gigantic war was about to happen.

[@matts1166]

The bulbous bow version was seen in some of the larger fleet scenes too.

[@joeswanson733]

the connie of the 2240s was supposed to be the next leap in starship technology. THE starship class. fast forward another 40 -50 years and presto another major leap in starship tech. while all the other alpha /bea quadrant powers stagnated the feds continued to do R&D and well you get the excelsior.

[@Schlipperschlopper]

For me the old constitution class refit is the most elegant ship together with the Miranda refit class :-)

[@paulbeaney4901]

With the Excelsior 2, the extra impulse engines are a massive upgrade. Not just for propulsion but power generation.

[@shanenolan8252]

The great experiment ( excelsior). Im not wild about enterprise b flare , but i remember ww2 battleship had them as an extra defense against torpedoes. It allowed for more survivors.. cloaking device is a great idea. The additional impulse engine may be the power plant. I remember in tng pegasus the federation cloak was powered but enterprise impulse engine. Not warp .

[@manw3bttcks]

The secondary hull has the big unused void underneath it (13:45 ), there should be a "heavy excelsior" class where that's built in and used partly to make the shuttle bay larger

[@nicholasmorsovillo2752]

Aside from the U.S.S. Lakota where we got to see her use her phaser banks while fighting the Defiant in Star Trek Deep Space Nine when Star Trek 6:The Undiscovered Country come out the only weapons we saw the Excelsior use was her photon torpedoes against the Klingon Bird of Prey along with the Enterprise A.

[@logicplague]

"My God, that's a big ship." - Dr. McCoy, Star Trek VI

[@QalOrt]

Beautiful Ship

[@kevinhoward9593]

I would have loved to see a series based with an Excelsior ship.

[@venomgeekmedia9886]

You mean one with captain sulu?

[@Rick_Cleland]

@@venomgeekmedia9886, Or The *_Enterprise B..._*

[@stevebotham2018]

There is 1 advantage to having the main hangar on Excelsior all the way at the back sort of sequestered from the rest of the ship. If it takes a direct hit then you won't lose 3/4 of the star drive. Think of the old fire cracker in a tin can. If an enemy shoots a torpedo into the hangar of a connie & it penetrates a section or 2 past the back bulkhead wall. Then you have an antimatter explosive inside a sealed can ship go boom. On the Excelsior if that happens you only lose the tip of the rear end & the engines won't get destroyed or the anti-mater containment pods. Yes you lost some people & your shuttles & probably 3o meters of the tail but you can still fight, the ship didn't go super nova on you. That's why I questioned why were shuttle bays 2 & 3 on the Galaxy buried in the middle of the connection neck. A hit there you take out the shuttles & the explosion is amplified by the shuttles impulse fuel & antimatter fuels. If a conie takes that hit the shuttle bay is a stones throw to the warp plasma conduit & anti-matter storage.