Galaxy Variant

(at least one obviously discernable difference being the darkened neck)

Galaxy Class Refit ('All Good Things' anti-time future)

Galaxy Class: 2357 - Still in Service

According to stats I've gathered from various written sources, the above specs of the Galaxy Class are official and correct (shield strength and various upgrades are of my own speculation).

The Galaxy Class was the highest apex of Starship design for nearly a century, being the boldest step forward in starship construction and engineering so far. Widely regarded at the time to be the most advanced machine ever built, the Galaxy Class soon proved the label correct as it dominated exploration and the fleet in general for more than a decade, defending the Federation and winning many crucial battles, including playing a vital part in thwarting the Borg invasion of 2367. Indeed, a vessel in this class, the Enterprise, the second to be built in the class, and a now famous name, was heralded the flagship of the Federation after her construction, relieving the ageing USS Ambassador of that honour.

As much as a pleasure cruiser, as a military vehicle, this class saw the first introduction of holographic recreation centres, or 'holodecks' on a Federation Starship. This allowed a far greater range of leisurely pursuits not previously available to a fleet officer. It was hoped it would boost morale as well as supplement the crew's needs on long assignments when leave isn't normally possible. During the more settled, renaissance period of the mid 24th century (excluding the Cardassian War ;) crew's families became a regular occurrence on the longer range ships, and Galaxy Class was a forerunner in this area, accommodating more than a thousand persons -another first. With cutting edge sensors, weapons, propulsion systems and research facilities, ie not specialising in any particular area such as science or defence, but all areas, Galaxy Class was the complete starship. The 65 constructed are listed...

Footnote *

-The Prototype USS Galaxy was launched in 2357, according to the TNG Technical Manual.

-A lot of the 'destroyed' Galaxy Class vessels listed above were, one would suppose, lost in Dominion engagements.

-I originally had 26 Galaxy Class cruisers on this manifest. But as time went by, and with shots of many of this class ship participating in the Dominion war effort, I came to the conclusion that this was an inadequate estimate. It then went up to 139, which I concluded was probably too much. So the middle ground of 65 was chosen. It may sound like too many for some, but at this time the Galaxy Class is possibly Starfleet's primary class vessel, so one would think there'd be a large number. But it would be anyone's guess as to how many a fair reflection would be. (When The Next Generation began Gene Roddenberry estimated that there might be a further seven Galaxy Class ships after the Enterprise. That figure of seven though reflected the first year the Galaxy Class had been under production. Since then Fourteen 'Trek years' have passed...)

-And in the DS9 Episode 'Sacrifice of Angels', Sisko orders Galaxy Wings 91 and 93 to engage the Cardassian Destroyers. So what constitutes a 'Wing' exactly? Does this mean that there are at least 93 Galaxy Class ships in the fleet? You have to say that it must. But it's still a conjectural point that remains open..........

Additional evidence for a large Galaxy Fleet is given in a piece of dialogue from the TNG 3rd season episode 'Menage a Troi', in which Data states:

"Actually, there is no guarantee
Wesley will be reassigned to the
Enterprise. Eighty-four per cent
of Starfleet graduates are not
posted to Galaxy class starships
for their first assignment."

We obviously have no idea precisely how many graduates there are in an average year. A fair few I'd imagine. Let's say, for arguments sake, that 16% of the total graduates equals 200. There are going to be a large amount of possible assignments. From many classes of starship, to starbases, outposts, Starfleet institutions and so forth. So if 200 lucky graduates are assigned to Galaxy Class ships, one would think that there would be a large number of these ships to cater for the distribution of these graduates...  If there were about 50 operational Galaxies, then each one would receive 4 cadets. 

This argument is outlined Here...

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-The USS Challenger was in the Voyager episode 'Timeless', and was captained by Geordi La Forge. Though this was in an alternate future timeline (15 years ahead), one must assume that the ship has, or will be constructed at one time or another. Its registry number gives the clue that it is from the current era -there or thereabouts, so we can assume she has already been built.

KEY

*A ship would visit drydock for many reasons, including refits, repairs, servicing upgrades, preliminary trials and testing of new components, and spacedock for similar reasons, as well as crew rotation, reassignment, prep period before redeployment, and so forth.

The listed specifications for ship classes are partly hypothetical, but some data such as ship lengths, weapon stats and crew complements are in some cases canon. For an explanation on the specs, and what the Ship designations mean, see Spec Definitions.

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