Chrono-Volumetrics Addendum: Epistemological Consistency

I've had a couple of issues crop up lately that really call attention to the problem of consistently dealing with certain sorts of data.  My focus at the moment is Star Trek vessel registries, but this actually applies to a lot of other information presented outside of dialog or camera shot.

See, there's typically been a little bit of fudgery among the Trek canon tech aficionados insofar as vessel registries and certain other data obtained from backstage sources, and at some point I slipped into it myself. 

USS Republic NCC-1371

It is a common assertion that the "United Starship Republic, number 1371" was a Constitution Class ship like the Enterprise, NCC-1701, based on the term "Starship".  We might also note that the name "Republic" fits nicely in the naming scheme of a class named "Constitution".

Beyond that, however, nothing points to the idea of the Republic as a Constitution Class as having any merit, and I thus propose that this is not so. 

Volumetric Confirmations

(The below was originally written in 2022 and not quite polished for publication.)

"Ilithi Dragon" recently commented that some of the entries in the Starship Volumetrics section might be off, based on experiences with deriving volumes for different models being employed as part of a large game mod effort.  I was, of course, suitably horrified, but having just done a little confirmatory experiment with a Galaxy Class warp nacelle, I didn't panic.   

Much.

Chrono-Volumetrics Addendum: The Court Martial Chart

 At Starbase 11 in "Court Martial", Commodore Stone had a chart entited "Star Ship Status" with NCC numbers and percentages of completion, presumably of repairs like those for the Enterprise. 

Due to the focus, angle, and the font itself, folks have had issues distinguishing the digits even in the age of enhanced resolution from the Remastered show.   However, there's a very simple fix for that, as many programs allow a deskew option these days, especially on mobile operating systems where a "scan" of a document via photograph may need to be straighted up.

Fanon to Canon

Sometimes, popular fan ideas get adopted into the actual canon of a universe.   Maybe this is sometimes okay, but as often I think it tends to be silly . . . and I say this as someone who's had his work adopted into sci-fi canon.

Starship Taxonomy: Class and Type

 "Are you willing to help us overpower the Romulan B-type Warbirds we may encounter?  Are you prepared to help us detect them through their cloaking shields?  You see my problem, Admiral."

                        - Captain Jean-Luc Picard to Romulan Admiral Alidar Jarok, 2366

Picard later refers to the "Warbird Class starship", presumably the Federation designation of the D'Deridex Class.   On this and, as I recall, another occasion on screen (but not this), spacecraft were referred to not just by class, but with an additional letter designator, suggesting subtypes.  I don't think we need a huge taxonomic heirarchy here, but the simple fact is that the Enterprise-B, for instance, would thus seem to be a B-Type Excelsior (conveniently).   The Enterprise refit and 1701-A would be a B-type (or perhaps C-type or D-type) Constitution.

There's more than just this, though . . . including some surprises.

Starships and Continuity of Style

The Star Trek Original Universe was fantastic for many reasons, but not the least of them was an effort at stylistic consistency with the ships over the fifty years of production.   A knowledgeable fan could look at a Federation starship and be able to tell you, within a handful of decades at worst, about when the ship class had been designed and first built over the two hundred year history of Starfleet . . . or pick out when something just doesn't look right.

Such stylistic consistency is not something you just accidentally happen upon.