Starfleet Jedi

I always thought it was a little goofy, but I get it. The Galaxy Class was not designed as a warship alone, it fills many roles but still manages to carry most of the weight in Federation fleets in the Dominion War. I understand why a ship with scientists, diplomats and civilians would split in half if they run into trouble. I get it.

What I don't understand is why the half with the civvies has no warp drive while the other half takes the engineering section off to fight the threat. Wouldn't it make more sense to send a segment with warp engines off while the better-armed part of the ship deals with the foe?

If the engineering section is unable to stop the enemy, then they just warp over to the saucer section and have their way with them. I'd rather take my chances with the entire ship and make use of that main phaser array than split my ship in half for no real benefit. If the enemy has warp engines, you don't really accomplish anything.

Just a thought.

Given the saucer's size, you would expect there to at least be fusion bassed warp to get the saucer out at warp speed, while still maintaining the saucer size and shape. I can't think of a reason why they would do this.

A question:

I know that the saucer has no extern warp nacells.

But is it outright said that it has no warp drive?

In the pilot "Encounter at Farpoint", the saucer and stardrive section were separated in deep space.

The saucer was flown to Deneb IV while the crew of the stardrive section has engaged with Q.

After that engagement, that has last maximal a few hours, the stardrive section was flown to Deneb IV and has arrived only a few hours befor the saucer.

If however the saucer could only achieve sublight speeds, it would have needed years to arrive at Deneb IV.

Even if the Enterprise was already at the border of the Deneb system [circa 30 AE to its sun from its farthest planet and circa 1 ly from the Oort cloud - assuming a star system similar to the sol system], when she has separated, the saucer would have needed far more time, if she could have only achieved relativistic speed, to arrive at Deneb IV.

And the problem you are describing is not absurd. If the stardrive section in the TNG episode "The Arsenal of Freedom" would have been destroyed, the saucer, that was again separated from the stardrive section in deep space, would be effectively gone astray. With only the impulse drive, she couldn't have reached a planet or even Earth.

That's why one can assume that the saucer is equipped with an emergency warp drive, that is, as GStone has assumed, fusion bassed.

Unless there is a canonical proof that the saucer doesn't have such thing. But from the context it has to be clear that they are not only speaking from a regular warp drive that can achieve middle or high warp speeds for a long time but are including even an emergency warp drive, that would be useless for a regular use because it is to slow and not capable of holding warp speed for a longer time, when they are saying that the saucer is not warp capable or has no warp drive.

If the battle part could not acheive warp, it would be easy prey to warp strafe maneuvers.

Hell, in such a scenario the enemy ship would not even have to bother fighting. It just warps away from the combat section to pursue the easier warp section, leaving the warp-impotent combat section hundreds of light years in it's wake and unable to go defend the civilian section

In Encounter, Picard and Data were talking about how long it would take the saucer to drop out of warp if they separated while at warp, but no, I don't recall it ever being stated specifically.

This is all I could find in the script, no mention of how long it will remain in warp:

PICARD: Records search, Data. Results of detaching saucer section at high warp velocity.
DATA: Inadvisable at any warp speed, sir.
PICARD: Search theoretical.
DATA: It is possible, sir. But absolutely no margin for error.

They do not describe how long the saucer section stays at warp. They do mention arrival times for the saucer (51 minutes), however there is no statement of how far out from Far Point Station it is.
-Mike

I thought they said a couple minutes.

GStone wrote:I thought they said a couple minutes.

Correct, but different episode. "Brothers"[TNG4]: a saucer separation at warp 9.3 will result in the saucer falling out of warp "within two minutes", as per Picard.

He does?


WESLEY
(studying a panel)
He is on the Bridge, sir.

PICARD
Commander La Forge, prepare for
saucer separation.

WESLEY
Sir, we're at Warp nine-three!

PICARD
I'm aware of the risks, Ensign.
(to Geordi)
When the umbilical splits, we
should regain primary control...
do you agree?

GEORDI
(getting the plan)
Yes, sir.

PICARD
(to Worf)
. Be
prepared to sweep back and pull
it in with a tractor beam.

WORF
Aye, sir.

PICARD
(to Geordi)
Initiate auto sequence.


Is there that much of a difference between the script and the as-filmed version of this same scene?
-Mike

Mike DiCenso wrote:Is there that much of a difference between the script and the as-filmed version of this same scene?

Yes. I specifically remember them talking about how the saucer would fall out of warp after a certain amount of time.

In any case, even in the script they talk about taking star drive section and sweeping back to get the saucer with a tractor beam, suggesting that it would come out of warp.

Well, tractor beams can work at warp just as easily as they can at sublight from what we've seen, so that alone is not enough. However, it would seem in this case that the saucer section will drop from warp once it is cut loose from the stardrive. The problem is that the timing does not jive with the events in EAFP with the saucer going for what appears to have been a considerable time over a fairly good interstellar distance on it's own. Maybe the saucer stays at warp longer, if it is released at a higher warp velocity. It was released at wap 9.5 or higher in EAFP whereas in "Brothers" it would have been 9.3.
-Mike

Or because it drops out of warp because its own emergency warp drive isn't activated until the separation is completed and the warp fields of the star drive and the saucer can't overlap anymore?

It wasn't so much the tractor beam I was referring to, as sweeping back and getting the saucer section, implying the saucer would decelerate and eventually come out of warp, as opposed to it having its own self-sustained warp ability.

But if the saucer section has an emergency warp drive, or uses sustainer coils to maintain a warp field, it probably is not going to be able to outmaneuver or outrun the lighter and more powerful stardrive section.
-Mike