Why did the Enterprise have such a thin "neck"?

[Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1]

Why did the U.S.S. Enterprise have such a thin "neck" AKA interconnecting dorsal? It wouldn't bother me all that much if it didn't have windows, becuase we could then assume it's there to keep the two hulls seperate with a turbo-lift or two to go back and forth. What are your thoughts on this?

[fenriz275 0]

My thoughts on this are that the model builder was just pulling ideas out of thin air and he thought it would look cool.

[Admiral Kirk 1]

I've always thought that the neck would be a bad tactical weak spot. I guess that's why the designer's got rid of the neck when they came up with the Enterprise E.

[shadowfigment 0]

Actually the interconnecting dorsal section of most starships proves to be a very weak spot in design. However the width of the structure on the Constitution was wide enough to accomodate a turbolift and deck sections. Therefore the structure itself must have been very sturdy.

[stoned_vulcan 0]

I believe it was because of the fact that it was the style at the time don't forget when they designed the origional enterprise they were looking for a marketable ship that was astetically pleasing, there was no 'trek following' so no one really read into it as much when they made it. I think that it is just one of those production things that has to be accepted. did the ent e really totally get rid of all the neck?

[HRH The KING 0]

The neck problem has always bothered me too. But I always thought that the weakest part of the ship were the nacelle pylons which are very thin looking. One lucky shot could sever the pylon and the nacelle would then drift away from the rest of the ship. The Defiant (DS9) seemed to solve some of these problems by bringing the nacelles closer to the ship, thus reducing the danger of having vunerable appendages sticking out of the ship

 

:)

Edited March 9, 2004 by William Stryker

[WEAREBORG4102 0]

turbolift.....

[Jeanway 0]

I've got the blue prints right here, maybe that'll give me a clue. But I would guess just for appearance. Wouldn't have anything to do with ease of separation from the saucer section, would it? Just a guess. Is this a contest or something? Get back to you on this if I come up with something substantial.

[Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1]

The neck problem has always bothered me too. But I always thought that the weakest part of the ship were the nacelle pylons which are very thin looking. One lucky shot could sever the pylon and the nacelle would then drift away from the rest of the ship. The Defiant (DS9) seemed to solve some of these problems by bringing the nacelles closer to the ship, thus reducing the danger of having vunerable appendages sticking out of the ship

 

:)

Well, I had read somewhere that the purpose of the warp nacelles being on pylons was to keep them away from the ship in the event they're damaged due to their explosive nature. Another reason they're out there is so they can be "jettisoned". Also, isn't there always suppose to be "space" between the two warp naccelles or something? :(

 

I liked the Defiant's compact design, but I prefer the "saucer and 2 nacelles" design regardless of it's configuration. :)

[Valeris 2]

I do not know... in space, there is no gravity pressing on the saucer section to cause the neck to snap. Still, everyone is right about one good hit...

[HRH The KING 0]

I guess it would be about finding a balance between design needs.

 

You'd have to find a design that keeps the nacelles far enough away from the rest of the ship in case of emergency, yet keep them close enough to reduce the ship's profile in case of attack.

 

[TransporterMalfunction 1]

Never bothered me, I just think it looks cool. I like the way Star Trek updated and moved away from the traditional saucer while also including it in the design.

[LordOfTheBorg 1]

Lot of good posts on here, i for one didnt even notice till you brought it up but, it would be a bad place incase the cardassians or However thought (and they never ever did.... wierd!) to torpedo it, well.. BOOM!

[HRH The KING 0]

I read someplace that Starfleet learned that the 'neck area' of their ships were the weakspot after the Jem Hadar kamikazied the USS Odyssey. That's why later Galaxy Class ships on DS9 episodes had darker coloured necks to show that they had been armour plated. This was referring the 24th century ships but it does bring up the problem of necks on starships.

 

:huh: :huh: :huh:

[Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1]

I thought the Jem'Hadar ship slammed into the Odyssey's deflector dish, not the neck? :huh:

[Captain Bolivar 0]

Yeah, they did slam into the deflector dish. Maybe there were some other hits before the final hit? It's been a long time since I've seen that episode so I don't know.

 

I think the design of Star Trek ships are just aesthetical. They look great but serve no purpose. This idea also comes from the fact that starships don't need to be so aerodynamic, yet the Ent-E is. It is just made to look good to make the audience happy. I think so anyways.

[HRH The KING 0]

The Jem Hadar ship hit the deflector area, but Starfleet thought that the whole area around the neck was vunerable. That's why it changed colour on some ships.

[Capt.Vash 0]

well i do not know why the neck is so skinny (probably just another writer/creator thing)

 

 

but the naccelles are so far out becuse they have to generate the warp field "AROUND" the ship this means more elevation and farther apart

 

DS9 is a full century ahead of TOS so they had 100+ years to figure out a ship that didn't need such big pylons!

[HRH The KING 0]

I heard someplace that the reason the original Enterprise was designed that way is because they wanted it to look very unique and unlike anything ever seen in science fiction before. They didn't want it to look like a flying saucer or a rocketship.

[Lt. Evans 0]

Admitedly the Enterprise and Enterprise-A did have this 'necks' but then just look at the old Klingon design.

 

Click for Spoiler:

Edited March 24, 2004 by Lt. Evans

[HRH The KING 0]

Yeah, that is weird.

 

One shot to the neck could sever the bridge from engineering.

 

Doesn't make much sense for a ship of war.

 

 

:o