Prometheus Question?

[AslanC]

Yes I, the great Prometheus naysayer has a question!

Does it require three full command crews or just one that control the other two sections?

Thanks.

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Aslan Collas
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RPG_Trek; http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rpg-trek
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Ferengi Rule Of Acquisition #76: Every once in a while, declare peace. It confuses the hell out of your enemies.

[Steve Long]

I'd say it doesn't require three full crews, if I understand what you mean by that. The ship as a whole has one command crew. When the ship separates, theoretically one-third of the command crew ends up in each section and is qualified to operate it.

But definitely, each sub-ship has its own personnel. They're not controlled remotely.

Steve Long

[AslanC]

Cool Steve thanks for the anser.

Now I have another question for you...why is the crew count on the Prometheus so big? I mean if the ship was run by two holograms, why is such a large crew needed?

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Aslan Collas
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RPG_Trek; http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rpg-trek
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Ferengi Rule Of Acquisition #76: Every once in a while, declare peace. It confuses the hell out of your enemies.

[Steve Long]

The fact that a ship can be run, briefly, by two holograms doesn't mean that it should be. Starfleet, IMO, likes to have lots of personnel on board ships, to improve efficiency and versatility, etc., etc. They can run ships at less than full complement if they have to -- I'm sure they did, at times, during the Dominion War -- but that's not their ideal.

Steve Long

[AslanC]

Okay I will give you that one, but one of the specific staements made in Trials & Tribulations was that they really packed them in in the old days, and that was a ship with near 300 crew...

Certainly in the more modern age of automation and less "packing them in" ships would not run with 600+ crews unless they were really big to start with...just a thought, not a criticisim.

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Aslan Collas
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RPG_Trek; http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rpg-trek
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Ferengi Rule Of Acquisition #76: Every once in a while, declare peace. It confuses the hell out of your enemies.

[Roxby]

Yes -

but you must remember that the crew count can be divided by three at a moments notice and may be forced to remain so for extended periods of time.

So, a crew of approx. 200 per vessel is not all that out of line.

-R

[Steve Long]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Okay I will give you that one, but one of the specific staements made in Trials & Tribulations was that they really packed them in in the old days, and that was a ship with near 300 crew...</font>

In this context, I think "packing them in" refers to the more cramped conditions aboard older ships, not the fact that ships back then had more crew, proportionately.

For example, depending on how you want to measure things, the Galaxy class is about 2-4 times as large as the 2257-69 era Constitution class. Similarly, it has a crew of 1,012, 2.35 times the size of the Constitution's crew of 430 -- a roughly proportional increase.

Of course, one can make all sorts of arguments about what crew is "really necessary" to run a ship in various time periods, crew composition, and many other factors relating to crew density. But based on what canonical evidence we do have about crew complements, I don't think the 24th century has featured a marked drop-off in crew sizes due to automation or other factors.

Steve Long

[spyone]

Also on "packing them in":
Voyager is slightly longer than an old Constitution Class vessel. Voyager had a crew around 150 (ideal 139, by one source), while the old Enterprise was around 300-450.
However, Voyager includes a LOT mor volume.
(Fetches trusty Mr.Scott's Guide)
According to Mr.Scott's Guide to the Enterprise, the ship (in TMP) had 72 officers and 428 enlisted.
The saucer section was 140.5m wide, 145m long, and 32.6m high. Now, it's thicker in the middle than at the edge, but if it weren't it would be about 500,000m^3, so I'll guestimate half of that.
The Secondary hull was 32.6m wide, 120m long, and 47m high. It is roughly cylindrical, so making it a cylinder with a diameter of an average of height and width (39.8m), it would have a volume of 150,000m^3.
400,000m^3 for 500 men, or 800m^3 per man.
Voyager is about 355m long overall. The saucer section is 132m wide, 248m long, and 30m high. Now, it's smaller at the top than at the bottom, but we're hardly being precise. I'll guestimate the volume at 850,000 m^3.
The Secondary hull is 56m wide, 271m long, and 30m high. Making it a cylinder with a diameter of an average of height and width (43m), it would have a volume of 400,000m^3.
1,250,000m^3 for 150 men, or 8333m^3 per man, or about 10 times as much space as a TOS era ship.
Hope this helps.

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You're a Starfleet Officer. "Weird" is part of the job.

[spyone]

Also on "packing them in":
Now I'll tackle the Galaxy Class. Steve mentioned it being "about 2-4 times as large as the 2257-69 era Constitution class". I think it is even larger. Let's check.(All Galaxy Class data drawn from the TNG Tech Manual)

The overall length of a Galaxy Class is 611m, which is roughly twice the Constitution Class' 305. The overall width of a Galaxy Class is 560m, which is almost 4 times the Constitution's 141m. However, let's look at the volume.

The saucer section is 560m wide, 388m long, and 58m high. Now, it's thicker in the middle than at the edge, but if it weren't it would be about 10,000,000m^3, so I'll guestimate half of that (I think it's more).
You can see where this is going.
The Secondary hull is 174m wide, 291m long, and 49m high. That works out roughly to a volume of 2,800,000m^3.
That's 7,800,000m^3 for 1014 men, or 7700m^3 per man. Again, roughly 10 times that of a TOS ship

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You're a Starfleet Officer. "Weird" is part of the job.

[This message has been edited by spyone (edited 07-17-2001).]

[SIR SIG]

I was under the impression that the 2 'smaller' or dorsal and ventral sections of the Prometheus were under 'radio' control via the middle 'command' section.

Thus the automated attack patterns etc.

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SIRSIG
AKA: SirPostalot
AKA: The MapMaker
AKA: The Trek Cartographer
AKA:...Well I could keep going forever

[Capt.Hunter]

I'm sure the Prometheus sections can operate under computer control, just as Bev Crusher was able to order the computer to lay in a course back in Remember in TNG. However, would you really want an opponent to flood subspace with antilepton interference - blocking the comm signals between the three sections and disabling two of them? Better to have a crew onboard. As for the numbers of the command crew per section, wouldn't it be a standard watch? I mean, every ship has three watches, which normally rotate on and off-duty. At Red Alert, everyone is on duty. That means Alpha Shift take the main bridge, Beta Shift get the upper hull section, etc.

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"Captain Hunter, you are clearly outgunned. I suggest you surrender your vessel": Romulan Commander Terev, Imperial Warbird Senex

"Cmdr.Terev, you clearly have no idea we're carrying quantum torpedoes. I suggest you duck!": Capt.Matt Hunter, USS Tempest