- 5 months ago
There have been ten hero ships throughout Star Trek, but let's see which left the biggest impact.
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00:00i want to open this list by saying that over at triculture we are blessed to have a lot of
00:05wonderful voices contributing to all of our articles all of our videos all of our thoughts
00:12the thing is we are not always going to agree on everything sometimes we sit down in a room
00:18and we can all go yep this is exactly how things should be and everything is fine and other times
00:23somebody will make a suggestion and they will be laughed into oblivion as the prophets willed it
00:29this article was originally written by marcus fry who is a wonderful wonderful person and because
00:34i'm going to disagree with almost every one of their points i think what you should do is head
00:39over to our website whatculture.com and check out the original article so that you can see what marcus
00:45thought compare it to what i thought and then we can have some sort of jousting competition with that
00:51big lovely intro out of the way let's get down to it here is every hero ship ranked worst to best
00:58number 10. la sirena before y'all think i'm a hater bear with me the ss la sirena is an unregistered
01:07kaplan f-17 freighter that cristobal rios acquired after leaving starfleet now in picard jean luke
01:14needed a fast dependable ship to get to where he was going and thanks to raffi knowing rios that was
01:21perfect they sorted him out with la sirena the reason la sirena scores so low on this list is that not
01:28because there's anything particularly wrong with the ship although the irish hologram does have me
01:35asking questions it's because when compared to the others on this list it just doesn't really stack up
01:41it definitely does the job and it definitely is agile it's got some fairly nifty weaponry i love their
01:48transporter and the fact that it's the size of half a cargo bay but for me it just doesn't hold up next
01:56to ships like defiant like the enterprise pecan enterprise or like some of the newer ships as
02:03well so for me it's a lovely lovely freighter it's quick it's cool i really do despite what i just said
02:10about the irish hologram enjoy the ship wide hollow emitters but it has to kick off our list today number
02:17nine the enterprise nx01 now i can hear our happy working relationship with dog drexler just vanishing
02:26into the distance but my reason for putting the nx01 so low is it's nothing to do with aesthetics it's
02:34nothing to do with well we love enterprise here so it's certainly nothing to do with that it's that when
02:40compared to the other ships on this list this one was a wonderful prototype sure and this one was a
02:47great one for getting the ball rolling but again it just doesn't stack up so much next to the rest so
02:54let me go through it so being set the 22nd century gave the writers of enterprise a unique opportunity
03:00to explore the origins of starfleet the federation as well as their tech the enterprise nx01 was great
03:05in this regard we got to see earlier forms of many of the iconic devices used aboard every starfleet
03:10ship in the original series of beyond instead of tractor beams they used physical grappling hooks
03:14instead of shields they polarized hole plating instead of photon torpedoes they just chucked
03:19rocks out the window all right not quite they were equipped with spatial torpedoes which have a lower
03:24explosive yield and range additionally the transporter was a new invention and you get to see that develop
03:30over the four seasons now all together the nx01 gave us great insight into the evolution of starfleet
03:36tech but for us it's hampered by its very purpose its purpose was to be an earlier version of starfleet
03:46and for that it does an absolutely brilliant job but again when you compare it to us on this list we
03:53love it enterprise we love you doug in the words of uh paramount to garrett wong someone's got to be the
04:00ensign number eight the uss enterprise 1701 now if anyone's still listening to this list i i i appreciate
04:08you and thank you very much the enterprise 1701 is the pinnacle of starship design in the 1960s it was
04:16crucial for introducing a new aesthetic a new sleek a new mature if you like version of space travel
04:25when it comes to at the time relatively mid-budget sci-fi now while star trek was never invented as
04:32a b-movie you know bug-eyed monster of the week sort of show it was beautifully steeped in that kind
04:39of history while still forging ahead with its own the way the nacelles sit behind the saucer section and
04:45the star drive section below is now one of the most recognizable designs in all of literature matt
04:51jeffries did a wonderful wonderful ship design for this new series now the only reason it scores
05:00as lowly as this is because amazing as it is it set the template for things to come afterwards so it
05:07was when you are given a wonderful prototype you have only to build and improve there is no denying
05:15whatsoever that the original enterprise is a beautiful ship and for me personally aesthetically
05:23my favorite enterprise is the refit 1701 and 1701 a from the movies so it is not that i personally
05:32think this one doesn't look great because it does it is the forebear for everything that came after it is
05:39a fantastic design and it is a very loved eighth entry on this list number seven uss discovery the
05:48crossfield class uss discovery was based on the original designs for what would become the refit 1701
05:55for the motion picture you can see that in the nacelles that jut out from the triangular star drive
06:01section with that smaller circular saucer section sitting above it the discovery raised some eyebrows when
06:07it was first seen in the teaser trailer for starter discovery the nacelles at the time were much
06:13shorter and it much more closely resembled that original design when it was finally revealed in
06:19episode three of starter discovery's first season those nacelles had taken rather a lot of viagra and
06:25had become about half a football field long and yet any issues that were presented in the initial
06:33season of starter discovery have long since been rectified the discovery and indeed the discovery a
06:40have very much earned their position in the starfleet pantheon of beautiful ship designs unusual sure
06:47but beautiful the interior of the ship while sometimes a little bit cold has warmed over the four seasons
06:54particularly into the fourth season where we start to spend more time in crew quarters particularly
07:00saru and burnham the bridge is a fantastic design it was a somewhat interesting choice that they
07:06decided to add what was effectively the entire interior of space dock during the third season finale
07:12fight in the turbolift however that has since been addressed and fixed the design features of course the
07:18spore drive which caused headaches for fans in seasons one and two of starting discovery but now that
07:23it's been flung into the far future is absolutely fine and it is now a very very cool piece of technology
07:29it allows discovery to visit anywhere they want in the galaxy you know i think it brings them up to
07:35about two light years before the galactic barrier almost like that was a plot point in season four
07:40a having earned its place in starfleet history at this stage discovery is a strong strong vessel
07:47one that took an absolute pounding against control and yet still manages to hold its own up against the
07:53one seven oh one hats off discovery kudos number six uss protostar now the protostar is an advanced
08:01strong fast little ship star trek prodigy is impressing younger and existing audiences of star trek by
08:08introducing the proto drive via this ship the ship itself is a beautifully sleek design that evokes both
08:15memories of the dauntless voyager and some of the kelvin universe vessels as well armed with
08:22finally a replicator for support ships which would explain so much of how voyager managed to hang on to
08:28all of those shuttles this ship has managed to hold its own against the diviner and against other
08:33ships around the delta quadrant it managed to help its crew escape to another quadrant while being chased
08:38although they did have to turn straight around after that and for further details watch prodigy the recent
08:43trailer that was released for prodigy's second part of its first season showed its size up against the new
08:49dauntless class which really hammered home that the protostar is generally a test vessel
08:55or support vessel as it's roughly the size of several runabouts placed back to back the dauntless
09:01dwarfs it now it's not about size it's about use and the protostar so far has proven a very effective
09:09very covetable ship and one that we are very very much enjoying watching its journey number five the
09:17uss defiant and the sao paulo the defiant class ship which was introduced in the beginning of ds9's
09:22third season was a complete departure from everything that we've seen before in terms of starfleet vessels
09:28it was equipped with a cloaking device thank you very much romulans and also featured a blockier
09:34stockier design it was starfleet's first warship now this went completely against what gene roddenberry
09:41wanted for star trek back in the 1960s and yet times had changed therefore the need for the ships
09:48in star trek changed with it you can almost hear the twitter users running to say not my star trek and
09:55gene would be spinning in his grave but think about how enduring the defiant was it survived so many
10:02battles with the dominion it survived a battle with the borg it survived many many tussles with the
10:08cardassians as well as other various ships looking at you klingon fleet it finally met its end in the
10:16second battle of chintaka in the seventh season of star 2d space 9. now although it went out firing
10:23it was disappointing and saddening to see that the breen's energy dissipating weapon was able to take
10:29down one of our favorite ships which of course was the point as a shot revealed all of the other
10:35ships behind it you see galaxy class vessels as well to go even if the enterprise d was there in that
10:40fight not like that would have done much better the defiant did fantastically for the three and a
10:44half years that it served before it was destroyed and the sao paulo although we didn't get very much
10:49to see seemed to do quite well in what you leave behind as well number four the uss enterprise ncc
10:561701e introduced in star trek first contact the sovereign class uss enterprise e is easily
11:04one of the most beautiful ships on this list the sleek design accentuated by the fact the saucer
11:10section goes straight into the star drive section without a neck to target shows that the enterprise
11:16e is a follow-on in a way from the defiant with the enterprise d having been destroyed in orbit of
11:21viridian 3 in the previous film it was known that we needed an enterprise that could stand up to more
11:28of a direct assault and the enterprise e's design accentuates this john eaves worked very very closely
11:35with the producers to come up with something that would show it was still a ship of exploration but
11:41one that had teeth now it was tested early in star trek first contact with the battle of sector 001 leading
11:46directly into the fight against the sphere and then it was almost completely assimilated over the course
11:52of the film and yet still bounced back for star trek insurrection and star trek nemesis in both of
11:57those films the ship took a pounding as well so the ship's strength is not in question the ship's
12:03comfort is also not in question as it was shown across all three films just how much there were
12:09creature comforts everywhere didn't you see the mentakin tapestry on the back of picard's chair god i love
12:15who watches the watches the enterprise e remains one of the most instantly recognizable ships in all of
12:21star trek as well as one of the most fist pumping arrivals in all of star trek it appears in what is
12:28for many one of the best star trek films and it also appears in what is for many one of the worst
12:33star trek films so i'm not going to name them you decide with the close-up on the deflector dish the
12:38nacelles that got pushed back between starter first contact and star trek insurrection and the front of
12:43the saucer section which was completely schmuddled and then rebuilt at the end of nemesis this is a
12:48strong beautiful elegant ship that i'm kind of considering asking out on a date number three the
12:55uss cerritos the california class cerritos was a bit of an eyeful when it first appeared in that teaser
13:02poster a few years ago it was very clearly inspired by ships like the galaxy class and ambassador class
13:08with the circular saucer section and then their relative lack of star drive section was a bit like
13:14wait a minute i thought this was starfleet however it perfectly encapsulates the purpose of the ship
13:20which is the cali class ships are the workhorse of starfleet they get sent in to do the dirty work
13:27that the other ships don't want to do and in that respect it is perfectly fit for design now we've seen
13:33in recent episodes just how many mazes of wiring and jeffrey's tubes and hydroponics bays and duper
13:40skeletons are sitting on the cerritos it is quite a bit larger than perhaps we first thought when we
13:45first saw it and it does exactly what it says in the tin you go in and make first contact and make
13:51friends and everything's great and you warp off and then the cerritos comes in to usually mop up the
13:55damage it had its entire outer hull stripped away at the end of the second season and was absolutely fine
14:02it saved much larger ships like the archimedes it has always been there to get the job done and has
14:09still managed to take a complete and utter kicking from the packlets on several occasions the cerritos
14:16is to the cali class what the enterprise is to whatever class of ship the enterprise is that week
14:22it is truly one of the stars of starfleet now while it might not shine as bright as a galaxy or
14:28sovereign class it is still out there keeping the light going number two uss voyager the intrepid
14:34class voyager was introduced in caretaker the opening episode to this new series voyager featured
14:40a new design it was an oblong saucer section a star drive section that was attached directly to it
14:47and moving nacelles the nacelles would rise up when the ship was going to warp as this was shown to make
14:53a more effective warp drive the ship was able to land with the struts that were revealed in the 37s
15:00which became the first episode of season two of star trek voyager the one criticism that voyager
15:06often gets is that the premise for the show which was the conflict between the federation officers and
15:11the maquis officers and the fact that voyager was stuck so far away from a space dock is what keeps this
15:17from the top spot the ship was a little too clean so although it was fantastic and it lasted and it
15:24faced against the krenum and it faced against the borg and the kazon and and and and and it always
15:32looked like it had just been rolled off the showroom floor now that is a minor gripe on my part because
15:38i love this design the deflector dish the shuttle bay with the revolving door of shuttles that just never
15:43seemed to run out which we addressed in our protostar entry and the fact that when we know it got home
15:49it became a museum just goes to show how enduring voyager was now the design was used once on deep
15:57space 9 to stand in for the bellerophon although it would have been lovely to see it in some of the
16:01movies because it is such a well-designed ship the bioneural gel packs that became effectively the nervous
16:08system for the computer core were an interesting idea that were never really followed up on
16:13there were many ideas introduced in this ship that should have gone on to become mainstays across
16:20the board it features in my humble opinion the most beautiful engineering set of any of the hero ships
16:27and also i kind of love the bridge the most as well number one the uss enterprise ncc 1701 d
16:351987 saw the introduction of the galaxy class enterprise d designed by andrew probert this would feature a much
16:42larger design than the enterprise we had seen before because this was not only a ship of exploration but
16:47it was also effectively a ship of diplomacy a ship of colonization a ship of conferences it needed the
16:54space it was a chunker of a ship it was different from what came before in that the nace cells were much
17:00smaller when compared to the dimensions of the constitution class it was able to face off against ships like the
17:07borg cube it was able to face off against kardassian klingon romulan vessels but all that time the
17:13enterprise d was never a ship of war it was always a ship of exploration the brightly lit corridors the
17:20slower pace of life on board and of course the large horseshoe tactical station that surrounded the command
17:27chairs on board the bridge all led to this being the most iconic design when it comes to starfleet vessels
17:35and it seems to be the one that newer ships tend to base their at least initial designs from the
17:43enterprise d went before her time over verdian 3 she was a victim of the film industry rather than
17:50anything else because the sets were designed for television screens at a 4-3 ratio not the widescreen
17:57format of cinema the ship was shown in several versions throughout its run we had of course the version that
18:03we saw in yesterday's enterprise which showed a bridge that would serve as the inspiration for
18:07the bridge on star trek generations and also the three nacelled version that rocked up in all good
18:13things the enterprise d in the galaxy glass remains one of the most endearing designs ever shown in
18:18star trek it is a personal warmth when i see this ship is i know exactly that i'm home thank you very much
18:25everyone for listening to this list thank you very much to the wonderful wonderful marcus fry who is cursing my
18:32name and stabbing pins into my voodoo doll right now and that is absolutely fine i thoroughly recommend
18:37you go over to the website and read their article and then compare the points and tell me why i'm wrong
18:42thank you very much to the wonderful martin who had to turn my words into a moving picture video you're
18:49a good man if you agreed with this list or if you disagreed with this list head on into the comments
18:53below and let me know remember that you can catch us over on twitter at trek culture you can catch myself
18:58at sean ferrick on twitter and the various socials as well now until i see you again make sure that
19:01you live long and prosper make sure that you look after yourselves to our friends in ukraine stay
19:05strong stay fighting we are with you everyone have a wonderful week make it so
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