Your Favorite Federation Starship Class

[Tsukiyumi]

I don't recall Riker ordering a full spread.

[Graham Kennedy]

Do you have ANYTHING to back that definition of a full spread up?

[Sonic Glitch]

Do you have ANYTHING to back that definition of a full spread up?

Um, that it makes sense? The reason you fire a spread of torpedoes is to maximize your chance of hitting the target, not to maximize the damage done (though that is a nice bonus I'd assume, if all of your torpedoes hit).

Unless one of the more military/naval-oriented people here can correct me?

[Mark]

If you recall, in YE....they ordered "full spread, dispersion pattern--somethingorother", so the number of torpedos has nothing to do with how the pattern in set up.

[stitch626]

Do you have ANYTHING to back that definition of a full spread up?

Def of spread: to distribute over a greater or a relatively great area of space or time
Def of full: of the maximum size, amount, extent, volume

[Mark]

By that definition, "Starboard" means a glorious piece of lumber

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

By that definition, "Starboard" means a glorious piece of lumber

It doesn't????

[stitch626]

By that definition, "Starboard" means a glorious piece of lumber

No it doesn't. Starboard has nothing to do with the words "full" and "spread".
Also, "starboard" is one single word, not two words used together, and not two words that were merged. One word.
"Full spread" are two distinct words each with a separate meaning.

Anyway, that is the only definition combination of full spread that makes sense contextually.

[Deepcrush]

Besides, starboard started as "the steer board side" since in long boats the rudder was on the right and docking or "porting" was done on the left to avoid wrecking.

A full spread of torps is exactly what it says it is.

[Atekimogus]

First of all, I just don't get the end of your point. 2 torpedoes and a sensor probe? Exactly the amount required? What the hell?

I meant that even if we assume that they fired multiple torpedoes in one big shinning ball it would be serious overkill to assume that they fired the maximum of 10 torpedoes against one unshielded Bird of Prey. It took 5 (or seven, hard to say from the cut) to destroy a Bird of Prey in Star Trek VI. 80 years later one would assume that 10 torpedoes would be beyond overkill.

This is pretty compelling evidence, it must be said. The only real argument against it is to claim it as a VFX mistake, but there's really nothing to support it.

Burst fire mode always shows the torpedoes emerging together and then splitting after a few hundred metres, like this.

They often use bursts to hit many parts of a target simultaneously. It only makes sense that they can just as equally program them to stay together for a single mass strike on one part of the target. Perhaps they even merge their shields during flight for added protection?

I do assume that they can fire all 10 appearing as one, yet ordering a full spread against a single "small" target (besides making not much sense imho) doesn't say anything about the numbers of torpedoes fired. Depending on how far they are able to spread simultaneously launched torpedoes, a full spread could also be achieved with a minimum number of two. (Now I know it is only a computer game, but in Star Trek TNG A Final Unity you could acutally choose the spread (10°, 20°, 30° etc to 60° iirc) and the numbers of torpedoes fired independently, which imho makes sense)

If he wanted to fire all 10 torpedoes (which he should have to begin with but thats another discussion) he should have ordered a full salvo, not a spread unless I seriously misunderstood something (english not beeing my primary language), if so apologies.

[Graham Kennedy]

By that definition, "Starboard" means a glorious piece of lumber

No it doesn't. Starboard has nothing to do with the words "full" and "spread".
Also, "starboard" is one single word, not two words used together, and not two words that were merged. One word.
"Full spread" are two distinct words each with a separate meaning.

Anyway, that is the only definition combination of full spread that makes sense contextually.

Except that it's not how it's used, ever. "Full spread" has ALWAYS been used to mean firing a big mess of torps from a tube or from all the tubes which are pointing at the enemy. It's never been used in the context of firing torps with a wide dispersal.

[Mikey]

Before I comment, let me say that I have never been in a military service, much less a navy. The following is based simply on my contextual and critical analysis of the dialogue. I always assumed that "full spread" was meant to convey the maximum number of torpedoes able to be fired at once, while the dispersal pattern would be indicated by such terms as "maximum spread" or (even more explicit) "maximum dispersal" or somesuch.

[Mikey]

Ho-kay, the following is from Wiki, but sourced from the Submarine Torpedo Firing Manual:

Straight running torpedoes were usually launched in salvo (i.e. multiple launches in a short period of time) or a spread (i.e. multiple launches with slight angle offsets)

The context, to me, indicates that the adjective modifying the word "spread" would indicate the number of torpedoes rather than the dispersal pattern. I see no reason to assume that the terminology would be different in 'Trek if the word "torpedo" is still in usage.

[BigJKU316]

Ho-kay, the following is from Wiki, but sourced from the Submarine Torpedo Firing Manual:

Straight running torpedoes were usually launched in salvo (i.e. multiple launches in a short period of time) or a spread (i.e. multiple launches with slight angle offsets)

The context, to me, indicates that the adjective modifying the word "spread" would indicate the number of torpedoes rather than the dispersal pattern. I see no reason to assume that the terminology would be different in 'Trek if the word "torpedo" is still in usage.

Yes, this would be accurate. A full spread on a destroyer in WWI or WWII basically meant firing all of the torpedoes that could be fired at once. It has nothing to do with the angle or width of the spread, that was the dispersion pattern as already pointed out.

A half-spread would be firing half the torpedoes that a ship had ready at that time.

[stitch626]

Actually if you look at the Wiki Mikey posted, spread specifically had an angle offset (as apposed to salvo which had none). Therefore, (even if "full" referred to the number of torpedoes rather than magnitude of spread) we would still have seen more than one ball of light in GEN.

If Trek is still using sub terms, which they seem to, usually.