What if the Lakota-type had been approved for production?

[Mikey]

1) It's not a 23rd century design - it merely uses the same or similar hull, as the Ticos used the Spruance hull.

OK, I'll give you that.

2) They're no longer first-rate warships, but they're still effective and relatively cheap and so are being built to bulk out of the fleet.

Possible, but I'd guess build cost is closely tied to size - meaning no matter how far off the SOTA a ship is, a given amount of tritanium is still a given amount of tritanium.

[Captain Seafort]

Possible, but I'd guess build cost is closely tied to size - meaning no matter how far off the SOTA a ship is, a given amount of tritanium is still a given amount of tritanium.

However, building more of a tried and tested ship, especially if the building programme is continuous, would be far cheaper than designing a new vessel and would have the advantage of not suffering from the teething problems of new designs.

[Mikey]

Again, fairy snuff; but once that newer class is beyond R&D and into a normal production run, continuing to also build an older (and presumably less capable) design doesn't make sense to me.

[Captain Seafort]

Again, fairy snuff; but once that newer class is beyond R&D and into a normal production run, continuing to also build an older (and presumably less capable) design doesn't make sense to me.

I'm not talking about using it as an interim, I'm talking about not designing that newer class. Concentrate your R&D efforts on first rate ships (like the Ambassador) and keep reeling out Excelsiors to act as the workhorse in roles where numbers and reliability are more important then having cutting-edge technology.

[Reliant121]

Border Patrol, and system defense strike me as being the primary roles in that field. Maybe showing the flag missions.

[Mikey]

I'm not talking about using it as an interim, I'm talking about not designing that newer class. Concentrate your R&D efforts on first rate ships (like the Ambassador) and keep reeling out Excelsiors to act as the workhorse in roles where numbers and reliability are more important then having cutting-edge technology.

OK, then I guess we were talking about two different things. If you mean continuing the build in lieu of the ridiculous array of different classes built in small runs, then I agree wholeheartedly. The only issue I can see with it - and I doubt it really is an issue - is crew sizes. Do you really want to relegate a full Excelsior complement to patrolling a supply depot in the East Bumblef*ck system?

[Captain Seafort]

OK, then I guess we were talking about two different things. If you mean continuing the build in lieu of the ridiculous array of different classes built in small runs, then I agree wholeheartedly. The only issue I can see with it - and I doubt it really is an issue - is crew sizes. Do you really want to relegate a full Excelsior complement to patrolling a supply depot in the East Bumblef*ck system?

No - leave minor things like that to Mirandas or unseen smaller ships. As of the 2320s-40s, while they were no longer Starfleet's best, the Excelsiors were still pretty powerful ships. They were probably assigned to boarder patrols, running important cargo around, and long-range exploration missions that didn't quite rate an Ambassador.

[Mikey]

What I've noticed - and I know I'm making an extrapolation from a small number of occurences - is that Excelsiors still seem to be used as of TNG as mobile offices/transports for the admiralty. Not flagships, as such, in times of war, but the personal steeds of admirals as it were.

[Reliant121]

Like....the armoured cars used by german officers in ww2? not fighting vehicles, more like limo's with armour plating.

[Captain Seafort]

Specialised command and control ships sounds like a good assumption to make. The Excelsiors would have to have been refitted at some point between their launch and the TNG-era. If some of them sacrificed firepower and shielding in favour of communications gear, extra room for staff officers, etc, they could be very effective as mobile offices for sector commanders or senior officers coming out from the core worlds to discuss or take control of a given situation in person.

[Mikey]

Something like that. It just seemed that when an admiral traveled to rendezvous in person, they did so in an Excelsior. Like I said, I'm just speaking anecdotally.

[Reliant121]

Could it simply be that the guesst quarters were particularly plush?

[Captain Seafort]

How exactly would they manage that? Fit an en suite swimming pool?

[Mikey]

How exactly would they manage that? Fit an en suite swimming pool?

Sure - that's what evolved into cetacean ops on the GCS.

[Deepcrush]

If we're going with Seafort's idea. Then I doubt they would have changed out the size of peoples quarters. Notice that in STVI, even the captain's quarters were spartan. A safer bet is that they updated the design over the years and were just able to strip the insides and then push out a newer ship minus the hull. That would be a very nice way of rapid production and keeping your ships up to date.