Changes: Miranda class

Revision as of 14:24, 15 September 2008

The Miranda-class starship was a type of cruiser introduced by Starfleet in the late 23rd century and remained in use through the late 24th century.

History

Miranda-class starships were in service as early as the mid-2280s. (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan; Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)

Some Miranda-class starships constructed during the first half of the 24th century fell under the authority of the Yoyodyne Division, around Stardate 22519.5. Vessels including USS Brattain were constructed at this time at 40 Eridani A Starfleet Construction Yards. (TNG: "Night Terrors" dedication plaque)

The mission profile of the Miranda-class varied from performing various scientific roles to conducting patrol duties. (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan; TNG: "Night Terrors"; Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home; DS9: "In the Cards") By the latter half of the 24th century, one variation of this class was known by the designation of Class 6 Federation supply ship. (TNG: "Unnatural Selection")

The Miranda-class was present in several major Federation engagements against the Borg, including the Battle of Wolf 359 and the Battle of Sector 001. (DS9: "Emissary"; Star Trek: First Contact) They were also present in numerous Dominion War battles, where they often served as escorts. Many ships of the class saw action during Operation Return, the First and Second Battles of Chin'toka, and the Battle of Cardassia. Many Miranda-class vessels were stationed near Deep Space 9. (DS9: "Sacrifice of Angels", "Tears of the Prophets", "The Changing Face of Evil", "What You Leave Behind", etc.)

Technical data

Physical arrangement

USS Brattain MSD — The master systems display schematics

The configuration of the Miranda-class shared a similar design lineage and features with the refit configuration Template:ShipClass, implemented by the early 2270s. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)

The Miranda-class was composed of a single primary hull, consisting of a saucer that was similar to that of the Constitution-class; however, the bridge module, positioned on top in the center, was shaped differently than the Constitution-class module.

Mounted on the underside of the primary hull were two nacelle pylons connected to the warp nacelles. (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, etc.)

Although the nacelles were visually identical to the nacelles used on Constitution-class, the tops of the nacelles were mounted to the pylons. On the Constitution-class, the pylons were mounted to the bottom of the nacelles.

Design features of the primary hull included a docking port located on the forward section of the ship; the aft section included two shuttlebays, separated by the vessel’s impulse engines. These shuttlebays were visually numbered; "1" being on the rear-port side, and "2" on the rear-starboard side. (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan; DS9: "The Way of the Warrior", etc.)

Four known variations were known to be utilized with the Miranda during its time in service.

The predominant Miranda-class design included a superstructure (or "roll bar") fitted immediately above the primary hull, as a dorsal extension of the ventral nacelle pylons. This superstructure was equipped with torpedo launchers and phaser banks. (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, etc.) By late 2373, this predominant design would undergo an upgrade to its warp nacelles. (DS9: "Sacrifice of Angels")

The reconfigured nacelle coloration, which replaced the black with a blue glow as well as made the semi-circle at the front of the nacelle yellow, came as a result of the transition from studio model to CGI model. In addition, a small number of the CGI ships included an additional red glow placed where the rear torpedo launcher was located that matched that of the impulse engines.

Some variants lacked the addition of a superstructure, and in other cases, included two large pods affixed on the port and starboard sides of the primary hull. (TNG: "Unnatural Selection"; DS9: "Emissary")

An additional variant of the Miranda-class was also created and configured with much more significant modifications. This design, known as the Template:ShipClass, was retired during the 2280s. (TNG: "Cause and Effect")

Weapon systems

Standard to all designs were six dual phaser banks located on the primary hull – three mounted to the top and three mounted on the bottom of the saucer.

In the variant possessing the "roll bar," that superstructure contained two tubular phaser emitters on each side that could fire both forward, aft, and to the ship's flanks. There were also two forward and two aft photon torpedo launchers housed in a pod mounted in the center of the superstructure.

The configuration of the torpedo launcher cowling was somewhat similar in appearance to the cowling used for the torpedo launchers on Constitution-class vessels.

By the 24th century a number of modifications were made to the Miranda-class weapons systems. Some Miranda-class vessels, such as those of the "twin-pod" variant, included an upgraded phaser array mounted on the lower part of the ventral dome and photon torpedo launchers in the main part of the ship rather than in a pod on the "roll-bar". (DS9: "Emissary")

In "Emissary", the Captain of the Saratoga gave an order to "load torpedo bays" (which is also mentioned visually in the script), though the ship was never seen firing any torpedoes at all.

In other modifications, such as the Class 6 Federation supply ship variant, the Miranda-class featured class 3 defensive armaments. (TNG: "Unnatural Selection")

A majority of 24th century Miranda-class vessels of the "roll-bar" variant, particularly during the Dominion War, were equipped with phaser arrays and photon torpedoes equivalent to those used on other ships of the era, while keeping the same the weapon array placements as the 23rd century Miranda. (DS9: "Sacrifice of Angels", "What You Leave Behind", VOY: "Endgame", etc.)

Interior design

Main bridge

The design of Miranda-class bridge during the 23rd century shared a similar layout to contemporary vessels of that era.

Located on Deck 1 of the saucer section, the Main Bridge housed the command center of the Miranda-class. The design lineage of the main bridge was a fairly standard floor plan for a Federation starship. Against the forward bulkhead was placed the ship's viewscreen, with side-by-side navigation and helm consoles. The captain's chair was directly aft of the aforementioned stations. Several variations exist in the layout of the surrounding stations.

At the rear and center of the USS Reliant's bridge was the turbolift entryway. The primary stations, which were located along the rear of the bridge, included the tactical station on the port side of the bridge. Along the rear starboard side of the bridge were the primary science station and communications station. (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) The bridge similarly found on board the USS Saratoga (NCC-1867) also had primary stations located along the perimeter of the bridge; however, the Saratoga's bridge included the science station on the port side of the bridge, nearly parallel to the navigation station. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)

The bridge of the Reliant was a redress of the USS Enterprise bridge, with different colors and a rearrangement of consoles. Because of this, some of the displays mistakenly had diagrams of a Constitution-class on them. The bridge of the Saratoga was essentially a reuse of the design created for the bridge of the USS Grissom.

By the 24th century, further reconfigurations were made to the layout of the bridge, including the separation of the navigation and helm station, which was replaced by the conn station (on the starboard side) and ops station (on the port side).

The bridge of the USS Lantree was relatively simplistic in design, containing little more than a large LCARS interface and star charts on the back of the bridge. (TNG: "Unnatural Selection") The bridge of the USS Saratoga (NCC-31911) had a much more complex layout, including two additional standing consoles located behind the conn and ops, parallel and slightly behind the captain's chair. The standing console on the port side of the ship contained the tactical station. Also located on the port side, in the foremost section of the bridge, was a turbolift. Along the aft of the bridge were several various access stations. (DS9: "Emissary")

Relatively similar to the bridge of the Saratoga, the bridge of the USS Brattain had large support braces surrounding the captain's chair to the sides and rear. In place of the two standing consoles of the Saratoga was a single engineering station, placed directly behind the captain's chair and directly in front of an engineering MSD interface. (TNG: "Night Terrors")

The bridge of the Lantree was a redress of the USS Enterprise-D's battle bridge, which was additionally rotated 180 degrees. As a result, the battle bridge viewscreen appeared at the rear of the bridge. The viewscreen was then covered to make it appear as a panel instead.

Corridors

The numerous corridors that connected the various sections of the Miranda-class resembled those of contemporary designs. The corridors on board the USS Reliant resembled those of the refit Constitution-class. (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) The outer corridors on board the USS Saratoga (NCC-31911) were heavily fortified with a system of support braces. (DS9: "Emissary")

The brief shot of the Reliant's corridor was simply the use of the existing sets designed for the USS Enterprise.

Main engineering

Main engineering contained a vertical warp core, with multiple levels surrounding the core. (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan)

The brief shot of the Reliant's main engineering was simply the use of the existing sets designed for the USS Enterprise.

Transporter room

USS Reliant transporter — Transporter room, USS *Reliant*

The staging area of the transporter room on board the Miranda-class possessed six transporter pads. Transporter control could be accessed through a console located on the bridge. (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan)

The brief shot of the Reliant's transporter room was simply the use of the existing sets designed for the USS Enterprise.

Crew quarters

USS Saratoga quarters — Crew quarters, USS *Saratoga* (NCC-31911)

The crew quarters located on the outer rim of the ship contained several large picture windows, littered with numerous large support braces. (DS9: "Emissary")

Shuttlebay

The Miranda-class features two shuttlebays, located port and starboard of the ship's center. On some Miranda-class ships, such as the USS Saratoga, both of the shuttlebays hold escape pods capable of transporting several personnel. (DS9: "Emissary")

Ships commissioned

Named

USS Brattain (NCC-21166)
USS Lantree (NCC-1837)
USS Majestic (NCC-31060)
USS Nautilus (NCC-31910)
USS Reliant (NCC-1864)
USS Saratoga (NCC-1867)
USS Saratoga (NCC-31911)
USS ShirKahr (NCC-31905)
USS Sitak
USS Tian An Men (NCC-21832)
USS Trial (NCC-1948)

Unnamed

Unnamed Miranda-class starships

Appendices

Appearances

Background

Name

The name Miranda-class was not mentioned in dialog on-screen, but was devised by the art department of TNG to refer to this design. The name was used on several pieces of on-screen signage referring to these vessels, and is also used by dedicated references such as the Star Trek Encyclopedia.

The name "Miranda" may refer to a character from the play The Tempest by Earth playwright William Shakespeare. Shakespeare invented the name, which is a play on the term "admired". In the play, Miranda is the daughter of the wizard Prospero. She exclaims the famous line once referenced by Captain Jean-Luc Picard, "Brave New World...", one of the most appropriate of all Shakespeare quotations for the Federation's message of peaceful exploration of the unknown.

According to an early final draft of the script for "Unnatural Selection" the USS Lantree was identified as a "class R Starfleet supply ship" rather than a "class 6 Federation supply ship". [1]

Model

Design

The Miranda-class studio model, specifically the USS Reliant, was designed at Paramount by Joe Jennings and Mike Minor.

In designing the Reliant, the script called for an older cruiser of "Enterprise's own class" but of a "different configuration." This ended up being a different class of starship in its own right, the first distinct Federation starship design other than the NCC-1701 to ever appear in a filmed, live-action Star Trek production.

The Miranda-class model was originally designed "upside-down", with the nacelles above the dish and the "roll-bar" below the dish. However, when the initial drawing was sent to Harve Bennett for approval, he viewed the drawings upside down. He liked the design and signed off on it. The FX team debated whether or not to send the sketches back to Bennett (who was in Israel at the time working on another project) with the correct orientation, but they decided that there was insufficient time to do so.

Construction

USS Reliant ILM team — ILM team with completed *Reliant* miniature

The studio model was constructed at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) under supervising model maker Steve Gawley. Among Gawley's crew were modelmakers Bill George, Sean Casey, Larry Tan, Jeff Mann, Steve Sanders, Brian Chin, Bob Diepenbrock, and Mike Fulmer, with Martin Brenneis responsible for model electronics.

In constructing the model, ILM took much consideration in creating a model that could be light enough to be easily maneuvered during photography. This approach was taken because they did not want to create another bulky model, like the Enterprise built for Star Trek: The Motion Picture. As a result, the Reliant model was made at scale three-quarters that of the Enterprise. In addition, the hull for the Reliant was shaped from vacuum-formed plastic, resulting in a model that was light enough that two people could handle it.

The model's interior wiring was also much simpler than was used in the Enterprise model, limited only to what was required of it as written in the script. The interior contained a metal armature that allowed it to be mounted in various positions as required for filming.

Larger pieces were constructed for close-up shots, notably the roll bar. Explosive charges and pre-packed pieces of plastic scrap were packed into the molds to give the illusion of an exploding ship. The exploded model was formed from wax to allow the pieces to be remolded for additional shots.

Legacy

The high quality studio model continued to be reused for over fifteen years by the producers of TNG and DS9 to represent a variety of different starships and classes, following modifications used in creating the USS Lantree, the USS Bozeman and the USS Saratoga.

Even as the original models were worn out, new CGI models were created and used during the later years of DS9 and VOY. According to DS9 Visual Effects Coordinator David Stipes, the Miranda-class ships appearing in the later seasons of series were modeled, surfaced, and animated by Digital Muse. [2]

Several Miranda-class related items were sold in Christie's 40 Years of Star Trek: The Collection, including:

"STARSHIP RELIANT MODEL BLUEPRINTS AND STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN DEVELOPMENT DOCUMENTS": Which included a collection of blueprints used in developing the Starship Reliant miniature for Star Trek II. Auction price: $4,000 US ($4,800 US with premium)[3]
"SMALL BATTLE-DAMAGED U.S.S. RELIANT MINATURE MODEL": A small 17x10x4 inch model of the Reliant, build for Star Trek II by ILM, that came with a studio blueprint depicting early concept for Reliant in its original "upside down" configuration. Auction price: $24,000 US ($28800 US with premium). [4]
"USS RELIANT MODEL": A large 63x37 inch model, labeled as both the USS Saratoga (on the main body) and USS Brattain (on the "roll bar"). Auction price: $50,000 US ($60,000 US with premium). [5]

An additional lot related to this design was sold in the It's A Wrap! sale and auction, which was described as "BRONZED STARSHIP MODEL". This Miranda-class derived model had four nacelles, with the standard nacelles under the ship along with two others attached to the roll-bar above the other nacelles. This configuration was never shown on screen. Final auction price: $232.50 US. [6]

For the 2008 remastering of TOS: "The Ultimate Computer", the production crew of David Rossi, Denise Okuda and Mike Okuda briefly considered using alternate ship types to represent the fleet that engaged the M-5 computer. According to M. Okuda, "one of the ideas we considered was to have a Reliant-type configuration for a couple of the guest ships. The problem with a smaller ship is that you don't want the sense that the Enterprise is more powerful, because that would hurt the drama of the story. Ultimately, keeping all four ships the same emphasizes that the only variable is that the Enterprise is piloted by the M-5 computer." Another factor in maintaining the integrity of the original designs, according to D. Okuda, was that "we all decided that it was best to honor the expectations of fans who had grown up seeing four Constitution-class ships." [7]

Specifications

The specifications for the Miranda were not mentioned in dialog, but are referenced from the show's art department. The initial length for the Miranda-class of 765' (233m) was established during the production of Star Trek II, that was later followed up by Andrew Probert during TNG Season 1. The scale of the CGI mesh was scaled approximately twenty-five percent smaller than had been previously established. According to a 20 January 1998 post in the newsgroup alt.tv.star-trek.ds9 by David Stipes, a length of approximately 500' to 560' (167m to 187m) was used when he blocked shots in DS9.

The following information of specifications and defenses comes exclusively from the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual:

Type: Medium Cruiser
Production Base: ASDB Integration Facility, Starbase 134 Integration Facility, Rigel VI
Accommodation: 220 officers and crew; 500 personal evacuation limit
Power Plant: One 1,500 plus Cochrane warp core feeding two nacelles; one impulse system
Dimensions:
- Length: 277.76 meters
- Beam: 173.98 meters
- Height: 65.23 meters
Mass: 655,000 metric tons
Performance: Warp 9.2 for 12 hours
Armament: Six type-7 phaser emitters; two pulse phaser cannons; two photon torpedo launchers

Apocrypha

After its 1982 premier in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, fan-produced blueprints named this ship type the "Avenger-class Heavy Frigate". Further non-canon fan publications created its mid-23rd century predecessor the Surya-class. Ships of the Starfleet suggests that the prototype vessel USS Miranda had the registry NCC-1833.

Apocryphal appearances

The Interplay PC Game Starfleet Academy features several Miranda-class vessels including USS Oberon (NCC-1806), USS Rutherford (NCC-1835), USS Alexandria (NCC-1842), USS Tempest (NCC-1852), USS Atlantis (NCC-1865), and USS Demeter (NCC-1868).
The Interplay PC Game New Worlds features the Miranda-class vessel USS Ranger (NCC-1975).
The Activision PC Game The Fallen features the Miranda-class vessel USS Ulysses (NCC-10767).

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-By the 24th century a number of modifications were made to the ''Miranda''-class weapons systems.  Some ''Miranda''-class vessels, such as those of the "twin-pod" variant, included an upgraded phaser array mounted on the lower part of the ventral dome and photon torpedo launchers in the main part of the ship rather than in a pod on the "roll-bar". ({{DS9|Emissary}}
+By the 24th century a number of modifications were made to the ''Miranda''-class weapons systems.  Some ''Miranda''-class vessels, such as those of the "twin-pod" variant, included an upgraded phaser array mounted on the lower part of the ventral dome and photon torpedo launchers in the main part of the ship rather than in a pod on the "roll-bar". ({{DS9|Emissary}})
 :''In "Emissary", the [[USS Saratoga (NCC-31911) personnel#Captain|Captain of the ''Saratoga'']] gave an order to "load [[torpedo bay|torpedo bays]]" (which is also mentioned visually in the script), though the ship was never seen firing any torpedoes at all.''