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| U.S.S. Reliant |
I've been going over the design for the past few weeks and have begun looking at it differently; for the longest time I simply accepted the design without putting much thought into the 'why' behind it. Now, I'm asking some real tough questions of the ship using all information of the time and the benefit of hindsight.
First we'll begin by looking at the true origins of the Ship known as Reliant - the screenplay. The screenplay says this about the Reliant:
"EXT. DEEP SPACE - NEAR CETI ALPHA V 7
In f.g. is the U.S.S. RELIANT, an older, somewhat
battered Starship of the ENTERPRISE class, with a
slightly different configuration"
"Enterprise class with a slightly different configuration" That could mean anything, obviously the ship wasn't even in the design phase at the time that description was written so let's ignore it. Let us focus on this - "U.S.S. Reliant, an older, somewhat battered Starship"; now that I find intriguing. I always took the Reliant as a newer, better equipped contemporary of the Enterprise. But the writers (and director) intended for the ship to be older and in worse condition - lesser than the Enterprise. Indeed a case could be made for that from certain clues not only in the design but in the film itself.
Let's take what we see of the ship first: It matches the Enterprise visually with regard to it's engines, same impulse engines, same warp engines, same bridge. In that way it is comparable technologically to it's in-film adversary - The Enterprise. But what of the equipment or 'greeblies' on the outside? What purpose do they serve? We see that the ship lacks a Deflector dish, it possesses the three round details around the Enterprises deflector- they are positioned two on the saucer and one on the "Weapons pod" of the Reliant. Suggesting that the system exists on that ship and would seem to be a necessary component as all Enterprises have them. Could the rest of the details on the Reliant be connected or rather a replacement for the deflector? In later classes or variants of the Miranda class we can see the ship without the roll-bar and as such missing that part of it's deflector system; obviously it is not necessary for the ship to have as it has existed without it.
Are the details on the outside of the ship meant to suggest that it is somehow older, lesser, not as sophisticated or refined as the Enterprise? I'm quite fond of the idea that the Reliant is an older ship and not as good as the Enterprise, despite it seeming like the better of the two in the film; though that was probably due to the Reliant catching Kirk and crew off guard in their sneak attack, leaving the Enterprise horribly crippled throughout the film. I doubt if the Enterprise were in top condition that the Reliant would be much of a threat, despite it clearly having more weapons. And what of those weapons? What mission type would necessitate that many weapons? The ship possesses no less than four torpedo launchers and sixteen! Phaser banks. Talk about being gunned up!
The case could be made that the Enterprise was more of a science and exploratory ship where as the Reliant was more of a patrol/destroyer meant to patrol the neutral zone and as such was given a greater number of weapons. Add to that it's ability to 'jam' sensors and you've got quite a lethal ship. So why then was it supposed to be "an older, battered starship"? The ships registry (NCC-1864) suggests that it is newer than the Enterprise (NCC-1701), possibly by several decades. Could the ships history point to an answer? Let's say it was a patrol ship, plying the Federation border for most of it's life; and let's say it encountered an inordinate number of battles? That might suggest a reason why such a gunned-up ship like the Reliant was relegated to surveying planets in known Federation space. An old warhorse (Which Harve Bennett R.I.P seemed quite fond of - look to his Starfleet Academy script and the 'old' Enterprise for another example) put out to pasture a bit early due to a severe service life.
That said, there is nothing in the film which suggests that this ship is anything less than the Enterprise. Indeed, the Enterprise herself is relegated to a 'training vessel', something that in real naval terms means the ship is one step from the scrap yard.
I do however like the idea of the Reliant being an old beater of a starship. Though I also like the idea of a rather small starfleet (A couple of hundred ships or so), I think it makes the universe seem smaller and our heroes seem a bit bigger. Make of that what you will.
Another point is the disposition of the Reliant's crew before Khan exiled them; they seemed as though they'd almost welcome banishment! Go back and watch, everyone including Kyle seems bored to tears and wanting to do anything but surveying planets for a bunch of kooky scientists! Perhaps that's why Terrell and his group of TOS castaways pulled such a shitty assignment, their bad attitude coupled with a cannon fodder of a Captain and they could all probably see the writing on the wall. Those guys were fucked before they left Spacedock.
Variants.
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| U.S.S. Lantree |
The variants of the Miranda class might also suggest that this ship is a POS. Let's take it's first appearance on TNG - The U.S.S. Lantree designated a class 3 supply ship with a handful of people aboard. No weapons bar (Not an intentional decision, see the reason here).
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| Lantree filming model. |
Soyuz class.
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| U.S.S. Bozeman (NCC-1941) emerging from a "Temporal Causality Loop" |
In the TNG episode "Cause and effect" The Enterprise-D is continuously struck and destroyed by a Miranda variant; the U.S.S. Bozeman (NCC-1941). I've loved this variant since it's first appearance on TV. It was quite a unique Starship design in that it had a number of 'sensor blisters' on it all with suspiciously gun-like sensor tubes sticking out of them. It wasn't seen too clearly in the episode but it was clear enough to see the differences. The creation of this new sub-class was obviously a cost-saving measure and required only a minor modification of the old Reliant model.
Saratoga variant:
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| U.S.S. Saratoga (NCC-31911) |
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| U.S.S. Saratoga filming model |
In the DS9 pilot "Emissary", commander Benjamin Sisko is seen as the first officer of the U.S.S. Saratoga (NCC-31911); a modified Miranda class nearly eighty years after the ship was first introduced. The ship is ultimately destroyed by the Borg in the battle of Wolf 359. It is unique in that it lacks the Reliant's rollbar and is equipped with two large sensor dishes on either side attached to the warp engine pylons. It also strangely fires a Phaser blast from the planetary sensor on the underside of the saucer section (In a similar position as that of the old Enterprise) and not from one of the many Phaser banks located under the saucer. The interiors of the ship show a very modern vessel and not one that seemed to have been built in the 2270's (Like the U.S.S. Reliant), though it is possible that the interiors of the ship had been modernized (A term and practice of many modern navies, a means of lengthening a ships service life.). The Registry would seem to suggest that it is a much more modern vessel. Were Miranda class ships built into the 24th century? Or were they simply modernized, re-equipped and new registries assigned?
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| Saratoga model details |
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