Hello all, Ric here with a lore update addressing some addendums and retcons to the timeline
and lore of Star Trek as well as new information on two vessels of the 25th century, the Titan
and the Enterprise!
I have thoughts and Let’s get started.
The USS Titan NCC-80102-A is the main vessel of Star Trek Picard series 3 and one of the
first of the line of a new class of Starship and has quite the design history behind it.
The first USS Titan was launched in 2290 under the command of Captain Saavik.
The vessel was a Shangri-La class, as can be seen in the background shots of the customary
Titan Legacy models on the Titan A’s situation room.
The Shangri-La class of Starship was a patrol vessel around the same size as the constitution
but with much of the pomp stripped away and heavier weapons added.
Namely a salvo torpedo launcher on the saucer section.
The other addition were the intense impulse engines added, which vastly improved the acceleration
and sublight speeds of the Titan so that it could match smaller and faster ships in combat,
while the large warp nacelles suggest it was on par with the Constitution at least in terms
of warp speeds.
In many ways it was not a ship of exploration, although being a Starfleet vessel, it no doubt
still possessed the usual goodie bag of Federation essentials.
Originally, Lower Decks had established this vessel in the background as a Loknar class,
however this appears to have been quickly retconned into the Shangri-La.
The Titan NCC-1777 was launched in 2290 and Saavik was the captain.
Now I would point out that she was a cadet in 2285 and a lieutenant Junior Grade in 2286,
so she seems to have made record progress through the ranks.
But there might be an explanation in Starfleet, you can command a Starship from the rank of
Lieutenant Commander and above and the commander of a vessel is referred to as its captain,
regardless of rank.
5 years to make lieutenant commander seems far more feasible than captain.
Considering that would mean that The canonically fastest promoted captain in Trek history of
Captain Tryla Scott would have then had to accomplish this in less than that time too.
The original Titan spent a great deal of time patrolling and protecting the Federation border
along the Klingon Empire’s front and took part in many missions to maintain stability
in the three years prior to the Khitomer Accords alongside the similar duties of the USS Excelsior.
It undertook rescue missions from the Horizon colony and dealt with a takeover of the Exo-Port.
During this time, the Enterprise A was not considered the flagship of Starfleet, unlike
its predecessor and successor and captain Sulu supported the notion that the Titan would
carry that honorific, at least until the new Excelsior class Enterprise B was launched
following the peace treaty with the Klingon Empire.
I’m okay with the Enterprise A not being as pivotal, considering it was already an
ancient and refurbished connie, formerly the Yorktown, and the captain in charge, Kirk
had been recently demoted.
Not exactly Starfleet’s best look to outsiders.
The Decommissioning date of the first Titan is unknown, but the next vessel would be the
USS Titan NCC-80102, Luna class.
While originally designed as an exploratory vessel, the Luna is now described as a tactical
heavy cruiser made for defensive and patrol duties.
The Titan under the command of Captain Riker was launched in 2379.
It undertook numerous missions in the vein of its precursor, to patrol and secure the
Federation borders and in 2386 was assigned to the Romulan border in the face of the attack
on Mars.
At this time, the Zhat Vash and Tal Shiar were not known as the culprits and the Romulan
supernova was looming.
In 2398, the ship suffered extensive damage and was recalled and decommissioned.
Riker may have already taken reserve duty to enjoy time with his family on Nepenthe
prior to this however.
The stellar defensive duties of the Titan earned it recognition as one of the few Federation
vessels to gain the presidential order of a legacy registry, alongside the Enterprise
and Voyager and in 2402, a new Titan was developed with the registry NCC-80102-A.
This new Titan had a hell of a road before it was commissioned.
Faced with rebuilding the fleet in the light of the devastating Synth attack it looks like
Starfleet began turning to some of its older vessels in an attempt to rapidly produce newer
ships.
In addition, its was stated that the winding down of threats like the Dominion, Borg and
Romulan Star Empire meant that ship design began to revert to designs preceding the need
for things like the Sovereign, Akira and Defiant.
It sounds like they actually dug out the mothballed original Shangri-La class Titan, long since
cannibalised for parts and literally took its existing frame as a basis for the new
design.
The ship of Theseus has been brought up in a similar context to the Stargazer a year
before, so this adds some context to that comparison.
The literal bones of the Shangri-La class were then adapted to better fit the profile
of an exploratory ship, much in the vein of the constitution class, leading to the design
to be referred to as the Constitution 3, or the Neo-Constitution.
The weapons heavy torpedo launcher was removed and new contemporary technology added alongside
salvaged parts from the Luna class USS Titan that were still comparable to current tech.
This may be a similar process to how the Sagan-class Stargazer was constructed, as both these ships
are referred to as new classes and, somewhat jokingly, “refits”.
Because on a very basic level they contain original parts of their namesakes.
This led the Constitution 3 to have a strange design with modern tech built into the frame
of an older vessel, meaning that the phaser strips of 25th century starfleet were eschewed
in favour of phaser banks resembling the ball turrets of the 23rd century, although presumable
loaded with new tech.
Where this new hodgepodge ship excelled, was in its sublight speeds in the same fashion
as the original Shangri-La class and to this date, this vessel has the highest power to
geometry ratio in the fleet making it very manoeuvrable and speedy at impulse speeds
while it supported the same nacelle designs from the Sagan class.
This ship was an exploration vessel first and foremost, but in combat was to operate
and perform well for in-system, close range skirmishes where warp was less favourable.
We also had some information drop concerning the fate of the Enterprise E and F in Picard
so mild spoilers ahead concerning this and Star Trek Prodigy.
Okay, so it looks like the Enterprise E based on what we know so far was handed over to
Commander Worf, who was then promoted to Captain when Admiral Picard stepped up to oversee
the Romulan evacuation plan.
The last we then see of the Enterprise E is in 2384, where the USS Protostar returned
to Federation territory bringing with it a virus from the future which set compromised
starfleet ships against each other in an attempt to cripple the Federation.
The Enterprise E, alongside the USS Defiant, USS Sovereign and many other ships were part
of this incident and many vessels were severely damaged by this unexpected attack, limping
back for repair at its conclusion.
However its final mission is classified, as are the missions of Captain Worf past a certain
date due to an incident over Kriilar Prime.
The exact missions undertaken by the Enterprise are not known and they are not tying themselves
to an exact date as yet it seems, however the Enterprise E was decommissioned by 2386.
This was the launch date for the Enterprise F, and Odyssey class starship which had been
newly developed in the 2380s as the next all rounder, pinnacle of starfleet technology.
The other Odyssey we are aware of is the USS Verity NCC-97000 that headed the evacuation
fleet and was launched in 2381, possibly the prototype vessel renamed with a full commission.
The Enterprise F however is finally being decommissioned after 16 years of service and
multiple captains, the cause of which was a critical systems failure during the Monfette
Gambit.
The details again are unknown but involved a rescue operation for Raillian refugees over
Fenton 4.
It seems to have been patched up, but is now being decommissioned on Frontier Day of 2402.
So the shots we have of it are its final flyby and send off before it goes to the great Dockyard
in the sky.
I do feel a little bummed that the Enterprise F’s only canonical appearance is its potential
send-off as it kind of feels like there is a whole book sandwiched between the Enterprise
E’s stories and Picard that we do not get to read but I do see it.
16 years is a pretty long time for an Enterprise to serve so it’s not like it did have room
for a life, it's just we are not seeing it, at least today.
However there are several possibilities moving forwards.
Firstly, it could be that this is merely scheduled for decommissioning and events unfold where
it is simply refit and relaunched, perhaps even adding the Yorktown Odyssey Refit to
the canon?
Best case in my mind so far but also unlikely, I feel we were lucky to get the Odyssey class
added to continuity at all, even if it does appear to be retroactively slotted in 29 years
prior to its original appearance in Star Trek Online.
Speaking off, I wonder how STO is going to handle this major change or if they already
have…
The other option is that they are leaving the space open to create their own Enterprise
G, which would be the new ship and possible hero vessel for a new series going forwards,
leaving the door and the slate clean for new shows.
It also makes a sad kind of sense as a possible future depicted the Enterprise J was in service
in the 26th century, so there are still 3 more ships to see covering the 100 years till
that vessel’s appearance.
The interim time could see the USS Titan-A stand in as flagship for the Federation while
the stars do without an Enterprise, much as the original did for 3 years before the Enterprise
B took over.
I do… kind of like that idea as strange as it would feel.
Just as Jean-Luc Picard has his Number One, Riker, the Enterprise has its own right hand,
the Titan, to take the load off when it’s not around.
And who commanded the Titan but Riker, it would be a nice theme for a while.
At least until there is a new Enterprise to take the mantle.
What do you think of this news?
The Odyssey class might not be seen much going on, but the vessel canonically has 16 years
behind it already in universe and just because the F is stepping down, does not mean we will
not see it again.
I’ve been Ric, thanks for watching this lore update on these two intrinsically tied
vessels and I'll See you next time for more.
Thanks again and goodbye!