Idiot sci-fi question: Why did the starship Enterprise have such a stupid bridge?

[SUBMAN1]

Another one to entertain!

-S

PS. Here is the background info:

There, I said it, the USS Enterprise (all of them) in Star Trek (all of them) had a stupid bridge. It was illogically designed, awkwardly placed, and was a complete backstep from modern thinking and plain old common sense. Here's why:


First, some ground rules: The starship Enterprise was a military vessel. Don't give me that Roddenberry-esque utopian hokum about Starfleet being an exploratory and diplomatic body. The crew had military ranks, the ship had weapons, and people got court-martialed. So, first question, why is the main control center of the ship–where all your high-ranking, high-value officers sit and work–placed on the top of the vessel where's it's easy to hit? Seriously, if Sulu ever misjudges the top of the doorjamb in spacedock, every major character gets scraped out of continuity like extra icing off a cupcake. Why Khan didn't aim for the bridge instead of engineering when he busted his sneak attack in Star Trek II I'll never know. One decent shot and it's just Scotty, Bones and some cadets versus the Nightmare from Fantasy Island, which lasts all of 5 seconds. Instead, he aims for engineering and yucks it up long enough to get pwned by some prefix-code shenanigans and later the cunning tactic of "moving in the z-axis." They just don't make genetically modified supervillains like they used to. I guess the short answer is that Starfleet can design a dumb bridge because all the bad guys are even dumber.


Second question: Why does the Enterprise have just a bridge? All modern naval vessels have this neat room called the Combat Information Center (CIC), where all important command decisions are made. So, even though many warships still have a conventional bridge up top where it can get blasted–a pragmatic necessity since, when all else fails, you'll need to look out an open window to see and steer–the high-ranking officers are nestled below decks behind lots of armor and with multiple methods of egress. If you get stuck on the bridge of the Enterprise–which happened in several episodes–you're effectively trapped, sealing the commanders off from their crew. And don't tell me there wasn't room for a CIC, the darn ship had an auxillary bridge (and a bowling alley), so they could have spared the space for a rational command center.


So, fearless readers and unapologetic Trekkies, let this here Trivia Geek in on the secret–or at least your crackpot theories–and explain why the starship(s) Enterprise had such a stupid bridge.

[Ducimus]

:rotfl:

[Iron Budokan]

Um, you'd better sit down for this one. Take a deep breath. Get ready to have your entire worldview shattered. Okay, here we go, it's gonna be a big one:

Star Trek isn't real.

Oh, and Elvis is dead. (I threw that last in for extra credit.)

[XabbaRus]

Hey they had a Battle Bridge but it was used just once or twice. I remember the bit in ST:TNG movie where the saucer and body split Riker went to the Battle Bridge..

Agree SUBMAN they really should look at how a real warship works and then design something....

The best starship is USS Defiant.

[SUBMAN1]

Yep!

[DeepIron]

Well, considering it was a stage set, the bridge was laid out for the convenience of camera angles and lighting....

[Kazuaki Shimazaki II]

Originally Posted by SUBMAN1

First, some ground rules: The starship Enterprise was a military vessel. Don't give me that Roddenberry-esque utopian hokum about Starfleet being an exploratory and diplomatic body. The crew had military ranks, the ship had weapons, and people got court-martialed.

For all that, it is a schizophrenic organization that can't decide whether it is a military or not. That no doubt does nothing to its efficiency.

So, first question, why is the main control center of the ship–where all your high-ranking, high-value officers sit and work–placed on the top of the vessel where's it's easy to hit? Seriously, if Sulu ever misjudges the top of the doorjamb in spacedock, every major character gets scraped out of continuity like extra icing off a cupcake. Why Khan didn't aim for the bridge instead of engineering when he busted his sneak attack in Star Trek II I'll never know.

SoD: Watched it once eons ago and don't remember any details. However, historically the engineering compartment is larger and easier to hit than bridges. Bridges are placed in exposed areas since they typically are the areas that allow good observation (exposure) of the outside surroundings.
Non-SoD: If Khan tries for the bridge, plot requirements will either dictate that he'll miss (Main Character Shields), or he hits it but everyone still somehow survives. He might as well go for the part he will actually be allowed to hurt.

Second question: Why does the Enterprise have just a bridge? All modern naval vessels have this neat room called the Combat Information Center (CIC), where all important command decisions are made.

Surface vessels have split bridges and CICs. Subs just have a control room. Even then, they are often very close together. See Perry-class, where one deck down and a bit aft of the bridge pilothouse is the CIC. Below that we have various crew quarters.
Captains will often prefer the bridge for various reasons (such as tradition) anyway.

[Ducimus]

In the star trek universe, all action, revolved around the bridge, therego its central location!

[Torplexed]

Frankly, I've never understood why the phaser banks and photon torpedoes were mounted in a position with such a limited field of fire. If an enemy vessel is 'above' the saucer section or directly below they're in a dead zone.

But given that the sixties were still a time when sci-fi spaceships were mostly conceived as being either flying saucers or needle-nosed rockets I have to give them credit for coming up with a rather unique design.

[Ducimus]

Since were on that note, nevermind the brdige, the entire ships design is rather...... retarded. Its full of what could be percieved as weak points in a ship to ship battle. Since the weapons are fairly accurate () id be aiming for the struts on the engine, or the base where the saucer connects to the rest of the ship to disembowl the bloody thing.

[SUBMAN1]

Originally Posted by Ducimus

Since were on that note, nevermind the brdige, the entire ships design is rather...... retarded. Its full of what could be percieved as weak points in a ship to ship battle. Since the weapons are fairly accurate () id be aiming for the struts on the engine, or the base where the saucer connects to the rest of the ship to disembowl the bloody thing.

Well, I understand why the engines are on struts - they are purposely kept away from the ship and they are ejectable given a situation of containment failure. Never seen one eject in a movie though - the ships just blow up, so maybe this is a bit of over-design?

-S

[NEON DEON]

The Enterprise is not a warship.

It is a spaceship(fictional).

[AVGWarhawk]

What I always wonder is space does not have a top and bottom. How is it that the Enterprise always meets the Klingons ship right side up position. Come on, who said all ships go this way up? There is no up. How come we never see an invertated ship? Ships meeting ships that might be on it's side. Is there an intergalactic counsel that has a sign that says this side up?

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by SUBMAN1

Another one to entertain!

-S

PS. Here is the background info:

There, I said it, the USS Enterprise (all of them) in Star Trek (all of them) had a stupid bridge. It was illogically designed, awkwardly placed, and was a complete backstep from modern thinking and plain old common sense. Here's why:


First, some ground rules: The starship Enterprise was a military vessel. Don't give me that Roddenberry-esque utopian hokum about Starfleet being an exploratory and diplomatic body. The crew had military ranks, the ship had weapons, and people got court-martialed. So, first question, why is the main control center of the ship–where all your high-ranking, high-value officers sit and work–placed on the top of the vessel where's it's easy to hit? Seriously, if Sulu ever misjudges the top of the doorjamb in spacedock, every major character gets scraped out of continuity like extra icing off a cupcake. ...

Ok, whew, I'll have to come back when I calm down and refute this crazy premise that the Enterprise had a dumb bridge. But first, let me say, there is NO SUCH THING as extra icing on a cupcake. Huh? Got it? Ok, rethink the whole arguement, cuz that one analogy shot it down.



Neal

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by Torplexed

But given that the sixties were still a time when sci-fi spaceships were mostly conceived as being either flying saucers or needle-nosed rockets I have to give them credit for coming up with a rather unique design.

I so totally agree, the concept of the ship was so innovative and cool.