I think she is a great ship. The canon is the New Orleans Class was a proof of concept for the elliptical saucer and new warp nacelles. Yes she started as a kit bash, but for me this "mini galaxy class" is one of my favorites.
It will be on Star Trek Online very soon and with a 25th century update to the design too. Looking forward to having a go with it. www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10984923-announcing-the-recon-destroyer-bundle%21
Always imagined this ship functioning in a destroyer role despite its classification as a frigate. Its nice to see a Federation ship with a torpedo heavy armament from the TNG era and get a better idea of Chief Obrien's post during the first Cardasian war.
I've always really liked the New Orleans class. The smaller stubby shape, and it looks like its meant to be more of a combat vessel than one of exploration. Which I've thought, with the way they're used in the mod Armada III, maybe that is why the Kyushu wasn't completely destroyed at Wolf 359. Maybe it was blasting away with its torpedo pods at long range. I just really like the design and its moderate size compared to other federation vessels.
Oh, and I would like to add that Kyushu is one of the main Japanese home islands. Pronounced Kai-you-shoo. Really surprised a Canadian and a Brit wouldn't know that. Having to be schooled by an American. Of course, I always did love Geography and Japan, so that might be why.
With the windows on the top, I like the idea it having corridors around the bridge the bridge being just in the center that you would enter. Or maybe they could be conference rooms.
Yeah, I agree with Foley. This ship screams kit bash. If you take away the pods, I'm ok with it. The pods seem like a last minute addition to give it something "more".
It'd be interesting to see a render of this without the pods, just having some covered-over mounting points on the hulls (assuming those pods are swappable mission-specific modules like the top section on the Nebula class)... Such a sleeker, "core" version of the design would make sense as a heavy scout, like a larger cousin of the Nova class.
Great to see a Wolf 359, great to see other ships of the TNG fleet we never really got to see. Would love to see more. Excellent work guys, keep it up.
From the side profile assessment at min 15:45. It's like a earlier snub-nosed Intrepid-class predecessor. Mind you, I'm only halfway through this video, but is possible that the class was used originally as a sort of Galaxy-class / Intrepid-class technology testbed / pathfinder pre-prototype prototype?
I always loved this ship as a child getting what scraps of info I could on it. I like it as a test bed for Galaxy Class tech, and it would be a fun design to tweak/redesign into a full on design as opposed to some kit bash wreckage.
Great show Guys. I do like this TNG Frigate. Interest thing from the old '96 Encyclopedia The Renegade and Thomas Paine in Conspiracy (TNG) were both called New Orleans class but we didn't see it one till the Kyushu in the best of both worlds graveyard scene.
i studied on this ship alot. i have my fan stuff based on this class. happy yall gonna do full epi. i dislike the nacelle pylons to but just how adaptable this vessel is won me over.
It needs two-strut pylons, each engine having one connecting where it currently connects, and one connecting at the rim/edge of the lower body with a sharper angle.
Remember what the Admiral and Shelby said, they had been developing new defenses against the Borg. What I think is that those pods were a brute force approach to beefing up the firepower of this ship to fight the Borg. If you take them off the New Orleans class is very modestly armed. However with the addition of them it gains a LOT more firepower. I wonder if core worlds defense ships had been receiving upgrades like torpedo pods and additional phaser cannons since learning of the Borg threat as a stopgap measure until the new ships and weapons where ready. Naturally the first step in getting the fleet battle ready is to tune up current weapons and add them wherever possible. Given the short time they may not have been as far along as they wanted to be with augmenting the fleet's firepower, and after the loss at Wolf 359 they might have given up completely as the attempt seemed to be pointless.
maybe if it was more flush with belly of secondary hull. like if there was a concavity in the secondary hull and the pod had 2/3 of the upper half nestled in
The whole point of the technology unchained look is that function fits into form smoothly. The E-D's torpedo apparatuses could fire five times what the E-A's could yet they were much more understated. These additions being torpedo launchers seems regressive and uninspired to me, and the third one really ungainly -- helps kill the design for me.
They should have left the torpedo tubes where the D has them and had those be Phoenix-like sensor apparatuses, or drone launchers or something new. The two other main problems with this ship (BTW, which I love) are the double-chin-looking attachment point of the secondary and primary hulls (and its too big kitbashy deflector), and the pylons apparatus -- if they're going to swoop back like that, they should be attached as Foley said to upper-mid secondary hull (right now that one attachment point looks too pinched and busy) and have a more rounded upward arc. Flat and 45 degrees backward make it look like a 6 year old designed it.
Oh, and the phaser strip shouldn't disappear under those pods, just because that's where the phaser arc ends on the D model. Similarly, the shuttle bay doors shouldn't be identical (and obstructed) just because on the D that design makes sense. And I really wish they did something more elegant with the secondary hull on this ship (and the Nebula) looking at the gracefulness of the D overall. The D's a mobile city and still looks pretty. The smaller ships should remember the elegance of the Constitution as they're adapting the D's more organic look.
well this was a kitbash. they literally used 2 AMD models to build this ship. puttyed over and resculped windows. joined nacelles together to make them longer. I love the pods. they have multi role pods and swap them out. there is photorp, tractor, cargo, science, colonization, and mission specific. normally for patrol the 2 top are photorp and the lower is tractor towing. 3 towing pods can support insystem relocation of small starbases. this is a workhorse type ship. used for everything and was designed to replace the miranda. i wish we could have seen a finished studio model instead of a kitbash to see it more in series.
Regarding the remarks at around 28:16, here's some food for thought. The modern Arleigh Burke-class destroyer is 505 feet long, whereas the battleship USS Texas is 573 feet long. One of the biggest battleships from 70 years before was only a little bit longer than a destroyer from the 1990s. Such a disparity is not as unlikely as one might think.
This demonstrates what for me was a missed opportunity with the DS9 battles. TNG had hinted at several TNG era vessels (but again it's self often used old Mirandas and Excelsiors for more detailed shots as the models already existed ). They could have gone and taken these, hinted at designs, refined them and used them instead, especially as by that point DS9 had moved on to CG ships.
I think the one thing that sort of offsets me on this class (though I absolutely love it) is the sharp angle of the neck integration. Possibly if that was smoothed out more instead of being such a sheer line, it would appear less like a pigeon on the profile view.
Agreed. I understand its lineage and purpose being similar to the Saladin, but out of all the ships at wolf 359 the freedom is... ugly. And tbh, it looks like a couple good hits would blow it to ashes...
I love this class of ship. Too bad we didn't see it more. I agree the pods on the saucer and secondary hull need to go, but who is to say that wasn't just an addition to the ship to fight the Borg, but not part of the original ship design. I am thinking they are similar to the pulse canon on the future Enterprise-D.
I think its a great ship. Not to big or too small. Looks pretty well armed. Looks fast. The two pods on the top make it look tactical and technical. The pod on the bottom can go though. Dont need them like third nacelles.
Great episode. It seems to me that the angle of the rise on the outer ring of the saucer makes the "windows" seem more like they would be functioning as "skylights" on this ship. Thus the long slender size would work quite well. And as it is in space the "view" out the "skylights" would not be any much different than windows.
I do really like this one. (And I can see external torpedo pods on *top* so they don't have to take up tons of internal space, but as for the one underneath, there's no need to clear the rise in the saucer, so why not just blend it in under the secondary hull,) (As for the windows, if you consider they're at much steeper *angles* they might have a lot more length to do that one-deck-high thing. )
You know, Trekyards...I greatly appreciate almost everything you do to bring us these briefings. However, (Yes, I have a ‘However’), if y’all don’t like something about some of the ships, keep your opinions to yourselves. For this bashing (I meant briefing), y’all just appear to rip this magnificent, elegant class of ship to shreds. Y’all have every right to do so. However, there are many of us out here that take high offense to your indiscriminate negative comments that you’re going overboard on in this briefing. Do y’all have anything POSITIVE to say about this cool class of starship?? I’m pretty sure that the brilliant ship designers who’ve made this awesome ship take offense to your negative spewing & looking down your nose at an impressive starship. Please keep your negative comments to a bare minimum!! Look for the positive stuff about these ships, & comment on them!!!
I think you could look at the different sizes of the saucer as being the difference between a barebones version of the design and the larger one with added diplomatic suites and such.
In reference to Samuel's comments about how it was built to be there and not to be noticed (the " ... on a screen THIS big" comment), I actually think a lot about how hi-def presentations must drive so many visual effects people, model makers, set dressers, etc. absolutely nuts. You know so many of them, at the time, noticed this or that didn't look right or was wrong and were overruled by somebody saying, "Nobody's ever gonna see it!" Also, great episode, guys!
I think if the secondary hull was cut in half (or the top half filled in) and hugged the underside of the saucer, more like the Intrepid, it would give it a more structurally-sound look. Maybe a stretched, less-steep back of the neck going further back on the secondary hull so the impulse crystal and the nacelle pylons are a little further back. Those kinds of retcons (or refits!) would do a lot to give it its own purpose-built look while remaining a TNG-era ship.
I always liked this little ship from the moment I first saw it. Everything I've ever heard about it pretty much describes it as a torpedo cruiser, which makes perfect sense given those torpedo pods. I could see this thing having two, maybe three tubes per end per pod, which is pretty hefty weaponry for a pre-Wolf 359 design. I've also heard reference to this design being involved in testing quantum torpedoes, which also makes considerable sense. I just know though, that if I were in Star Trek and given my choice of ship to have, it would be either the New Orleans class or the Akira class. I may have a thing for torpedo cruisers.
Something about this design has always resonated with me. I find it to be a very good "workhorse" design; a TNG Miranda if you will. I would have enjoyed seeing this ship more throughout the series. I remember seeing a supposition that the frigates Renegade and Thomas Paine that the Enterprise met at Ditalix B were New Orleans Class vessels. To me, she does seem to fit the role of either a frigate or a destroyer judging by her size.
I've sort of gone to thinking of it as a work horse during the Cardassian conflicts in particular. And maybe the pods are some sort of modular system, able to house different operational assets, Torpedos, sensor suits, shuttlebays, or shield generators.
With those pods it looks to me like a smaller version of the Enterprise D, possibly a destroyer version that has been up-gunned to face the Borg with the torpedo pods. Kind of like, we have these ships but they are not powerful enough in terms of weapons to face these new threats. We don't have time to replace them so let's just stick on some weapons pods that can make them useful while newer and more powerful ships are being designed.
I had always headcanoned this ship as a sort of test bed for the technology that went into the Galaxy class. This ship came first to prove some of the technology before they went full scale. Which can kind of explain away some of the ungainly looks to it.
Always liked this design as frigate design for TNG... In some ways I like it more than Intrepid class. Were I to redesign this, I would 1. move the secondary hull back somewhat so the attachment point is not so large to the primary hull, but keep the nacelle attach points where they are. This would slightly elongate the ship, but not by much. 2. keep the nacelle pylons angled the same in regards to front to rear, but from front make them straight angle down to widest point of secondary hull 3. keep the top two torpedo tubes off primary hull, but ditch the bottom one off the secondary hull 4. move the impulse engines up to be toward the bottom of neck. This was also kitbashed so to speak to be the Cheyenne four nacelle class and the Springfield classes in TNG era. There are a couple fan designs in this rough size range (300m-350m) I always liked. Both the Andromeda Class and Crusader Class come to mind.
If I remember correctly, this is a light cruiser , to the Big D's heavy cruiser/dreadnought. The "strap on" torpedo pods were a rather hurried afterthought, in universe.
For me, I would like to see the more narrow end of the saucer to the front . It would make it more Intrepid like but due to the distinct secondary hull would foreshadow things to come..
I don't mind the pods, they were obviously strapped on to increase torpedo output, not win beauty contests. Assuming they even are torpedo launchers, I remember reading somewhere that they were instead sensor pods and have been confused ever since. Hopefully this class gets used in something official again and that gets clarified. Though I guess I could see the pods being switched out for different types depending on the mission, could even mix and match types if you wanted. Also if those pods were strapped onto the class later and weren't part of the initial design I'd like to see them scaled up and put on the Galaxy Class.
It looks like the Miranda equivalent for the Ambassador class Enterprize. Make the engine struts an even arc and beef up the neck so it is more of a main engineering space with the secondary hull having a 'razorback' to house a shuttle or two....
12:04 Disagree with the comment about the physical mode's bridge detail... they look like they used the 1/2500th Ent-D for the hull, and a 1/1400th bridge module overlayed and kitbashed into the top of the saucer. So establishes scale to match the windows. NOM
if I remember correctly.... the ship was made from a 1/2500 scale model and they added a a 1/1400 scale bridge to make it 1/1400 scale just like most of the other kit bashes for wolf 359with the Galaxy saucer...
this would look amazing with Connie Refit style struts....if you look at the top comparison with the ent-D it almost looks like they are and it looks great! Also would make sense for them to use the same modular bridge from the D. The windows are too long up and down on the Orleans, they would run two decks at that length...though they would work for sto' vaulted ceiling ships, lol.
The registry info on any SF vessel, is it relative to the saucer size? The NO registry info looks huge. I don't know if the font is the same size as the registry info on the E-D but where the saucer is so so much smaller it looks huge?
With weapon pods on the saucer, it would be good to have the bridge inside the saucer and not on deck one for when enemy vessels target the torpedo launchers.
That pod on the bottom would be better flush with the ventral hull. Also I don't think there would be windows on a star ship, just sections of the hull they can adjust to be transparent .
I could see a post dominion war new Orleans placing the warp nacelles on the back of the star drive section in a similar layout as the Galaxy class nacelle struts and nacelles
you have to remember that because of the extremely shallow angle of the saucer, those windows are as much skylight as window:in order to have a decent amount of vertical space, you have to have a loooooot of horizontal space; bearing that in mind; ill bet their vertical profile is about the same as the galaxy-class; which does, admittedly, have huge windows.
I can imagine how cool would look a scene in a TNG episode when a New Orleans class is escorted by two Freedom class vessels and they're suddenly attacked by bird of preys. Sadly these wolf359 starships had only like a few secons of screentime
the only other ship of this Class that was also mentioned in thg was one that Chief O'Brian served on in his early starfleet career along with Ben Maxwell before he too took command of the Phoenix (Nebula Class) was the USS Ruthledge) at the battle of Setlik3 during the Cardassian border wars
I would prefer two torpedo pods on top and one on each side of the secondary hull. Possibly, two forward and two rear firing pods that run along the secondary hull.
I think she's a heavy cruiser light explorer, designed and launched around the time of the galaxy class to replace the excelsior I read somewhere that the design didn't live up to expectations, and thus eventually was replaced by the majorly successful intrepid class which replaces both the New Orleans and the excelsior
15:55 Would be interesting to make the New Orleans the predecessor on which Voyager was based ~10000 registry numbers later when the warp nacelles have gone through miniaturization.
Enterprise-H I did read somewhere that she was built to replace the excelsior class as a heavy cruiser light explorer but didn't live up to the expectations and thus was replaced by the intrepid class, which replaced both
ok-trekyard-i need to know if there's any value for a first issue tech manual in its hard cover in very good to fine condition and a dialog paperback book that i also bought at the same time as the manual??
-With the 3rd pod on the bottom: How do you eject the warp core -I'm pressed with Stuart he saw immediately that the Nacelles were placed higher than were the reactor likely is. But remember this ship comes before Enterprise (registry: yes I know you don't agree) but that reactor could be in the neck as a hold over design trait from the Connie and Excelsior. -Stuart when you design a ship it's often from the top view. The side view comes next, then the front. When you kitbash you're stuck with the proportions that the parts already have. I love the back and front view but the side view proportions are horrible that's because these proportions were supposed to follow a taller ship.
I think that third ventral pod should be under the belly of saucer section, kind of like the dreadnought Galaxy Class’s mega phaser canon. I think that would make it look much better! Try making it Captain and Commander Cockings!!! Please!
Also does it look like the New Orleans class has huge windows? It's already small but if you re-scale it so the window sizes roughly match, this ship is minuscule.
some of ur episodes (liek this one)= could need a "revisit" i think, with the ships partly being updated and implemented into STO or seeing them elsewhere ^^ realy like the New Oreals class, and its reworked Lafayette Class design too
New Orleans class was seen escorting or rondvewing with Enterprise D in TNG, in an episode or two, long before the Borg battles TNG or DS9 episodes, dropping off some dignitary, or some other mundane short starship scene.
Get rid of the 3rd pod, and build in some under deflector torpedoes if you must. I would have made them firing to the rear as well. I would put engineering in the neck and make it pretty thick with the conduits running out to the engines, saucer and 2nd hull from that centrally located reactor. I would also turn the pylons into arches rather than the "bent" look from the ambassador.
This is a strange little ship. I remember the low res screen capped pictures in a magazine, then a better (very small) version of the studio model just before it was destroyed in I think the Star Trek Encyclopedia, which was the best (and only) picture back in the 90s. I remember a lot of discussion as to what exactly the pods were. There was a lot of thoughts that the top ones could be fly through shuttlebays, making this a type of carrier as opposed to a torpedo boat.. which would have been really cool. The on the bottom is wierd though... and probably could have been left off completely. I know they consciously made the windows bigger to give it a sense of smaller scale- but I don't think any thought was given to exactly what the scale is- which shows, as Stuart pointed out.. they're just wrong. Always one of my favourites though, because it does give us another era-ship. Even the other Wolf 359 bashes are from previous eras, so this was a bit unique which I think is what draws a lot of people to it Edit- almost forgot about my favourite 359 kitbash the Cheyenne.... though when put under scrutiny, it's one wierd ass ship
Here is an idea Yard Numbers are issued in blocks to specific locations like Vulcan, Andor, or Frisco or Mars. So that would explain the numbers being all over the place - that a ship was built "elsewhere" - that would be handy for ship types where the numbers jump all over the place like ambassador class ships. Similar things happen with car number plates they are issued by location or can have certain special number pre-reserved too.
I can't remember where i read this but the New Orleans was the technology test bed for the Galaxy. meaning she was built before the Galaxies and Nebula's. I also remember that the New Orleans was supposed to be a one off test bed but she performed so well starfleet built more.
Stuart: The New Orleans is a kitbash, I don't really like it.
Also Stuart: A Connie with a third nacelle? That's my favourite ship design!
lol facts
Hypocrisy at its finest.
I think she is a great ship. The canon is the New Orleans Class was a proof of concept for the elliptical saucer and new warp nacelles. Yes she started as a kit bash, but for me this "mini galaxy class" is one of my favorites.
I love this design. I wish it was in star trek online.
Second this^^
It will be on Star Trek Online very soon and with a 25th century update to the design too. Looking forward to having a go with it. www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10984923-announcing-the-recon-destroyer-bundle%21
it is now
Say no more fam.
LAFAYETTE!!! BOOM! THEY HAVE! XD
Always imagined this ship functioning in a destroyer role despite its classification as a frigate. Its nice to see a Federation ship with a torpedo heavy armament from the TNG era and get a better idea of Chief Obrien's post during the first Cardasian war.
I've always really liked the New Orleans class. The smaller stubby shape, and it looks like its meant to be more of a combat vessel than one of exploration. Which I've thought, with the way they're used in the mod Armada III, maybe that is why the Kyushu wasn't completely destroyed at Wolf 359. Maybe it was blasting away with its torpedo pods at long range. I just really like the design and its moderate size compared to other federation vessels.
Oh, and I would like to add that Kyushu is one of the main Japanese home islands. Pronounced Kai-you-shoo. Really surprised a Canadian and a Brit wouldn't know that. Having to be schooled by an American. Of course, I always did love Geography and Japan, so that might be why.
ONE FROM OUR OWN SPECIES.
This is an odd... Convuluted Irony. THiss is a COOL Missile Frigte, good for Gaming Campaigns!
or a Missile boat?
Commander, your rendered versions that you create are just so visually appealing. Absolutely beautiful. As always, please continue making it so.
Tbh, this is one of my favourite ship designs. I've always liked the smaller ships in Star Trek, and a mini Galaxy class is a neat concept.
Myfanwy Little the nebula class is a more closer to a mini galaxy class
The Captain's reasoning about a walkway surrounding the bridge is just another example of why I enjoy your work so much, fellas.
With the windows on the top, I like the idea it having corridors around the bridge the bridge being just in the center that you would enter. Or maybe they could be conference rooms.
Yeah, I agree with Foley. This ship screams kit bash. If you take away the pods, I'm ok with it. The pods seem like a last minute addition to give it something "more".
It'd be interesting to see a render of this without the pods, just having some covered-over mounting points on the hulls (assuming those pods are swappable mission-specific modules like the top section on the Nebula class)... Such a sleeker, "core" version of the design would make sense as a heavy scout, like a larger cousin of the Nova class.
Great to see a Wolf 359, great to see other ships of the TNG fleet we never really got to see. Would love to see more. Excellent work guys, keep it up.
One of my favorite TNG ship designs.
The highlighter at the bottom ruins it, I agree.
take off the bottom highlighter and its easily my favorite starship ever
Love those pods
From the side profile assessment at min 15:45. It's like a earlier snub-nosed Intrepid-class predecessor. Mind you, I'm only halfway through this video, but is possible that the class was used originally as a sort of Galaxy-class / Intrepid-class technology testbed / pathfinder pre-prototype prototype?
I always loved this ship as a child getting what scraps of info I could on it. I like it as a test bed for Galaxy Class tech, and it would be a fun design to tweak/redesign into a full on design as opposed to some kit bash wreckage.
Great show Guys.
I do like this TNG Frigate. Interest thing from the old '96 Encyclopedia The Renegade and Thomas Paine in Conspiracy (TNG) were both called New Orleans class but we didn't see it one till the Kyushu in the best of both worlds graveyard scene.
i studied on this ship alot. i have my fan stuff based on this class. happy yall gonna do full epi. i dislike the nacelle pylons to but just how adaptable this vessel is won me over.
It needs two-strut pylons, each engine having one connecting where it currently connects, and one connecting at the rim/edge of the lower body with a sharper angle.
Remember what the Admiral and Shelby said, they had been developing new defenses against the Borg. What I think is that those pods were a brute force approach to beefing up the firepower of this ship to fight the Borg. If you take them off the New Orleans class is very modestly armed. However with the addition of them it gains a LOT more firepower. I wonder if core worlds defense ships had been receiving upgrades like torpedo pods and additional phaser cannons since learning of the Borg threat as a stopgap measure until the new ships and weapons where ready. Naturally the first step in getting the fleet battle ready is to tune up current weapons and add them wherever possible. Given the short time they may not have been as far along as they wanted to be with augmenting the fleet's firepower, and after the loss at Wolf 359 they might have given up completely as the attempt seemed to be pointless.
The third pod IS the third wheel. If it were integrated better into the secondary hull, perhaps it would look better.
maybe if it was more flush with belly of secondary hull. like if there was a concavity in the secondary hull and the pod had 2/3 of the upper half nestled in
The whole point of the technology unchained look is that function fits into form smoothly. The E-D's torpedo apparatuses could fire five times what the E-A's could yet they were much more understated. These additions being torpedo launchers seems regressive and uninspired to me, and the third one really ungainly -- helps kill the design for me.
They should have left the torpedo tubes where the D has them and had those be Phoenix-like sensor apparatuses, or drone launchers or something new. The two other main problems with this ship (BTW, which I love) are the double-chin-looking attachment point of the secondary and primary hulls (and its too big kitbashy deflector), and the pylons apparatus -- if they're going to swoop back like that, they should be attached as Foley said to upper-mid secondary hull (right now that one attachment point looks too pinched and busy) and have a more rounded upward arc. Flat and 45 degrees backward make it look like a 6 year old designed it.
Oh, and the phaser strip shouldn't disappear under those pods, just because that's where the phaser arc ends on the D model. Similarly, the shuttle bay doors shouldn't be identical (and obstructed) just because on the D that design makes sense. And I really wish they did something more elegant with the secondary hull on this ship (and the Nebula) looking at the gracefulness of the D overall. The D's a mobile city and still looks pretty. The smaller ships should remember the elegance of the Constitution as they're adapting the D's more organic look.
well this was a kitbash. they literally used 2 AMD models to build this ship. puttyed over and resculped windows. joined nacelles together to make them longer. I love the pods. they have multi role pods and swap them out. there is photorp, tractor, cargo, science, colonization, and mission specific. normally for patrol the 2 top are photorp and the lower is tractor towing. 3 towing pods can support insystem relocation of small starbases. this is a workhorse type ship. used for everything and was designed to replace the miranda. i wish we could have seen a finished studio model instead of a kitbash to see it more in series.
🖖😎👍Very nicely well done and very informatively executed and explained indeed guys👌.
Regarding the remarks at around 28:16, here's some food for thought. The modern Arleigh Burke-class destroyer is 505 feet long, whereas the battleship USS Texas is 573 feet long. One of the biggest battleships from 70 years before was only a little bit longer than a destroyer from the 1990s. Such a disparity is not as unlikely as one might think.
Interesting. I always thought the pods were propulsion units, either Impulse or auxiliary warp systems. I do like this cute little class though!
This demonstrates what for me was a missed opportunity with the DS9 battles. TNG had hinted at several TNG era vessels (but again it's self often used old Mirandas and Excelsiors for more detailed shots as the models already existed ). They could have gone and taken these, hinted at designs, refined them and used them instead, especially as by that point DS9 had moved on to CG ships.
Ironically, I think it’s my favorite ship!!! Minus that extra pod on ventral hull. But I love it!
I love it. Now we get to see the full ship. You couldn't see her real well the the Star Trek Encyclopedia.
I think I like this channel because you guys have excellent taste.
I think the one thing that sort of offsets me on this class (though I absolutely love it) is the sharp angle of the neck integration. Possibly if that was smoothed out more instead of being such a sheer line, it would appear less like a pigeon on the profile view.
I had the same thought, it looks kind of flimsy as it is, like the secondary hull could snap off if it turned too quickly.
Love this ship as well as all the Wolf 359 ships- except maybe the Freedom class...
Agreed. I understand its lineage and purpose being similar to the Saladin, but out of all the ships at wolf 359 the freedom is... ugly. And tbh, it looks like a couple good hits would blow it to ashes...
I love this class of ship. Too bad we didn't see it more. I agree the pods on the saucer and secondary hull need to go, but who is to say that wasn't just an addition to the ship to fight the Borg, but not part of the original ship design. I am thinking they are similar to the pulse canon on the future Enterprise-D.
I think its a great ship. Not to big or too small. Looks pretty well armed. Looks fast. The two pods on the top make it look tactical and technical. The pod on the bottom can go though. Dont need them like third nacelles.
Great episode. It seems to me that the angle of the rise on the outer ring of the saucer makes the "windows" seem more like they would be functioning as "skylights" on this ship. Thus the long slender size would work quite well. And as it is in space the "view" out the "skylights" would not be any much different than windows.
I do really like this one. (And I can see external torpedo pods on *top* so they don't have to take up tons of internal space, but as for the one underneath, there's no need to clear the rise in the saucer, so why not just blend it in under the secondary hull,) (As for the windows, if you consider they're at much steeper *angles* they might have a lot more length to do that one-deck-high thing. )
You know, Trekyards...I greatly appreciate almost everything you do to bring us these briefings. However, (Yes, I have a ‘However’), if y’all don’t like something about some of the ships, keep your opinions to yourselves. For this bashing (I meant briefing), y’all just appear to rip this magnificent, elegant class of ship to shreds. Y’all have every right to do so. However, there are many of us out here that take high offense to your indiscriminate negative comments that you’re going overboard on in this briefing. Do y’all have anything POSITIVE to say about this cool class of starship?? I’m pretty sure that the brilliant ship designers who’ve made this awesome ship take offense to your negative spewing & looking down your nose at an impressive starship. Please keep your negative comments to a bare minimum!! Look for the positive stuff about these ships, & comment on them!!!
I think you could look at the different sizes of the saucer as being the difference between a barebones version of the design and the larger one with added diplomatic suites and such.
Yaaaaaay new orlines class , love it , good job and looking forward to the fall eps on it
In reference to Samuel's comments about how it was built to be there and not to be noticed (the " ... on a screen THIS big" comment), I actually think a lot about how hi-def presentations must drive so many visual effects people, model makers, set dressers, etc. absolutely nuts. You know so many of them, at the time, noticed this or that didn't look right or was wrong and were overruled by somebody saying, "Nobody's ever gonna see it!" Also, great episode, guys!
I think if the secondary hull was cut in half (or the top half filled in) and hugged the underside of the saucer, more like the Intrepid, it would give it a more structurally-sound look. Maybe a stretched, less-steep back of the neck going further back on the secondary hull so the impulse crystal and the nacelle pylons are a little further back. Those kinds of retcons (or refits!) would do a lot to give it its own purpose-built look while remaining a TNG-era ship.
I always liked this little ship from the moment I first saw it. Everything I've ever heard about it pretty much describes it as a torpedo cruiser, which makes perfect sense given those torpedo pods. I could see this thing having two, maybe three tubes per end per pod, which is pretty hefty weaponry for a pre-Wolf 359 design. I've also heard reference to this design being involved in testing quantum torpedoes, which also makes considerable sense. I just know though, that if I were in Star Trek and given my choice of ship to have, it would be either the New Orleans class or the Akira class. I may have a thing for torpedo cruisers.
Something about this design has always resonated with me. I find it to be a very good "workhorse" design; a TNG Miranda if you will. I would have enjoyed seeing this ship more throughout the series.
I remember seeing a supposition that the frigates Renegade and Thomas Paine that the Enterprise met at Ditalix B were New Orleans Class vessels. To me, she does seem to fit the role of either a frigate or a destroyer judging by her size.
I've sort of gone to thinking of it as a work horse during the Cardassian conflicts in particular.
And maybe the pods are some sort of modular system, able to house different operational assets, Torpedos, sensor suits, shuttlebays, or shield generators.
The Renegade was a New Orleans.
With those pods it looks to me like a smaller version of the Enterprise D, possibly a destroyer version that has been up-gunned to face the Borg with the torpedo pods. Kind of like, we have these ships but they are not powerful enough in terms of weapons to face these new threats. We don't have time to replace them so let's just stick on some weapons pods that can make them useful while newer and more powerful ships are being designed.
I had always headcanoned this ship as a sort of test bed for the technology that went into the Galaxy class. This ship came first to prove some of the technology before they went full scale. Which can kind of explain away some of the ungainly looks to it.
Always liked this design as frigate design for TNG... In some ways I like it more than Intrepid class.
Were I to redesign this, I would
1. move the secondary hull back somewhat so the attachment point is not so large to the primary hull, but keep the nacelle attach points where they are. This would slightly elongate the ship, but not by much.
2. keep the nacelle pylons angled the same in regards to front to rear, but from front make them straight angle down to widest point of secondary hull
3. keep the top two torpedo tubes off primary hull, but ditch the bottom one off the secondary hull
4. move the impulse engines up to be toward the bottom of neck.
This was also kitbashed so to speak to be the Cheyenne four nacelle class and the Springfield classes in TNG era.
There are a couple fan designs in this rough size range (300m-350m) I always liked. Both the Andromeda Class and Crusader Class come to mind.
If I remember correctly, this is a light cruiser , to the Big D's heavy cruiser/dreadnought. The "strap on" torpedo pods were a rather hurried afterthought, in universe.
For me, I would like to see the more narrow end of the saucer to the front . It would make it more Intrepid like but due to the distinct secondary hull would foreshadow things to come..
They should add this to STO as a tactical ship, it would compliment the existing operations based Galaxy and science based Nebula classes.
Looks like it is actually happening now.
I loved the fact the 2 pods were actual highlighter pens lol
I don't mind the pods, they were obviously strapped on to increase torpedo output, not win beauty contests. Assuming they even are torpedo launchers, I remember reading somewhere that they were instead sensor pods and have been confused ever since. Hopefully this class gets used in something official again and that gets clarified. Though I guess I could see the pods being switched out for different types depending on the mission, could even mix and match types if you wanted.
Also if those pods were strapped onto the class later and weren't part of the initial design I'd like to see them scaled up and put on the Galaxy Class.
I heard that Eaglemoss were making a model of this. Never heard of the ship before.
It looks like the Miranda equivalent for the Ambassador class Enterprize. Make the engine struts an even arc and beef up the neck so it is more of a main engineering space with the secondary hull having a 'razorback' to house a shuttle or two....
I really like this ship.
12:04 Disagree with the comment about the physical mode's bridge detail... they look like they used the 1/2500th Ent-D for the hull, and a 1/1400th bridge module overlayed and kitbashed into the top of the saucer. So establishes scale to match the windows.
NOM
if I remember correctly.... the ship was made from a 1/2500 scale model and they added a a 1/1400 scale bridge to make it 1/1400 scale just like most of the other kit bashes for wolf 359with the Galaxy saucer...
this would look amazing with Connie Refit style struts....if you look at the top comparison with the ent-D it almost looks like they are and it looks great! Also would make sense for them to use the same modular bridge from the D. The windows are too long up and down on the Orleans, they would run two decks at that length...though they would work for sto' vaulted ceiling ships, lol.
I like the torpedo pods on the saucer, I deeply dislike the one danging off the secondary hull
The registry info on any SF vessel, is it relative to the saucer size? The NO registry info looks huge. I don't know if the font is the same size as the registry info on the E-D but where the saucer is so so much smaller it looks huge?
With weapon pods on the saucer, it would be good to have the bridge inside the saucer and not on deck one for when enemy vessels target the torpedo launchers.
i agree for the size of the ship the windows are way to big and that gives it a felling of having lesser decks from what it could really have
That pod on the bottom would be better flush with the ventral hull. Also I don't think there would be windows on a star ship, just sections of the hull they can adjust to be transparent .
I could see a post dominion war new Orleans placing the warp nacelles on the back of the star drive section in a similar layout as the Galaxy class nacelle struts and nacelles
Of course he had a pencil case in highschool.
Love you guys
The New Orleans looks like an Galaxy-Class compact....kinda like a Honda Civic vs Accord. lol
Do many Starfleet vessels have the red lines around the phaser array?
I've seen red brackets on the end a few times.
I was guessing two pod parallel under the saucer section. When think in space to have 720 degrees of coverage it must have at least one underneath it.
you have to remember that because of the extremely shallow angle of the saucer, those windows are as much skylight as window:in order to have a decent amount of vertical space, you have to have a loooooot of horizontal space; bearing that in mind; ill bet their vertical profile is about the same as the galaxy-class; which does, admittedly, have huge windows.
I can imagine how cool would look a scene in a TNG episode when a New Orleans class is escorted by two Freedom class vessels and they're suddenly attacked by bird of preys. Sadly these wolf359 starships had only like a few secons of screentime
the only other ship of this Class that was also mentioned in thg was one that Chief O'Brian served on in his early starfleet career along with Ben Maxwell before he too took command of the Phoenix (Nebula Class) was the USS Ruthledge) at the battle of Setlik3 during the Cardassian border wars
Wow! Love the intro!
It's a pretty cool little ship.
I would prefer two torpedo pods on top and one on each side of the secondary hull. Possibly, two forward and two rear firing pods that run along the secondary hull.
This is my favorite starship class
I wonder... if the torpedo launcher pods were last minute additions to the class to meet the Borg threat?
I think she's a heavy cruiser light explorer, designed and launched around the time of the galaxy class to replace the excelsior I read somewhere that the design didn't live up to expectations, and thus eventually was replaced by the majorly successful intrepid class which replaces both the New Orleans and the excelsior
I think the three torpedo pods make sense because during saucer separation both sections would have torpedo pods
i would love to get my hands on all the models and that poster that shows all the ships in star trek
Where is the forward phaser array on the secondary hull?
15:55 Would be interesting to make the New Orleans the predecessor on which Voyager was based ~10000 registry numbers later when the warp nacelles have gone through miniaturization.
Enterprise-H I did read somewhere that she was built to replace the excelsior class as a heavy cruiser light explorer but didn't live up to the expectations and thus was replaced by the intrepid class, which replaced both
ok-trekyard-i need to know if there's any value for a first issue tech manual in its hard cover in very good to fine condition and a dialog paperback book that i also bought at the same time as the manual??
great topic.
greetings from the Netherlands
-With the 3rd pod on the bottom: How do you eject the warp core
-I'm pressed with Stuart he saw immediately that the Nacelles were placed higher than were the reactor likely is. But remember this ship comes before Enterprise (registry: yes I know you don't agree) but that reactor could be in the neck as a hold over design trait from the Connie and Excelsior.
-Stuart when you design a ship it's often from the top view. The side view comes next, then the front. When you kitbash you're stuck with the proportions that the parts already have. I love the back and front view but the side view proportions are horrible that's because these proportions were supposed to follow a taller ship.
I guess they'd have to eject the pod then the core.
I think that third ventral pod should be under the belly of saucer section, kind of like the dreadnought Galaxy Class’s mega phaser canon. I think that would make it look much better! Try making it Captain and Commander Cockings!!! Please!
Have you made the full episode on this ship, yet??
Unrelated question where is your episode on the Norway class?
In Armada 2, I used this ship as a scout ship with the pods being sensors.
Also does it look like the New Orleans class has huge windows? It's already small but if you re-scale it so the window sizes roughly match, this ship is minuscule.
some of ur episodes (liek this one)= could need a "revisit" i think, with the ships partly being updated and implemented into STO or seeing them elsewhere ^^ realy like the New Oreals class, and its reworked Lafayette Class design too
Omg love this ship so muchhhh! Wish it was in Star Trek Online
Stabilo class
I love the basic design of the New Orleans class, I just don't like the 3 additional pods. The design would be perfect without them IMO.
The only change I would do is integrate the lower torpedo pod into the hull and put in a breakaway line so that the pod could be ejected if necessary.
Imagine the 2 pods on top being pulse phasers in front torps in the back like on the defiant and the bottom being just straight torp.
New Orleans class was seen escorting or rondvewing with Enterprise D in TNG, in an episode or two, long before the Borg battles TNG or DS9 episodes, dropping off some dignitary, or some other mundane short starship scene.
Teri Farley That was probably the Nebula class. The new Orleans was made specifically for the best of both worlds two parter.
does the ship have a shuttle bay at the back of the saucer, like the "D"?
Get rid of the 3rd pod, and build in some under deflector torpedoes if you must. I would have made them firing to the rear as well. I would put engineering in the neck and make it pretty thick with the conduits running out to the engines, saucer and 2nd hull from that centrally located reactor. I would also turn the pylons into arches rather than the "bent" look from the ambassador.
This is a strange little ship. I remember the low res screen capped pictures in a magazine, then a better (very small) version of the studio model just before it was destroyed in I think the Star Trek Encyclopedia, which was the best (and only) picture back in the 90s. I remember a lot of discussion as to what exactly the pods were. There was a lot of thoughts that the top ones could be fly through shuttlebays, making this a type of carrier as opposed to a torpedo boat.. which would have been really cool. The on the bottom is wierd though... and probably could have been left off completely. I know they consciously made the windows bigger to give it a sense of smaller scale- but I don't think any thought was given to exactly what the scale is- which shows, as Stuart pointed out.. they're just wrong. Always one of my favourites though, because it does give us another era-ship. Even the other Wolf 359 bashes are from previous eras, so this was a bit unique which I think is what draws a lot of people to it
Edit- almost forgot about my favourite 359 kitbash the Cheyenne.... though when put under scrutiny, it's one wierd ass ship
Is it just me or does the bottom weapons pod partially block the bottom phaser strips?
maybe the highlighter torpedo tubes are simply optional launchers added on to give the class more firepower specifically for the battle of Worf 359?
Shown 10 years before Voyager, has a yard number 800 higher. Love those little quirks like that.
Here is an idea Yard Numbers are issued in blocks to specific locations like Vulcan, Andor, or Frisco or Mars.
So that would explain the numbers being all over the place - that a ship was built "elsewhere" - that would be handy for ship types where the numbers jump all over the place like ambassador class ships.
Similar things happen with car number plates they are issued by location or can have certain special number pre-reserved too.
What if you scaled the ship to the size of the windows, how big would it be?
I can't remember where i read this but the New Orleans was the technology test bed for the Galaxy. meaning she was built before the Galaxies and Nebula's. I also remember that the New Orleans was supposed to be a one off test bed but she performed so well starfleet built more.
Is the bridge detachable? The pods make it look like a separate ship. Sorry can't watch the whole video right now.