Even after the Nova class replaces them all, the Oberth still has 3 good uses: 1.) Trainee ships for the Academy... Provided that they are kept in a safe area where they won't be attacked by random Klingon Birds of Prey... 2.) Target practice... And not just for random Klingon Birds of Prey... 3.) A flying bomb that can be used against Borg cubes. Imagine one of these things stuffed with Anti-Matter, Quantum Torpedo warheads, et al. and hitting a cube at warp speed. Bet the Collective wouldn't be able to defend against that very easily...
Maybe that was the real reason why Kruge got angry over the officer blowing up the Grissom... It's dishonorable to kill helpless opponents and shooting an Oberth for any reason is like challenging a quadruple amputee to a knife fight!
I glad this was brought up. Here is my question I know the gunner said it was a lucky shot, but can you really blame the gunner? I mean, when you hit a ship with a Klingon built torpedo that has the equlivent of tin foil for sheilds...I'm not sure you can blame the gunner?
Three new ensigns look over their new assignments. "Wow! I got a Galaxy Class!" "I got an Akira!" "What did you get Bob?" *in tears* "I got...an Oberth." "We will remember you and raise a drink in your memory."
The Oberth class is actualy an inflatable starship designed to be easily deployed to a system with just a foot pump. It does have the unfortunate side effect of making them easy to pop like a balloon if they come into contact with anything sharp or hot, like a photon torpedo or cigarette.
This has to be the first video I have seen of this ship class that did not treat it like a joke, thank you.:) AS for the travel between both hulls, I prefer the FASA explanation, dedicated transporters that were always locked onto each other so there was NO chance of a science experiment to take out both hulls.
ALL HAIL THE WAR CANOE!!! But seriously, the Oberth is a good ship. Small, somewhat reliable, made from explodium, a very versatile material. A good ship for a small crew.
The Oberth class, designed by the ancestor of the designer of the Ford Pinto. I thought this was a cool ship when I first saw it in The Search for Spock, but was kinda disappointed when it couldn't put up much of a fight.
The story was at one point Kahn steals a meek science vessel and his knowledge of the Constitution class to decisively overcome a lionship Enterprise and Kirk's experience.
average day on an oberth Captain: hello crewman, you look a bit under the weather Crewman: It's OK sir, I just have a sniffle Captain: ALL HANDS TO THE ESCAPE PODS!! ABANDON SHIP!!!
Oberths were used as experimental testbeds, at least sometimes... Who's to say some R&D team at Jupiter station or Utopia Planita hadn't souped up that one in First Contact with some goofyahh superweapon?
Visiting Admiral: "We're under attack! Power up the phasers and load photon torpedoes!" Captain: umm power up THE phaser bank, you mean? We only have one. Load the photon torpedoes where? X.O.: "I told you that wasn't a trash compactor!"
It seems like the Constitution Refit, Miranda, and Oberth were meant to be Starfleet's way of getting upgraded ships into service fast and cheap. They never intended the ships to have such long service life and would be replaced with fully realized designs based off the new Excelsior. But after peace with the Klingons and Romulans going dark the need for a whole new fleet disappeared
It's design has some elements of the future Excelsior class starship. It's very likely that when they commissioned the class the designers were between ship design languages.
I'm completely fine with the turbo life system given how gravity plating works having it at an angle make sense. I was very annoyed as a kid not being able to one shot it in Klingon academy
Hello Triangulum. The Oberth has never been one of my 'favored' classes of starships. Mostly due to the lack of a centrally located access to the lower hull. Any Oberths that come into my possession would be retrofitted with such a 'neck' for ease of translocation of personnel between the upper and lower hull sections.
Personal head-canon: Due to the highly-classified nature of some of the Oberth class' experiments, it was decided by certain shady intelligence elements within Starfleet that - for reasons of plausible deniability - such experiments and the data collected could not be allowed to fall into the hands of the Federation's enemies, even by chance if they should happen upon an abandoned Oberth spaceframe resulting from a failed experiment. Therefore, an easily-accessible self-destruct - with no countdown or means of cancellation - could be readily activated from the tactical station on the bridge, in case the Oberth found itself in a position where even a ten-minute countdown might allow an enemy boarding party time to get aboard and send crucial information back to their ship before destruction. Unfortunately, due to bad control layout design, the activation button for this instant self-destruct was placed between the phaser and photon torpedo buttons and could therefore be easily pressed accidentally in the heat of battle. This is the reason that the Oberth class gained a reputation for exploding almost as soon as it engaged in combat, sometimes without even being hit.
I always imagined that the secondary hall was a interchangeable sensor pod, depending upon the mission. And that access was via intership transporter. Thanks for clearing that up.
Oberth design: "This is a science ship. Are we going to put the crew and science instruments in the same hull as the alien space viruses and crazy energy beings and unknown shapeshifting samples and mad experiments, and our supplies of 'This special stuff may be volatile but it shouldn't be a problem if no plot happens...' ...No, we're not going to do that." :)
Well there goes my fan theory that the oberth had invisible turbolifts midship. Joking aside the biggest issue with the oberth is its inconsistent scale on screen with the smaller scale not working with the pylon turbolifts.
I think the reason the Oberth got the flying coffin reputation it did is largely because of idiots in command sending them into situations they were unsuitable for and ultimately leading to their loss. Using them as a scout ship during the Dominion war for example smacks of desperation on the part of Starfleet.
Always thought there should have been a destroyer or frigate versions of the Oberth class. Cool design with a lot more potential than what was tapped here.
3:42 one problem with that - the episode of TOS entitled Court Martial - Reliant is shown with a proper registry during TOS, she was probably in for refit testing out the new tech, which is also why i maintain there was NEVER a TOS Miranda Class. its moreso accepted that Miranda was the class used to develop the new warp tech etc that went into the refit of the Constitution class a couple years later (and the newly made connies like the one that was used for 1701 A, with Scotty's log in STV confirming shes a new ship, not a refit).
"How do they get to the secondary hull?" Engineer looks around suspiciously, then leans in and whispers "Waterslides..." (I've always like this plucky lil' ship, btw:)
I used to absolutely loathe the design of this vessel, until 'Discovery' came along with the divorced nacelles. It took 30-plus years, but it's finally taken a shine to me. :)
In my opinion "dangerous scientific stuff" should be done in dedicated, preferrably custom built facilities like the Regula I space lab Dr. Carol Marcus' team used to work on the Genesis-project. Not on small starships, in which space is at a premium (i.e. facilities and instruments are limited) and is run by people who can't be real specialists in any scientific discipline because a) the mission profile requires jacks of all trades and b) they need to be trained in starship operations and most likely go through officer training programmes, too. On top of that: active warp or impulse drives, shields, the radiation in space and things like ion storms might interfere with "dangerous scientific stuff" which makes doing it more dangerous than it needs to be.
And they sent THIS after a borg cube!?!?! My nephews big wheel would've been more effective! They would've done more Damage if they'd gotten out and YELLED at the damn thing!
I've always subscribed to the idea that the secondary hull was also meant to be interchangeable. When going to perform drastically different scientific studies, different specialized secondary hulls could be attached as needed. Its a fun design, even if putting a hull directly between the nacelles still makes me scratch my head. At least the nacelles mostly have clear line of sight between them.
The notion of cargo and personnel transport seems a highly logical step up from the ship from the Jeffries series that had the curved plate for towing the giant cylinder I look forward to the potential of other ships from this era being covered when/if you get access to models upgraded from what was seen in the KLINGON ACADEMY game, as there were at least a dozen other ships done in that eras aesthetic.
I've always wondered if naming the ship, the Grissom was an attempt at foreshadowing or if it was a random name choice. If it was foreshadowing, it was in poor taste.
Random Klingon Captain: Finally a federation Starship. Our battle will be legendary! Other klingon: It's an Oberth sir. Klingon Captain: sigh... just open the airlock and toss it a message in a bottle. Oberth Class: explodium go boom
@@jasonparis5635 Or just replace the secondary hull with one dedicated to torpedo launchers. Imagine and Oberth with 15 independent FORWARD launchers, as well as some to the rear, sides, and perpendiculars :D
Not exactly strewn with any respect though. It is made of Explodium, was design by someone who's ancestor designed the Ford Pinto and then named similarly to another car make that you have to ask tp fix it again.
When I think about it, most of the Oberth and Excelsior size issues would not exist if there had been no resistance to Andrew Probert's idea that the refit and redesign of the Enterprise had doubled her length.
I always felt that anyone who was made a Captain of an Oberth class ship. You may have pissed off the wrong Admiral. Its a ship that feels like a little brother. They want to help. But they are just in the way.
To quote Harcort Fenton Mudd...”You sing and dance as well as anyone I’ve ever seen.” But it’s still a butt-ugly design with a glaring flaw. None of this is your fault however, a wonderful job as usual. Thank you.
I'm sure it's a fine fictional ship that excelled in its job but me and other fans will always know this class as being killed by a 1 shot torpedo bird of prey..... Thanks star trek 3...One of weakest *looking* ships in all of starfleet....
Frankly, Grissom's commander got caught too flat-footed to even raise shields, and he didn't have a bridge crew with enough initiative to react. Even the Klingon gunner wasn't expecting that much of a clay pigeon. :) I'm reminded of a tabletop game where our Captain's player just wasn't good at thinking on his feet, maybe more used to fleet strategy games or something, and it got so my character and another at navigation and helm just didn't even wait for him, but nothing succeeds like success so there got to be kind of an understanding we'd make him look good tactically if he didn't have an order to give. :) Captain ...Esteban? was totally 'We'd better ask Starfleet first if we should pick our nose.' One got the impression the comm officer had long since lost patience. :) Anyway, I do think part of the Oberth's bad rap comes from command incompetence that one time. Not a warship, obviously, but... They were like maximum possible sitting duck configuration.
@@tmseh The time Captain Esteban used to tell Saavik that they're under attack could have been used to order his bridge crew to raise shields and initiate evasive maneuvers.
I think those Warp speeds are TOS or TMP... I could be wrong, but I think by 2381, cruising speed would have been around Warp 6.5 and emergency speed, Warp 9. Maybe a discrepancy due to the re-calibrated warp factor scale used by Starfleet in the 24th century? Or is speed just one of the many foggy details which seem to plague this reliable little science vessel (I know what I said.)
I am awaiting some Beta Cannon about the lost era Oberth Class USS Saratoga, that was tragicly lost within seconds of shake down Cruze with only Engineering and Security members on board.
If we think about the weird science Star Fleet does on their main ship. What sort of shenanigans do these science ships get up to… I also think the turbo lifts are probably for maintenance and only used if you had to. I bet people just beamed between to filter out what ever nonsense they were doing in the secondary.
I say bring the engines in, make them a bit larger, remove the pylons and bring the secondary meld it into the bottom. Elongate the saucer in the back to come to a tear drop connecting into the top of the secondary hull. Without the pylons I think it would be bit sturdier ship. That fat censor pod secondary hull could easily be incorporated into the main underside. Give it better shield engines and weapons it would be an ok escort.
Truly detested the Oberth when I was younger. Today I really appreciate the class for the thought put into it as I have come to respect and even enjoy so many of the other oddball classes created throughout the years.
I keep thinking of Oprah instead of Oberth class. I could imagine Oprah telling her audience members that they're going home with a federation shuttle craft"" You have a shuttle craft, you have a shuttle craft, you're going home with a shuttle craft.”
My love for the idea of interchangeable mission specific pods leads me to paraphrase Nick Fury in my fanfiction: "I recognize that canon has made a decision. However, given that it's a stupid-a** decision, I have elected to ignore it."
All kidding aside, I want to thank you for giving a respectful analysis of the Oberth class. So often, it's the butt of everyone's jokes, but this was the first spaceship I ever truly thought was beautiful, so it has a special place in my heart.
My only problem with the "minimal turbolift size to access secondary hull which could be jettisoned, etc." is that it is far more efficient to therefore mount the "science pod" secondary hull under a Miranda hull...
More efficient how? The Miranda Class is a far larger starship design... So utilizing one for a short range science vessel, that does not require the space/ volume that a Miranda Class has, which is larger then the Connie Refit, is a hugely inefficient idea!
It's a scientific Ptolemy. Instead of cargo containers, it tugs sensor platforms and science labs. It's kinda like Voyager disappearing without a trace. Assumption is the class is fundamentally flawed and reviewed before large numbers proceed to be built. Grissom goes boom from a lucky shot and it's forever branded a shit design intended to go boom. Guess what? It was designed from Day One to go boom in a situation created to reinforce Kruge's ruthless adversary status.
Interesting how 3 Oberth class ships fought in the battle of sector 001 and only 1 was damaged while the other 2 seemingly survived and and were pretty useful considering how much of these ships are easily destroyed.
It was a completely different battle, with other vessels which had been upgraded and designed to fit the Borg, taking the brunt of the attack. And given the Borgs nature, it makes sense they wouldn't focus on the weaker ships first... Thus, it is not surprising at all!
Originally I just took the secondary hull as nothing more than a huge sensor array. Since it's a science vessel and it was studying the Genisis plant and the hull was unmanned. But TNG changed thst.
Sigh real world economics have gave the Oberth a bad name. Needed to be shot down in Star Trek III, it gave a lot of expendable models, and costly destruction shots available to the TV series to use. As the sure the heck can't destroy Constitution class ships.
The Oberth Class star ship was an interesting vessel because it provided a scalable easy to build and maintain platform that Starfleet could use to do the scientific grunt work involved in exploration. Its development allowed Starfleet to use its larger vessels elsewhere providing economy and flexibility over the long term. While it's true that this class of vessel was not suitable for combat, its mission was to offer ongoing support in research to both public and private organizations.
After looking at the California class (Below Decks), I was starting to see the Oberth class as the "father" of the California class. I'll wait for the hate comments.
I can imagine after the disaster of the first Klingon war. Starfleet dedicated all their larger vessels i.e. any remaining Crossfield class vessels for offense and defense. Any dedicated science and research ships going forward would be much smaller and operated by skeleton crews. As an added benefit, for every one Crossfield hull. You could easily build multiples of the Oberth class.
I’m confused .. You stated that in the event of separating the secondary hull the primary hull could still warp because main engineering is in the primary. dont the schematics show the warp core in the secondary hull though?
@@TriAngulumAudioStudios oh ok. I thought the schematic you included in the video near the beginning showed the warp core in the secondary hull. I guess I misinterpreted what I saw. Is the core horizontal in the primary hull?
That's no problem, mistakes happen! And since there are really no Schematics to reference (none that dont contradict eachother) its really up to you to decide that!
@@TriAngulumAudioStudios cool. To me the design never made sense because I always thought the core was in the secondary hull but for the primary hull to be a fully independent starship and the secondary to be modular and swappable makes it a very cool ship.
concept: the canoe is detachable, there should be multiple canoe designs; Science (original canoe with scientific equipment), transport (troop/colonist and vip variants), cargo (carrying only cargo), carrier (launch tubes in the front and landing bays in the rear and everything needed to operate the fighters in the middle), and battle (added weapons, shields, and other equipment required to operate said systems that puts the Oberth class to the equivalent of a heavy cruiser of it's time save its speed). Lets see you use that "space dust" of yours to make a video featuring all of this 😁😁 Note: the Oderths that were sent up against the Borg probably had Battle/War canoes attached to them.
To be fair even that klingon gunner admitted it was a lucky shot :). A neat little design and sometimes it's nice to see a departure from the usual starfleet designs. 🖖
Meanwhile someone is watching MPs: Holy Grail as the USS Grisson Orbits the Genesis planet...King Arthur approaches an castle and gets stopped by an French guards stops him and his band of knights... "...I fart in your general directions.." that when the ship blew up when the BoP shot at them. So we now have proof the French destroyed the Grisson, not the Klingons and in retrospect, the French, gave us Picard some time later.
I both like and dislike the Oberth class. I like it for it potential and dislike it because that potential was never well exploited: The Oberth upper reminds me the Ptolemy class while the lower reminds me of the contemporary R/P Flip and when I look at the ship that’s how my mind explains what I see. It’s not unlike a contemporary semi tractor trailer. I believe the OBERTH is the upper section with it’s attached nacelles and the lower section (with or without the angle struts I’m not sure) is simply ONE variation of the Oberth but since it’s the variation we see the most (well always) we are not aware they there are (or can be) other variations. Consider this: If the upper section (cab) can be essentially it’s own entire ship capable of operating independently at both warp and standard sunlight speeds and doesn’t NEED its lower section, it is very easy to imagine versions without a lower section or with a different lower section and purposes for those versions Suddenly you have tractor or hard dock tugs , material or personnel transport vessels , small craft carriers, transports for components for larger ships and stations. All sorts of missions for captains (position) of full Lieutenant or Lt Commander Ranks to cut their teeth on. These are Starfleet’s version of the Liberty ship, the Casablanca Class carrier, it’s USS Wolverine.
I learned way more new features of this than I thought. Reputation aside, it would be awesome to see this ship in a series where science experiments go wrong where they have to Quarantine the other part of the ship. My first thought on a fun thing to explore in Star Trek is Zombies on an Oberth 😈
The command of Oberth class starships went to former Redshirts who somehow managed to survive long enough to reach the rank of captain.
A ship that blows up when a sneeze happens in the engine room.
Even after the Nova class replaces them all, the Oberth still has 3 good uses:
1.) Trainee ships for the Academy... Provided that they are kept in a safe area where they won't be attacked by random Klingon Birds of Prey...
2.) Target practice... And not just for random Klingon Birds of Prey...
3.) A flying bomb that can be used against Borg cubes. Imagine one of these things stuffed with Anti-Matter, Quantum Torpedo warheads, et al. and hitting a cube at warp speed. Bet the Collective wouldn't be able to defend against that very easily...
Maybe that was the real reason why Kruge got angry over the officer blowing up the Grissom... It's dishonorable to kill helpless opponents and shooting an Oberth for any reason is like challenging a quadruple amputee to a knife fight!
I glad this was brought up. Here is my question I know the gunner said it was a lucky shot, but can you really blame the gunner? I mean, when you hit a ship with a Klingon built torpedo that has the equlivent of tin foil for sheilds...I'm not sure you can blame the gunner?
Three new ensigns look over their new assignments. "Wow! I got a Galaxy Class!" "I got an Akira!" "What did you get Bob?" *in tears* "I got...an Oberth." "We will remember you and raise a drink in your memory."
The Constitution refit is one of the most gorgeous ships in all of Science Fiction.
Your damn right.
My 2nd favorite ship design after the one with the WW 2 Battleship that got the mother of all refits.
agreed
The Oberth class is actualy an inflatable starship designed to be easily deployed to a system with just a foot pump. It does have the unfortunate side effect of making them easy to pop like a balloon if they come into contact with anything sharp or hot, like a photon torpedo or cigarette.
This has to be the first video I have seen of this ship class that did not treat it like a joke, thank you.:)
AS for the travel between both hulls, I prefer the FASA explanation, dedicated transporters that were always locked onto each other so there was NO chance of a science experiment to take out both hulls.
ALL HAIL THE WAR CANOE!!!
But seriously, the Oberth is a good ship. Small, somewhat reliable, made from explodium, a very versatile material. A good ship for a small crew.
Lol
😅🤣😂war canoe 😂🤣😅
The Oberth class, designed by the ancestor of the designer of the Ford Pinto.
I thought this was a cool ship when I first saw it in The Search for Spock, but was kinda disappointed when it couldn't put up much of a fight.
Great reference!
It didn’t really get a chance to fight back at all.
Lucky for Kahn Starfleet assigned the Reliant to the Genesis project and not the Grissom.
The story was at one point Kahn steals a meek science vessel and his knowledge of the Constitution class to decisively overcome a lionship Enterprise and Kirk's experience.
If there ever was a meme star trek class in the eyes of the community, this is it.
average day on an oberth
Captain: hello crewman, you look a bit under the weather
Crewman: It's OK sir, I just have a sniffle
Captain: ALL HANDS TO THE ESCAPE PODS!! ABANDON SHIP!!!
Just imagine Captain Janeway stranded in the Delta Quadrant in a Oberth class starship.
Safest journey ever. No other race would touch the Oberth, thinking "OMG, what if it's contagious?"
I've always liked the idea of having turbolifts in the nacelles and connecting superstructure as it helped gauge the scale of the ship, to me.
"Admiral, we have a borg cube heading this way"
"SEND IN THE OBERTHS!!!"
"but sir....."
"DID I STUTTER!"
Lol :)
😂😂😂😂😂
The Oberths could be sent without crews to ram Borg ships.
Oberths were used as experimental testbeds, at least sometimes... Who's to say some R&D team at Jupiter station or Utopia Planita hadn't souped up that one in First Contact with some goofyahh superweapon?
I always loved the Oberth! What a daring design. In Star Trek 3 I was thrilled to see all the new ship designs.
I felt the same way when I first saw it :)
Visiting Admiral: "We're under attack! Power up the phasers and load photon torpedoes!"
Captain: umm power up THE phaser bank, you mean? We only have one. Load the photon torpedoes where?
X.O.: "I told you that wasn't a trash compactor!"
No no. That's what the airlock on the bridge is for: so you can throw torpedoes at the enemy by hand!
It seems like the Constitution Refit, Miranda, and Oberth were meant to be Starfleet's way of getting upgraded ships into service fast and cheap. They never intended the ships to have such long service life and would be replaced with fully realized designs based off the new Excelsior. But after peace with the Klingons and Romulans going dark the need for a whole new fleet disappeared
It's design has some elements of the future Excelsior class starship. It's very likely that when they commissioned the class the designers were between ship design languages.
You could just imagine the 80-90 year old clunkers they had doing the grunt work during the TOS-TMP period that needed replaced.
My headcanon is that the secondary hull is basically all sensor and you just don't need to go there all that often.
Ah, yes, the good ol USS Canon Fodder. We love her so 😁
I'm completely fine with the turbo life system given how gravity plating works having it at an angle make sense. I was very annoyed as a kid not being able to one shot it in Klingon academy
The Oberth Class is the Red Shirts of Starships.
Hello Triangulum.
The Oberth has never been one of my 'favored' classes of starships. Mostly due to the lack of a centrally located access to the lower hull. Any Oberths that come into my possession would be retrofitted with such a 'neck' for ease of translocation of personnel between the upper and lower hull sections.
Personal head-canon: Due to the highly-classified nature of some of the Oberth class' experiments, it was decided by certain shady intelligence elements within Starfleet that - for reasons of plausible deniability - such experiments and the data collected could not be allowed to fall into the hands of the Federation's enemies, even by chance if they should happen upon an abandoned Oberth spaceframe resulting from a failed experiment. Therefore, an easily-accessible self-destruct - with no countdown or means of cancellation - could be readily activated from the tactical station on the bridge, in case the Oberth found itself in a position where even a ten-minute countdown might allow an enemy boarding party time to get aboard and send crucial information back to their ship before destruction.
Unfortunately, due to bad control layout design, the activation button for this instant self-destruct was placed between the phaser and photon torpedo buttons and could therefore be easily pressed accidentally in the heat of battle. This is the reason that the Oberth class gained a reputation for exploding almost as soon as it engaged in combat, sometimes without even being hit.
I always imagined that the secondary hall was a interchangeable sensor pod, depending upon the mission. And that access was via intership transporter. Thanks for clearing that up.
No problem :) It's what Im here for ;)
I have always loved this ship, it’s Absolutely Awesome
It grew on me over time :)
That ship even touch a rock it explodes 🤣
If you sneeze beside it, it explodes :P
@@TriAngulumAudioStudios 🤣😂 yep
The name given to this class is so apropos given its historical origins. Amazingly done on the video.
Oberth design: "This is a science ship. Are we going to put the crew and science instruments in the same hull as the alien space viruses and crazy energy beings and unknown shapeshifting samples and mad experiments, and our supplies of 'This special stuff may be volatile but it shouldn't be a problem if no plot happens...' ...No, we're not going to do that." :)
Well there goes my fan theory that the oberth had invisible turbolifts midship. Joking aside the biggest issue with the oberth is its inconsistent scale on screen with the smaller scale not working with the pylon turbolifts.
These things are more explosive than a city in anime. Fantastic video as always. Nerd Approved.
Lol, thank you :)
They were made at the ACME shipyards.
I think the reason the Oberth got the flying coffin reputation it did is largely because of idiots in command sending them into situations they were unsuitable for and ultimately leading to their loss. Using them as a scout ship during the Dominion war for example smacks of desperation on the part of Starfleet.
This new class is FILLED with 30% more explodium.
Always thought there should have been a destroyer or frigate versions of the Oberth class. Cool design with a lot more potential than what was tapped here.
3:42 one problem with that - the episode of TOS entitled Court Martial - Reliant is shown with a proper registry during TOS, she was probably in for refit testing out the new tech, which is also why i maintain there was NEVER a TOS Miranda Class. its moreso accepted that Miranda was the class used to develop the new warp tech etc that went into the refit of the Constitution class a couple years later (and the newly made connies like the one that was used for 1701 A, with Scotty's log in STV confirming shes a new ship, not a refit).
"How do they get to the secondary hull?"
Engineer looks around suspiciously, then leans in and whispers "Waterslides..."
(I've always like this plucky lil' ship, btw:)
"Wait. How do they get back from the secondary hull?"
Engineer: "They don't..."
@@pills- Engineer: Don't go down if you don't like transporters!
I used to absolutely loathe the design of this vessel, until 'Discovery' came along with the divorced nacelles. It took 30-plus years, but it's finally taken a shine to me. :)
One of the swap-out pods was a 10 lane bowling alley and a mini golf course.
Every bridge needs a big door that opens into space.
I love the design of the ship i am proud to own one in my Star Trek Star Fleet Ships collection
It does make sense to do dangerous scientific stuff in the isolated secondary hull.
Thank you ;)
In my opinion "dangerous scientific stuff" should be done in dedicated, preferrably custom built facilities like the Regula I space lab Dr. Carol Marcus' team used to work on the Genesis-project. Not on small starships, in which space is at a premium (i.e. facilities and instruments are limited) and is run by people who can't be real specialists in any scientific discipline because a) the mission profile requires jacks of all trades and b) they need to be trained in starship operations and most likely go through officer training programmes, too. On top of that: active warp or impulse drives, shields, the radiation in space and things like ion storms might interfere with "dangerous scientific stuff" which makes doing it more dangerous than it needs to be.
And they sent THIS after a borg cube!?!?!
My nephews big wheel would've been more effective!
They would've done more Damage if they'd gotten out and YELLED at the damn thing!
No Brussard scoops, oddly.
The ship that you don't want to captain
-Sir Can I have a miranda instead?!
I've always subscribed to the idea that the secondary hull was also meant to be interchangeable. When going to perform drastically different scientific studies, different specialized secondary hulls could be attached as needed. Its a fun design, even if putting a hull directly between the nacelles still makes me scratch my head. At least the nacelles mostly have clear line of sight between them.
Great work ! I love this channel ! I love star trek . Live long and prosper !
The notion of cargo and personnel transport seems a highly logical step up from the ship from the Jeffries series that had the curved plate for towing the giant cylinder
I look forward to the potential of other ships from this era being covered when/if you get access to models upgraded from what was seen in the KLINGON ACADEMY game, as there were at least a dozen other ships done in that eras aesthetic.
It speaks to how unprepared Starfleet was for the original Borg attack that Oberth class ships were part of the fleet at Wolf 359…
I've always wondered if naming the ship, the Grissom was an attempt at foreshadowing or if it was a random name choice. If it was foreshadowing, it was in poor taste.
Thank you very much for this nice Information Video.
Mmm would not be my first choice for a posting if i were a Star fleet officer! (:
Lol mine either :P
Random Klingon Captain: Finally a federation Starship. Our battle will be legendary!
Other klingon: It's an Oberth sir.
Klingon Captain: sigh... just open the airlock and toss it a message in a bottle.
Oberth Class: explodium go boom
A gunship version of the Oberth would be cool.
There is. It's called Orca.
The ship would be a cool torpedo gun ship without the bottom hull.
@@jasonparis5635 Or just replace the secondary hull with one dedicated to torpedo launchers. Imagine and Oberth with 15 independent FORWARD launchers, as well as some to the rear, sides, and perpendiculars :D
being the captain of and Oberth is about as prestigious as a crewman on the Enterprise.
Not exactly strewn with any respect though. It is made of Explodium, was design by someone who's ancestor designed the Ford Pinto and then named similarly to another car make that you have to ask tp fix it again.
I’d love a bottle episode where an event horizon style horror story takes place on one of these due to an experiment gone wrong.
I love the Oberth class starships!
Actually I do too! Just dont tell anyone ;)
When I think about it, most of the Oberth and Excelsior size issues would not exist if there had been no resistance to Andrew Probert's idea that the refit and redesign of the Enterprise had doubled her length.
I always felt that anyone who was made a Captain of an Oberth class ship. You may have pissed off the wrong Admiral. Its a ship that feels like a little brother. They want to help. But they are just in the way.
I still can't help calling it the Oh dear class
why don't Oberth class starships have bussard collectors?
If gas touches it, it will explode.
@@davidporter9147 it's a starship, not a Pinto 🤣
To quote Harcort Fenton Mudd...”You sing and dance as well as anyone I’ve ever seen.” But it’s still a butt-ugly design with a glaring flaw. None of this is your fault however, a wonderful job as usual. Thank you.
I'm sure it's a fine fictional ship that excelled in its job but me and other fans will always know this class as being killed by a 1 shot torpedo bird of prey..... Thanks star trek 3...One of weakest *looking* ships in all of starfleet....
Frankly, Grissom's commander got caught too flat-footed to even raise shields, and he didn't have a bridge crew with enough initiative to react. Even the Klingon gunner wasn't expecting that much of a clay pigeon. :)
I'm reminded of a tabletop game where our Captain's player just wasn't good at thinking on his feet, maybe more used to fleet strategy games or something, and it got so my character and another at navigation and helm just didn't even wait for him, but nothing succeeds like success so there got to be kind of an understanding we'd make him look good tactically if he didn't have an order to give. :) Captain ...Esteban? was totally 'We'd better ask Starfleet first if we should pick our nose.' One got the impression the comm officer had long since lost patience. :)
Anyway, I do think part of the Oberth's bad rap comes from command incompetence that one time. Not a warship, obviously, but... They were like maximum possible sitting duck configuration.
It is probably a very manuverable ship.
The cloaked Klingon ship gave them zero time to take evasive manuevers.
@@tmseh The time Captain Esteban used to tell Saavik that they're under attack could have been used to order his bridge crew to raise shields and initiate evasive maneuvers.
I think those Warp speeds are TOS or TMP... I could be wrong, but I think by 2381, cruising speed would have been around Warp 6.5 and emergency speed, Warp 9.
Maybe a discrepancy due to the re-calibrated warp factor scale used by Starfleet in the 24th century? Or is speed just one of the many foggy details which seem to plague this reliable little science vessel (I know what I said.)
I am awaiting some Beta Cannon about the lost era Oberth Class USS Saratoga, that was tragicly lost within seconds of shake down Cruze with only Engineering and Security members on board.
If we think about the weird science Star Fleet does on their main ship. What sort of shenanigans do these science ships get up to… I also think the turbo lifts are probably for maintenance and only used if you had to. I bet people just beamed between to filter out what ever nonsense they were doing in the secondary.
I say bring the engines in, make them a bit larger, remove the pylons and bring the secondary meld it into the bottom. Elongate the saucer in the back to come to a tear drop connecting into the top of the secondary hull. Without the pylons I think it would be bit sturdier ship. That fat censor pod secondary hull could easily be incorporated into the main underside. Give it better shield engines and weapons it would be an ok escort.
Truly detested the Oberth when I was younger. Today I really appreciate the class for the thought put into it as I have come to respect and even enjoy so many of the other oddball classes created throughout the years.
It has really grown on me!
@@TriAngulumAudioStudios This may be so, but you should not grow attached. They have a short lifespan.
I keep thinking of Oprah instead of Oberth class. I could imagine Oprah telling her audience members that they're going home with a federation shuttle craft"" You have a shuttle craft, you have a shuttle craft, you're going home with a shuttle craft.”
It looks like a Defiant class prototype with a canoe stuck on the bottom.
Lol
Hence the term war canoe
My love for the idea of interchangeable mission specific pods leads me to paraphrase Nick Fury in my fanfiction: "I recognize that canon has made a decision. However, given that it's a stupid-a** decision, I have elected to ignore it."
Lol it is unfortunate canon doesn't work that way lol
All kidding aside, I want to thank you for giving a respectful analysis of the Oberth class. So often, it's the butt of everyone's jokes, but this was the first spaceship I ever truly thought was beautiful, so it has a special place in my heart.
Ok u win
I really like the Oberth and think it gets a bum rap. Great video as always!
The Oberth class looks like what a Klingon fart looks like if you could see it..🤪🤣. PS love your videos
This is probably one of your favorite ships in Star Trek along with your crush the Sovereign class.
Is this an update to episode 133?
My only problem with the "minimal turbolift size to access secondary hull which could be jettisoned, etc." is that it is far more efficient to therefore mount the "science pod" secondary hull under a Miranda hull...
More efficient how? The Miranda Class is a far larger starship design... So utilizing one for a short range science vessel, that does not require the space/ volume that a Miranda Class has, which is larger then the Connie Refit, is a hugely inefficient idea!
It's a scientific Ptolemy. Instead of cargo containers, it tugs sensor platforms and science labs.
It's kinda like Voyager disappearing without a trace. Assumption is the class is fundamentally flawed and reviewed before large numbers proceed to be built. Grissom goes boom from a lucky shot and it's forever branded a shit design intended to go boom. Guess what? It was designed from Day One to go boom in a situation created to reinforce Kruge's ruthless adversary status.
Believe it or not, I like the Oberth. Yeah the Nova class is significantly better, but that obviously came later.
Interesting how 3 Oberth class ships fought in the battle of sector 001 and only 1 was damaged while the other 2 seemingly survived and and were pretty useful considering how much of these ships are easily destroyed.
It was a completely different battle, with other vessels which had been upgraded and designed to fit the Borg, taking the brunt of the attack. And given the Borgs nature, it makes sense they wouldn't focus on the weaker ships first... Thus, it is not surprising at all!
if i have to make an list of ugly ships in starfleet this would be on top of the list well top 3
Originally I just took the secondary hull as nothing more than a huge sensor array. Since it's a science vessel and it was studying the Genisis plant and the hull was unmanned. But TNG changed thst.
I did as well, but Canon changed that perception quick :P
@@TriAngulumAudioStudios yes ot did. Lol but now we know.
But The Nebula Class Starship is the best🤗
Sigh real world economics have gave the Oberth a bad name. Needed to be shot down in Star Trek III, it gave a lot of expendable models, and costly destruction shots available to the TV series to use. As the sure the heck can't destroy Constitution class ships.
The Oberth Class star ship was an interesting vessel because it provided a scalable easy to build and maintain platform that Starfleet could use to do the scientific grunt work involved in exploration. Its development allowed Starfleet to use its larger vessels elsewhere providing economy and flexibility over the long term.
While it's true that this class of vessel was not suitable for combat, its mission was to offer ongoing support in research to both public and private organizations.
After looking at the California class (Below Decks), I was starting to see the Oberth class as the "father" of the California class.
I'll wait for the hate comments.
I can imagine after the disaster of the first Klingon war. Starfleet dedicated all their larger vessels i.e. any remaining Crossfield class vessels for offense and defense.
Any dedicated science and research ships going forward would be much smaller and operated by skeleton crews. As an added benefit, for every one Crossfield hull. You could easily build multiples of the Oberth class.
I’m confused .. You stated that in the event of separating the secondary hull the primary hull could still warp because main engineering is in the primary. dont the schematics show the warp core in the secondary hull though?
No they dont! Only fan fiction schematics do, which hold no weight in Trek! Hope that clears up your confusion!
@@TriAngulumAudioStudios oh ok. I thought the schematic you included in the video near the beginning showed the warp core in the secondary hull. I guess I misinterpreted what I saw. Is the core horizontal in the primary hull?
That's no problem, mistakes happen! And since there are really no Schematics to reference (none that dont contradict eachother) its really up to you to decide that!
@@TriAngulumAudioStudios cool. To me the design never made sense because I always thought the core was in the secondary hull but for the primary hull to be a fully independent starship and the secondary to be modular and swappable makes it a very cool ship.
concept: the canoe is detachable, there should be multiple canoe designs; Science (original canoe with scientific equipment), transport (troop/colonist and vip variants), cargo (carrying only cargo), carrier (launch tubes in the front and landing bays in the rear and everything needed to operate the fighters in the middle), and battle (added weapons, shields, and other equipment required to operate said systems that puts the Oberth class to the equivalent of a heavy cruiser of it's time save its speed). Lets see you use that "space dust" of yours to make a video featuring all of this 😁😁
Note: the Oderths that were sent up against the Borg probably had Battle/War canoes attached to them.
To be fair even that klingon gunner admitted it was a lucky shot :). A neat little design and sometimes it's nice to see a departure from the usual starfleet designs. 🖖
Meanwhile someone is watching MPs: Holy Grail as the USS Grisson Orbits the Genesis planet...King Arthur approaches an castle and gets stopped by an French guards stops him and his band of knights...
"...I fart in your general directions.." that when the ship blew up when the BoP shot at them.
So we now have proof the French destroyed the Grisson, not the Klingons and in retrospect, the French, gave us Picard some time later.
Didn't the secondary hull used to be a sensor pod in Star Trek 3?
That is what we all assumed, but canon changed that!
Enterprise-F...........
I used to hate this class but I have grown to appreciate it. Still wouldn't want to serve on one though.
I both like and dislike the Oberth class. I like it for it potential and dislike it because that potential was never well exploited:
The Oberth upper reminds me the Ptolemy class while the lower reminds me of the contemporary R/P Flip and when I look at the ship that’s how my mind explains what I see.
It’s not unlike a contemporary semi tractor trailer.
I believe the OBERTH is the upper section with it’s attached nacelles and the lower section (with or without the angle struts I’m not sure) is simply ONE variation of the Oberth but since it’s the variation we see the most (well always) we are not aware they there are (or can be) other variations.
Consider this:
If the upper section (cab) can be essentially it’s own entire ship capable of operating independently at both warp and standard sunlight speeds and doesn’t NEED its lower section, it is very easy to imagine versions without a lower section or with a different lower section and purposes for those versions
Suddenly you have tractor or hard dock tugs , material or personnel transport vessels , small craft carriers, transports for components for larger ships and stations. All sorts of missions for captains (position) of full Lieutenant or Lt Commander Ranks to cut their teeth on.
These are Starfleet’s version of the Liberty ship, the Casablanca Class carrier, it’s USS Wolverine.
I learned way more new features of this than I thought. Reputation aside, it would be awesome to see this ship in a series where science experiments go wrong where they have to Quarantine the other part of the ship. My first thought on a fun thing to explore in Star Trek is Zombies on an Oberth 😈
Should have been more heavily armed !! It works alone , make it more like the Defiant.
It's actually a nice little design. It's even made it's way in the fleet list for my guys. Replacing the aging Leonov class ships.
This ship is soooo ugly to me lol one of my least favorite designs. Good video though.