The Galaxy-class’ Yacht does have impulse engines according to the cutaways, they are just ventrally mounted, meaning the yacht flies in a way that minimal impulse thrust could be used to replace artificial gravity.
BTW there are two things you missed about the Odyssey Class. The Odyssey remaster has a second shuttlebay above the Nav Deflector And in addition to the Aquarius the Odyssey does have a Captains Yacht, its a little hard to see on some models but it is docked behind the planetary sensor dome.
"Professor, how many atmospheres can the ship handle?" "Well, considering it's a spaceship, anywhere between zero and one." A quote from Futurama that best applies to the Waverider.
One use that the Calypso could be good for is first contact situations where initial contact has been made with the government(s) and you're revealing yourself to the public at large. You'd want your delegation to arrive with a bit more pageantry than just appearing out of thin air but also in a non-threatening way. The fact the Calypso has landing gear, engines and little else implies that it was just a fancy orbital shuttle rather than a diplomatic amenity intended for more advanced warp-capable cultures.
And in your scenario, if it has no warp capability it's actually a feature. If first contact goes bad and the aliens capture the Calypso, there is no warp technology to infect their technology development.
The Delta Flyer is a superfluous decoy to direct your attention away from the fact that they forgot about the captains yacht and didn't want to include it mid series or it would open lots of plotholes.
It's probably overlooked because either none of the writers really thought of a way to include it or because they wanted something "coul" decided to go with a new ship, but as Tom says when describing the DF; "We've needed something new and better since we got here, and it's time we built it" before Harry and Tuvok essentially act like they've heard this before and only cave because they need something to handle collecting the spatial probe
The fact the Calypso and Aeroshuttle were designed along with the carrier vessels with concept art, but only the Aeroshuttle had been given a test animation and never seen makes it even worse
I would think if Picard in his TNG time had one of the two(wave rider and the arowshuttle) or the Cousteau rather then the Calypso... He might have taken more leave time.. Best way to get him off the ship is get Troy's mom talking about coming on board... LOL... I could also see them being handy for trips to a star base where the ship is near it but is needed someplace.... In a setting of are solar system if the ship was in orbit say Saturn, they could send the captain's yacht that is a bit bigger then a normal shuttle..Tho the Aquarius "escort ship" I think is a bit over powered to be in the captain's yacht...... If I was a Captain, I would want the Cousteau or my own Run-about..
The improved survivability in higher pressure atmospheres and underwater is indeed a neat feature of later Captain's Yachts. Good forms of specialization for both scientific and military endeavors. It would be great to see more of them.
Be nice to see them actually used on screen. For example, Voyager had no need to create the Delta Flyer, the Captain's Gig could have been used instead! I'm sure Janeway wouldn't mind loaning it out to her best pilot on occasion.
The whole discussion on captains yachts, shuttle craft, shuttle bays makes me wish that Star Trek had fleshed out a bit of trek to connect it to contemporary and traditional navy…. There should be a department head to over seas these vessels and the crews who man them a combination of engineers, security detail, and red shirts helmsman…. Its already my head cannon the the XO (Riker) directly overseas the training of helmsman, BUT i think its time that starfleet brings back a position heavily steeped in both Royal and US navy…. The Coxswain…. In star fleet this can be a sort of Jr captain…. In charge of a starship’s light auxiliary craft, and overseeing the training and qualifications of the ships helmsmen …. In the early episodes of The Next Generation (before Tasha died and before La Forge was made chief engineer) both Lt La Forge and Lt Worf would have been a strong candidate for chief Coxswain
I liked this and I'm surprised you didn't point out the real big feature of a captain's yacht for diplomatic purposes. It can show the flag and literally be the Captain's private pad without having to fly the heavily armed warsh- exploration vessel too close to a space station or planet in a high tense situation.
@@venomgeekmedia9886 Also good way for the captain to take leave in a near by star system with out diverting the ship... I could see if Picard had a Cousteau, he might be more willing to leave the ship other then when Mrs Troy comes on board... LOL
The runabout rear room set being made "For a TNG Episode" with the intent of handing it over to DS9 only for DS9 to never use it is really really funny to me.
@@venomgeekmedia9886 Could have been useful for the Father Son camping episode, but I think that came before. If you did have it there could be a scene where there's a bit of sulking and wanting to just stay inside rather than rough it if a storm comes up or something. Or transporting refugees or liberated prisoners.
actually, it did get used twice but not as a runabout interior: it was part if the USS Prometheus interior and was used for an exterior shot that featured the windows…it just never used by DS9 most likely because of how tribal they were among the shows! and Defiant debuted a year after the TNG episode so there was ample time to use the set- they chose not to
@@DIEGhostfisha full year before it debuted so there was no reason to not have it used…then again, it’s likely tribalism since there was no reason not to have used runabouts in Voyager either
Yacht is the spelling you're looking for, and the Cousteau is named after Jacques Cousteau, the underwater explorer. I used to love those color books with all the pictures of the sea. I wish they had made more use of the yachts in the ship. You'd think Voyager would have under the circumstances.
The captains yacht might exist cause you might not want people on the ship proper. Or you need to have a NEUTRAL location on a planet to hold a meeting. It seems like it has a specific diplomatic role. Where you might need to bring the conference room to a specific location. Or maybe there is a historical location for a SIGNING of a treaty where you did not want to have it in a simple shuttle but something more like a conference room. Its not one of those things a ship might ever need. But there are going to be some cases where YOU DO need something like it. And well, there it is. The Original Galaxy yacht was thinking only of DIPLOMATIC needs. Future yachts were full ships.
@@bostonrailfan2427 Yeah, but my point stands. Its a mobile NEUTRAL zone to has out treaty's and such by landing it on a neutral spot like a moon or something. Its a very diplomatic idea and concept. And kind of makes sense.
I have frequently complained about the under utilization of auxiliary craft in the Star Trek universe. There have been several instances/episodes where much of the problems being experienced could have been more easily handled if they simply used even the auxiliary craft, they already have. For example, the episode where the enterprise ran into a cosmic string, if I remember correctly. The computer went down the communications went down, etc.. Using the captains yacht or a runabout, they could’ve transported people wherever they needed to be to make repairs, they could’ve linked their communicators through the shuttles communication systems, etc. The same with the nemesis movie where they threw data through space. That would’ve been unnecessary. All they had to do was get one of their shuttles, repair pods or pretty much anything.
jap one of my biggest concernes with the movie. Why not just use a transporter of a shuttle. Data could have lived... in a far less awakeward way as in STPicard. The second one was the Car thingy in the argo. While the Argo is a neat idea the car was not. They should have went with a full elclosed rover. Hell even the Rover of ST-Prodigy makes far more sense and still was cool somehow.
Your story about the flip phone was a nice touch as it shows the tension between pragmatism and culture. It is especially ironic considering even in the real world we have in some ways surpassed the technology of star trek. I love seeing all the little features of the smaller craft.
I love the Waverider for its abilities to weather high pressure environments, Aero shuttle for how cool and do air tricks, the Cousteau is probably the ship I'd used for family event and the Aquarius class would be my go-to vessel for everything alongside the Runabout.
It is probably some variation on a captains gig or an admirals barge. A captains gig was any personal watercraft that was reserved for the captain to get wherever he needed to get. Usually from the ship to the land or occasionally to another ship. An admirals barge was a somewhat larger, somewhat more developed boat reserved for the admiral of a fleet to go about from ship to ship in the fleet for personal meetings, tactical discussions, and things like that. In both cases, it was important for captains and admirals to have their own dedicated transport so that they didn’t get snared up in transporting supplies and personal and other crap like that that might take up a lot of time. These were express vessels. Yacht is usually defined as a relatively small enclosed vessel that is capable of crossing the Atlantic on its own power (usually sail in the classical definition) . In other words, not a strictly coastal vessel. Given that it would be handy for the captain to have his own craft to get around on for exactly those kinds of situations, and that gig and barge both sound dumb to modern ears, and given that the senior command structure of Starfleet has never been at all made clear, and is frequently incoherent, I’m gonna assume “yacht” was used because it’s a word that people would recognize. Incidentally, those cutaways look pretty dowdy. I would expect something a bit more lavish, especially given how large the space it takes up is. Also shuttles in TOS were capable of interstellar flight, as was said several times on the series,
these are exactly that: based on actual personal craft of captains and admirals in navies across the glove for centuries…they fell out of favor due to helicopters but the concept is the same
Great video showing possible capabilities of these "Captains Yachts": I like the Waverider best as it's presented being able to go in liquid or other environments the mothership is incapable or would struggle in. I really liked your pointing out its connection to modern submarines - it had me thinking of the yellow stingray-like FS-1 "Flying Sub" from "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" TV series.
Not sure if you know the history of the names of the captain's yachts of the Enterprises D and E, but the Enterprise-E's captain's yacht was named for famed oceanographer and inventor of the scuba diving system Jacques Cousteau, while the Enterprise-D's captain's yacht was named after his oceanic exploratory ship, the Calypso.
The Waverider is definitely my favorite and makes a lot of sense. Sadly, there's just no getting around the simple fact that the writers forgot about the existence of the Calypso and Aero. Given the initial theme of Voyager's speed and maneuverability, I'd wager a couple internet cookies that the designers envisioned some kind of starship parkour and the Aero going places the Intrepid couldn't like a dense asteroid field. The best idea for the Calypso I've ever came up with (just now actually) would be in a deep space assignment. If the Captain wanted/needed shore leave and there were no hospitable worlds around, you could drop him in the middle of nowhere in the Calypso. If he took a couple weeks or months off, the Enterprise could visit nearby areas of interest, do its surveys and studies, and pick up the Captain when done. You could also argue that if the entire Galaxy wasn't needed for a diplomatic mission, just its negotiating team, the Calypso could host negotiations if the rest of the ship was needed for something else. And to those who might think the Calypso is overkill for shore leave when the Enterprise has holodecks, arboretums, and what not, let me get personal for a second. I live with my bosses. All they have to do is call out or knock, and I'm on the job. That 'availability' never stops. Ever. In my case, I can leave home and do my own thing which takes that load off. So when the Captain needs a holiday, sometimes its not enough to just stay away from the bridge and in those times, the Calypso would be worth its weight in gold pressed latinum. As for the Aquarius, my question would be are you getting the most bang for your buck if you keep a completely functional starship in another ship's pocket. Maybe on a warship or deep space vessel. Edit: Forgot about the Cousteau. Its a little weird imo. The Sovereign is supposed to be more tactical than a Galaxy, but to have it as just the Captain's personal ferry makes the most sense to me.
Something not specified in the video is that the Calypso has landing gear, so it could actually serve as a mobile ground-based HQ/Office for the Captain during diplomatic negotiations.
Another purpose of the Captain's Yacht might have to do with the fact that the captain is expected to be the last one to leave when ordering the crew to abandon ship. The Captain's Yacht's close proximity to the bridge would allow the captain to wait until the very last minute to make a quick getaway before the ship explodes after ensuring the rest of the crew have gotten to their escape pods.
@@venomgeekmedia9886 Maybe, but there's a lot of starship interiors we don't see and just use our imaginations to fill in. I could picture a single-purpose high-speed turbolift in the ready room or just off the bridge that goes straight to the yacht.
I do just love the fact that they went all the why through voyager showing this nice runabout ship sitting on the underside of the hull and yet completely forget that they have it. TNG can get a pass since I didn't even know that was a Capitan's Yacht until this video but all throughout Voyager-- it looks like it's a ship on the underside of the hull that's just sitting there the whole time. But the Calypso look like it was designed to do a Vulcan style first contact with a species that had just achieved warp. So basically, just a conference room you can land on the planet since that is something that wouldn't scare the culture like the transporters would and is not imposing at all but it doesn't look like it has any other purpose than that. But that Aero shuttle that Voyager has, looks like something that could have been really useful throughout Voyager and they basically could have just used the DS9 Runabout set for it but instead they made any entire new one for the Delta Flyer. How that made sense-- I don't know especially when there were many episodes where it would have made a lot of sense for them to use it.
The Intrepid's Aeroshuttle really kicked off a trend that is a fantastic idea for any ship, It truly is a pity we never got to see it on screen. A high capability auxiliary craft that is practically able to aid the mothership in regular duties, surveying lower priority targets, Scouting ahead, conducting logistical work, even some tactical missions like Commando raids and recon. An onboard engineering team could probably reconfigure the interior to match the mission profile fairly easily. The idea to use the main fuselage of the Danube as a base is a great idea, Enhancement to one could be applied to the other fairly easily. All the extra space provided by the wings can be used to improve it's abilities further. I head canoned that it would attach Probes to the underside, similar to your idea with the Peregrine. Waverider having a more high pressure tolerant design is an interesting idea, we've seen craft be modified for that sort of environment before, but the Waverider would be properly built for it, which is an interesting niche. Although that interior has a bit of "Wasted space" with two "Bathrooms" I'm not sure how much extra nacelle Line of sight the Sovereign's Yacht really has, some perhaps, but not a lot I suspect. Delta Flyer I think is most akin to the Type-11 shuttlecraft, both have similar internal space to walk around in, though Delta Flyer has more bulk for systems and is likely more capable, kind of bridging the gap between a Runabout and a large shuttle. But not really stepping over the line into Runabout territory. Both are effectively takes on the "Heavy-shuttle" idea. With the Type-11 probably being more suitable for a wider range of Starship classes in service. Whereas Delta Flyer really only had to be built of Voyager and it's specific circumstances.
For me, the best use for a craft like the Galaxy Class Captain's Yacht is as a mobile base, both for longer planetary exploration and diplomatic missions on a planets surface. You practically bring your own small home with you, and can still have all the creature comforts you had on the Starship. Comfortable sleeping arrangements, lounging area, conference/meeting space, showers/toilets, replicators, good level of protection from the elements, decent measures for privacy (of you're hosted in accommodations from a planetary government they can bug your quarters, harder to do when you show up in your own mobile residence).
Yeah, it looks like a fancy relocatable home/base or floating sightseeing platform more than anything. Keeps you on location yet somewhat independent from your typically irrational, quarrelsome hosts… that, and it suits the civilised military pacifist style of TNG-era Starfleet more than a pointy flying metal-grey bird-thing.
I think the biggest problem with the Captain's Yacht, is that no one uses them. It's the Captain's Yacht. Who's brash enough to ask the Captain if they can take it for a research spin? The runabout in the shuttle bay will do the job. So if the Captain isn't using it, it ain't getting used. Wasted resources. Hell, the Voyager built the Delta Flyer from scratch in a day. Why? Was the Captain's Yacht not good enough? When everyone was on replicator rations? What a waste of replicator resources.
Well, with Voyager's aeroshuttle, it's often theorized that either it wasn't there, just a mockup panel, or had been ruined/had to be cannibalized when they got flung to the Delta quadrant,. since it seemed there were a lot of times they'd use it if they'd had it. and functioning.
For the Galaxy class' yacht, I think the design for it is more of something that is designed to function as more of a ground facility there. Rather than constantly beaming people down and back up, you land the yacht and ground operations happen there rather than constant transfer between ship and ground. Also, while the designs don't necessarily show them with later ships, if you go with STO where several were developed, those ships do have them and can slot in several different types there, though you don't see the captain's yachts (and their analogues) very often because they're Lifetime sub items.
Um... aren't you forgetting something? Season 4 episode 10 Star Trek Lower Decks? A story where a captain's yacht actually gets used? Though unnamed, the presence of this California Class's 'Boogie Board' allows the rescue of a main character. Please show some love, this is Star Trek too...
The captains yacht are a plot hole in any storyline: when you have to abandon the ship, they never use them. Imagine having a capable ship at you disposal and just using the escape pods with limited range. That could get a captain court martialed.
Captain's yachts are adapted to the main mission of their carrier ships' class. If Galaxy class stumble on early warp capable societies or energy based entities with diplomats who refuse to use teleporters, to have something more luxurious than a basic shuttle to carry them is a must.... so the Calypso is basically a space limousine who have no need for warp nacelles. Science ships have very sturdy portable lab captain's yachts ment to explore where the main ship can't.... meanwhile more military focused ships carry mini but deadly gunboat'like captain's yachts ment to implement their firepower. Depending of the mission, an Aquarius can't do what a Calypso do, and vis versa.
I'd like to see more small carried craft. A Repair/Construction/Tug thing, built on a modular primary hull design, two can link-up and tow the mothership at like warp 5-6 or so would be cool. Big ships should also act as kinda mobile bases with a fair number of smaller warp-capable ships operating out of them, small craft on the order of 1x to 5x runnabouts in size, some with their own dedicated crew and their own 'independent' existence that just dock with the big ships as a temporary harbor.
8:56 These details always bring into my head: "How many atmospheres can the ship withstand?" "Well, it's a spaceship, so I'd say anywhere between zero and one." (OMINOUS METAL CREAKING NOISES)
My head canon is that Calypso was part of the landing gear for the saucer section in the case of saucer separation . After all Calypso seems to be pretty much just a one huge engine pointing downwards. Cousteau would then be this concept taken forwards, giving separated saucer also limited warp capabilities. (Like warp 2 or 3.) And also working also as a yatch in the case there was need for a craft larger then a shuttle. As for Aeroshuttle and Waverider, what you say makes sense. But I still think their secondary purpose would be their emergency warp capability. After all, if main ship loses it's warpcore, then these yatchs could still with their small warp cores drag the ship in to safety.
…there was no landing gear on a saucer section, According to the Okudas, the saucer used thrusters to maneuver and required inertial dampers and structural integrity fields to soften the blow. theoretically, it’s possible that the use of Calypso was possible but it’s suicide for the one inside her as it would take the bulk of the force of impact
@@bostonrailfan2427 But since we know that a separated saucer CAN land from that movie Generations (where the saucer crash landed), then surely it is then capable to do more controlled landing if saucer is undamaged. What I theorize is that Calypso IS saucer's main thruster for a landing maneuver.
@ for the love of goodness: NO IT CAN NOT. the two whom are the gods of tech in Star Trek said specifically NO. it’s not involved in it at ALL. if it’s landing in a way that the yacht is supposed to assist then it’s not needed and if it’s used it’s not helping AT ALL.
Definitely the Cousteau for me, though as to your question on why they got rid of them, I think it might have something to do with the primary roles of certain starships. Ships like the Galaxy, Intrepid, and Nova, are all dedicated explorers/science ships (though less so in the Galaxy's case) so the idea was that you have a daughter craft that can perform a more specialized roll in exploration. As for the Sovereign, the flagship of the anti-borg fleet, that I think has more to do with the fact that as the next flagship of starfleet, especially once the D had a bit of a bad encounter with one particularly insane BoP, combined with the rising threat of the Dominion, the idea of a daughter craft on their most powerful vessels was appealing and can serve as something of a large troop transport/fire support platform if a Sovereign for whatever reason is tied down in a planetary assault. Then of course, after the Dominion war, we get the Hobus supernova and the later attack starfleet's shipyards dealing a heavy blow to some pretty key shipbuilding, the Captain's yacht might have been something to take off designs that were more meant to restrengthen the fleet than do any real in-depth exploration, though that doesn't mean that such craft weren't being made and tested. Then you get to the Odyssey class, where the size of the Odyssey can as you said hold these yachts in the main hanger while Aquarius is a whole ship in of itself, so it might reveal a slow but steady rise in technology, where these daughter craft might be able to operate more independently. Maybe in the future we might see more scientific versions of the Aquarius that operate either on their own within federation space, or attached to a starbase to do more detailed looks of things that don't require the use of a larger starship close to the frontiers of federation space as they aren't that durable when compared to larger ships. As the Aquarius, that I have called the Daring, on my own Odyssey in STO can attest to on the fact that the AI on it likes to agro the biggest enemy ship and get's knocked out of the fight ten seconds after I launch the thing. Either way, I would like to see more yachts return on starships. And for them to be used more often on screen.
I have a couple of OC characters set in Star Trek, both aboard an Akira class vessel that has it's own Voyager like adventure out in the void. I imagine that in addition to the many shuttles that can fit inside an Akira they'd have a Waverider as well, internally stored since they have more than enough room and it would be something of a general assistant craft; it would increase the ship's effective sensor range with it's own, it would capable of landing large teams for surveys and diplomatic missions, could assist in combat if the need arose. Of course it'd be tough like it's mothership too!
"The various diplomatic suites that are available ... like the conference room; that seems to be good enough for most things." (at 2:55) I'd classify that as an artifact of TV production, i.e., filming with a finite budget on a finite soundstage. Generic sets were redressed (lab, crew quarters, performance space) when, given the vast interior of the Big-D, there should be rooms specialized for every purpose. Heck, given the existence of industrial replicators and/or cargo bays potentially full of spare parts, the crew should be able to *fabricate* custom rooms on short notice.
I had the pleasure of actually working on an Admirals “yacht” in Napoli. It was only authorized for official functions, but diplomacy can be an evening of apps, wine and private travel to a nice restaurant at Capri or Ischia. Captains “yacht” or gig as we refer to them in the Navy are more like another utility boat on board our ships.
Ironically in TNG the fact that Picard never takes the Calypso out and sticks to more standard shuttle options I think fits his character more. He's never one to easily seek relaxation or luxury. It would've been kinda cool to have a seen where the command staff joke about him needing to use it one day for a vacation behind is back, or for one of the other captains or admirals they have as guests ask Picard how he had been using his yacht only for him to try to change the subject back to business at hand. I love the idea of them and wish any episodes had used them to some end. Like even if it was just during a war period to shuttle a captain back to headquarters so you don't have to scramble an entire starship out to a border or patrol just to pick up like three officers for a meeting when ships need to be instead on patrol.
Ah, the Captain's Yacht. Brings back memories of a plotline my old guild ran that involved getting an admiral's yacht blown up after taking it for a... dubiously legal joyride.
Negotiation J.P. Morgan-style. Take the parties out on the yacht and tell them you are not docking until they come to an agreement on a railroad monopoly in New York.
I think for the Odyssey and Aquarius combination, it was designed with experience from the the original USS Odyssey and it's First Contact with the Dominion, the Dominion War, the collapse of the Romulan Star Empire and the Klingon War. The Odyssey is a massive battleship, likely designed to fight ships like the Kerchan or Scimitar, but could possibly be vulnerable to swarm tactics so Starfleet designed it to carry a light starship to help keep ships like the Dominion fighters or B'Rels at bay while the mothership can systematically take them down.(Also the Odyssey can separate it's saucer/chevron to help in this situation.) In an exploration mission the Aquarius can possibly do things like scout nearby systems while the Odyssey is occupied with another, or conduct other missions while the mothership is otherwise occupied(There are plenty of examples where the Enterprise is on mission A and either has to drop the mission to do Mission B or ignore Mission B due to Mission A. A warp capable ship like the Aquarius can only increase the Odysseys flexibility.) Having a full up warp capable starship dramatically extends the capabilities available to a captain on a long range mission of any type.
Talking about the Waverider withstanding external pressure reminds me of Futurama. Fry: How much pressure can it take? Farnsworth: Well it's a spaceship, so anywhere between 0 and 1
One of the very star treky things those yachts could be, and which wasn't mentioned is a piloting training craft. It's large enough to be an actual starship, so you could train proper warp drive and orbital manoeuvres in the field without putting the promising cadet in control of a battlecruiser sized ship.
And for the Odyssey/Aquarius combo, you could easily pair a very experienced Captain/1 star Admiral with a brand new captain as almost an apprentice. Let the new Captain do smaller missions on the Aquarius to gain experience before he's given a full real command of something like an Alita or Sovereign class, under the watchful eye of the Admiral on the Odyssey that's mentoring him.
I do think a big weakness of the captain's yacht idea is that it is carrying a large chunk of hull plating only on one side, making limited utility for it. And that hull plating that will be missing from the mothership, a nice big hole to lob torpedos into the crew decks. Like an actual proper massive hanger deck would be much more utility for it and less cramped for normal shuttle operations. Even just making the parasite vessel fully exterior would be much more sensible a design decision, like an underchin second saucer.
I do think that Captain's Yachts still have a place, one more extra craft is always a welcome one. I find the yachts as pretty cool, much more modest than the mega yachts we have today.
The Cousteou Captains Yacht on the Enterprise E soon became -otherwise known as Picard's Party Palace for Crusher and Vash.Although apparently you could sneak the whole Enterprise Bridge Crew on it other then Riker and LaForge for a few days and no one would be any the wiser so perhaps it wasnt just used for that maybe he had wild parties with Romulan Ale and the rest of the bridge crew as well. 🤣
@@venomgeekmedia9886 possibly he subsitutes it with high energy tacyon bursts that can mess with shield harmonics that are just as pretty when fired at the Enterprise E's shields and had the added bonus of annoying Worf by forcing him to recalibrate them whenever he wasnt on DS9.
The Calypso can be used as a sealed environment for species with very different atmospheres, since it is a sealed environment. It can also be used for an isolation space in case of infection, and it can be used as an escape craft that holds more people and supplies than the smaller escape pods. A sealed environment secondary ship that can be comfortably lived in for protracted periods is always useful. The next iterationf of the Captains Yatch just said, "what if we made it do more?" and then made something better. Remember, the Calypso was made when the galaxy was in a peaceful state, so they didn't see the need to kit it out to be a secondary attack video. It is just a space camper that can be converted to other non combat utilities.
I'd like to point out that the updated Odyssey design made for its canon appearance in Picard season 3 actually has both a secondary shuttle bay, and captains yacht/aeroshuttle snub craft. The secondary shuttle bay is located inside the split neck area of the engineering hull, right above the main deflector. The aeroshuttle is placed behind the planetary sensor dome in a similar fashion to the yacht on the Sovereign class. This means that not only does the Odyssey canonically have an entire starship docked in the aft section but also a secondary shuttle bay AND an aeroshuttle/captain's yacht all just to compliment the main shuttle bay that's nearly large enough to fit an entire Defiant class inside. I love the Odyssey.
Little details that I would love to know are things like, does the Aquarius have its own Captain and command crew? You wouldn't want the Odyssey captain and crew to leave their posts to go man that ship in an 'exciting' situation. And it being a true starship with its own name and NCC registry, it would make sense that it would have a Captain rank in charge. Are Odyssey's normally commanded by a rear-Admiral with a younger newer Captain being assigned to the Aquarius to get some command experience before being given their own full sized starship? That would make a lot of sense to me at least.
Love the description of the captain's yachts as being subsidiuary craft for the vessel, but was curious about the art of the Waverider and didn't see any references to the source. I only bring this up because the schematic designs looked familiar to someone on DA I've seen before and wasn't sure if it was who I thought. To me the reasons the captain's yachts weren't used onscreen until "Star Trek Insurrection" was because; 1) the concept wasn't fully "fleshed out" along with the rest of the ship's functions and 2) the writers didn't know how to "organically" include them into the script without basically saying; "oh yeah, we've always had this but never needed it before." As what Picard uses the Calypso/Cousteau for in "Insurrection" the captain's yachts/similar vessels could have been used for covert missions to avoid drawing the main vessel into someone's attention, especially as both the Aeroshuttle and Waverider could have done recon without drawing attention the Voyager or Equinox as their smaller size and greater agility would better protect them
13:30 The Odyssey class was meant to have a modular aft section, where an Aquarius or shuttlebay module could be fitted, depending on mission parameters. This was later retrofitted so the Aquarius was more of a permanent feature while an additional shuttlebay was installed above the main deflector. I believe the idea behind this was, if the Odyssey was to saucer separate the stardrive section would still have a shuttlebay, if the rear shuttle module wasn't installed.
I wouldn't say that I transitioned early in terms of phones, i always just carried a basic slider phone for years as well but I caved in 2012. I got a 650 dollar windows phone for my first smartphone, I kinda went crazy in that regard. It was literally the newest thing back then and I had to have one, but you could have gotten a modern flip phone if you wanted to. And yes they can do all the stuff that any smartphone can do as well.
It’s an interesting idea but one I think is better suited to a smaller craft. When we look at the idea of the “Captain’s Yacht”. It can have utility but is the juice worth the squeeze? We rarely see these in use. Primarily because they are so special. What do you do if it gets destroyed or damaged? Or if the docking port it uses was damaged well it was off on mission? The whole point of the Captain’s Yacht seems to be a bigger shuttle which is fine but on Galaxy class or Sovereign class ships they already have substantial shuttle bays. In a smaller ship like Nova or Defiant even Intrepid it makes more sense as it can serve as a reserve utility craft if the shuttle bay has been damaged. On later 25th century designs the proliferate they trade it off often for additional shuttle bays and the base shuttle is much closer to a runabout.
i cannot possibly overstate my affection for this channel your videos are so good, i wish to compliment you in utterly inappropriate and wholly embarrassing ways yet the depth of my feeling on the topic is so profound i find myself incapable of articulation in something so profane to the task as the mere writing of the vulgar english and so please indulge me as i profess my gratitude for your efforts in that most high of fashion: klingon Qapla'
Thankfully, the Calypso was never shown on screen. That would’ve been embarrassing. Shame we never saw the AeroShuttle however 😔 The Runabout, is my favourite Starfleet vessel, ever!
My main problem is with making ships as part of the hull or a special 'launch tube' for them. They should be autonomous ships in their own right, but small enough to use the shuttle bay. And if they carry their own escort, have them carry more than one. The one from the Galaxy Class could have just as well used one of the smaller shuttle bays exclusively. Shuttles are simply too limited in use anyway. If there is an emergency the ship may have to choose to leave a shuttle behind. Sure, you can say we'll be back soon, but what if not? If a ship carries ships like the Danube or larger, they can make their way to the next starbase or Federation system themselves. On a practical note, let's say the craft carried are 25-100 metres in length, you can easily create episodes about one such ship on it's separate mission. For comparison,. that would put them into the size range of Millenium Falcon (35 m) from Star Wars Rocinante (46 m) from The Expanse Serenity (82 m) from Serenity And here it would make sense that they have their own shuttles outside of the hull to safe space on the inside, see Serenity. As we've seen in the Expanse, you could even make an entire show around one such ship. They could even be picked up by a larger ship just to make some repairs.
While I find your analysis of the Calypso's shortcomings on point, there is one additional function/application it may serve... a mobile embassy. It obviously isn't meant for independent opperation and lacks long-term facilities, but it is essentially a flying conference room. Imagine needing to establish relations that require longer negotiations, neutral meeting space or planet side diplomatic staff. This would also explain its limitations as you would not want extra tech that might be compressed should things go badly.
Man I shouldn't have gotten taco bell tonight. Sitting on the loo while watching this. The paint IA peeling off the walls. Wish you could all smell it.
I really like this, and I wish they had built and used the Aero shuttle instead of the Delta Flyer. It would have made much more sense in canon and real-world applications for infinite reasons, but maybe not from a production standpoint.
Just a silly headcanon but i've always thought there was a temporal incident involving a Galaxy class style captains yacht which which is where the idea of fly saucers come from
I like to pretend the reason they are never used in show, is because they are used in fantastical though off screen adventures, and are busy being repaired/overhauled, to our inconvenience of returning to the ships current activities.
I recall captain Janeway getting away i think on a date on a mall ship or spending time with someone could that have been a captains yacht can't really remember. , cool video
Honestly the end of captain’s yachts may have just come with more widespread distribution of more modern runabouts that could match them for performance.
As for starships and atmospheric pressures, Voyager showed that the Intrepid class could handle whatever pressures the seemingly Venus-like Class Y planet had...
I think I would want my captain's yacht to be less a cool place to hang out and more of a VIP carrier. Its just a shuttle for fancy dignitaries and royalty and such from worlds where they demand a certain level of pomp and circumstance. Starfleet dont care about that sort of thing, but some species do. Some fancy royalty may demand a fancier ride than a shuttle van or a teleporter. They want pizazz and in order to appear gracious you send them a "yacht." I think it is in the name. Normal people dont use a yacht, pretentious people who want to feel important do. I. Would make it look fancy inside and out but not need much for long haul work. What ai would do is make the outaide kitted out with gold accents and sleek paneling, maybe even a mirror finish on top like the Naboo ships in Star Wars. Then on the inside the entire thing is a holodeck save the cockpit, entrance, and a head. Imagine a fully customizable ship interior for whatever person/race you wish to impress.
7:36 that first concept is actually just a type 11 shuttle pushed into the wing shape. The nacelles are embedded into the wing rather than on struts. I'll give them that much.
The one feature of small craft or auxiliary craft in star trek that I cannot fathom as being remotely worthwhile is the captains yacht. It makes no sense to custom design a special daughter craft for every single ship class to have it flush match the hull of the class. It makes far more sense to me to instead have 1 or 2 custom mini shuttle bay hatches on bottom of primary hull and have something like have a runabout or two. Either one or two (depending on class) Danube class or the Type 11 class, perhaps 2-4 Type 8 class shuttles instead for classes with smaller primary hulls. If they instead wanted to showcase a larger shuttle then a single large bay for a craft then perhaps design 2 types ones for science ships and one for other ships. Then have a large generic bay able to hold one of them.
The Calypso is pretty fast in terms of atmospheric flight. I remember being blown away when first reading its top speed of Mach 20. In fact, given its shape I have a hard time believing that any other shuttle could outpace it in that regard. In the Dominion War I could have seen it being used for evacuating wounded to hospital ships depending on how fast the competition was. 14:35 I thought that the captain's yacht of that design was meant to be the "V.I.P. shuttle" to ferry dignitaries to the ship.
Seeing how useful the Delta Flyer was to the Voyager, I'd say that having at least one heavier duty shuttle that can perform long range missions apart from the mother ship should be a requirement going forward on all ships capable of housing one. A Runabout at least and if the shuttlebay isn't big enough, then have on that docks to the ship's exterior.
Apart from the (potentially) specialized equipment of a waverider or aeroshuttle, a good runabout will probably do the job in most situations, which is probably why they weren't included in every design after it appeared.
The Captain's yacht could be used to bring a mobile ambassador's suite down to a planet. One might find this useful if, for example, transporters were off the table for one reason or another. One such situation would be for a civilization that firmly stuck to the notion of transporters as murder machines - and therefore something anathema to make use of. The kind of scenario wherein routine transport would trigger a huge diplomatic incident or season defining war. So, to avoid that, the ambassador travels down to them.
It's little wonder that the Galaxy Class captains rarely used their yachts. The living quarters were half the size of the Captain's Quarters and had little else besides the large conference area, the cockpit and a few bunks for the two flight crew and a couple of Diplomats. The Cousteau and the Aero are MUCH better yachts, for sure. Though, the Aquarius is a bit much for being called a "Captain's Yacht." Like you said Aquarius is more of an escort or a torpedo boat.
Captains' yachts were derived from captains' gigs, which have a long history that started with the era of wooden ships. When I was in the Navy, we would refer to it as the captain's taxi. It would be safe to assume, considering that Star Trek has stuck to naval traditions and what have you, that the ships would also have captains' yachts, to keep up with tradition Also, in the real world, Navies rarely use the captains' gigs, just as they are very seldom used in the Star Trek universe 😆
I like to think that the power generation resources of the CY augment the entire ship, and that protocols for launching it require the vessel to be in friendly territory with alternate landing available in the event the daughter ship can no longer dock if damaged.
The Captain is worthless, period. It should be replaced with an armed escort/ scout ship. Like a mini-Defiant. A ship that could provide additional security and fire support.
Smartphones are MORE than a simple phone Smartphones are mini computers, browse the web, listen to music, play games, watch movies and shows-specially if you get the Xreal glasses to augment a giant screen, and so many more uses then a simple flip phone
Maybe in the 25th century starfleet doesn't let ships go on solo missions so they pair them up with other ships that complament each other permission requirements.
Interiors by: www.deviantart.com/falke2009
STO Renders by the 4th Combined Fleet and my Community members.
The Galaxy-class’ Yacht does have impulse engines according to the cutaways, they are just ventrally mounted, meaning the yacht flies in a way that minimal impulse thrust could be used to replace artificial gravity.
BTW there are two things you missed about the Odyssey Class.
The Odyssey remaster has a second shuttlebay above the Nav Deflector
And in addition to the Aquarius the Odyssey does have a Captains Yacht, its a little hard to see on some models but it is docked behind the planetary sensor dome.
How do you misspell 'Yacht' ?!
Could you move the "t" 2 Letters to the Right?
yep, the giant red circle in the center is impulse.
"Professor, how many atmospheres can the ship handle?"
"Well, considering it's a spaceship, anywhere between zero and one."
A quote from Futurama that best applies to the Waverider.
One use that the Calypso could be good for is first contact situations where initial contact has been made with the government(s) and you're revealing yourself to the public at large. You'd want your delegation to arrive with a bit more pageantry than just appearing out of thin air but also in a non-threatening way. The fact the Calypso has landing gear, engines and little else implies that it was just a fancy orbital shuttle rather than a diplomatic amenity intended for more advanced warp-capable cultures.
@@davidstuart1767 arriving in a literal flying saucer announcing "we come in peace."
And in your scenario, if it has no warp capability it's actually a feature. If first contact goes bad and the aliens capture the Calypso, there is no warp technology to infect their technology development.
or the captain's personal escape pod
so…second contact missions? well, ones more important than what the California class gets
@@venomgeekmedia9886As is tradition.
The Delta Flyer is a superfluous decoy to direct your attention away from the fact that they forgot about the captains yacht and didn't want to include it mid series or it would open lots of plotholes.
nah, I just think that they wanted to have a cool and aggressive looking ship while the yacht is kind of blocky looking.
@@akihitokoizumi2474 the yacht is definitely very runabout. Although I'd hardly call delta flyer aggressive.
@@venomgeekmedia9886 Tom: Computer, add dynametric tail fins.
Tuvok: *sigh Computer. Remove dynametric tail fins.
Janeway used it to throw some crew man into a star.
It's probably overlooked because either none of the writers really thought of a way to include it or because they wanted something "coul" decided to go with a new ship, but as Tom says when describing the DF; "We've needed something new and better since we got here, and it's time we built it" before Harry and Tuvok essentially act like they've heard this before and only cave because they need something to handle collecting the spatial probe
Honestly the wave rider and the arowshuttle are such cool ships, it's a shame we never got to see them on screen
The fact the Calypso and Aeroshuttle were designed along with the carrier vessels with concept art, but only the Aeroshuttle had been given a test animation and never seen makes it even worse
search youtube for Star Trek Voyager Aeroshuttle footage - there was some filmed but never used.
I would think if Picard in his TNG time had one of the two(wave rider and the arowshuttle) or the Cousteau rather then the Calypso... He might have taken more leave time.. Best way to get him off the ship is get Troy's mom talking about coming on board... LOL... I could also see them being handy for trips to a star base where the ship is near it but is needed someplace.... In a setting of are solar system if the ship was in orbit say Saturn, they could send the captain's yacht that is a bit bigger then a normal shuttle..Tho the Aquarius "escort ship" I think is a bit over powered to be in the captain's yacht...... If I was a Captain, I would want the Cousteau or my own Run-about..
"no impulse engines" *shows a cut away with clear label for impulse engine*
If I was a captain, I'd be taking the yacht out all the time for a quick getaway
With a hot lil red shirt lieutenant
You know, because of the implication
As cool as that would be, just going to a shuttle bay and taking a Class 9 Shuttle is easier than decoupling and coupling the yacht.
Ironically, that's exactly why you wouldn't be a captain
The improved survivability in higher pressure atmospheres and underwater is indeed a neat feature of later Captain's Yachts.
Good forms of specialization for both scientific and military endeavors. It would be great to see more of them.
@@occultatumquaestio5226 as I said. Like deep diving subs... an area that's still really developing.
Be nice to see them actually used on screen. For example, Voyager had no need to create the Delta Flyer, the Captain's Gig could have been used instead! I'm sure Janeway wouldn't mind loaning it out to her best pilot on occasion.
The whole discussion on captains yachts, shuttle craft, shuttle bays makes me wish that Star Trek had fleshed out a bit of trek to connect it to contemporary and traditional navy….
There should be a department head to over seas these vessels and the crews who man them a combination of engineers, security detail, and red shirts helmsman….
Its already my head cannon the the XO (Riker) directly overseas the training of helmsman,
BUT i think its time that starfleet brings back a position heavily steeped in both Royal and US navy…. The Coxswain….
In star fleet this can be a sort of Jr captain…. In charge of a starship’s light auxiliary craft, and overseeing the training and qualifications of the ships helmsmen …. In the early episodes of The Next Generation (before Tasha died and before La Forge was made chief engineer) both Lt La Forge and Lt Worf would have been a strong candidate for chief Coxswain
I liked this and I'm surprised you didn't point out the real big feature of a captain's yacht for diplomatic purposes. It can show the flag and literally be the Captain's private pad without having to fly the heavily armed warsh- exploration vessel too close to a space station or planet in a high tense situation.
@@farshnuke indeed perfect for picard to take into the neutral zone for "international relations" with Tomalok
@@venomgeekmedia9886 Also good way for the captain to take leave in a near by star system with out diverting the ship... I could see if Picard had a Cousteau, he might be more willing to leave the ship other then when Mrs Troy comes on board... LOL
That waverider design and backstory is actually super cool
There is also the X-51 Waverider, Mach 5 test aircraft. I wonder if that was where the name came from.
I'm a total Nova class waverider fan. You made a very good point about being built tougher for undersea and planetary pressures.
The runabout rear room set being made "For a TNG Episode" with the intent of handing it over to DS9 only for DS9 to never use it is really really funny to me.
@@DIEGhostfish I think because in DS9 the runabout is an A to B plot device generally never holding more than 2 characters so there's no need
@@venomgeekmedia9886 Could have been useful for the Father Son camping episode, but I think that came before. If you did have it there could be a scene where there's a bit of sulking and wanting to just stay inside rather than rough it if a storm comes up or something. Or transporting refugees or liberated prisoners.
@@venomgeekmedia9886 Also it IIRC wasn't THAT long before they eventually just got the Defiant and barely used the Runabouts afterwards.
actually, it did get used twice but not as a runabout interior: it was part if the USS Prometheus interior and was used for an exterior shot that featured the windows…it just never used by DS9 most likely because of how tribal they were among the shows!
and Defiant debuted a year after the TNG episode so there was ample time to use the set- they chose not to
@@DIEGhostfisha full year before it debuted so there was no reason to not have it used…then again, it’s likely tribalism since there was no reason not to have used runabouts in Voyager either
Yacht is the spelling you're looking for, and the Cousteau is named after Jacques Cousteau, the underwater explorer. I used to love those color books with all the pictures of the sea. I wish they had made more use of the yachts in the ship. You'd think Voyager would have under the circumstances.
The captains yacht might exist cause you might not want people on the ship proper. Or you need to have a NEUTRAL location on a planet to hold a meeting. It seems like it has a specific diplomatic role. Where you might need to bring the conference room to a specific location. Or maybe there is a historical location for a SIGNING of a treaty where you did not want to have it in a simple shuttle but something more like a conference room. Its not one of those things a ship might ever need. But there are going to be some cases where YOU DO need something like it. And well, there it is. The Original Galaxy yacht was thinking only of DIPLOMATIC needs. Future yachts were full ships.
the things Calypso lacked were a medical bay and crew quarters, it was a full ship but not at all intended for long voyages let alone multi-day treks
@@bostonrailfan2427 Yeah, but my point stands. Its a mobile NEUTRAL zone to has out treaty's and such by landing it on a neutral spot like a moon or something. Its a very diplomatic idea and concept. And kind of makes sense.
I have frequently complained about the under utilization of auxiliary craft in the Star Trek universe. There have been several instances/episodes where much of the problems being experienced could have been more easily handled if they simply used even the auxiliary craft, they already have. For example, the episode where the enterprise ran into a cosmic string, if I remember correctly. The computer went down the communications went down, etc.. Using the captains yacht or a runabout, they could’ve transported people wherever they needed to be to make repairs, they could’ve linked their communicators through the shuttles communication systems, etc. The same with the nemesis movie where they threw data through space. That would’ve been unnecessary. All they had to do was get one of their shuttles, repair pods or pretty much anything.
jap one of my biggest concernes with the movie. Why not just use a transporter of a shuttle. Data could have lived... in a far less awakeward way as in STPicard. The second one was the Car thingy in the argo. While the Argo is a neat idea the car was not. They should have went with a full elclosed rover. Hell even the Rover of ST-Prodigy makes far more sense and still was cool somehow.
Your story about the flip phone was a nice touch as it shows the tension between pragmatism and culture.
It is especially ironic considering even in the real world we have in some ways surpassed the technology of star trek.
I love seeing all the little features of the smaller craft.
@@robinlyons6875 that's probably another reason I didn't want to give it up lol... thought it was a communicator
@@venomgeekmedia9886 I never had a chance to own a flip phone.
I like how they used the captains yatch on the lower decks making fun of the fact that no one else has ever been shown using it.
I love the Waverider for its abilities to weather high pressure environments, Aero shuttle for how cool and do air tricks, the Cousteau is probably the ship I'd used for family event and the Aquarius class would be my go-to vessel for everything alongside the Runabout.
It is probably some variation on a captains gig or an admirals barge. A captains gig was any personal watercraft that was reserved for the captain to get wherever he needed to get. Usually from the ship to the land or occasionally to another ship. An admirals barge was a somewhat larger, somewhat more developed boat reserved for the admiral of a fleet to go about from ship to ship in the fleet for personal meetings, tactical discussions, and things like that. In both cases, it was important for captains and admirals to have their own dedicated transport so that they didn’t get snared up in transporting supplies and personal and other crap like that that might take up a lot of time. These were express vessels.
Yacht is usually defined as a relatively small enclosed vessel that is capable of crossing the Atlantic on its own power (usually sail in the classical definition) . In other words, not a strictly coastal vessel.
Given that it would be handy for the captain to have his own craft to get around on for exactly those kinds of situations, and that gig and barge both sound dumb to modern ears, and given that the senior command structure of Starfleet has never been at all made clear, and is frequently incoherent, I’m gonna assume “yacht” was used because it’s a word that people would recognize.
Incidentally, those cutaways look pretty dowdy. I would expect something a bit more lavish, especially given how large the space it takes up is.
Also shuttles in TOS were capable of interstellar flight, as was said several times on the series,
these are exactly that: based on actual personal craft of captains and admirals in navies across the glove for centuries…they fell out of favor due to helicopters but the concept is the same
correct
Great video showing possible capabilities of these "Captains Yachts": I like the Waverider best as it's presented being able to go in liquid or other environments the mothership is incapable or would struggle in. I really liked your pointing out its connection to modern submarines - it had me thinking of the yellow stingray-like FS-1 "Flying Sub" from "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" TV series.
I loved your shuttle video and this one is even better ! I absolutely love the smaller craft of Star Trek !
Not sure if you know the history of the names of the captain's yachts of the Enterprises D and E, but the Enterprise-E's captain's yacht was named for famed oceanographer and inventor of the scuba diving system Jacques Cousteau, while the Enterprise-D's captain's yacht was named after his oceanic exploratory ship, the Calypso.
Yes. NOT the "Cuzco" class.
3:35 OK, Dennis. Kind of creepy.
The Waverider is definitely my favorite and makes a lot of sense. Sadly, there's just no getting around the simple fact that the writers forgot about the existence of the Calypso and Aero. Given the initial theme of Voyager's speed and maneuverability, I'd wager a couple internet cookies that the designers envisioned some kind of starship parkour and the Aero going places the Intrepid couldn't like a dense asteroid field.
The best idea for the Calypso I've ever came up with (just now actually) would be in a deep space assignment. If the Captain wanted/needed shore leave and there were no hospitable worlds around, you could drop him in the middle of nowhere in the Calypso. If he took a couple weeks or months off, the Enterprise could visit nearby areas of interest, do its surveys and studies, and pick up the Captain when done. You could also argue that if the entire Galaxy wasn't needed for a diplomatic mission, just its negotiating team, the Calypso could host negotiations if the rest of the ship was needed for something else.
And to those who might think the Calypso is overkill for shore leave when the Enterprise has holodecks, arboretums, and what not, let me get personal for a second. I live with my bosses. All they have to do is call out or knock, and I'm on the job. That 'availability' never stops. Ever. In my case, I can leave home and do my own thing which takes that load off. So when the Captain needs a holiday, sometimes its not enough to just stay away from the bridge and in those times, the Calypso would be worth its weight in gold pressed latinum.
As for the Aquarius, my question would be are you getting the most bang for your buck if you keep a completely functional starship in another ship's pocket. Maybe on a warship or deep space vessel.
Edit: Forgot about the Cousteau. Its a little weird imo. The Sovereign is supposed to be more tactical than a Galaxy, but to have it as just the Captain's personal ferry makes the most sense to me.
I know you don't cover lower decks but uss cerrtios had what seemed to be a small captains yacht of unknown model held within the ship
Something not specified in the video is that the Calypso has landing gear, so it could actually serve as a mobile ground-based HQ/Office for the Captain during diplomatic negotiations.
That makes more sense, it saves the manpower of building an encampment and can be done quickly.
"because of the implication"
What are you doing, step-captain?
You're not my REAL Captain....
Another purpose of the Captain's Yacht might have to do with the fact that the captain is expected to be the last one to leave when ordering the crew to abandon ship. The Captain's Yacht's close proximity to the bridge would allow the captain to wait until the very last minute to make a quick getaway before the ship explodes after ensuring the rest of the crew have gotten to their escape pods.
@@NexAngelus405 I mean it's bottom of the saucer. Given that she ship is going down I doubt you could get there in time.
@@venomgeekmedia9886 Maybe, but there's a lot of starship interiors we don't see and just use our imaginations to fill in. I could picture a single-purpose high-speed turbolift in the ready room or just off the bridge that goes straight to the yacht.
I do just love the fact that they went all the why through voyager showing this nice runabout ship sitting on the underside of the hull and yet completely forget that they have it. TNG can get a pass since I didn't even know that was a Capitan's Yacht until this video but all throughout Voyager-- it looks like it's a ship on the underside of the hull that's just sitting there the whole time. But the Calypso look like it was designed to do a Vulcan style first contact with a species that had just achieved warp. So basically, just a conference room you can land on the planet since that is something that wouldn't scare the culture like the transporters would and is not imposing at all but it doesn't look like it has any other purpose than that. But that Aero shuttle that Voyager has, looks like something that could have been really useful throughout Voyager and they basically could have just used the DS9 Runabout set for it but instead they made any entire new one for the Delta Flyer. How that made sense-- I don't know especially when there were many episodes where it would have made a lot of sense for them to use it.
The Intrepid's Aeroshuttle really kicked off a trend that is a fantastic idea for any ship, It truly is a pity we never got to see it on screen.
A high capability auxiliary craft that is practically able to aid the mothership in regular duties, surveying lower priority targets, Scouting ahead, conducting logistical work, even some tactical missions like Commando raids and recon.
An onboard engineering team could probably reconfigure the interior to match the mission profile fairly easily.
The idea to use the main fuselage of the Danube as a base is a great idea, Enhancement to one could be applied to the other fairly easily. All the extra space provided by the wings can be used to improve it's abilities further. I head canoned that it would attach Probes to the underside, similar to your idea with the Peregrine.
Waverider having a more high pressure tolerant design is an interesting idea, we've seen craft be modified for that sort of environment before, but the Waverider would be properly built for it, which is an interesting niche. Although that interior has a bit of "Wasted space" with two "Bathrooms"
I'm not sure how much extra nacelle Line of sight the Sovereign's Yacht really has, some perhaps, but not a lot I suspect.
Delta Flyer I think is most akin to the Type-11 shuttlecraft, both have similar internal space to walk around in, though Delta Flyer has more bulk for systems and is likely more capable, kind of bridging the gap between a Runabout and a large shuttle. But not really stepping over the line into Runabout territory.
Both are effectively takes on the "Heavy-shuttle" idea. With the Type-11 probably being more suitable for a wider range of Starship classes in service. Whereas Delta Flyer really only had to be built of Voyager and it's specific circumstances.
VG holding on to a flipphone into the 2020's. A true TOS communicator fan. :)
For me, the best use for a craft like the Galaxy Class Captain's Yacht is as a mobile base, both for longer planetary exploration and diplomatic missions on a planets surface.
You practically bring your own small home with you, and can still have all the creature comforts you had on the Starship. Comfortable sleeping arrangements, lounging area, conference/meeting space, showers/toilets, replicators, good level of protection from the elements, decent measures for privacy (of you're hosted in accommodations from a planetary government they can bug your quarters, harder to do when you show up in your own mobile residence).
Yeah, it looks like a fancy relocatable home/base or floating sightseeing platform more than anything. Keeps you on location yet somewhat independent from your typically irrational, quarrelsome hosts… that, and it suits the civilised military pacifist style of TNG-era Starfleet more than a pointy flying metal-grey bird-thing.
"how many atmospheres can the ship withstand?"
"Well it's a spaceship so somewhere between zero and one"
I think the biggest problem with the Captain's Yacht, is that no one uses them. It's the Captain's Yacht. Who's brash enough to ask the Captain if they can take it for a research spin? The runabout in the shuttle bay will do the job. So if the Captain isn't using it, it ain't getting used. Wasted resources.
Hell, the Voyager built the Delta Flyer from scratch in a day. Why? Was the Captain's Yacht not good enough? When everyone was on replicator rations? What a waste of replicator resources.
Well, with Voyager's aeroshuttle, it's often theorized that either it wasn't there, just a mockup panel, or had been ruined/had to be cannibalized when they got flung to the Delta quadrant,. since it seemed there were a lot of times they'd use it if they'd had it. and functioning.
For the Galaxy class' yacht, I think the design for it is more of something that is designed to function as more of a ground facility there. Rather than constantly beaming people down and back up, you land the yacht and ground operations happen there rather than constant transfer between ship and ground.
Also, while the designs don't necessarily show them with later ships, if you go with STO where several were developed, those ships do have them and can slot in several different types there, though you don't see the captain's yachts (and their analogues) very often because they're Lifetime sub items.
Um... aren't you forgetting something? Season 4 episode 10 Star Trek Lower Decks? A story where a captain's yacht actually gets used? Though unnamed, the presence of this California Class's 'Boogie Board' allows the rescue of a main character. Please show some love, this is Star Trek too...
The captains yacht are a plot hole in any storyline: when you have to abandon the ship, they never use them.
Imagine having a capable ship at you disposal and just using the escape pods with limited range.
That could get a captain court martialed.
3.40 "because of the implication"
Are these delegates in danger, Dennis?
Captain's yachts are adapted to the main mission of their carrier ships' class.
If Galaxy class stumble on early warp capable societies or energy based entities with diplomats who refuse to use teleporters, to have something more luxurious than a basic shuttle to carry them is a must.... so the Calypso is basically a space limousine who have no need for warp nacelles. Science ships have very sturdy portable lab captain's yachts ment to explore where the main ship can't.... meanwhile more military focused ships carry mini but deadly gunboat'like captain's yachts ment to implement their firepower. Depending of the mission, an Aquarius can't do what a Calypso do, and vis versa.
I'd like to see more small carried craft. A Repair/Construction/Tug thing, built on a modular primary hull design, two can link-up and tow the mothership at like warp 5-6 or so would be cool. Big ships should also act as kinda mobile bases with a fair number of smaller warp-capable ships operating out of them, small craft on the order of 1x to 5x runnabouts in size, some with their own dedicated crew and their own 'independent' existence that just dock with the big ships as a temporary harbor.
"How much atmospheres of pressure can the ship take?"
"Well, it's a spaceship, so anywhere between 0 and 1"
8:56 These details always bring into my head:
"How many atmospheres can the ship withstand?"
"Well, it's a spaceship, so I'd say anywhere between zero and one."
(OMINOUS METAL CREAKING NOISES)
My head canon is that Calypso was part of the landing gear for the saucer section in the case of saucer separation . After all Calypso seems to be pretty much just a one huge engine pointing downwards.
Cousteau would then be this concept taken forwards, giving separated saucer also limited warp capabilities. (Like warp 2 or 3.) And also working also as a yatch in the case there was need for a craft larger then a shuttle.
As for Aeroshuttle and Waverider, what you say makes sense. But I still think their secondary purpose would be their emergency warp capability. After all, if main ship loses it's warpcore, then these yatchs could still with their small warp cores drag the ship in to safety.
…there was no landing gear on a saucer section, According to the Okudas, the saucer used thrusters to maneuver and required inertial dampers and structural integrity fields to soften the blow.
theoretically, it’s possible that the use of Calypso was possible but it’s suicide for the one inside her as it would take the bulk of the force of impact
@@bostonrailfan2427
But since we know that a separated saucer CAN land from that movie Generations (where the saucer crash landed), then surely it is then capable to do more controlled landing if saucer is undamaged.
What I theorize is that Calypso IS saucer's main thruster for a landing maneuver.
@ for the love of goodness: NO IT CAN NOT.
the two whom are the gods of tech in Star Trek said specifically NO. it’s not involved in it at ALL. if it’s landing in a way that the yacht is supposed to assist then it’s not needed and if it’s used it’s not helping AT ALL.
@@bostonrailfan2427
Which is why I in the first comment called this theory "head canon" instead of "beta canon".
Definitely the Cousteau for me, though as to your question on why they got rid of them, I think it might have something to do with the primary roles of certain starships. Ships like the Galaxy, Intrepid, and Nova, are all dedicated explorers/science ships (though less so in the Galaxy's case) so the idea was that you have a daughter craft that can perform a more specialized roll in exploration. As for the Sovereign, the flagship of the anti-borg fleet, that I think has more to do with the fact that as the next flagship of starfleet, especially once the D had a bit of a bad encounter with one particularly insane BoP, combined with the rising threat of the Dominion, the idea of a daughter craft on their most powerful vessels was appealing and can serve as something of a large troop transport/fire support platform if a Sovereign for whatever reason is tied down in a planetary assault.
Then of course, after the Dominion war, we get the Hobus supernova and the later attack starfleet's shipyards dealing a heavy blow to some pretty key shipbuilding, the Captain's yacht might have been something to take off designs that were more meant to restrengthen the fleet than do any real in-depth exploration, though that doesn't mean that such craft weren't being made and tested.
Then you get to the Odyssey class, where the size of the Odyssey can as you said hold these yachts in the main hanger while Aquarius is a whole ship in of itself, so it might reveal a slow but steady rise in technology, where these daughter craft might be able to operate more independently. Maybe in the future we might see more scientific versions of the Aquarius that operate either on their own within federation space, or attached to a starbase to do more detailed looks of things that don't require the use of a larger starship close to the frontiers of federation space as they aren't that durable when compared to larger ships. As the Aquarius, that I have called the Daring, on my own Odyssey in STO can attest to on the fact that the AI on it likes to agro the biggest enemy ship and get's knocked out of the fight ten seconds after I launch the thing.
Either way, I would like to see more yachts return on starships. And for them to be used more often on screen.
I have a couple of OC characters set in Star Trek, both aboard an Akira class vessel that has it's own Voyager like adventure out in the void. I imagine that in addition to the many shuttles that can fit inside an Akira they'd have a Waverider as well, internally stored since they have more than enough room and it would be something of a general assistant craft; it would increase the ship's effective sensor range with it's own, it would capable of landing large teams for surveys and diplomatic missions, could assist in combat if the need arose. Of course it'd be tough like it's mothership too!
"The various diplomatic suites that are available ... like the conference room; that seems to be good enough for most things." (at 2:55) I'd classify that as an artifact of TV production, i.e., filming with a finite budget on a finite soundstage. Generic sets were redressed (lab, crew quarters, performance space) when, given the vast interior of the Big-D, there should be rooms specialized for every purpose. Heck, given the existence of industrial replicators and/or cargo bays potentially full of spare parts, the crew should be able to *fabricate* custom rooms on short notice.
I had the pleasure of actually working on an Admirals “yacht” in Napoli. It was only authorized for official functions, but diplomacy can be an evening of apps, wine and private travel to a nice restaurant at Capri or Ischia. Captains “yacht” or gig as we refer to them in the Navy are more like another utility boat on board our ships.
Ironically in TNG the fact that Picard never takes the Calypso out and sticks to more standard shuttle options I think fits his character more. He's never one to easily seek relaxation or luxury. It would've been kinda cool to have a seen where the command staff joke about him needing to use it one day for a vacation behind is back, or for one of the other captains or admirals they have as guests ask Picard how he had been using his yacht only for him to try to change the subject back to business at hand. I love the idea of them and wish any episodes had used them to some end. Like even if it was just during a war period to shuttle a captain back to headquarters so you don't have to scramble an entire starship out to a border or patrol just to pick up like three officers for a meeting when ships need to be instead on patrol.
Ah, the Captain's Yacht. Brings back memories of a plotline my old guild ran that involved getting an admiral's yacht blown up after taking it for a... dubiously legal joyride.
Negotiation J.P. Morgan-style. Take the parties out on the yacht and tell them you are not docking until they come to an agreement on a railroad monopoly in New York.
I think for the Odyssey and Aquarius combination, it was designed with experience from the the original USS Odyssey and it's First Contact with the Dominion, the Dominion War, the collapse of the Romulan Star Empire and the Klingon War. The Odyssey is a massive battleship, likely designed to fight ships like the Kerchan or Scimitar, but could possibly be vulnerable to swarm tactics so Starfleet designed it to carry a light starship to help keep ships like the Dominion fighters or B'Rels at bay while the mothership can systematically take them down.(Also the Odyssey can separate it's saucer/chevron to help in this situation.) In an exploration mission the Aquarius can possibly do things like scout nearby systems while the Odyssey is occupied with another, or conduct other missions while the mothership is otherwise occupied(There are plenty of examples where the Enterprise is on mission A and either has to drop the mission to do Mission B or ignore Mission B due to Mission A. A warp capable ship like the Aquarius can only increase the Odysseys flexibility.) Having a full up warp capable starship dramatically extends the capabilities available to a captain on a long range mission of any type.
Talking about the Waverider withstanding external pressure reminds me of Futurama.
Fry: How much pressure can it take?
Farnsworth: Well it's a spaceship, so anywhere between 0 and 1
One of the very star treky things those yachts could be, and which wasn't mentioned is a piloting training craft. It's large enough to be an actual starship, so you could train proper warp drive and orbital manoeuvres in the field without putting the promising cadet in control of a battlecruiser sized ship.
And for the Odyssey/Aquarius combo, you could easily pair a very experienced Captain/1 star Admiral with a brand new captain as almost an apprentice. Let the new Captain do smaller missions on the Aquarius to gain experience before he's given a full real command of something like an Alita or Sovereign class, under the watchful eye of the Admiral on the Odyssey that's mentoring him.
I do think a big weakness of the captain's yacht idea is that it is carrying a large chunk of hull plating only on one side, making limited utility for it. And that hull plating that will be missing from the mothership, a nice big hole to lob torpedos into the crew decks. Like an actual proper massive hanger deck would be much more utility for it and less cramped for normal shuttle operations. Even just making the parasite vessel fully exterior would be much more sensible a design decision, like an underchin second saucer.
I do think that Captain's Yachts still have a place, one more extra craft is always a welcome one. I find the yachts as pretty cool, much more modest than the mega yachts we have today.
The Cousteou Captains Yacht on the Enterprise E soon became -otherwise known as Picard's Party Palace for Crusher and Vash.Although apparently you could sneak the whole Enterprise Bridge Crew on it other then Riker and LaForge for a few days and no one would be any the wiser so perhaps it wasnt just used for that maybe he had wild parties with Romulan Ale and the rest of the bridge crew as well. 🤣
@@hmsverdun do you think it launches fireworks for his birthday?
@@venomgeekmedia9886 well it probably wouldn't be too hard to mod micro torpedoes to do something flashy, and less "lethal".
@@venomgeekmedia9886 possibly he subsitutes it with high energy tacyon bursts that can mess with shield harmonics that are just as pretty when fired at the Enterprise E's shields and had the added bonus of annoying Worf by forcing him to recalibrate them whenever he wasnt on DS9.
Having recently watched Apollo 13, I appreciate the naming of the Odyssey and its companion craft, the Aquarius.
The Calypso can be used as a sealed environment for species with very different atmospheres, since it is a sealed environment. It can also be used for an isolation space in case of infection, and it can be used as an escape craft that holds more people and supplies than the smaller escape pods. A sealed environment secondary ship that can be comfortably lived in for protracted periods is always useful. The next iterationf of the Captains Yatch just said, "what if we made it do more?" and then made something better. Remember, the Calypso was made when the galaxy was in a peaceful state, so they didn't see the need to kit it out to be a secondary attack video. It is just a space camper that can be converted to other non combat utilities.
I'd like to point out that the updated Odyssey design made for its canon appearance in Picard season 3 actually has both a secondary shuttle bay, and captains yacht/aeroshuttle snub craft. The secondary shuttle bay is located inside the split neck area of the engineering hull, right above the main deflector. The aeroshuttle is placed behind the planetary sensor dome in a similar fashion to the yacht on the Sovereign class. This means that not only does the Odyssey canonically have an entire starship docked in the aft section but also a secondary shuttle bay AND an aeroshuttle/captain's yacht all just to compliment the main shuttle bay that's nearly large enough to fit an entire Defiant class inside. I love the Odyssey.
Little details that I would love to know are things like, does the Aquarius have its own Captain and command crew? You wouldn't want the Odyssey captain and crew to leave their posts to go man that ship in an 'exciting' situation. And it being a true starship with its own name and NCC registry, it would make sense that it would have a Captain rank in charge. Are Odyssey's normally commanded by a rear-Admiral with a younger newer Captain being assigned to the Aquarius to get some command experience before being given their own full sized starship? That would make a lot of sense to me at least.
I'm sort of imagining a Stealth version of the Waverider being introduced during the Dominion War. It's shape lends itself to Special Ops work.
Love the description of the captain's yachts as being subsidiuary craft for the vessel, but was curious about the art of the Waverider and didn't see any references to the source. I only bring this up because the schematic designs looked familiar to someone on DA I've seen before and wasn't sure if it was who I thought.
To me the reasons the captain's yachts weren't used onscreen until "Star Trek Insurrection" was because; 1) the concept wasn't fully "fleshed out" along with the rest of the ship's functions and 2) the writers didn't know how to "organically" include them into the script without basically saying; "oh yeah, we've always had this but never needed it before." As what Picard uses the Calypso/Cousteau for in "Insurrection" the captain's yachts/similar vessels could have been used for covert missions to avoid drawing the main vessel into someone's attention, especially as both the Aeroshuttle and Waverider could have done recon without drawing attention the Voyager or Equinox as their smaller size and greater agility would better protect them
“Because of the implication” is the unstated principle behind all Starfleet diplomacy.
13:30 The Odyssey class was meant to have a modular aft section, where an Aquarius or shuttlebay module could be fitted, depending on mission parameters. This was later retrofitted so the Aquarius was more of a permanent feature while an additional shuttlebay was installed above the main deflector.
I believe the idea behind this was, if the Odyssey was to saucer separate the stardrive section would still have a shuttlebay, if the rear shuttle module wasn't installed.
I wouldn't say that I transitioned early in terms of phones, i always just carried a basic slider phone for years as well but I caved in 2012. I got a 650 dollar windows phone for my first smartphone, I kinda went crazy in that regard. It was literally the newest thing back then and I had to have one, but you could have gotten a modern flip phone if you wanted to. And yes they can do all the stuff that any smartphone can do as well.
It’s an interesting idea but one I think is better suited to a smaller craft. When we look at the idea of the “Captain’s Yacht”. It can have utility but is the juice worth the squeeze? We rarely see these in use. Primarily because they are so special. What do you do if it gets destroyed or damaged? Or if the docking port it uses was damaged well it was off on mission? The whole point of the Captain’s Yacht seems to be a bigger shuttle which is fine but on Galaxy class or Sovereign class ships they already have substantial shuttle bays. In a smaller ship like Nova or Defiant even Intrepid it makes more sense as it can serve as a reserve utility craft if the shuttle bay has been damaged. On later 25th century designs the proliferate they trade it off often for additional shuttle bays and the base shuttle is much closer to a runabout.
I really love this channel a lot
i cannot possibly overstate my affection for this channel
your videos are so good, i wish to compliment you in utterly inappropriate and wholly embarrassing ways yet the depth of my feeling on the topic is so profound i find myself incapable of articulation in something so profane to the task as the mere writing of the vulgar english
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Qapla'
Thankfully, the Calypso was never shown on screen. That would’ve been embarrassing.
Shame we never saw the AeroShuttle however 😔
The Runabout, is my favourite Starfleet vessel, ever!
My main problem is with making ships as part of the hull or a special 'launch tube' for them. They should be autonomous ships in their own right, but small enough to use the shuttle bay. And if they carry their own escort, have them carry more than one.
The one from the Galaxy Class could have just as well used one of the smaller shuttle bays exclusively.
Shuttles are simply too limited in use anyway. If there is an emergency the ship may have to choose to leave a shuttle behind. Sure, you can say we'll be back soon, but what if not? If a ship carries ships like the Danube or larger, they can make their way to the next starbase or Federation system themselves.
On a practical note, let's say the craft carried are 25-100 metres in length, you can easily create episodes about one such ship on it's separate mission. For comparison,. that would put them into the size range of
Millenium Falcon (35 m) from Star Wars
Rocinante (46 m) from The Expanse
Serenity (82 m) from Serenity
And here it would make sense that they have their own shuttles outside of the hull to safe space on the inside, see Serenity.
As we've seen in the Expanse, you could even make an entire show around one such ship. They could even be picked up by a larger ship just to make some repairs.
Bravo!! You explained this topic perfectly!! Thank You!
It would also be handy for first contact. The main ship could leave and allow the CT to stay for diplomatic reasons.
One problem with shuttles in general is that transporters are just OP.
Agreed. One of the missed opportunities of enterprise to do away with transporters.
While I find your analysis of the Calypso's shortcomings on point, there is one additional function/application it may serve... a mobile embassy.
It obviously isn't meant for independent opperation and lacks long-term facilities, but it is essentially a flying conference room. Imagine needing to establish relations that require longer negotiations, neutral meeting space or planet side diplomatic staff.
This would also explain its limitations as you would not want extra tech that might be compressed should things go badly.
Man I shouldn't have gotten taco bell tonight. Sitting on the loo while watching this. The paint IA peeling off the walls. Wish you could all smell it.
I really like this, and I wish they had built and used the Aero shuttle instead of the Delta Flyer. It would have made much more sense in canon and real-world applications for infinite reasons, but maybe not from a production standpoint.
Just a silly headcanon but i've always thought there was a temporal incident involving a Galaxy class style captains yacht which which is where the idea of fly saucers come from
I like to pretend the reason they are never used in show, is because they are used in fantastical though off screen adventures, and are busy being repaired/overhauled, to our inconvenience of returning to the ships current activities.
@@reecewestmoreland6137 a prequel to little green men: ferengi sneak on board enterprise and try to steal it lol...
@@venomgeekmedia9886 Worf would NEVER live that down, letting the Enterprise get taken over by Ferengi AGAIN, even if it was only in part
Thanks for showcasing my Aeroshuttle!!
As someone that recognizes that term from RL history, I was really hoping a video about them in Star Trek would start with that.
Federation excess… I have not heard it explained in those terms, but it is highly accurate.
I recall captain Janeway getting away i think on a date on a mall ship or spending time with someone could that have been a captains yacht can't really remember. , cool video
Honestly the end of captain’s yachts may have just come with more widespread distribution of more modern runabouts that could match them for performance.
@@Ty-yt3lj and shuttlebays to house them
Neat details. That Italian ocean ship was cool.
As for starships and atmospheric pressures, Voyager showed that the Intrepid class could handle whatever pressures the seemingly Venus-like Class Y planet had...
I think I would want my captain's yacht to be less a cool place to hang out and more of a VIP carrier. Its just a shuttle for fancy dignitaries and royalty and such from worlds where they demand a certain level of pomp and circumstance. Starfleet dont care about that sort of thing, but some species do. Some fancy royalty may demand a fancier ride than a shuttle van or a teleporter. They want pizazz and in order to appear gracious you send them a "yacht." I think it is in the name. Normal people dont use a yacht, pretentious people who want to feel important do. I. Would make it look fancy inside and out but not need much for long haul work. What ai would do is make the outaide kitted out with gold accents and sleek paneling, maybe even a mirror finish on top like the Naboo ships in Star Wars. Then on the inside the entire thing is a holodeck save the cockpit, entrance, and a head. Imagine a fully customizable ship interior for whatever person/race you wish to impress.
7:36 that first concept is actually just a type 11 shuttle pushed into the wing shape. The nacelles are embedded into the wing rather than on struts. I'll give them that much.
The one feature of small craft or auxiliary craft in star trek that I cannot fathom as being remotely worthwhile is the captains yacht.
It makes no sense to custom design a special daughter craft for every single ship class to have it flush match the hull of the class.
It makes far more sense to me to instead have 1 or 2 custom mini shuttle bay hatches on bottom of primary hull and have something like have a runabout or two. Either one or two (depending on class) Danube class or the Type 11 class, perhaps 2-4 Type 8 class shuttles instead for classes with smaller primary hulls.
If they instead wanted to showcase a larger shuttle then a single large bay for a craft then perhaps design 2 types ones for science ships and one for other ships. Then have a large generic bay able to hold one of them.
The Calypso is pretty fast in terms of atmospheric flight. I remember being blown away when first reading its top speed of Mach 20. In fact, given its shape I have a hard time believing that any other shuttle could outpace it in that regard. In the Dominion War I could have seen it being used for evacuating wounded to hospital ships depending on how fast the competition was.
14:35 I thought that the captain's yacht of that design was meant to be the "V.I.P. shuttle" to ferry dignitaries to the ship.
Seeing how useful the Delta Flyer was to the Voyager, I'd say that having at least one heavier duty shuttle that can perform long range missions apart from the mother ship should be a requirement going forward on all ships capable of housing one. A Runabout at least and if the shuttlebay isn't big enough, then have on that docks to the ship's exterior.
I now want to see a scene where Picard explains the concept of IMPLICATION to Riker
Yes, negotiations are best carried out on an a isolated yacht in the middle of deep space, you know, BECAUSE OF THE IMPLICATION
Whilst dressed as Mark Twain.
Apart from the (potentially) specialized equipment of a waverider or aeroshuttle, a good runabout will probably do the job in most situations, which is probably why they weren't included in every design after it appeared.
It would be nice to know if there is anything comparable in today's maritime vessels. The "Captain's Dinghy" on an aircraft carrier?
The Captain's yacht could be used to bring a mobile ambassador's suite down to a planet. One might find this useful if, for example, transporters were off the table for one reason or another. One such situation would be for a civilization that firmly stuck to the notion of transporters as murder machines - and therefore something anathema to make use of. The kind of scenario wherein routine transport would trigger a huge diplomatic incident or season defining war. So, to avoid that, the ambassador travels down to them.
It's little wonder that the Galaxy Class captains rarely used their yachts. The living quarters were half the size of the Captain's Quarters and had little else besides the large conference area, the cockpit and a few bunks for the two flight crew and a couple of Diplomats. The Cousteau and the Aero are MUCH better yachts, for sure. Though, the Aquarius is a bit much for being called a "Captain's Yacht." Like you said Aquarius is more of an escort or a torpedo boat.
Captains' yachts were derived from captains' gigs, which have a long history that started with the era of wooden ships. When I was in the Navy, we would refer to it as the captain's taxi.
It would be safe to assume, considering that Star Trek has stuck to naval traditions and what have you, that the ships would also have captains' yachts, to keep up with tradition
Also, in the real world, Navies rarely use the captains' gigs, just as they are very seldom used in the Star Trek universe 😆
I like to think that the power generation resources of the CY augment the entire ship, and that protocols for launching it require the vessel to be in friendly territory with alternate landing available in the event the daughter ship can no longer dock if damaged.
I like Picard's Calypso. It's simple shape and unassuming appearance. It's really just a yacht.
The Captain is worthless, period. It should be replaced with an armed escort/ scout ship. Like a mini-Defiant. A ship that could provide additional security and fire support.
Smartphones are MORE than a simple phone
Smartphones are mini computers, browse the web, listen to music, play games, watch movies and shows-specially if you get the Xreal glasses to augment a giant screen, and so many more uses then a simple flip phone
Maybe in the 25th century starfleet doesn't let ships go on solo missions so they pair them up with other ships that complament each other permission requirements.