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From: chenr@tilt.FUN (Ray Chen)
Newsgroups: net.startrek
Subject: Re: Re: more stuff
Message-ID: <262@tilt.FUN>
Date: Mon, 8-Apr-85 03:56:06 EST
Article-I.D.: tilt.262
Posted: Mon Apr  8 03:56:06 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 9-Apr-85 01:21:53 EST
References: <305@unm-cvax.UUCP> <538@digi-g.UUCP> <1809@zehntel.UUCP>
Organization: Princeton University EECS Dept
Lines: 38

> Wasn't there a carrier in WWII named "Enterprise"?  Was this decommissioned
> (scrapped) before the current nuclear version?

Yes.  I think the Enterprise was the only U.S. carrier in the Pacific Fleet to
survive all of WWII.  This is stretching my memory a bit, but I believe
there was also a sloop (wood & sail type ship) named Enterprise.

It's hard to say when a name will get used again.  In the case of
famous ships who were lost "honorably" in battle, their names are often
used again immediately, perhaps in memory of the old ship.  For
example, the Lexington was sunk in the Battle of Coral Sea and the
Yorktown at Midway, and ships with both names were back in commission
before the end of WWII.  Then again, both the Yorktown and the
Lexington got sunk while beating off most of the Japanese Imperial
fleet (at very bad odds to boot).  The ST Enterprise bit it taking on a
Klingon scout ship, so maybe the name won't get re-used for a while...

By the way, I think I'll also mention that that was one of the things
that really bugged my about ST III.  The state of the Enterprise.  I
mean, we're talking about a 200,000+ -ton heavy cruiser which 10 years
ago was the pride of the Fleet and was completely upgraded less than 5
years ago.  New warp engines, new computer systems, new hull material,
new interior, new defensive systems, new weapons and fire control
systems, etc.  Practically a new ship.  Yet here were people talking
like the thing was just a space-going scrap heap.  Space-going scrap
heaps don't have better defensive systems than the top-of-the-line
Klingon battle cruisers (as of ST:TMP) and they don't blow away heavy
frigates (the Reliant in ST:TWOK).

I could believe that they wouldn't want to spend the money to
repair her after the battle with the Reliant, IF AND ONLY IF
they were very sure of the technology being tested on the Excelsior
AND they had other Excelsior-class ships in the process of being
constructed.  After all, one ship does not a fleet make.  However,
in that case, the entire *fleet* is obsolete.

	Ray Chen
	princeton!tilt!chenr