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Apart from the common design flaws that are present in all Starfleets ships (Exposed bridge and nacelles) the excelsior is quite possible the best designed and most successful ship design ever fielded by the Federation with the possible exception of the Miranda.

With what appears to be an absolute massive production run of these ships numbering them in the hundreds if not more they are by in far the most numerous capital ship.

With the exception of the Transwarp drive failure (which is discussed in the transwatp thread) this ship was a complete success.

Powerful and fast it quite possibly was one of the main causes of the Federation extended period of peace between TOS and TNG.

It is also in my opinion one of the best looking ships a huge step up in appearance from the butt ugly Constitution.

While I think the design (looks) pales in comparison to later ships, it was a huge leap in asthetics over what came before it. It was the first ship that I feel the designers actually took pride in.

Seeing an excelsior next to a Constitution shows what a huge leap foward the ship is. No other ship has quite that jump in design.

I will always remember the Excelsior as the ship that first demonstrated the Fed slide towards overcentralisation. And for the fact that it stalled.

Captain Seafort wrote:I will always remember the Excelsior as the ship that first demonstrated the Fed slide towards overcentralisation. And for the fact that it stalled.

Did Scotty put a brick under the clutch?

Thorin wrote:Did Scotty put a brick under the clutch?

The real question is: "Is the Excelsior a standard or automatic?"

Tsukiyumi wrote:

Thorin wrote:Did Scotty put a brick under the clutch?

The real question is: "Is the Excelsior a standard or automatic?"

I can not drive a stick

Overall, an alright ship. It looks nice, but it seems to be the start of the whole stupid 'form over function' philosophy of Starfleet's designs.

Don't lie! You knew that when this ship came up, I'd be here!

This is by far the greatest ship every built by Starfleet! She can out perform the Miranda and has lasted longer then any other ship in the fleet! That plus the upgrades that can be made to this ship manage to keep it in the front line fleets for over a century! This was, besides the Ambassador class the last form meets function ship until the Defiant! She is a beautiful ship and can for her age slap stick you if you make her mad!

Ok, my rant is over now.

Don't lie! You knew that when this ship came up, I'd be here!

When I first read the thread, I was surprised you hadn't already started talking about it.

Internet was down at home.

That explains it.

How could you say something as wrong as 'form over function'!
I thought you better then this! Were you baiting me?

The ship was the end of the 'function over form' era. Just because she good looking doesn't mean she can't wipe the floor with you!

Actually, I think that the Excelsior is really where form MET function as perfectly as in any Starfleet design - not absolutely perfectly, but better than anything else. While she was huge in comparison to anything else contemporary, the relatively compact neck and nacelle struts made for a low profile for its size, and for what I would imagine would be a lower shield bubble area per hull size and less stresses on the connecting features. This was all probably due to the fact that she was intended for the nebulous "transwarp" project, and incidentally caused her to be graceful.

These factors must have contributed in some way to the incredible durability of the spaceframe, as well as the ability to refit the vessel with SOTA tech - c.f., the Lakota. I've already argued in an old thread about new Defiant v. Lakota refits, but the vehicles durability/lifespan, adaptability, and the willingness to use it as a frontline capital ship despite its age mean that this is one heck of a design.

Plus, the design elements which do seem to be purely aesthetic - the over-curve of the upper saucer lip over the lower, the heat-sink-looking grilles and fins on the nacelles, etc. - appear to be done in such a way so as to not affect any functionality.

Wow - I had no idea that I liked the Excelsior so much until I started writing this!

Which I'm sure was why the E-nil was unable to escape from the Excelsior in ST3, and Excelsior didn't come to a grinding halt because half a dozen tiny chips got nicked. Oh. Wait.