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 Antares Class |
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Antares Class |
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Specs & Schematics
| Surveyor Length: 222m Height: 33m Width: 104m Mass: 135,400mt Speed: Warp 7 (max. cruise), Warp 9 (max. emergency) Crew complement: 15 + 83 |
 Antares, sheet 1 |
 Antares, sheet 2 |
The Problem
1. The name Antares for a starship was first used in the TOS episode "Charlie X", but screen evidence was missing until the remastering of the episode, and the registry remained unknown for the next 25 years. It is possible that the NCC-501 given in the Star Trek Encyclopedia was never supposed to be the Antares's registry in the old TOS script and was just made up by Okuda. In the entry about the U.S.S. Antares the Star Trek Encyclopedia says that "writer/consultant Naren Shankar suggested that the Bajoran cargo vessels in 'Ensign Ro' (TNG) be designated as Antares-class ships, a tip of the hat to 'Charlie X'". This is merely backstage information and has been contradicted in TOS-R: "Charlie X".
2. Antares-class ships are frequently used by civilian (human and alien) owners since TNG. There is plenty of screen evidence of the ships. The problem is that they are actually considerably different designs! The only thing they have in common is that they are usually described as obsolete and don't look like Starfleet designs at all. Among the ships called "Antares class" are:
a) the Talarian ship Batris (TNG: "Heart of Glory") - a modular vessel carrying cargo containers
b) the Corvallen freighter (TNG: "Face of the Enemy") - an equally boxy, but different design
c) the Bajoran version whose warp drive is defunct (TNG: "Ensign Ro") - a ship with a triangular basic shape
d) Kasidy Yates's ship Xhosa (DS9: "Way of the Warrior", "For the Cause") - obviously a modification of the Batris
The entry about the "Antares-class carrier" in the Encyclopedia doesn't distinguish between these designs at all and suggests that all ships should look like the Batris. Moreover, the annotations to the entry speculate: "We further wonder if this might be what the ship in 'Charlie X' (TOS) looked like." This is not possible any longer since TOS-R: "Charlie X".
3. Starfleet also has an Antares class as of 2368. The USS Hermes NCC-10376 is the only known ship of this class, and it could not be identified on screen, but was only listed with its name and registry as participating in the generation of the tachyon grid (TNG: "Redemption"). It is interesting that there is neither a direct reference to the U.S.S. Antares NCC-501 nor to the (alien) Antares-class cargo ships.
4. Chakotay's ship (the Maquis raider) is classified as Antares class in Jeri Taylor's novel Pathways. This doesn't comply with the above Encyclopedia entries at all, and it hasn't found its way into the Encyclopedia or Fact Files so far, although Jeri Taylor's books are allegedly canonical. One big problem is that Chakotay's raider doesn't look like a TOS ship. Actually, with its hundreds of obviously improvised hull extensions it doesn't look like a Starfleet ship at all.
So what would "our Antares", the Starfleet Antares class, namely the U.S.S. Hermes look like? Like an alien freighter, like an old ship that was around already at the time of TOS, like Chakotay's raider or like something else?
Preliminary Designs
Note that all of these proposals predate the actual appearance of the U.S.S. Antares in TOS-R: "Charlie X".
| Concordance Antares | ||||||
 Concordance Antares by Brian Pimenta from Bjo Trimble's Concordance colored by Jason |
 Antares, dorsal by Reverend |
 Antares, ventral by Reverend |
 Antares plaque |
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 Computer screen, animated |
 Antares refit, dorsal |
 Antares refit, starboard |
 Antares refit, bridge |
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 Hermes plaque |
 Refit LCARS |
 Antares class patch |
 Antares Lines logo |
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 Refit side view, 4 versions |
 Refit nacelles |
 Ramscoop proposals |
 Saucer proposals |
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| Other proposals | ||||||
 Lance's Antares by Mike colored by Jason |
 Antares raider, top view by Ryan |
 Antares raider, side view by Ryan |
 Scene with Antares raiders by Ryan |
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 Matt's Antares by Matt Dock |
 Antares freighter, side view by Ryan |
 Antares freighter with nacelles by Masaki Taniko |
 Comparison with Batris by Masaki Taniko |
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 Antares freighter hull sections by Masaki Taniko |
 Pre-TOS Antares by J |
 TOS Antares by J |
 Post-TOS Antares by J |
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The Concordance design that was refined by Reverend looks very nice, and it would fit well into the TOS era. Lance has conceived an original design which may have existed back in TOS but would be also suited for the TNG Hermes. Ryan's first approach is to make the Antares class a raider, as stated in Jeri Taylor's book. It could have been around for some decades and may even have existed in TOS. The necessary detail changes will show if this works. On the other hand, the Maquis raider was said to be of the Ju'day class in the episode VOY: "Repression" and a recent article in Star Trek: The Magazine. Ryan has also been thinking of Starfleet using the same design as various civilians and aliens. The result is an Antares-class freighter which has recently been refined by Masaki Taniko. Finally, there is a somewhat modular design by J who proposes that the Antares (NCC-501) is a very old ship and was upgraded at least two times, each time changing the overall appearance.
We have finally settled on the Concordance Antares, refined and rescaled by Kris. The ship's saucer and nacelles are similar in their appearance to the Constitution class. Yet, they are not simply scaled down, as there are considerable detail changes.
In the light of the remastered version of "Charlie X" Reverend has once again revised some design decisions. The latest Antares keeps the basic look of the ship from the Concordance. Yet, it is not supposed to be a TOS era design any longer that was later refitted. The new Antares was launched in 2269, as some sort of precursor to the Enterprise refit of 2271.
Credits
Design by Brian Pimenta from Bjo Trimble's Concordance
Refined by Kris
| Last modified: 28.03.13 |  |