@@DIEGhostfish it's probably more a combination of diplomacy (locals like local names), a shift in naming policy (have a portion of permanently stationed runabouts named after local rivers) and to allow there to be enough names for every runabout. My personal headcanon is that DS9's initial runabouts were pre-production units, assigned to them to preform field testing. When the tests were complete and the results were positive, other places were given the option to requisition them. I imagine that there was a massive demand for them, and that some places even asked for most of their shuttles to be replaced with runabouts at a 1-1 ratio. Of course with that many orders for them (imagine every starbase and a lot of larger starships asking for 1/2 to 3/4 of their shuttles to be replaced with runabouts), it quickly becomes necessary to expand beyond earths rivers for naming them, and that is before operational losses start to occur. The problem with starfleet shuttles is that they are only suited to short trips (probably under 12 hours), they can't carry a lot of people or cargo and they can't stand up to even light anti ship weapons. The runabout however can carry more people/cargo, can undertake multi-day missions and can take care of itself if there are amy angry locals about, all at the same time. It's just far more versatile for a lot of roles that previously had to be done using either one or multiple shuttles which is inefficient and often inconvienient, or a full on starship which would often be overkill big and are in short supply. They are the Trek equivalent to a small ocean going armed patrolboat.
@@IO-hh2fz i agree with most of this but there is still a cost to build is like 3-4 shuttles so maybe most stations have all runabouts but most ships only have like 1/3 to 1/4 of their shuttles traded out. (yes i know the federation don't use money but it still takes time and resources to make)
@@tahhotep I imagine cost isn't exactly an issue for Starfleet. Afterall, the Federation is a post-scarcity civilization with industrial replicators. Instead, the most likely issue limiting runabout numbers is going to be space. They are far bigger than most shuttles, especially compared to the minivan flying squares Starfleet seems to be going back to in Lower Decks. A station can afford a large fleet of them because they have the hangar space and can't move, so the operational range of the Runabout is essential to project the station's presence outside the immediate star system. A starship on the other hand is far smaller, and can already move between star systems on its own, so I imagine most are only going to get one Runabout, maybe two if they are big enough.
Possible subtle brilliance: Is it a coincidence that the one runabout that makes it through the whole show about what is effectively a border war between two empires is named after a river whose main claim to fame is as a natural border between two nations who have had border wars in the past only to eventually arrive at peace?
For the record I was referring to the events of the Mexican-American war and later conflicts with Poncho Villa roughly a century ago, not anything current. Just thought it was a neat coincidence or possible literary intent, not intended to create an opening for people to speak hate or go into digressions about the current political atmosphere.
In those idle geeky-fantasy "if I could own my own starship" contemplations, I always came back to the Runabout as the ideal option. A true interstellar vessel, with almost all the trappings of Star Trek technology - transporters, replicators, ship's computer, shields, sensors - but small enough to be operated by a group of friends, or just one person in a pinch.
Reminds me of a thread on /tg/ where some Anon was arguing about using a Defiant Class as a HOSPITAL SHIP, thinking the ablative armored hull would make it perfect for battlefield extraction... I countered that you'd be better off using a Jupiter-class Carrier as a Hospital Mothership and send out a fleet of Ambulance Runabouts, as both have spacious deck plans perfect for medical use.
@@piotrd.4850 corvette seems a bit too big of a term for the runabout. Corvettes are still very much ships, and as such are still rather large and crew intensive, even if small when compared to other ships. I think patrol boat, torpedo boat, or clipper are terms that would better describe it.
I need to make a character equipped with Plot Armor, Retcon Shield, Sword blessed by the Virgin Mary Sue, a BFG-OP which has unlimited range, infinite ammo, and perfect auto aim-bot, and last but not least, the all powerful Ring of Power that can create alter or destroy any multiverse.
Yeah, similar roles in two different shows. They're not pretty, but they absolutely are the workhorses of the fleet and the ship you call upon when you need to get shit done
In-canon, the Runabout makes perfect sense for outpost/frontier postings far from the Federation’s resupply chains and logistical bases. It’s not like having a Galaxy-class with its fleet of differing shuttlepods/shuttles/work-bees, et als. You need something that can do almost anything and everything. A proverbial four-door work-truck or a C-130 transport. You can imagine it running cargo and passengers, but you can also imagine it exploring and defending as well.
The runabouts are actually one of my favorite trek ships, and I think this comes down to two interrelated reasons. One: In world, as a ship, it's a much more human-scale. You don't command it or crew it, you pilot it. That leads one to imagine an amount of autonomy for those onboard and a much closer relationship between ship and pilot. Two: As a story device, it's a ship inhabited by characters rather then extras. Some of the best interactions between DS9 characters happened sitting next to each-other at the console of a runabout.
I actually got the same feeling when they were on the small bridge of the Defiant. I loved O'Brien complaining about being surrounded by women in his apartment or discussing how they mess with Worf just like a bunch of friends would in their downtime. Harder to do that in the sprawling bridge of the Enterprise.
This just made me wonder if the reason Worf said “little” after Riker’s comment on the Defiant wasn’t because he was embarrassed by its size, but because he was annoyed that he’d gotten used to the Defiant being big when compared to the runabouts? Always loved the runabouts and would prob choose it as my personal ship if I lived in the Star Trek universe.
Oh same. There's just something great about a ship that size that makes you just want to live in one. The Star Trek Runabouts, the Star Wars light freighters like the Millennium Falcon and Ghost, etc
@@boxhead6177 Yeah, Defiant is just cozy. Not overfilled with stuff like the bigger starships are. Small, powerful, maneuverable, and kicks ass. She's easily the most Klingon ship in the Federation
Maybe it's just my sense of humor, but I'd have gone all in on the "River River" names, like the Rio Grande (Big River) and Mekong (River River River). Maybe with a throwaway "is my translator broken? Why are all of them named 'River'?" joke somewhere as well.
The Runaboout has always felt like the YT-1300 of Star Trek to me. It's not the most powerful ship around, but it's just that size where it's small enough to be personal, but big enough to be comfortable. It gives me that sense of freedom and adventure where you could live on that ship and not owe anyone an explanation for where you're going in it, or be responsible for a large crew.
@@Taiko206 They are at least as modular and reconfigurable as a stock light freighter. Han would find a way to mate a hyperdrive module with Federation technology.
@@MPeaches1958 Those would be pretty awesome for smuggling, actually. "No contraband on board, sir." "WHAT?? I SAW the Wookie carry the box in!" "Yessir. Nothing here now, though." "I was WATCHING the door the WHOLE TIME!!"
If you consider the size of the Delta Flyer barely squeezing through the garage door, and the size of Neelix's ship, you've got to wonder how they even had the space for other shuttles.
For that reason, runabouts use up the space of two shuttles in Star Trek Adventures. My players had a Miranda-class and could only fit two runabouts and nothing else in the shuttle bay. And even that only happened after a refit that gave them a bigger shuttle bay.
Same, I always had a soft spot for the Danube class. It's the only class I could see wanting to have at my disposal in the Trek universe, small enough to fly and crew alone, large enough to be comfortable for longer trips, and versatile.
DS9 always managed to balance it's darker tone with the Star Treks generally optimistic view of the future. Most similar shows would not have bothered to name them and blown up 3 every other episode but DS9 keeps track of each one for seven series and even makes sure to have one of originals survive.
The Runabout has always been one of the ships I would love to have as my own personal starship. There are others but this one still ranks highest in that list.
Shuttle, not speedboat. Have you seen a "shuttle" rolling the road? They aren't the most attractive vehicles being driven around. They perform a utility, nothing more.
I've always seen the Danube class runabouts as the ultimate camping transport. It's like a very well equipped RV with plenty of room for gear, large enough to have 6-8(or more considering the HUGE rear) friends with gear, small enough to be "hideable" and able to maintain a decent enough warp speed to find the best spot for a long, relaxing getaway on some pristine class m planet.
I don't know why there weren't a hundred phaser arrays pointed at the opening of the wormhole, the moment the dominion decides to come through they should just get lit up one by one, naaah we let multiple fleets enter the Alpha quadrant and fly to cardassian space before we bother to do anything that could provoke them.
@@ZeroB4NG There may not have been 100 phasers, but there where a few dozen at least. Ds9 was an ore processing and administrative station under the cardassians. Sisko turned it into a battle station that turned away an entire Klingon fleet by itself, and it took a huge dominion fleet to take it at the beginning of the war.
@@ZeroB4NG Even if they were allowed to put defense platforms around the wormhole, before the war officially started, the Federation had no justification for automatically firing on Dominion ships. Although, they would have it coming for obliterating the Gamma quadrant colonies instead of just evicting them. Afterwards, who's to say Starfleet didn't put up a defense network offscreen.
While on Star Trek's small craft, ever notice how the Delta Flyer on Voyager seemed to have a cargo hold and crew quarters yet never looked bigger than Voyager's other shuttles???
I'd totally 2nd that. They could have shown more of the inside of these little ships as they could be customised in so many ways depending on what was needed at the time.
@@thepurpleapple or taking off with the aft section left behind and flying home with just the cockpit and nacelles, like Thunderbird 2. (Maybe that’s what you meant as well!)
If/when I ever finally run a Star Trek Adventures campaign, I'm definitely giving the PCs semi-permanent access to a Danube. It's just so useful from a story-telling perspective to have a ship that fits an adventuring party sized crew, but doesn't feel hugely limiting in capabilities. Use the midships modules for a small sickbay/science lab on one side, and a cargo bay for whatever equipment the plot requires (extra phasers, environmental suits, generally useful stuff) on the other and the players are set to go do RPG stuff away from the main ship. Name the ship after your favourite river in your home town and you're set.
4:00 Off topic, but the Galaxy class needs a rapid detachment subsystem that just immediately disconnects and flings away the Saucer Section, in case of traumatic damage to the Secondary Hull. Explosive bolts and a impulse pulse to get them away in a few seconds - _Saucer reattachment not required._ And it should be a physical lever on the bridge that triggers a independent system, no touchscreen button that can be activated by a computer malfunction. Perhaps hidden under a panel on the floor, between the Captain and helm.
Deep Space nine is exceptional tv. Watching it atm with a friend, and the writing quality just keeps impressing. Just so many good moments of character driven dialogue and episodes.
Recently I was looking for a hands on project to pass some time during lockdown. I decided for the first time in decades that I would attempt to build a model kit. After a bit of consideration I settled on the Rio Grande. She now sits in a place of honor on my bookcase, with the port side facing the wall to hide the botch job I did on one of the decals.
The runabouts have always been my favorite as well as they just scream practical and sturdy. They look like something you would possibly actually see made if we had the technology as they are versatile and sturdy.
In the tech manual the unofficial mascot for the runabout was a cartoon runabout hauling a giant sack of parts, with it saying " I can do it" seems apt.
The Delta Flier should've been a season-long arc about finding the necessary materials and advanced components to build it, with Paris slowly building up a build team for it and scrounging replicator credits to fabricate the required parts he couldn't otherwise gather.
I think the secret to the Danube-class' durability is that because they're classed as Starships and not shuttles, they're built with Starship-grade materials and to Starship standards. So because they're so small they've effectively got the greatest proportion of hull strength to mass of any Federation ship class, even greater than the Defiants. I'm sure some engineer complained about them being 'spectacularly overbuilt' during the design process, but they had to be to meet minimum Federation standards.
Danube was a good design that should replace all other older Starfleet shuttles (with some Danube's sub variants). But as sturdy shuttles go - Delta flayer was the best.
Talking about the scarcity theme, I love the Blackbird in BSG. They show it being painstakingly assembled piece by piece. The only fighter built on Galactica. And when it's destroyed... It's actually gone. Forever.
I love the concept/idea of the Danube runabout, but love the design of the Yellowstone Runabout. P.S. The end of scene of the "Call to Arms" is hands down one of my favorite scenes in any series.
@@glitterboy2098 I was confused by the comment at first because they used the same shooting model (and also the various backlit diagrams they showed). Didn’t know it was in STO as looking different.
In my headcanon, DS9 just let the Runabouts get destroyed, while Voyager would beam aboard the crashed shuttle components aboard to rebuild/rereplicate them.
DS9 was a Cardassian station, it didn't have Federation replicators especially none up to the standard to be manufacturing military/space hardware at a quality for shuttle reconstruction.
@@boxhead6177 True but DS9 had Starfleet nearby to supply them. The station itself didn't have to make them - whereas Voyager was alone and had no choice.
Im always reminded of the scene where Picard give Scotty a shuttle to fly around the galaxy in and it has no bed or toilet in it. Runabouts make far more sence and feel much more realistic for the federation.
I think they key reason in the are so different from the older style of runabouts is because they never had to build a full sized exterior for them. so they weren't limited by having to fit one inside a starship hanger.
Easily one of the best, smartest, and most realistic ships in Star Trek. I just makes so much sense in the universe, and the fact that there aren't more of them (or similar ships) in Star Trek is a shame.
Compared to most starfleet vessels it definitely is among the most practical usage of the tech they have at their disposal. It doesn't require more than a single pilot, has a surprisingly spacious interior for such a small ship, and packs enough firepower to serve a fairly potent gunship/fast attack craft all in one.
I always considered the Danube class as a corvette when compared to more contemporary naval ships. It’s got some of the features of the larger frigates and destroyers but is small enough to be barely more noticeable than a fishing boat at times.
SOLD! I'll take ten! I'm starting a local space PMC that will provide space lane patrol/escort work, as well as limited ground support and training opportunities.
I used to really dislike those runabouts when DS9 started, because the idea of a hero ship was replaced with this stationary location and a bunch of tiny, replaceable spaceships. Until then, there also had only been those "flying box" shuttles in Star Trek, so I expected them to be no different. I took a while, but I eventually came around as the show went on and learned to appreciate them.
Fun thing: The Rhine, the Runabout on TNG was named after it, is where I live. Beautiful little river and only today learned that it, too, had a Runabout named after it.
Voyager had some of the best characters, potentially the best setting in all of sci-fi tv shows, and it squandered so much. It's a testament to how good some of the writing was, and the likability of the characters that it still has a solid set of fans
The Runabouts as assisting fighters always made me wonder if Voyager could have used or adapted other shuttles as ad hoc fighters. Like another Delta Flyer. It did contribute as a reenforcement attacker on that one Gladiator ship with the Rock Onboard
fighters are meaningless in stories where weapon power comes form the power of the reactor of the ship. phasers and shields are directly proportional to energy made by the warp core. and the targeting system on star trek ships has been shown to easily hit small fast moving targets at multiple AU form the ship with pinpoint accuracy a so smarter photon torpedo, being a matter/antimatter bomb, would be more useful then fighters in every case. fighters would get blown out of space before they could get in range of any ship.
The Runabouts basic concept is reminiscent of the Eagle from *Space 1999.* The modularity and utilitarian nature are very similar, and they served basically the same function if you ignore the tech level. You could well imagine the same scenes being set on a alien planet with a away team in Space 1999, if the Runabout didn't have warp capability - and that's just because it's a matter of scale. The sets are even similar in size.
I too am a big fan of the Danube-class, so much so that I built a full interior in 3D Studio Max for a university project. It’s a real shame they stopped naming the runabouts after about Season 5... The Ship, Nor The Battle To The Strong, Empok Nor and even Timescape had unnamed runabouts destroyed. 2:29 I like that you caught DS9 having four runabouts, it’s not something I’ve seen mentioned elsewhere. However, you said that by Season 4 DS9 has Volga, Rubicon, Rio Grande and Ganges, but Ganges was destroyed in Season 2 in Armageddon Game (and was replaced by Mekong). The fourth runabout at that time was Yukon. You know why the Rio Grande lasted all 7 seasons? It was blessed by the Prophets. Sounds silly, but it was the ship Sisko used when he discovered the wormhole and became the Emissary. The Prophets took special interest in Sisko, so why not the “Chariot of the Emissary”? I’m surprised it didn’t become a place of pilgrimage for the Bajorans.
Danube-class runabouts are the only vessels in the history of Starfleet that were built with non-explosive computer consoles. That's why they lasted so long.
"Oh, so IMPORTANT people will be flying this? Hey Charlie, delete the plasma grenades from the console specs." You've uncovered Starfleet's master plan to reduce overpopulation by recruiting the masses into the fleet and then "accidentally" killing them. You didn't REALLY think a ship whose computer could accurately simulate multiple sapient beings at once, actually needed a crew of 1000, did you? 🤫
Braga couldn’t care less about the premise of VOY. His writers openly mocked the fan complaints about the number of shuttles and torpedoes they had within later episodes of the show.
This is kinda like Ryan Johnson taking a massive dump on ppl who asked him to be true to the source material - everyone was a "man child" in his words. Like, if you want to do an original IP, do it, see how it does, but don't slap the sticker of a franchise with fans who really care about this stuff and then be surprised if ppl don't like that you don't. How is that level of oversight even possible? He prolly has some fav movie or show that apparently doesn't care about deep lore and shit and if someone would go all Inception Cloud Atlas Donnie Darko on its sequel, you'd assume that would piss him off too, no? It's just baffling how many directors just don't care about the art they are supposed to be a part of.
@@fredwupkensoppel8949 Or Zach Snyder mocking fans for their outrage at Batman going on a killing spree with guns, saying something like "of course Batman would use guns, why wouldn't he?" not getting because he's The Goddamn Batman
IDK, I have a hard time believing any ongoing scarcity plot points in a universe with matter assembly and replication technology. The whole growing food to "save energy" thing just seemed like a dumb excuse to keep Neelix around and make fun of his cooking.
This has always been one of my favorite sci-fi ships of any universe. The modular aspect just makes sense for the role it has in a way Star Trek especially seemed to mostly ignore.
For some reason I thought scotty took a Danube class roundabout off Enterprise-D before my rewatch. He probably would have had more fun in one than that shuttle.
I quite like this… this has always been my dream. I don’t want a huge starship or starfighter… I’ve always wanted a small RV size space ship that I could just explore and live in. I’d love to see more space RV type ships… even the small ships are huge, the millennium falcon is massive! Most “small” ships are still the size of buildings. I wouldn’t mind a ship this size to live in, like a tiny home/RV with warp capability! Hahaha
I love the Space Winnebago! Apparently its middle section is also modular to allow mission specific layouts and meet what ever needs must. Shame we only ever saw the cockpit and the aft ONCE in a different show. The Delta Flyer may be sleek, but I'd take the comfort of this ride anytime.
I wonder why the Runabouts aft section was only seen once in TNG and never came back for DS9. Since they used the Runabouts a lot in this show, it is curious why the aft section set was never used again. (It was probably destroyed or deconstructed by accident, i think.)
My only thought here: When talking about scarcity, I think you're a bit harsh on Voyager (about the Delta Flyer, at least, lets not get started on the Photon Torpedo debacle). Even in a show like Battlestar Galactica, they managed to build a fully functional stealth ship with limited resources and scavenging parts from other things. I think the point about the Delta Flyer, given that a Starfleet ship is orders of magnitude more advanced than BSG, is being a bit unfair to Voyager. Liked the rest of the video, Danubes are neat little ships!
Oddly agreed with you, if an FTL starship with tractor beams, cutting lasers, matter rearranging replicator thingiebobs and teleorters cant stripmine an asteroid belt to build a shuttle or twelve every so often then whats the point of going to space.
True and, IIRC, the network was really big on hitting the reset button every episode, no story arcs, not carrying over damage, ETC. They snuck some stuff in here and there, but if it didn't have a "part" in the title, reset.
Bit of a shame, that. All they really had to do was show Voyager nomming a rock with a tractor beam every so often and a lot of people would probably have been willing to accept it.
Tbf, it wasn't complete scarcity, I always thought that the crew could find resources and parts from space traders or nearby trade friendly planets. Considering Neelix's previous occupation, he would have known where they could get a lot of stuff they needed.
That's because by that time the franchise had worked out most of the bugs. What always bothered me was all the senior officer going on away missions and performing menial tastes. Officers don't do those jobs, they assign people to do them. Like the video states, they filled these continuity gaps.
The Danube Class Runabout (and do almost everything!!!) I can’t thank you guys enough (and RJC) for recognizing the value ST:DS9 brought to the Star Trek universe. It expanded it in ways and in magnitude the other series could not.
Later in the series, during the Dominion War, when Federation fighter squadrons become significant, I always wondered why the powers that be chose to reuse the ship designs of the Maquis instead of just showing a fleet of Runabouts. The DS9 episodes that introduce the Maquis show that the Runabouts are equal in maneuverability and firepower.
@@aaronmitchell2281 memory alpha indicates those were originally support couriers that the Maquis acquired and modified into fighters. the raiders were apparently a class of starship built in the 2330s that in the 2370s the maquis got their hands on and modified as well. seems like with the Mirandas Starfleet retrofited a bunch of older ships since making new advanced ones required more resources. plus it would be easier to automate and train crew for these fighter and raider craft.
yeah, the Federation Fighter first appeared with the maquis, said to be an uparmed Courier. basically an oversized long range shuttle used to carry small important cargos/individual VIP's and important secure messages to places fast without using a full starship. odds are the federation had tons of those in civilian use or sitting around in boneyards that starfleet could obtain and mount guns to in order to create attack fighters. though we know that they did start developing some new Runabout sized starships, like that long range scout Data used in Insurrection. at a guess, the armed Couriers were used as fighters because they were easy to arm and were proven as a concept from the fight with the Maquis, while the less common runabouts and similar craft were used for more support roles.
The Danube Runabout's layout must contribute heavily to its survivability. The enemy will probably shoot at its center of mass, while all its important systems are in the spine on top. It also means that the warp core isn't the first thing hitting the ground in a crash landing.
You honor Star Trek by creating videos like these, and you therefore honor me. It is with videos like these that have changed my entire view of ship and story design for the better. You are truly a master of sci-fi. So as a proud Spacedock supporter, I thank you.
@@KEVMAN7987 Good "behind the scenes" trivia, but the show's storyline never actually explained why. Some say that the Aerowing wasn't in there and never installed before Voyager's mission to the Badlands. But, if that's the case, Voyager's crew built from scratch the Delta flyer but they couldn't build the Aerowing?
@@starbrand3726 Thank you very much! Would have been nice if they gave it lip service though, like someone suggests using it and Janeway shoots the idea down.
The Danube class was the fist shuttle type ship in Star Trek that I really liked. It looked great and was so versatile and functional you wondered why they used what looked cargo transports or ships meant just to ferry people to and from the ship to a planet for missions a runabout seemed far better suited for.
Yes. Just yes. The Danube class is the absolute best! I’ve always been fond of them! What do you think of the sovereign class? Apart from the runabout, the sovereign class is my favourite.
Both the Danube class and Flyer class are my favorite line of large scale shuttle craft. I'm surprised we didn't see Danube class runabouts used as M.A.S.H units during the dominion war. That aft section is quite modular and you could design your runabouts to serve specific needs.
I always felt that the runabouts were what the shuttles should be. So often prior to DS9 officers take shuttles to places. But given the speed official sources claim they can go it is usually faster to just drop them off from the Enterprise. Runabouts are capable of making these trips and not pulling the main ship of course like the shuttle is supposed to be able to do but really can't.
I see one problem with the Danube Runabouts, and Star Trek in general. Seat belts! Everyone seems to stay in their seat by holding on with their hands only.
Tripp wanted to give Archer a chair with inertial dampeners, claiming he'd have a smooth ride while the ship is being ripped apart around him. Archer declined. The technology exists in that universe, but it takes away from the dramatic impact of the scene.
@@krane15 shawnbricewi ain't wrong. You wouldn't feel the loss of dampers, because your nervous system would have been shut down before you had time to notice you were about to go through the bulkhead.
Gene Rodenberry would have likely rolled in his grave over it. I personally liked Enterprise more if you skipped about half the episodes. They cancelled it just when it started getting good.
Great Detail, DS9 got the Rubicon after the episode "The Die is Cast" Quoting Wikipedia: "Alea iacta est ("The die has been cast") is a variation of a Latin phrase (iacta alea est [ˈjakta ˈaːlɛ. a ˈɛst]) attributed by Suetonius to Julius Caesar on January 10, 49 BC, as he led his army across the Rubicon river in Northern Italy."
I also like the clever naming of the episode “Treachery, Faith and the Great River”; treachery is what Weyoun does to the Dominion, faith is what Nog has in his scheme and O’Brien has to have in Nog and the great river is Nog’s method of trading and also the runabout Odo uses, the Rio Grande who’s name means “great river”.
I love the mission patch of the runabout in the DS9 tech manual which features a carricture of a runabout with a big sack and the caption "We got it!" :D
Check out Prosperous Universe with this link and support Spacedock!
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Nice you like it.
You also forgot the unlimited amount of torpedoes it has
Love these ships too! Keep it up!
Maybe a vid on the Tel’tak from Stargate SG-1 or any of the shuttles from Star Wars?
I need to try a new spreadsheets in space game :)
“At the rate we’re going through runabouts, good thing Earth has so many rivers.” - Kira
In the novels, they started using Bajoran rivers as well.
@@VigilanteAgumon Jesus, that's a lot of dead runabouts.
@@DIEGhostfish it's probably more a combination of diplomacy (locals like local names), a shift in naming policy (have a portion of permanently stationed runabouts named after local rivers) and to allow there to be enough names for every runabout.
My personal headcanon is that DS9's initial runabouts were pre-production units, assigned to them to preform field testing.
When the tests were complete and the results were positive, other places were given the option to requisition them.
I imagine that there was a massive demand for them, and that some places even asked for most of their shuttles to be replaced with runabouts at a 1-1 ratio.
Of course with that many orders for them (imagine every starbase and a lot of larger starships asking for 1/2 to 3/4 of their shuttles to be replaced with runabouts), it quickly becomes necessary to expand beyond earths rivers for naming them, and that is before operational losses start to occur.
The problem with starfleet shuttles is that they are only suited to short trips (probably under 12 hours), they can't carry a lot of people or cargo and they can't stand up to even light anti ship weapons.
The runabout however can carry more people/cargo, can undertake multi-day missions and can take care of itself if there are amy angry locals about, all at the same time.
It's just far more versatile for a lot of roles that previously had to be done using either one or multiple shuttles which is inefficient and often inconvienient, or a full on starship which would often be overkill big and are in short supply.
They are the Trek equivalent to a small ocean going armed patrolboat.
@@IO-hh2fz i agree with most of this but there is still a cost to build is like 3-4 shuttles so maybe most stations have all runabouts but most ships only have like 1/3 to 1/4 of their shuttles traded out. (yes i know the federation don't use money but it still takes time and resources to make)
@@tahhotep I imagine cost isn't exactly an issue for Starfleet. Afterall, the Federation is a post-scarcity civilization with industrial replicators.
Instead, the most likely issue limiting runabout numbers is going to be space. They are far bigger than most shuttles, especially compared to the minivan flying squares Starfleet seems to be going back to in Lower Decks.
A station can afford a large fleet of them because they have the hangar space and can't move, so the operational range of the Runabout is essential to project the station's presence outside the immediate star system.
A starship on the other hand is far smaller, and can already move between star systems on its own, so I imagine most are only going to get one Runabout, maybe two if they are big enough.
Well, of course it's sturdy. It's held together with self-sealing stem-bolts.
Underrated comment.
Only a reverse-ratcheting router could damage it
And spindle bearings
Not to mention all the GNDN lines behind the bulkhead adding to its rigidity.
@@louiscachet7681 Just rub some yamok sauce on it.
When a runabout outlives the Defiant you've got a study spaceframe.
On the other hand, runabouts aren't battle ships.
@@krane15 On the other other hand, runabouts get into enough fights without dying for the point to still hold.
@@a-blivvy-yus on the other had, the Defiant fights in a lot of battles along with a large fleet of starships
accursed Breen energy dampening weapons have a way of screwing up good things
Well, at least they gave us more powerful ships later on.
Possible subtle brilliance: Is it a coincidence that the one runabout that makes it through the whole show about what is effectively a border war between two empires is named after a river whose main claim to fame is as a natural border between two nations who have had border wars in the past only to eventually arrive at peace?
For the record I was referring to the events of the Mexican-American war and later conflicts with Poncho Villa roughly a century ago, not anything current. Just thought it was a neat coincidence or possible literary intent, not intended to create an opening for people to speak hate or go into digressions about the current political atmosphere.
@carlos rivas nobody mentioned race or Trump dude, you don't have to bring current politics to everything.
@carlos rivas why did you bring race into it?
@@velenteriushendeneros3251 Races are fun. Have you played Mario Cart?
@@patrickfrost9405 i have its a great game
I was today years old when I learned the Rio Grande survived 7 seasons.
I never realized it was the sole survivor of the Runabout hunger games until now
What is today years? Ten years...?
@@DemonsRun87 r/woosh
I feel like they could have chosen a little less obvious river name.
"Blown up by terrorists in order to contrive a holodeck James Bond episode"
Worth it.
In those idle geeky-fantasy "if I could own my own starship" contemplations, I always came back to the Runabout as the ideal option. A true interstellar vessel, with almost all the trappings of Star Trek technology - transporters, replicators, ship's computer, shields, sensors - but small enough to be operated by a group of friends, or just one person in a pinch.
Same here. I used to fantasize about the ideal floorplan for one person to live in it.
maybe the uss raven is a better shot for that
she's a little bigger but can still be operated by 2 people
Reminds me of a thread on /tg/ where some Anon was arguing about using a Defiant Class as a HOSPITAL SHIP, thinking the ablative armored hull would make it perfect for battlefield extraction...
I countered that you'd be better off using a Jupiter-class Carrier as a Hospital Mothership and send out a fleet of Ambulance Runabouts, as both have spacious deck plans perfect for medical use.
So is a bird of prey...my ride in geek day dreams
@@sid2112 exactly
space for a family or more if you rip out the science stuff
fast enough to keep up with a borg cube
and it can land on planets
It's a good thing Earth has so many rivers.
That’s a good name
I approve
~Kira Nerys
Runabouts are essentially a patrol boat. “Short” range, reasonably well armed, capable and versatile. Always dug them as well.
@@piotrd.4850 corvette seems a bit too big of a term for the runabout. Corvettes are still very much ships, and as such are still rather large and crew intensive, even if small when compared to other ships. I think patrol boat, torpedo boat, or clipper are terms that would better describe it.
It has something far stronger than ablative armour - plot armour
Just about to say just that. The strongest of any know armor in any known universe... Plot armor
Beat me to it! Cheers! 🍺🍺🍺
I need to make a character equipped with Plot Armor, Retcon Shield, Sword blessed by the Virgin Mary Sue, a BFG-OP which has unlimited range, infinite ammo, and perfect auto aim-bot, and last but not least, the all powerful Ring of Power that can create alter or destroy any multiverse.
Plotonium reinforced hull panels.
@@ethicsgradient2525 Unobtainium
I've always admired how the Danube Runabout has the ability to do a bit of everything in the same way the Raptors do in RDM's Battlestar Galactica.
Yeah, similar roles in two different shows. They're not pretty, but they absolutely are the workhorses of the fleet and the ship you call upon when you need to get shit done
That's exactly the parallel I make in my head. Also kind of reminds me of Moonbase Alpha Eagles, but WAAAAAAAY tougher.
That’s a good name
I approve
In-canon, the Runabout makes perfect sense for outpost/frontier postings far from the Federation’s resupply chains and logistical bases. It’s not like having a Galaxy-class with its fleet of differing shuttlepods/shuttles/work-bees, et als. You need something that can do almost anything and everything. A proverbial four-door work-truck or a C-130 transport. You can imagine it running cargo and passengers, but you can also imagine it exploring and defending as well.
@@WhiteScarsEmo C-130 is another good comparison. I daresay the C-130 is the most used and useful airframe ever designed.
The runabouts are actually one of my favorite trek ships, and I think this comes down to two interrelated reasons.
One: In world, as a ship, it's a much more human-scale. You don't command it or crew it, you pilot it. That leads one to imagine an amount of autonomy for those onboard and a much closer relationship between ship and pilot.
Two: As a story device, it's a ship inhabited by characters rather then extras. Some of the best interactions between DS9 characters happened sitting next to each-other at the console of a runabout.
I actually got the same feeling when they were on the small bridge of the Defiant. I loved O'Brien complaining about being surrounded by women in his apartment or discussing how they mess with Worf just like a bunch of friends would in their downtime. Harder to do that in the sprawling bridge of the Enterprise.
This just made me wonder if the reason Worf said “little” after Riker’s comment on the Defiant wasn’t because he was embarrassed by its size, but because he was annoyed that he’d gotten used to the Defiant being big when compared to the runabouts? Always loved the runabouts and would prob choose it as my personal ship if I lived in the Star Trek universe.
Definitely liveable.
Oh same. There's just something great about a ship that size that makes you just want to live in one. The Star Trek Runabouts, the Star Wars light freighters like the Millennium Falcon and Ghost, etc
Also as a Klingon, the Defiant compared to a Klingon Bird of Prey was in the same "weight class" which is even why Worf liked sleeping on-board.
@@boxhead6177 Yeah, Defiant is just cozy. Not overfilled with stuff like the bigger starships are. Small, powerful, maneuverable, and kicks ass. She's easily the most Klingon ship in the Federation
@@MPeaches1958 I sure hope not otherwise world war 3 is gonna start in five years
Maybe it's just my sense of humor, but I'd have gone all in on the "River River" names, like the Rio Grande (Big River) and Mekong (River River River). Maybe with a throwaway "is my translator broken? Why are all of them named 'River'?" joke somewhere as well.
The Runaboout has always felt like the YT-1300 of Star Trek to me. It's not the most powerful ship around, but it's just that size where it's small enough to be personal, but big enough to be comfortable. It gives me that sense of freedom and adventure where you could live on that ship and not owe anyone an explanation for where you're going in it, or be responsible for a large crew.
Agreed, just imagine Han Solo getting his hands on a runabout. I think he only would be disappointed by her FTL speed.
@@Taiko206 They are at least as modular and reconfigurable as a stock light freighter. Han would find a way to mate a hyperdrive module with Federation technology.
@@Euripides_Panz Yeah I guess if anyone would be able to do that it would be Solo.
@@MPeaches1958 Those would be pretty awesome for smuggling, actually.
"No contraband on board, sir." "WHAT?? I SAW the Wookie carry the box in!"
"Yessir. Nothing here now, though."
"I was WATCHING the door the WHOLE TIME!!"
If you consider the size of the Delta Flyer barely squeezing through the garage door, and the size of Neelix's ship, you've got to wonder how they even had the space for other shuttles.
They used same tech as DS9 to shrink them when not in use.
@@specialnewb9821 Or maybe Time Lord tech
Wasn’t there a hanger deck under the shuttle bay which accessed by an elevator like on a aircraft carrier
@@gamestheory3244 yes, but the flyer was bigger than the pit.
For that reason, runabouts use up the space of two shuttles in Star Trek Adventures. My players had a Miranda-class and could only fit two runabouts and nothing else in the shuttle bay. And even that only happened after a refit that gave them a bigger shuttle bay.
Starfleet finally solved their Oberthium problem and created a much stronger hull material in Danubium
It's an alloy of Plotonium, Handwavioum and Deusmachinum.
@@ethicsgradient2525 that - exactly describes overall feeling from DS9 battles and logic in general.
I used to be a starship captain like you, until my Oberth took an arrow to the nacelle.
Danube class.... the anti-Oberth.
Hmph. They probably just ran out of Oberthium...
Glad I'm not alone, love this little ship. These actually feel like you could take long journeys on unlike even the bigger shuttles
Same, I always had a soft spot for the Danube class. It's the only class I could see wanting to have at my disposal in the Trek universe, small enough to fly and crew alone, large enough to be comfortable for longer trips, and versatile.
@@Sw33tum It's like Starfleet's version of a RV!😁
The Danube class runabout, the Miles O’Brien of Startleet vessels.
_"I_ am the U.S.S. Rio Grande. I'm very much alive and I intend to STAY that way."
DS9 always managed to balance it's darker tone with the Star Treks generally optimistic view of the future. Most similar shows would not have bothered to name them and blown up 3 every other episode but DS9 keeps track of each one for seven series and even makes sure to have one of originals survive.
The Runabout has always been one of the ships I would love to have as my own personal starship. There are others but this one still ranks highest in that list.
"Abanadoned after being rescued by a gaggle of insufferable cadets...!" Lmao!
I mean.... they were.
I remember Generation Films called Valiant a "Ship full of Wesley Crushers" in one of their videos.
Where's the lie?
Up next: Why I hate the Starfleet shuttles.
I would watch that.
Yeah, I think the type 9 and Type 11 that are the only decent looking designs. the rest do have that Minivan style.
I kinda like the Type 6 and the TOS Shuttles.
Shuttle, not speedboat. Have you seen a "shuttle" rolling the road? They aren't the most attractive vehicles being driven around. They perform a utility, nothing more.
I've always seen the Danube class runabouts as the ultimate camping transport.
It's like a very well equipped RV with plenty of room for gear, large enough to have 6-8(or more considering the HUGE rear) friends with gear, small enough to be "hideable" and able to maintain a decent enough warp speed to find the best spot for a long, relaxing getaway on some pristine class m planet.
'Just the way you look tonight' was perfect for the end for this episode. Vic Fontaine would be proud.
Considering how important DS9 came after the discovery of the Dominion, you’d think they’d assign a task force and not just a single tough little ship
I don't know why there weren't a hundred phaser arrays pointed at the opening of the wormhole, the moment the dominion decides to come through they should just get lit up one by one,
naaah we let multiple fleets enter the Alpha quadrant and fly to cardassian space before we bother to do anything that could provoke them.
Little?
@@ZeroB4NG it wasn't federation space yet. it was Bajoran space and the other powers wouldn't allow a huge fed presence.
@@ZeroB4NG There may not have been 100 phasers, but there where a few dozen at least.
Ds9 was an ore processing and administrative station under the cardassians. Sisko turned it into a battle station that turned away an entire Klingon fleet by itself, and it took a huge dominion fleet to take it at the beginning of the war.
@@ZeroB4NG Even if they were allowed to put defense platforms around the wormhole, before the war officially started, the Federation had no justification for automatically firing on Dominion ships. Although, they would have it coming for obliterating the Gamma quadrant colonies instead of just evicting them. Afterwards, who's to say Starfleet didn't put up a defense network offscreen.
While on Star Trek's small craft, ever notice how the Delta Flyer on Voyager seemed to have a cargo hold and crew quarters yet never looked bigger than Voyager's other shuttles???
I like the Runabouts' modularity and wished it was used more in the series.
I'd totally 2nd that. They could have shown more of the inside of these little ships as they could be customised in so many ways depending on what was needed at the time.
I'm guessing production budget limited it. The CGI money were saved for big events and you still need money to build more miniatures.
I would have liked to see it with a haul a storage container slung under it. Like a space trucker.
Or with a scientific pod similar to the Orbirth.
I'd love to see one drop off a mobile module on a planet like those LAAT gunships in star wars that carry republic walkers.
@@thepurpleapple or taking off with the aft section left behind and flying home with just the cockpit and nacelles, like Thunderbird 2. (Maybe that’s what you meant as well!)
If/when I ever finally run a Star Trek Adventures campaign, I'm definitely giving the PCs semi-permanent access to a Danube. It's just so useful from a story-telling perspective to have a ship that fits an adventuring party sized crew, but doesn't feel hugely limiting in capabilities. Use the midships modules for a small sickbay/science lab on one side, and a cargo bay for whatever equipment the plot requires (extra phasers, environmental suits, generally useful stuff) on the other and the players are set to go do RPG stuff away from the main ship. Name the ship after your favourite river in your home town and you're set.
4:00 Off topic, but the Galaxy class needs a rapid detachment subsystem that just immediately disconnects and flings away the Saucer Section, in case of traumatic damage to the Secondary Hull.
Explosive bolts and a impulse pulse to get them away in a few seconds - _Saucer reattachment not required._
And it should be a physical lever on the bridge that triggers a independent system, no touchscreen button that can be activated by a computer malfunction.
Perhaps hidden under a panel on the floor, between the Captain and helm.
Deep Space nine is exceptional tv. Watching it atm with a friend, and the writing quality just keeps impressing. Just so many good moments of character driven dialogue and episodes.
Recently I was looking for a hands on project to pass some time during lockdown. I decided for the first time in decades that I would attempt to build a model kit. After a bit of consideration I settled on the Rio Grande. She now sits in a place of honor on my bookcase, with the port side facing the wall to hide the botch job I did on one of the decals.
The runabouts have always been my favorite as well as they just scream practical and sturdy. They look like something you would possibly actually see made if we had the technology as they are versatile and sturdy.
In the tech manual the unofficial mascot for the runabout was a cartoon runabout hauling a giant sack of parts, with it saying " I can do it" seems apt.
Honestly, The Danube class is my personal top federation design. it just feels right, and I wish I could have one for my own
The danube runabouts were great little vessels.
The Delta Flier should've been a season-long arc about finding the necessary materials and advanced components to build it, with Paris slowly building up a build team for it and scrounging replicator credits to fabricate the required parts he couldn't otherwise gather.
I think the secret to the Danube-class' durability is that because they're classed as Starships and not shuttles, they're built with Starship-grade materials and to Starship standards. So because they're so small they've effectively got the greatest proportion of hull strength to mass of any Federation ship class, even greater than the Defiants.
I'm sure some engineer complained about them being 'spectacularly overbuilt' during the design process, but they had to be to meet minimum Federation standards.
No, but in all seriousness, the Danube class runabout is one of my favorite scout ships in all sci fi!
Swap out the clunky warp drive for a Goa'ld scout ship's hyperdrive and it's a winner
@@tigerbread78 I like the way you think sir
Danube was a good design that should replace all other older Starfleet shuttles (with some Danube's sub variants). But as sturdy shuttles go - Delta flayer was the best.
@@krzosu Variation on the same thought process by a different engineering team.
I'm also quite taken by the Danube Class. Definitely has the qualities that makes it a true workhorse without the 'flashiness' of Delta Flyer.
That was a touching memorial at the end.
Talking about the scarcity theme, I love the Blackbird in BSG. They show it being painstakingly assembled piece by piece. The only fighter built on Galactica.
And when it's destroyed... It's actually gone. Forever.
Fine I'll check out Prosperous Universe, even if you did just call me out on my love for Space Spreadsheets
Great video. The Danube class were definitely more than just “a bigger shuttlecraft”.
I love the concept/idea of the Danube runabout, but love the design of the Yellowstone Runabout.
P.S. The end of scene of the "Call to Arms" is hands down one of my favorite scenes in any series.
ironically in the VOY the Yellowstone class runabout was represented by a Danube class. the Yellowstone only got its own look thanks to STO.
@@glitterboy2098 I was confused by the comment at first because they used the same shooting model (and also the various backlit diagrams they showed). Didn’t know it was in STO as looking different.
In my headcanon, DS9 just let the Runabouts get destroyed, while Voyager would beam aboard the crashed shuttle components aboard to rebuild/rereplicate them.
DS9 was a Cardassian station, it didn't have Federation replicators especially none up to the standard to be manufacturing military/space hardware at a quality for shuttle reconstruction.
@@boxhead6177 True but DS9 had Starfleet nearby to supply them. The station itself didn't have to make them - whereas Voyager was alone and had no choice.
Voyager a complete wreck at the end of the episode, next week has brand new walls and carpet and can run the holo deck 24/7
"In my headcanon" = "In my delusional wish fulfilment fantasy"
@@mattheww2797 Well we do not know how much time there is between episodes, maybe a month, so there was cleanup going on while the cameras were off?
As someone that grew up on the banks of the Rio Grande the ship surviving the entire series always make me happy.
Love the Danube Runabout! The Gander was named after the Gander River in my home province of Newfoundland, Canada!
Im always reminded of the scene where Picard give Scotty a shuttle to fly around the galaxy in and it has no bed or toilet in it.
Runabouts make far more sence and feel much more realistic for the federation.
I think they key reason in the are so different from the older style of runabouts is because they never had to build a full sized exterior for them. so they weren't limited by having to fit one inside a starship hanger.
Easily one of the best, smartest, and most realistic ships in Star Trek. I just makes so much sense in the universe, and the fact that there aren't more of them (or similar ships) in Star Trek is a shame.
Compared to most starfleet vessels it definitely is among the most practical usage of the tech they have at their disposal. It doesn't require more than a single pilot, has a surprisingly spacious interior for such a small ship, and packs enough firepower to serve a fairly potent gunship/fast attack craft all in one.
I always considered the Danube class as a corvette when compared to more contemporary naval ships. It’s got some of the features of the larger frigates and destroyers but is small enough to be barely more noticeable than a fishing boat at times.
SOLD! I'll take ten!
I'm starting a local space PMC that will provide space lane patrol/escort work, as well as limited ground support and training opportunities.
I used to really dislike those runabouts when DS9 started, because the idea of a hero ship was replaced with this stationary location and a bunch of tiny, replaceable spaceships. Until then, there also had only been those "flying box" shuttles in Star Trek, so I expected them to be no different.
I took a while, but I eventually came around as the show went on and learned to appreciate them.
Fun thing: The Rhine, the Runabout on TNG was named after it, is where I live. Beautiful little river and only today learned that it, too, had a Runabout named after it.
Voyager had some of the best characters, potentially the best setting in all of sci-fi tv shows, and it squandered so much. It's a testament to how good some of the writing was, and the likability of the characters that it still has a solid set of fans
The Runabouts as assisting fighters always made me wonder if Voyager could have used or adapted other shuttles as ad hoc fighters. Like another Delta Flyer. It did contribute as a reenforcement attacker on that one Gladiator ship with the Rock Onboard
fighters are meaningless in stories where weapon power comes form the power of the reactor of the ship. phasers and shields are directly proportional to energy made by the warp core. and the targeting system on star trek ships has been shown to easily hit small fast moving targets at multiple AU form the ship with pinpoint accuracy
a so smarter photon torpedo, being a matter/antimatter bomb, would be more useful then fighters in every case.
fighters would get blown out of space before they could get in range of any ship.
The Runabouts basic concept is reminiscent of the Eagle from *Space 1999.*
The modularity and utilitarian nature are very similar, and they served basically the same function if you ignore the tech level.
You could well imagine the same scenes being set on a alien planet with a away team in Space 1999, if the Runabout didn't have warp capability - and that's just because it's a matter of scale.
The sets are even similar in size.
I too am a big fan of the Danube-class, so much so that I built a full interior in 3D Studio Max for a university project.
It’s a real shame they stopped naming the runabouts after about Season 5... The Ship, Nor The Battle To The Strong, Empok Nor and even Timescape had unnamed runabouts destroyed.
2:29 I like that you caught DS9 having four runabouts, it’s not something I’ve seen mentioned elsewhere. However, you said that by Season 4 DS9 has Volga, Rubicon, Rio Grande and Ganges, but Ganges was destroyed in Season 2 in Armageddon Game (and was replaced by Mekong). The fourth runabout at that time was Yukon.
You know why the Rio Grande lasted all 7 seasons? It was blessed by the Prophets. Sounds silly, but it was the ship Sisko used when he discovered the wormhole and became the Emissary. The Prophets took special interest in Sisko, so why not the “Chariot of the Emissary”? I’m surprised it didn’t become a place of pilgrimage for the Bajorans.
Danube-class runabouts are the only vessels in the history of Starfleet that were built with non-explosive computer consoles. That's why they lasted so long.
Holy shit you're right
"Oh, so IMPORTANT people will be flying this? Hey Charlie, delete the plasma grenades from the console specs."
You've uncovered Starfleet's master plan to reduce overpopulation by recruiting the masses into the fleet and then "accidentally" killing them.
You didn't REALLY think a ship whose computer could accurately simulate multiple sapient beings at once, actually needed a crew of 1000, did you? 🤫
The Danube-class. A great bunch of lads.
Lasses.
“She doesn’t want to go...”
- Lucky 13, Halo Legends
Braga couldn’t care less about the premise of VOY. His writers openly mocked the fan complaints about the number of shuttles and torpedoes they had within later episodes of the show.
This is kinda like Ryan Johnson taking a massive dump on ppl who asked him to be true to the source material - everyone was a "man child" in his words. Like, if you want to do an original IP, do it, see how it does, but don't slap the sticker of a franchise with fans who really care about this stuff and then be surprised if ppl don't like that you don't. How is that level of oversight even possible? He prolly has some fav movie or show that apparently doesn't care about deep lore and shit and if someone would go all Inception Cloud Atlas Donnie Darko on its sequel, you'd assume that would piss him off too, no? It's just baffling how many directors just don't care about the art they are supposed to be a part of.
@@fredwupkensoppel8949 dude episode 8 came out over three years ago grow up
@@fredwupkensoppel8949 Or Zach Snyder mocking fans for their outrage at Batman going on a killing spree with guns, saying something like "of course Batman would use guns, why wouldn't he?" not getting because he's The Goddamn Batman
@@VegetaLF7 Makes you wonder if Snyder had watched Funny or Die's "Bad Man" series instead of any previous iterations of Batman.
IDK, I have a hard time believing any ongoing scarcity plot points in a universe with matter assembly and replication technology. The whole growing food to "save energy" thing just seemed like a dumb excuse to keep Neelix around and make fun of his cooking.
This has always been one of my favorite sci-fi ships of any universe. The modular aspect just makes sense for the role it has in a way Star Trek especially seemed to mostly ignore.
For some reason I thought scotty took a Danube class roundabout off Enterprise-D before my rewatch.
He probably would have had more fun in one than that shuttle.
i think he was just taking the shuttlecraft to a fed base and was going to figure out what to do with his life.
I quite like this… this has always been my dream.
I don’t want a huge starship or starfighter… I’ve always wanted a small RV size space ship that I could just explore and live in.
I’d love to see more space RV type ships… even the small ships are huge, the millennium falcon is massive! Most “small” ships are still the size of buildings. I wouldn’t mind a ship this size to live in, like a tiny home/RV with warp capability! Hahaha
Outside of the Defiant class, the Danube class is my favourite ship design in Star Trek
I love the Space Winnebago!
Apparently its middle section is also modular to allow mission specific layouts and meet what ever needs must. Shame we only ever saw the cockpit and the aft ONCE in a different show.
The Delta Flyer may be sleek, but I'd take the comfort of this ride anytime.
I never understood why in seven seasons of DS9 the only time we saw the aft section of a runabout was in 1 episode of TNG!!
I wonder why the Runabouts aft section was only seen once in TNG and never came back for DS9. Since they used the Runabouts a lot in this show, it is curious why the aft section set was never used again.
(It was probably destroyed or deconstructed by accident, i think.)
My only thought here:
When talking about scarcity, I think you're a bit harsh on Voyager (about the Delta Flyer, at least, lets not get started on the Photon Torpedo debacle). Even in a show like Battlestar Galactica, they managed to build a fully functional stealth ship with limited resources and scavenging parts from other things. I think the point about the Delta Flyer, given that a Starfleet ship is orders of magnitude more advanced than BSG, is being a bit unfair to Voyager.
Liked the rest of the video, Danubes are neat little ships!
Oddly agreed with you, if an FTL starship with tractor beams, cutting lasers, matter rearranging replicator thingiebobs and teleorters cant stripmine an asteroid belt to build a shuttle or twelve every so often then whats the point of going to space.
True and, IIRC, the network was really big on hitting the reset button every episode, no story arcs, not carrying over damage, ETC. They snuck some stuff in here and there, but if it didn't have a "part" in the title, reset.
Bit of a shame, that. All they really had to do was show Voyager nomming a rock with a tractor beam every so often and a lot of people would probably have been willing to accept it.
Tbf, it wasn't complete scarcity, I always thought that the crew could find resources and parts from space traders or nearby trade friendly planets. Considering Neelix's previous occupation, he would have known where they could get a lot of stuff they needed.
If the enterprise d is a luxury cruise liner, the danube is a functional apartment.
No fooling, I would happily live in one of these.
This video not only shows how great the Runabout is, it also helps to show how DS9 is so great. Definitely the best Star Trek series 👍🏽
That's because by that time the franchise had worked out most of the bugs. What always bothered me was all the senior officer going on away missions and performing menial tastes. Officers don't do those jobs, they assign people to do them. Like the video states, they filled these continuity gaps.
The Danube Class Runabout (and do almost everything!!!)
I can’t thank you guys enough (and RJC) for recognizing the value ST:DS9 brought to the Star Trek universe. It expanded it in ways and in magnitude the other series could not.
Later in the series, during the Dominion War, when Federation fighter squadrons become significant, I always wondered why the powers that be chose to reuse the ship designs of the Maquis instead of just showing a fleet of Runabouts. The DS9 episodes that introduce the Maquis show that the Runabouts are equal in maneuverability and firepower.
Maybe the federation fighters are just cheaper to make. The way they went through them I sure hope so
@@aaronmitchell2281 memory alpha indicates those were originally support couriers that the Maquis acquired and modified into fighters. the raiders were apparently a class of starship built in the 2330s that in the 2370s the maquis got their hands on and modified as well. seems like with the Mirandas Starfleet retrofited a bunch of older ships since making new advanced ones required more resources. plus it would be easier to automate and train crew for these fighter and raider craft.
yeah, the Federation Fighter first appeared with the maquis, said to be an uparmed Courier. basically an oversized long range shuttle used to carry small important cargos/individual VIP's and important secure messages to places fast without using a full starship. odds are the federation had tons of those in civilian use or sitting around in boneyards that starfleet could obtain and mount guns to in order to create attack fighters.
though we know that they did start developing some new Runabout sized starships, like that long range scout Data used in Insurrection. at a guess, the armed Couriers were used as fighters because they were easy to arm and were proven as a concept from the fight with the Maquis, while the less common runabouts and similar craft were used for more support roles.
The Danube Runabout's layout must contribute heavily to its survivability.
The enemy will probably shoot at its center of mass, while all its important systems are in the spine on top.
It also means that the warp core isn't the first thing hitting the ground in a crash landing.
now is the runabout tough cause it was built that way, or are the ones we see on screen protected by the character's plot armor?
You honor Star Trek by creating videos like these, and you therefore honor me. It is with videos like these that have changed my entire view of ship and story design for the better. You are truly a master of sci-fi. So as a proud Spacedock supporter, I thank you.
I love how theyre sleeker yet also feel more spacious inside. Really nice design that feels consistent
I'm more of a Delta Flyer kinda guy but I can respect your opinion, Daniel.
same. Delta Flyer FTW!
Ah, someone who isn't afraid to be objectively wrong! Very brave. 😉
@@TheLH86 or foolish. Mayhap both?
@@gorvarhadgarson5227 The Delta Flyer has real buttons and instruments for the Pilot. Not just those damm touch controls. Who can say no to that?
I like both ships for different reasons. The flyer class is certainly an awesome design.
I love it not because it's super tough etc but because it looks so cosy and just the ultimate personal ship to take on your own adventures
The memorial reel got me to laugh. Take my like and comment to please the algorithm.
These ships are incredible. One could trade blows with a Star Destroyer.
Why didn't Voyager just use, finish or build the Aerowing? It's almost the same size and frame as a runabout only with wings.
It was originally designed to reuse the runabout sets.
@@KEVMAN7987 Good "behind the scenes" trivia, but the show's storyline never actually explained why. Some say that the Aerowing wasn't in there and never installed before Voyager's mission to the Badlands. But, if that's the case, Voyager's crew built from scratch the Delta flyer but they couldn't build the Aerowing?
@@starbrand3726 Only in universe reason I can think of is that they didn’t want to risk losing a ship that forms a part of the hull.
@@mb2000 Finally, that's the most reasonable explanation I've heard to date. Brilliant! 😀
@@starbrand3726 Thank you very much!
Would have been nice if they gave it lip service though, like someone suggests using it and Janeway shoots the idea down.
The Danube class was the fist shuttle type ship in Star Trek that I really liked.
It looked great and was so versatile and functional you wondered why they used what looked cargo transports or ships meant just to ferry people to and from the ship to a planet for missions a runabout seemed far better suited for.
Yes. Just yes. The Danube class is the absolute best! I’ve always been fond of them! What do you think of the sovereign class? Apart from the runabout, the sovereign class is my favourite.
Both the Danube class and Flyer class are my favorite line of large scale shuttle craft. I'm surprised we didn't see Danube class runabouts used as M.A.S.H units during the dominion war. That aft section is quite modular and you could design your runabouts to serve specific needs.
Voyager was the very definition of "Hot mess".
The only good thing about Voyager was it gave us the ability for man/starship perspective, and thirst and only opportunity to see one land.
I always felt that the runabouts were what the shuttles should be. So often prior to DS9 officers take shuttles to places. But given the speed official sources claim they can go it is usually faster to just drop them off from the Enterprise. Runabouts are capable of making these trips and not pulling the main ship of course like the shuttle is supposed to be able to do but really can't.
I see one problem with the Danube Runabouts, and Star Trek in general. Seat belts! Everyone seems to stay in their seat by holding on with their hands only.
Tripp wanted to give Archer a chair with inertial dampeners, claiming he'd have a smooth ride while the ship is being ripped apart around him. Archer declined. The technology exists in that universe, but it takes away from the dramatic impact of the scene.
Yep, the inertial dampers mitigated the need for seat belts. Unless they were "offline" which they often were.
@@krane15 If they were offline, the crew would be street pizza.
@@Euripides_Panz You're not the biggest fan of the franchise are you? They go offline the second the ships go into battle.
@@krane15 shawnbricewi ain't wrong. You wouldn't feel the loss of dampers, because your nervous system would have been shut down before you had time to notice you were about to go through the bulkhead.
Danube is a river so that might be why all the "shuttles" are named after a river.
the starfleet PT boats.
A runabout. I'll steal it! NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW!!!
Ds9 is the best that star trek has ever been. I dare anybody to convince me otherwise.
Gene Rodenberry would have likely rolled in his grave over it. I personally liked Enterprise more if you skipped about half the episodes. They cancelled it just when it started getting good.
@@KMCA779 Seems to be a popular opinion that I couldn't agree more with myself
Great Detail, DS9 got the Rubicon after the episode "The Die is Cast" Quoting Wikipedia: "Alea iacta est ("The die has been cast") is a variation of a Latin phrase (iacta alea est [ˈjakta ˈaːlɛ. a ˈɛst]) attributed by Suetonius to Julius Caesar on January 10, 49 BC, as he led his army across the Rubicon river in Northern Italy."
I also like the clever naming of the episode “Treachery, Faith and the Great River”; treachery is what Weyoun does to the Dominion, faith is what Nog has in his scheme and O’Brien has to have in Nog and the great river is Nog’s method of trading and also the runabout Odo uses, the Rio Grande who’s name means “great river”.
the danube's most powerful asset: it carries plot armor
Jokes like these contribute absolutely nothing to the conversation.
Love the look of the ship. Its basic toughness came down to one important design feature. PLOT ARMOR!!!!
Jokes like these contribute absolutely nothing to the conversation.
@@loonyladle3987 and you waste your time responding.
Love the USS Rio Grande
Nice , yery early, good job :)
I love the mission patch of the runabout in the DS9 tech manual which features a carricture of a runabout with a big sack and the caption "We got it!" :D