For those who doesn't know, this substance was discovered by the creator of goldeneye who used it to make chair. The prototype was widely adopted despite it's propension to explore when shot at.
Explodium is advance active defense plating. The problem is that they put the panels on backwards. Exploding outwards is effective in deflecting various types of attacks. Not so much if they are put on wrong.
UFP: We need a replacement for the Oberth class. SF Design: Hold my synthale (Shows ship with 11 phaser arrays and 4 torpedo launchers) UFP: We get it. Oberth was a little too passive.
Rhe same could be said for the UFP in general. If the Romulans COUNTINUALLY getting away with treaty Violations with ZERO repercussions any indication.
One design choice that made the Nova class infinitely superior was the choice of hull material. It turned out that making Oberth class ships out of explodium had been a design flaw. Nova class ships proved capable of taking more than one hit before becoming flaming wreckage.
Yes buy the oberths armour was from environmental exotic matter ect.used correctly a brilliant for research in safe space. The nova was a brilliant hybrid ship could leave you running venting plasma while calls the big boys.
@@thomas.parnell7365 The Oberth died in one maybe two hits from weapons fire if the shields were up. The Nova however could take at least triple that before the 'shields' went down, and one or two more hits to the hull before being destroyed.
@mrbuttocks6772 guess that's what happens when a warship design made into science ship hardened systems. Eg look at the equinox was basically a battered up hanging together by a thread by was getting job done
I’ve got it in my head canon that when they discovered the explodium ore on that one world with the snake head computer God thing that the enterprise fought, they figured out that when refining the ore it would turn into material with the consistency of peanut butter so to be easily formed and shaped and then when hardened it became like ordinary metal. Plus they figured out how to tone down the exploding part to a manageable level which unfortunately still didn’t really turn out so great for the Oberth types. Voilà! At reasonable in universe reason for why they used exploding rocks as shipbuilding material.
Oh to be on a three year deep space science mission on a nice little Nova, away from the chaos, just checking out cool plants and chilling in the holodeck on weekends. Starfleet goals
@@horatiopong Yeah it was shockingly understocked alright I imagine being captain of one of them was used as a punishment like being sent to an artic base in real life. Even being an ensign on a galaxy class starship would give you better amenities and quality of life
Ever since the Nova class was introduced in ST-Voy it's had a special place in my heart, it's an absolutely gorgeous ship that makes sense for starfleet to have, So much fun potential crammed into a small package without it relying on plot armour. I've made Various ships of the class the "Home Base" for a number of homebrew RPGs for my friends
yes, I love these kind of small but capable ships. Also just for story telling purposes, you can create a credible threat to such a ship without having to power creep the whole setting. Imagine what you would have to send against the Enterprise-d to have the same power disparity as say three d'deridex-class warbird (something the D faced down multiple times iirc) vs a nova. But they're still capable enough to give characters options to deal with situations like that.
I think they did a wonderful job with the Nova Class. Even considering what it was initially intended to replace, this ship class is very well designed, balanced & elegant. Nothing bad to say about it.
Used a Nova class starship in one of my Star Trek RPG campaigns. Useful vessel for supporting new settlements; second contact duties; boundary/frontier scouting & surveys; etc. The type of ship with assignments to secondary exploration & support roles.
Gotta admit, playing STO as a science officer, getting my first Nova was the first time I felt I wasn't flying an old junker. I loved that ship right up until I got my Luna.
"Whoever designed the Oberth class should be made to live on one... permanently!!!" -the Dockmaster Seriously, this is one of the prettier ships SF made, and is one of my favorites, along with the sovereign!
Not exactly a lengthy sentence there given the lifespan of the average Oberth. Your only hope of survival is to vigorously avoid being caught on camera.
@@Z1gguratVert1go if I had to choose a nova class I'd have one been uprated by a star base fitted with entire hull ablative armour .some additional back up shield generators .a few further system alterations to be more robust from damage.a full compliment of quantum torpedos then I'd feel safe in command of one . Just in case need to go through contested areas maybe overkill though having enough fire power cripple a Klingon warship.
I do like the later era designs for Starfleet ships. Not only because they're beautifully designed, but because I love what they represent. That the Federation has grown in the face of adversity, that it's no longer complacent and stagnant, that it's willing to fight hard for what it has. But hasn't lost it's soul and is still tries to be an enlightened and compassionate civilisation.
@@jasonjamrs7413 I was going to say something about the Zumwalts, but they are actually quite brutalist and their guns don't even work. Well, the FREMMs, Elizabeths, Barracudas, Type 26s, and the Visbys and the other Nordic stealth ships look alright on an aesthetic level, I think. Though they may not have as much of the beautiful peaceful scientific mission.
"We gave it double shelding, the back bone of the Defiant and a ton of passers! Then we called it a Science Ship!!!" Overheard - A Drunk Engineer, at Quark's Bar, Grill, Gaming House and Holosuite Arcade, 2372.
We know the Tech Manuals aren't officially full canon but it's fun to see how often they get mined for material that becomes canon. Yes, I know, a bunch of almost-made-it material was included in them for fanservice but still it's nice to know it wasn't wasted.
While the "fun" is usually in the bigger, faster & stronger ships, the Nova seems like a fine vessel that I wouldn't mind being made Captain of. Great video. Very interesting & informative.
When I first saw it back on Voyagers season finale and premier for Equinox Part 1 and 2. I fell in love with it. Honestly they could have it as a swiss army knife of ships.
I figured that, due to the planetary landing capability, the Nova class should be pretty touch. I imagine that removing the landing struts and some of the labs would allow for a Defiant type warp core, which could power more tactical systems. A tough scout ship might have been needed during the Dominion War.
The Nova class is _what it needed to be_ for those Equinox episodes, but it is not consistent in its design brief - it should have a *Holodeck* and be *fast.* [Warning Essay] The ship needed to have no Holodeck for plot reasons, because that is a luxury that would keep the crew psychologically healthy. But a Holodeck is a *necessity for a science vessel.* Pretty well every scientific mystery episode featured analysis on the Holodeck, its the single most important analytical tool Starfleet ships have. And since it can work just like real equipment, it can be used as spare laboratories. Spare bespoke specialist laboratories that weren't included in the dozen or so labs that your ship already has (although standard labs are good enough to do illegal experiments on using sentients as nitro). And it can create artificial environments, simulations of phenomenon and provide AI experts (like Cardassian doctors, and hold on, you already have holosystems installed - the EMH!) and training from simulations of the best teachers and scientist, and… The list goes on, it's just to useful not to include, except for story purposes. But they could have just stated that the Holodeck had been destroyed on the Equinox. Except that Voyager gets half it's interior reconfigured into Holodecks by Hirogen or three decks blown away and its back to normal next week - although maybe the Intrepid class has an experimental manufacturing facility that besides making shuttles and photon torpedoes could rebuild the ship. A industrial replicator built on top of a transporter [and why don't small Federation ships have a combo holodeck/replicator/transporter built into one room to save space, they use the same technological principles? and it would make the Holodeck becoming sentient even more fun…]. Although the official explanation is that Voyager is constructed of *Weeklonium,* that _resets to its default condition_ every week. One solution would have been to show the Equinox with part of the ship missing, say a corner of the saucer section, the Holodeck was there, and the main replicators are trashed as well so it can't be rebuilt. But seriously, you could make a science vessel half holodeck with labs created on the fly, as long as it had a power surplus, and it would be a viable design. Another main plot point of the Equinox was it was slow, so getting back home was even harder (as was avoiding combat by running away, something a non combat vessel, with eleven phasers(?), off by itself examining uninhabited planets in a big nasty galaxy should do), till it was modified to run on dolphin blood (a suggestion put forward by GENERATION TECH). But in the backstory of the Nova class it says that the original hull design was from the Defiant pathfinder when they were thinking of a *high warp torpedo attack boat,* instead of the close range maneuverable slugger they went with. It was capable of warp 9.982 (really fast) and was designed to do hit and run strikes. It states that the warp core was downgraded to increase service intervals, which is huh? If it's for long term missions then why no Holodecks? And if it's short range missions then service intervals are not a issue. Surely you just don't thrash it at full power to keep it running sweet. A nice big warp core that doesn't have to go above 50% power in normal use would run smoothly for years, a small warp core that you have to rev to get anywhere burns out quicker. It does make sense to have a fast science vessel, it can get to _time sensitive_ phenomenon quickly, it can run away from trouble if it encounters hostiles by itself instead of tying up other ships in rescuing or more likely avenging it. And it can waste less time in transit from one site to another. And the big, big issue is it's listed as a dual purpose ship (triple, it's a explorer). It's also a *scout ship,* for use in general war (eleven phaser arrays and three torpedo launchers…). It has the best sensor array of any Starfleet vessel so it's job was to travel ahead of the fleet and scan for enemies, as well as go by itself on recon missions. But it can't do that if it's so slow it holds the fleet up and can't stay out of range when it detects enemy ships or even get to the designated search zone in a reasonable timeframe. Quite simply this is not compatible with its three cylinder engine from a city car. It should have a big V6 at least or even a V8 and use cylinder deactivation when it's just puttering around on its daily commute, but be able to burn rubber when it's scouting for tanks in a hot zone. The ship has contradictions in its concept. This inconsistencies could have been all solved if it had been stated that it originally had these features (Holodeck and high warp) but they, and the ability to repair them, had been destroyed when the captain decided to challenge an _entire alien armada_ with the authority of the Federation, which was approximately 70 plus years away travel time, in order to save a few weeks on that same journey. Or maybe the Holodeck was to be installed on Tuesday? Still one major improvement was that in instead of being constructed of *Explodium* like the Oberth, it's now built out of *Unrepairium.*
This is one of my favorite Federation vessels. All the DNA of Federation design philosophy is on display here, refined and distilled in a vessel with a small crew compliment. What a cool class to command!
I think it might be a touch too small for that. It's roughly the same size as the NX-Class, in both dimensions and crew compliment. I think the Nebula-class is more likely to be the "next Miranda."
I got a soft spot for the little ship. It's modern and sleek but still small and useful. Wouldn't mind being captain of one myself if I were in Star Trek though I'd probably sacrifice some space for an additional holodeck or two.
I could see this used by Starfleet marines, manoverable, surprisingly tough hull and shields for its size and capable of ground to orbit flight would have made it perfect for planetary assaults putting or retrieving a platoon on the surface quickly even without transporters.
I think one of the things that often gets missed about the Oberth class in the 24th is that they often had non-Starfleet registries such as NAR or NSP. What this seems to indicate is that many of them were already phased out of Starfleet service and transferred to civilian operators such as various scientific institutions or possibly even as civilian transports. This would imply that a high degree of automation had been installed on them prior to civilian transfer. I think Starfleet actually kept a few of them in operation specifically as spy ships and for covert technology testing, like the USS Pegasus, largely because they wouldn't draw attention to themselves. I wonder if this phasing out of the Oberths well before the Novas were ready helped contribute to the retention of so many Mirandas which were being converted to all kinds of auxiliary roles. I do think it likely that the Novas get re-engined at some point in the 2380s and once they are they prove themselves to be a lot more versatile than just light science vessels and scouts. I can easily see them in traditional coast guard-type roles: internal security, patrol, customs and trade enforcement, search and rescue, those sorts of things.
I love the little Novas, especially as a tackler in STO:beta. Why Starfleet decided to deliberately under power and under speed such a otherwise versatile and well armed ship I will probably never understand with in universe reasons. Maybe a Nova refit will bring us a fast utility science escort?
We commonly talk about the Borg but the re-emergence of the romulans also had a profound effect. The Nova class certainly was a test bed that incorporated multiple priorities that would later diverge. These divergences would be the defiant the sovereign the Intrepid, and the Norway. The Akira, Danube-class, the steam Runner the saber and the Venture class I believe have Origins with the romulans in mind. The Borg serve as a more politically appropriate excuse.
Phaser strips seem to have been a short-lived Federation fad from the TNG era. They'd used fixed-point phaser cannons previously, and the dedicated combat ships (especially the Defiant) tended to favour that design instead. Then classes like the Nova and Intrepid had shorter, more numerous phaser strips, not the really long ones like on the Galaxy. I don't think any other race had such a feature on their ships. It's a pity, because watching them charge up made it look powerful, but perhaps it was just that the intimidation factor had a negative impact on its effectiveness in combat.
it's understandable as the long strips would likely be easier to disable leading to massive gaps in cover when taken down. the fixed point cannon where likely more powerful then the strips even if it leads to being harder to use
I think long phaser strips basically add together the energy output from several seconds of continued fire, into a single highly concentraded beam. I'd imagine, that would be good to break through the heavy shields and armor of capital ships, but pretty wastefull againsed the fighter like crafts, the Dominion mainly uses..
@@briansouthparkstudio1357 The strips are not one solid continuous strip but rather small segments linked together, if part of the strip is damaged the rest still functions normally.
I always thought the Nova Class would be good for a tabletop RPG. It's smaller and more intimate for players to get around but is still tough enough to survive many situations.
I loved my Nova in STO. I liked to imagine that it's smaller size meant the crew was closer and more personally involved with one another. Thus I would avoid fights and focus on survival when in one. Functionally it helped justify my solo conservative playstyle but I enjoyed that role play aspect.
@@irregularassassin6380 Thanks I was trying to remember the ship's name for the life of me but I just couldn't. It is a shame cuz throughout that 2-Parter I just kept waiting for the next time Equinox would be on the screen.
🖖😎👍Very cool and very nicely well done and informatively explained and executed in every detail way shape and format provided on the Nova class starship's and on its design and various functions, duties and missions required of it as well as it's engine's capabilites and shielding and various weapons systems, A job very wonderfully well done indeed Sir!👌.
"Turns out keeping a minimally armed (read, almost none) science vessel in service for two hundred years eventually leads to a woefully outdated, outgunned, and underpowered design that almost seems like it was built for exploding."-Starfleet (probably)
Love this design. Sleek, simple, compact, elegant. Simple upgrade to the warp system would make this an incredibly capable ship in any role except bulk cargo and personnel transport.
Years ago,, I bought a resin model of the Nova class ship that was made in scale with the Voyager (plastic)model kit. The ship, though small is a very good design
Hey Rick thanks again for another fantastic informative ship lore video, my favourite design of ship is the Normandy SR series of ship from Mass effect 😀
I love the Oberth Memes and I love the Nova Class Starship. Even after the showcase of the "Rhode Island" refit, I fell in love with the Nova class since, imo, the starship debut at new class of starship that portrayed a sense of scientific exploration yet not yet naive in lack of defenses since the grandeur of space is not meant for the timid : )
Has anyone done a fan fic about the USS Equinox crew that made it back to the Alpha quadrant? Where would they be during Lower Decks and Picard/Legacy?
I love this little ship, and while I was also a fan of the Oberth, I think the Nova is an improvement. I don't just mean 'in game stats', I mean, a better design concept, having never been a fan of 'how DO we get into the secondary hull?' issue of the Oberth. :D
I really like this ship. I'm my head canon I figure it not only replaced the Oberth class but also more or less the Miranda as well. But either way really love this little ship
One of my favorite ships, along with the saber and the Raven type. Smaller ships seem more appealing and whenever I see those "what ship would you choose" questions I always think of these examples. Though the Raven type could probably be made the most cozy or livable ships.
Nice ship i could hope to own one day, haha! Great job on the video, I like how you mix real life into the star trek lore. I remember seeing the original design in my tng technical journal. Same as the prototype for the Enterprise J.
I absolutely love the star trek game on Xbox its amazing fun being able to fly in a patrol fleet of three or four ships doing missions and helping each other out on the multiplayer missions.
Hey Rick, could you do a video about what the different number of nacelles on a ship mean? My wife and I have been playing STO and she chose the Advanced Escort with 4 Nacelles while I chose the Patrol Escort with 2. It'd be fun to know the difference!
From what I understand, more nacelles =/= faster, it instead typically means greater endurance at speeds above cruising. There's multiple points of failure in a warp drive system. The reactor itself can be the limiting factor, but so can the warp coils in the nacelles which may overheat and melt/fuse when pushed too far for too long. Ships with four nacelles can alternate which set is generating the warp field at any given time, thus allowing the inactive set to cool down.
I always liked the look of the Nova. It’s angular look is aggressive. I envision it as an anti cloak vessel with its advanced sensors much like anti sub destroyers in WW2. It should be a match for Klingon bird of preys or act as a hound to flush out larger cloaked vessels.
My all-time favorite Starfleet design. Thank you for the video, though I must point out some errors. The Nova has only two torpedo launchers. They are not located above the main navigational deflector dish (think Intrepid), but are instead located on the bow, flanking both sides of the secondary deflector dish. Additionally, you misidentified the impulse engine as an aft torpedo launcher.
I know I'm late on this but I really like the Nova class ship. Most importantly I love the U.S.S. Rhode Island version of the Nova class. The Equinox is alright but that big cut out of the saucer deflector dish didn't sit right with me, never has. With the Rhode Island it looks more like an Intrepid now. I also loved the raised bridge for the U.S.S. Rhode Island. I do love the early concepts that's shown in the TNG Tech Manual.
One of the smaller issues perhaps of a Nova class is a lack of holosuites onboard. I'd seriously would have to recommend holographic fitted rooms for the various science labs to become multi-purpose labs instead, mostly so I could then fit in at least a few smaller holosuites like that size Quark uses. Combat wise, a smaller and more agile ship that could easily be armored up and fitted with proper weapons, makes a lot more sense then dedicated large one time use war ships. With some careful planning, such a small ship hull could really be refit and built into a multi purpose roll, and being so small means you can have a lot more of them. Logistically the smaller ship design also tends to be easier to field a large number of them. Though I admit the very first thing I'd probably do to a Nova if I were the captain, is put some armoring on the thing. Exploration is dangerous, theres no excuse you can give me that would stop me from doing some sensible ship-wide protection options.
The really heavy armament for the Nova highlights something that is implied but never stated on screen, the closest being TMP. That being, phasers on Starfleet vessels likely draw from a common capacitor and power source. Which means the strength of the ship's phaser armaments are decided most by the variant of the phaser (e.g. Phaser Type XI) and the power generation of the ship. This partially explains why Defiant was built with an oversize warp core, it wasn't just for the speed. Individual phaser strips likely still have firing limitations, like maybe an overheat state, but probably not to a significant degree. More phasers does not equal more firepower, outside of firing arc coverage. The Nova therefore likely has a very low phaser output, despite the larger number of strips. What makes most Starfleet ships notably very powerful in combat regardless of size is the torpedoes. Even a single launcher is the same as a launcher on any other ship, as torpedoes are standardized. Most Starfleet ships at least have 2 forward launchers, giving them a lot of commonality in terms of firepower.
IMO, all Starfleet ships are adaptable enough to have their particular capabilities tweaked and adjusted in relatively short order at a starbase. So really, their mission profile is only limited only by their size. The Nova class would be appropriate for any sort of mission that can be accomplished with a relatively small crew and a relatively small power plant/fuel supply. We saw one used by Starfleet security in Lower Decks, and IMO that was perfectly adequate. They were just going to arrest someone. If the mission calls for more defensive capability, send a few of them. Or a couple Defiant class escorts or something.
Love this ship. It's got a lot of potential in a (comparatively) small package. I wish it was better in STO though. My STA group is flying one. It's perfect for a small crew.
The Rhode Island is a neat little ship, with the overcharged defiant-type core re-installed and upgraded tactical systems, it's like a more comfortable Defiant without giving up a lot in most situations to the smaller, more focused craft.
Almost anything is an upgrade from the doom canoe. Cloaked or at least stealthed, a tactical Nova with space for 200 passengers and a second EMH would be a capable special missions ship if Starfleet ever got willing to fight anything but defensive wars of attrition.
Give it the warp core of the Defiant to make it faster, ablative hull armor and quantum torpedoes it would be more formidable. Be a good little combat ship.
80 people across 8 decks? Starfleet loves understaffing these ships. I understand the automation element, but how often do crew members get injured or have days off? They really should be around 100 people on that thing at least right?
Assuming 3 shifts, that's max 27 people on duty at a time. And then if we assume a 5/7 working week, that brings it down to 19 on duty. Then cut a few more for sick leave and personal leave... We're left with the perfect number of people fill the 'main character' roles (chief of engineering, chief of security, etc) but no crew to work beneath them!
The frame and overall design of the Nova, along with some of its technical features (secondary deflector, landing struts, etc.) seem to have been reused to inspire the Protostar class ship which shares some of these features and designs, but has an enormous array of technological advantages when compared to the Nova class.
The Nova class is an example of Starfleet's desire to rapidly replace aging starships which were out of date and recovering from losses from the year long skirmish with the Klingons and later the war with the Dominion. Losing that many ships that quickly put Starfleet on the back foot and they needed to replace all the Miranda and Oberth ships that were being lost daily. The Nova class was small, quick and smart. While the warp engines were less than stellar, the small profile and overall size of the ship would have made it highly maneuverable at sub-light speeds making it excellent for hit and run attacks with other tougher ships during the war. While the Intrepid and Defiant classes were the main light cruisers and escorts, Nova fits nicely in that middle spot of a frigate/science vessel.
I graduated from Starfleet Academy. 1st in the class. They assigned me to a Nova class! It's not bad. When we were out in the delta Quadrant we kidnapped these energy beings and used them on our warp core. It worked until captain Janeway of Voyager got sour about it and she shot our ship. So now here I am. When I got back to the alpha Quadrant they assigned me to cleaning toilets at Quarks bar on DS9.
I always thought that the Nova was Starfleet's new "anti-Borg" update to science vessels in the same age as the Soverign, Defiant, et al. With ablative armour and such. Is that not right?
I imagine another benefit the Nova enjoyed, which may have encouraged combat and patrol use, was it's size and weight. While its warp performance might be rather unimpressive, its performance at impulse speeds seems pretty nice. Maybe owing to its light frame and fairly mass-central impulse drive? In any case, she seems a nimble target that's unlikely to lose her quarry. I could see the Nova class serving as a reliable pickett vessel, or a task force's bloodhound, unerringly tracking and hounding slippery targets while more able or combat oriented ships moved into position to deal with them.
I love the Nova class. It had another advantage over the Oberth, it wasn't made of explodium.
For those who doesn't know, this substance was discovered by the creator of goldeneye who used it to make chair.
The prototype was widely adopted despite it's propension to explore when shot at.
@@RUclips_is_Trash Shot at, struck with any measurable force, or given a stern look.
And crashium. And Oberthiun.
@@RUclips_is_Trash *"explore when shot at."*
Did you mean explode?
Explodium is advance active defense plating. The problem is that they put the panels on backwards. Exploding outwards is effective in deflecting various types of attacks. Not so much if they are put on wrong.
UFP: We need a replacement for the Oberth class.
SF Design: Hold my synthale (Shows ship with 11 phaser arrays and 4 torpedo launchers)
UFP: We get it. Oberth was a little too passive.
Rhe same could be said for the UFP in general.
If the Romulans COUNTINUALLY getting away with treaty Violations with ZERO repercussions any indication.
One design choice that made the Nova class infinitely superior was the choice of hull material. It turned out that making Oberth class ships out of explodium had been a design flaw. Nova class ships proved capable of taking more than one hit before becoming flaming wreckage.
Yes buy the oberths armour was from environmental exotic matter ect.used correctly a brilliant for research in safe space. The nova was a brilliant hybrid ship could leave you running venting plasma while calls the big boys.
@@thomas.parnell7365 The Oberth died in one maybe two hits from weapons fire if the shields were up. The Nova however could take at least triple that before the 'shields' went down, and one or two more hits to the hull before being destroyed.
@mrbuttocks6772 guess that's what happens when a warship design made into science ship hardened systems. Eg look at the equinox was basically a battered up hanging together by a thread by was getting job done
I’ve got it in my head canon that when they discovered the explodium ore on that one world with the snake head computer God thing that the enterprise fought, they figured out that when refining the ore it would turn into material with the consistency of peanut butter so to be easily formed and shaped and then when hardened it became like ordinary metal. Plus they figured out how to tone down the exploding part to a manageable level which unfortunately still didn’t really turn out so great for the Oberth types. Voilà! At reasonable in universe reason for why they used exploding rocks as shipbuilding material.
Oh to be on a three year deep space science mission on a nice little Nova, away from the chaos, just checking out cool plants and chilling in the holodeck on weekends. Starfleet goals
We all know 99% of people would live in a holodeck living on social welfare or basically all that free energy that can become anything lol
it didn't have a holodeck, much to the disappointment of the crew of the equinox.
@@horatiopong Yeah it was shockingly understocked alright I imagine being captain of one of them was used as a punishment like being sent to an artic base in real life.
Even being an ensign on a galaxy class starship would give you better amenities and quality of life
Did the episode say that it didn’t have one? Considering how trashed the rest of the Equinox was, it could’ve just been offline.
Just don't end up 60,000 light years form home in one day. It sucks in a Nova Class.
Ever since the Nova class was introduced in ST-Voy it's had a special place in my heart, it's an absolutely gorgeous ship that makes sense for starfleet to have, So much fun potential crammed into a small package without it relying on plot armour.
I've made Various ships of the class the "Home Base" for a number of homebrew RPGs for my friends
A Nova-class craft serves as the 'hero ship' for my ongoing Star Trek Adventures game. She's a fun little ship.
The Nova class is one of my favorite designs. Thanks for doing this.
yes, I love these kind of small but capable ships.
Also just for story telling purposes, you can create a credible threat to such a ship without having to power creep the whole setting.
Imagine what you would have to send against the Enterprise-d to have the same power disparity as say three d'deridex-class warbird (something the D faced down multiple times iirc) vs a nova. But they're still capable enough to give characters options to deal with situations like that.
I agree with you that is the great little ship I love the little ships
I think they did a wonderful job with the Nova Class.
Even considering what it was initially intended to replace, this ship class is very well designed, balanced & elegant.
Nothing bad to say about it.
Used a Nova class starship in one of my Star Trek RPG campaigns. Useful vessel for supporting new settlements; second contact duties; boundary/frontier scouting & surveys; etc.
The type of ship with assignments to secondary exploration & support roles.
There's a Star Trek RPG?!
@@boatcaptain6288 I think he may ne referring to Star Trek Online.
@@vic5015 There have been many star trek TRPGs over the years. The current one is star trek adventures. I run it and it is fantastic.
It's a good Corvette sized hero ship
@@boatcaptain6288 there have been many Star Trek role-playing games 🖖🏻
Gotta admit, playing STO as a science officer, getting my first Nova was the first time I felt I wasn't flying an old junker. I loved that ship right up until I got my Luna.
"Whoever designed the Oberth class should be made to live on one... permanently!!!" -the Dockmaster
Seriously, this is one of the prettier ships SF made, and is one of my favorites, along with the sovereign!
Not exactly a lengthy sentence there given the lifespan of the average Oberth. Your only hope of survival is to vigorously avoid being caught on camera.
@@richmcgee434 maybe have your chief engineer have lots of engine problems when in a safe systems
Baby Sovereign, do-do, do-do-do
@@Z1gguratVert1go if I had to choose a nova class I'd have one been uprated by a star base fitted with entire hull ablative armour .some additional back up shield generators .a few further system alterations to be more robust from damage.a full compliment of quantum torpedos then I'd feel safe in command of one .
Just in case need to go through contested areas maybe overkill though having enough fire power cripple a Klingon warship.
@@thomas.parnell7365 Would be easier to just get a Defiant. About the same size, and already built to do what you want it to do.
"Plus they were running out of Oberths" made me lol
Keep up the good work. I'm enjoying these breakdowns, especially with the STO footage.
until this video i never noticed how adorable the Nova is
The Nova class always makes me think of a mini Sovereign class
I saw the Intrepid-class as the mini Sovereign, and the Nova as a mini Intrepid.
I love the Nova. It looks very cozy. It's easily my favorite ship.
If you use some Mahagoni wood interior and a fireplace and fly trough an ice belt,
It really is!
I do like the later era designs for Starfleet ships. Not only because they're beautifully designed, but because I love what they represent. That the Federation has grown in the face of adversity, that it's no longer complacent and stagnant, that it's willing to fight hard for what it has. But hasn't lost it's soul and is still tries to be an enlightened and compassionate civilisation.
Beautiful engineering unlike the warships we have
@@jasonjamrs7413 I was going to say something about the Zumwalts, but they are actually quite brutalist and their guns don't even work.
Well, the FREMMs, Elizabeths, Barracudas, Type 26s, and the Visbys and the other Nordic stealth ships look alright on an aesthetic level, I think. Though they may not have as much of the beautiful peaceful scientific mission.
@@neolexiousneolexian6079ever notice how the Zumwalt and the Cybertruck seem like they share the same design team? 😂
"We gave it double shelding, the back bone of the Defiant and a ton of passers! Then we called it a Science Ship!!!" Overheard - A Drunk Engineer, at Quark's Bar, Grill, Gaming House and Holosuite Arcade, 2372.
The Nova class is my favorite Starfleet ship! I absolutely LOVE the Rhode Island refit of it too. Thanks for the breakdown!
Is the Rhode Island type from Endgame canonical now?
i used this ship exclusively on my tactical character on STO with massive success. i love this ship
We know the Tech Manuals aren't officially full canon but it's fun to see how often they get mined for material that becomes canon.
Yes, I know, a bunch of almost-made-it material was included in them for fanservice but still it's nice to know it wasn't wasted.
While the "fun" is usually in the bigger, faster & stronger ships, the Nova seems like a fine vessel that I wouldn't mind being made Captain of.
Great video. Very interesting & informative.
The deflector dish is capable of being used to solve whatever problems that are required to be resolved by the plot before the end of the episode.
And never forget.... if it isn't working, "reverse the polarity!" 😎
@Lance Revell Ah, the old reverse the polarity trick. The 24th century equivalent of turning it off and on again.
Always been one of my favorite trek ship designs, love the cutout in the front and the secondary deflector
When I first saw it back on Voyagers season finale and premier for Equinox Part 1 and 2. I fell in love with it. Honestly they could have it as a swiss army knife of ships.
I figured that, due to the planetary landing capability, the Nova class should be pretty touch. I imagine that removing the landing struts and some of the labs would allow for a Defiant type warp core, which could power more tactical systems. A tough scout ship might have been needed during the Dominion War.
Planetary landing is not particularly challenging to a ship's frame compared to some of the phenomena they're expected to withstand
The Nova class is _what it needed to be_ for those Equinox episodes, but it is not consistent in its design brief - it should have a *Holodeck* and be *fast.*
[Warning Essay]
The ship needed to have no Holodeck for plot reasons, because that is a luxury that would keep the crew psychologically healthy. But a Holodeck is a *necessity for a science vessel.* Pretty well every scientific mystery episode featured analysis on the Holodeck, its the single most important analytical tool Starfleet ships have. And since it can work just like real equipment, it can be used as spare laboratories. Spare bespoke specialist laboratories that weren't included in the dozen or so labs that your ship already has (although standard labs are good enough to do illegal experiments on using sentients as nitro). And it can create artificial environments, simulations of phenomenon and provide AI experts (like Cardassian doctors, and hold on, you already have holosystems installed - the EMH!) and training from simulations of the best teachers and scientist, and…
The list goes on, it's just to useful not to include, except for story purposes.
But they could have just stated that the Holodeck had been destroyed on the Equinox. Except that Voyager gets half it's interior reconfigured into Holodecks by Hirogen or three decks blown away and its back to normal next week - although maybe the Intrepid class has an experimental manufacturing facility that besides making shuttles and photon torpedoes could rebuild the ship. A industrial replicator built on top of a transporter [and why don't small Federation ships have a combo holodeck/replicator/transporter built into one room to save space, they use the same technological principles? and it would make the Holodeck becoming sentient even more fun…].
Although the official explanation is that Voyager is constructed of *Weeklonium,* that _resets to its default condition_ every week.
One solution would have been to show the Equinox with part of the ship missing, say a corner of the saucer section, the Holodeck was there, and the main replicators are trashed as well so it can't be rebuilt.
But seriously, you could make a science vessel half holodeck with labs created on the fly, as long as it had a power surplus, and it would be a viable design.
Another main plot point of the Equinox was it was slow, so getting back home was even harder (as was avoiding combat by running away, something a non combat vessel, with eleven phasers(?), off by itself examining uninhabited planets in a big nasty galaxy should do), till it was modified to run on dolphin blood (a suggestion put forward by GENERATION TECH).
But in the backstory of the Nova class it says that the original hull design was from the Defiant pathfinder when they were thinking of a *high warp torpedo attack boat,* instead of the close range maneuverable slugger they went with. It was capable of warp 9.982 (really fast) and was designed to do hit and run strikes. It states that the warp core was downgraded to increase service intervals, which is huh? If it's for long term missions then why no Holodecks? And if it's short range missions then service intervals are not a issue. Surely you just don't thrash it at full power to keep it running sweet. A nice big warp core that doesn't have to go above 50% power in normal use would run smoothly for years, a small warp core that you have to rev to get anywhere burns out quicker.
It does make sense to have a fast science vessel, it can get to _time sensitive_ phenomenon quickly, it can run away from trouble if it encounters hostiles by itself instead of tying up other ships in rescuing or more likely avenging it. And it can waste less time in transit from one site to another.
And the big, big issue is it's listed as a dual purpose ship (triple, it's a explorer). It's also a *scout ship,* for use in general war (eleven phaser arrays and three torpedo launchers…). It has the best sensor array of any Starfleet vessel so it's job was to travel ahead of the fleet and scan for enemies, as well as go by itself on recon missions. But it can't do that if it's so slow it holds the fleet up and can't stay out of range when it detects enemy ships or even get to the designated search zone in a reasonable timeframe.
Quite simply this is not compatible with its three cylinder engine from a city car. It should have a big V6 at least or even a V8 and use cylinder deactivation when it's just puttering around on its daily commute, but be able to burn rubber when it's scouting for tanks in a hot zone.
The ship has contradictions in its concept. This inconsistencies could have been all solved if it had been stated that it originally had these features (Holodeck and high warp) but they, and the ability to repair them, had been destroyed when the captain decided to challenge an _entire alien armada_ with the authority of the Federation, which was approximately 70 plus years away travel time, in order to save a few weeks on that same journey.
Or maybe the Holodeck was to be installed on Tuesday?
Still one major improvement was that in instead of being constructed of *Explodium* like the Oberth, it's now built out of *Unrepairium.*
This is one of my favorite Federation vessels. All the DNA of Federation design philosophy is on display here, refined and distilled in a vessel with a small crew compliment. What a cool class to command!
In many respects, I could see the Nova-class becoming the Miranda of the 25th century Starfleet.
I think it might be a touch too small for that. It's roughly the same size as the NX-Class, in both dimensions and crew compliment. I think the Nebula-class is more likely to be the "next Miranda."
Yea , Miranda can still be used in battle, a nova class ain't doing nothing to any frigate class or dedicated battle ship.
I got a soft spot for the little ship. It's modern and sleek but still small and useful. Wouldn't mind being captain of one myself if I were in Star Trek though I'd probably sacrifice some space for an additional holodeck or two.
I could see this used by Starfleet marines, manoverable, surprisingly tough hull and shields for its size and capable of ground to orbit flight would have made it perfect for planetary assaults putting or retrieving a platoon on the surface quickly even without transporters.
This is definitely a ship made to have a home starbase, like the Defiant.
I think one of the things that often gets missed about the Oberth class in the 24th is that they often had non-Starfleet registries such as NAR or NSP. What this seems to indicate is that many of them were already phased out of Starfleet service and transferred to civilian operators such as various scientific institutions or possibly even as civilian transports. This would imply that a high degree of automation had been installed on them prior to civilian transfer. I think Starfleet actually kept a few of them in operation specifically as spy ships and for covert technology testing, like the USS Pegasus, largely because they wouldn't draw attention to themselves. I wonder if this phasing out of the Oberths well before the Novas were ready helped contribute to the retention of so many Mirandas which were being converted to all kinds of auxiliary roles. I do think it likely that the Novas get re-engined at some point in the 2380s and once they are they prove themselves to be a lot more versatile than just light science vessels and scouts. I can easily see them in traditional coast guard-type roles: internal security, patrol, customs and trade enforcement, search and rescue, those sorts of things.
Last time I was this early I was stuck in the Delta quadrant!
Much needed, and worthy, successor to the aging Oberth class.
OMG, I don't know exactly why, but this is one of my favorite ships in Next Gen Star Trek
ditto. I'm not sure why. I like that it's small and no nonsense and it's shape is great but other than that i don't know.
@@Logarithm906 yeah, yeah, something like that. But can't quite pinpoint it :D
Stacey Abrams is the Illegitimate President of Earth
I love the little Novas, especially as a tackler in STO:beta.
Why Starfleet decided to deliberately under power and under speed such a otherwise versatile and well armed ship I will probably never understand with in universe reasons. Maybe a Nova refit will bring us a fast utility science escort?
That can be overcome by a great engineering staff
The Nova class is one of my absolute favorite classes of Starfleet ships!
We commonly talk about the Borg but the re-emergence of the romulans also had a profound effect. The Nova class certainly was a test bed that incorporated multiple priorities that would later diverge.
These divergences would be the defiant the sovereign the Intrepid, and the Norway. The Akira, Danube-class, the steam Runner the saber and the Venture class I believe have Origins with the romulans in mind. The Borg serve as a more politically appropriate excuse.
Phaser strips seem to have been a short-lived Federation fad from the TNG era. They'd used fixed-point phaser cannons previously, and the dedicated combat ships (especially the Defiant) tended to favour that design instead. Then classes like the Nova and Intrepid had shorter, more numerous phaser strips, not the really long ones like on the Galaxy. I don't think any other race had such a feature on their ships. It's a pity, because watching them charge up made it look powerful, but perhaps it was just that the intimidation factor had a negative impact on its effectiveness in combat.
it's understandable as the long strips would likely be easier to disable leading to massive gaps in cover when taken down. the fixed point cannon where likely more powerful then the strips even if it leads to being harder to use
I think long phaser strips basically add together the energy output from several seconds of continued fire, into a single highly concentraded beam. I'd imagine, that would be good to break through the heavy shields and armor of capital ships, but pretty wastefull againsed the fighter like crafts, the Dominion mainly uses..
@@briansouthparkstudio1357 The strips are not one solid continuous strip but rather small segments linked together, if part of the strip is damaged the rest still functions normally.
I always thought the Nova Class would be good for a tabletop RPG. It's smaller and more intimate for players to get around but is still tough enough to survive many situations.
Now I wish for a new Star Trek show starring Garret Wong as Harry Kim, captain of the USS Rhode Island a Nova-Class starship.
I've always loved this ship design. It's just gorgeous.
A great vid mate. Cheers and well done. I love the Nova -class. I think it is a good multi purpose ship
I'm really enjoying these starship videos
Pretty much my favourite Starfleet ship class. I think it helped fill a massive void as far as small and potentially modular vessels were concerned.
I love the Nova Class, It can go faster than Warp 8 if you throw some ghosts into the engine.
nucleogenic lifeforms left the chat
I loved my Nova in STO. I liked to imagine that it's smaller size meant the crew was closer and more personally involved with one another. Thus I would avoid fights and focus on survival when in one. Functionally it helped justify my solo conservative playstyle but I enjoyed that role play aspect.
I love the Nova. I'm a big fan of small ships and the Niva was my favorite part of that Voyager 2-parter.
_Equinox_ was a fantastic two-parter. It's a shame they never referenced the existence of that ship again in the show.
@@irregularassassin6380 Thanks I was trying to remember the ship's name for the life of me but I just couldn't.
It is a shame cuz throughout that 2-Parter I just kept waiting for the next time Equinox would be on the screen.
@@Gangerworld Same! I was also hoping for a beauty shot of the ship without all the damage, perhaps in a flashback or something.
I think it's adorable
🖖😎👍Very cool and very nicely well done and informatively explained and executed in every detail way shape and format provided on the Nova class starship's and on its design and various functions, duties and missions required of it as well as it's engine's capabilites and shielding and various weapons systems, A job very wonderfully well done indeed Sir!👌.
I always loved the Nova class. I dare say it' s cute.
I really love that little ship it looks really great I like the smaller ships better than the big ships for the most part
*Little* ?!
Definitely a better science ship than the Oberth-class.
That's... not a high bar ^^'
"Turns out keeping a minimally armed (read, almost none) science vessel in service for two hundred years eventually leads to a woefully outdated, outgunned, and underpowered design that almost seems like it was built for exploding."-Starfleet (probably)
@@dougsmith6262 still for a civilian transport ship very adequate
Love this design. Sleek, simple, compact, elegant.
Simple upgrade to the warp system would make this an incredibly capable ship in any role except bulk cargo and personnel transport.
Years ago,, I bought a resin model of the Nova class ship that was made in scale with the Voyager (plastic)model kit. The ship, though small is a very good design
Hey Rick thanks again for another fantastic informative ship lore video, my favourite design of ship is the Normandy SR series of ship from Mass effect 😀
Love the nova design it is just amazing to me. Great vid sir and please keep them coming. You are what I listen to when I play sto every day.
Another one of my favourite ships. A really pretty design and quite the plucky little bastard!
I love the Oberth Memes and I love the Nova Class Starship. Even after the showcase of the "Rhode Island" refit, I fell in love with the Nova class since, imo, the starship debut at new class of starship that portrayed a sense of scientific exploration yet not yet naive in lack of defenses since the grandeur of space is not meant for the timid : )
Another great video 📹
Adorable. I love it. It's amazing and I want one.
It's always nice when you cover real Trek.
The Fleet Nova Pilot Scout Ship is a great Sci ship. It's tough for a scout, has a secondary deflector, a Science commander seat.
Has anyone done a fan fic about the USS Equinox crew that made it back to the Alpha quadrant? Where would they be during Lower Decks and Picard/Legacy?
Very nice video! "Running out of Oberths" LOL
I love this little ship, and while I was also a fan of the Oberth, I think the Nova is an improvement. I don't just mean 'in game stats', I mean, a better design concept, having never been a fan of 'how DO we get into the secondary hull?' issue of the Oberth. :D
I really like this ship. I'm my head canon I figure it not only replaced the Oberth class but also more or less the Miranda as well. But either way really love this little ship
One of my favorite ships, along with the saber and the Raven type. Smaller ships seem more appealing and whenever I see those "what ship would you choose" questions I always think of these examples. Though the Raven type could probably be made the most cozy or livable ships.
The Nova is a cool design and looks like it fits it's role well.
It's cuuuuute... 🥰
Nice ship i could hope to own one day, haha! Great job on the video, I like how you mix real life into the star trek lore. I remember seeing the original design in my tng technical journal. Same as the prototype for the Enterprise J.
I absolutely love the star trek game on Xbox its amazing fun being able to fly in a patrol fleet of three or four ships doing missions and helping each other out on the multiplayer missions.
Hey Rick, could you do a video about what the different number of nacelles on a ship mean? My wife and I have been playing STO and she chose the Advanced Escort with 4 Nacelles while I chose the Patrol Escort with 2. It'd be fun to know the difference!
From what I understand, more nacelles =/= faster, it instead typically means greater endurance at speeds above cruising. There's multiple points of failure in a warp drive system. The reactor itself can be the limiting factor, but so can the warp coils in the nacelles which may overheat and melt/fuse when pushed too far for too long. Ships with four nacelles can alternate which set is generating the warp field at any given time, thus allowing the inactive set to cool down.
@@irregularassassin6380 more or less how i heard it. the four nacelles don't add speed as much as they add stamina for lack of a better term.
I always liked the look of the Nova. It’s angular look is aggressive. I envision it as an anti cloak vessel with its advanced sensors much like anti sub destroyers in WW2. It should be a match for Klingon bird of preys or act as a hound to flush out larger cloaked vessels.
Awesome vid
The novas variable geometry nacelles is reminiscent to variable geometry wings on the F14 from top gun thanks again Rick 😀
One of my favorites :-)
My all-time favorite Starfleet design.
Thank you for the video, though I must point out some errors. The Nova has only two torpedo launchers. They are not located above the main navigational deflector dish (think Intrepid), but are instead located on the bow, flanking both sides of the secondary deflector dish. Additionally, you misidentified the impulse engine as an aft torpedo launcher.
I know I'm late on this but I really like the Nova class ship. Most importantly I love the U.S.S. Rhode Island version of the Nova class. The Equinox is alright but that big cut out of the saucer deflector dish didn't sit right with me, never has. With the Rhode Island it looks more like an Intrepid now. I also loved the raised bridge for the U.S.S. Rhode Island.
I do love the early concepts that's shown in the TNG Tech Manual.
One of the smaller issues perhaps of a Nova class is a lack of holosuites onboard.
I'd seriously would have to recommend holographic fitted rooms for the various science labs to become multi-purpose labs instead, mostly so I could then fit in at least a few smaller holosuites like that size Quark uses.
Combat wise, a smaller and more agile ship that could easily be armored up and fitted with proper weapons, makes a lot more sense then dedicated large one time use war ships.
With some careful planning, such a small ship hull could really be refit and built into a multi purpose roll, and being so small means you can have a lot more of them.
Logistically the smaller ship design also tends to be easier to field a large number of them. Though I admit the very first thing I'd probably do to a Nova if I were the captain, is put some armoring on the thing. Exploration is dangerous, theres no excuse you can give me that would stop me from doing some sensible ship-wide protection options.
The really heavy armament for the Nova highlights something that is implied but never stated on screen, the closest being TMP. That being, phasers on Starfleet vessels likely draw from a common capacitor and power source. Which means the strength of the ship's phaser armaments are decided most by the variant of the phaser (e.g. Phaser Type XI) and the power generation of the ship. This partially explains why Defiant was built with an oversize warp core, it wasn't just for the speed. Individual phaser strips likely still have firing limitations, like maybe an overheat state, but probably not to a significant degree. More phasers does not equal more firepower, outside of firing arc coverage. The Nova therefore likely has a very low phaser output, despite the larger number of strips.
What makes most Starfleet ships notably very powerful in combat regardless of size is the torpedoes. Even a single launcher is the same as a launcher on any other ship, as torpedoes are standardized. Most Starfleet ships at least have 2 forward launchers, giving them a lot of commonality in terms of firepower.
Great video! It would be nice to see a video for the Diligent Class as well.
I love this ship and design. I would love to see a TV or Movie with it being the ship it uses.
IMO, all Starfleet ships are adaptable enough to have their particular capabilities tweaked and adjusted in relatively short order at a starbase. So really, their mission profile is only limited only by their size. The Nova class would be appropriate for any sort of mission that can be accomplished with a relatively small crew and a relatively small power plant/fuel supply. We saw one used by Starfleet security in Lower Decks, and IMO that was perfectly adequate. They were just going to arrest someone. If the mission calls for more defensive capability, send a few of them. Or a couple Defiant class escorts or something.
Love this ship. It's got a lot of potential in a (comparatively) small package. I wish it was better in STO though.
My STA group is flying one. It's perfect for a small crew.
My favorite Federation starship!
The Rhode Island is a neat little ship, with the overcharged defiant-type core re-installed and upgraded tactical systems, it's like a more comfortable Defiant without giving up a lot in most situations to the smaller, more focused craft.
Really loved this ship class would love to serve aboard this ship myself
Interesting! 👍
Almost anything is an upgrade from the doom canoe. Cloaked or at least stealthed, a tactical Nova with space for 200 passengers and a second EMH would be a capable special missions ship if Starfleet ever got willing to fight anything but defensive wars of attrition.
I adore the nova class and the Rhode Island variant. It looks like a sports car of a starship.
Give it the warp core of the Defiant to make it faster, ablative hull armor and quantum torpedoes it would be more formidable. Be a good little combat ship.
80 people across 8 decks? Starfleet loves understaffing these ships. I understand the automation element, but how often do crew members get injured or have days off? They really should be around 100 people on that thing at least right?
Assuming 3 shifts, that's max 27 people on duty at a time. And then if we assume a 5/7 working week, that brings it down to 19 on duty. Then cut a few more for sick leave and personal leave... We're left with the perfect number of people fill the 'main character' roles (chief of engineering, chief of security, etc) but no crew to work beneath them!
The frame and overall design of the Nova, along with some of its technical features (secondary deflector, landing struts, etc.) seem to have been reused to inspire the Protostar class ship which shares some of these features and designs, but has an enormous array of technological advantages when compared to the Nova class.
The Nova class is an example of Starfleet's desire to rapidly replace aging starships which were out of date and recovering from losses from the year long skirmish with the Klingons and later the war with the Dominion. Losing that many ships that quickly put Starfleet on the back foot and they needed to replace all the Miranda and Oberth ships that were being lost daily. The Nova class was small, quick and smart. While the warp engines were less than stellar, the small profile and overall size of the ship would have made it highly maneuverable at sub-light speeds making it excellent for hit and run attacks with other tougher ships during the war. While the Intrepid and Defiant classes were the main light cruisers and escorts, Nova fits nicely in that middle spot of a frigate/science vessel.
One of my favourite class of ships . It was nice to get a ship that wasn't a kitbash effort
I graduated from Starfleet Academy. 1st in the class. They assigned me to a Nova class! It's not bad. When we were out in the delta Quadrant we kidnapped these energy beings and used them on our warp core. It worked until captain Janeway of Voyager got sour about it and she shot our ship. So now here I am. When I got back to the alpha Quadrant they assigned me to cleaning toilets at Quarks bar on DS9.
One of my favorite ships in STO.
1:10 those designs were from the old ST:TNG Technical manual from the 90s of proposed Galaxy Class designs... not Nova
I always thought that the Nova was Starfleet's new "anti-Borg" update to science vessels in the same age as the Soverign, Defiant, et al. With ablative armour and such. Is that not right?
I imagine another benefit the Nova enjoyed, which may have encouraged combat and patrol use, was it's size and weight. While its warp performance might be rather unimpressive, its performance at impulse speeds seems pretty nice. Maybe owing to its light frame and fairly mass-central impulse drive? In any case, she seems a nimble target that's unlikely to lose her quarry. I could see the Nova class serving as a reliable pickett vessel, or a task force's bloodhound, unerringly tracking and hounding slippery targets while more able or combat oriented ships moved into position to deal with them.