Talk:USS Achilles (Oberth class)

Moved Events of VOY: Full Circle to Oberth-class Achilles page
I have moved the paragraph describing the Achilles' participation in Project Full Circle to USS Achilles (Oberth class). Although this Achilles has not been seen as recently as the Achilles-class Achilles, it seems *much* more likely that the ship described in the Full Circle novel is the Oberth class vessel. Consider the following:

1. The ship described in the novel is small, of minimal armament, and principally tasked with carrying spare parts and industrial replicators for the rest of the fleet. This description is consistent with an Oberth-class starship, and indeed, there are canon examples of Oberth-class vessels being used as supply ships in this fashion (i.e., the supply-ship SS Vico). The Achilles-class vessel, on the other hand, is a large warship which would outclass most other vessels in the Full Circle fleet.

2. The ship in the novel is under the command of Tillum Drafar, who holds only the rank of Commander. This would not be unusual with a very small starship (i.e., the USS Defiant (NX-74205) (I), which was originally under the command of Commander Benjamin Sisko.) By contrast, it would be extremely unusual for a large and sophisticated starship like the Achilles-class vessel.

3. The only known appearance of the Achilles-class was in a video game, whereas the Oberth-class Achilles            has appeared in other written Trek work (TNG Comic: War and Madness: The First Casualty). In that            appearance, the Oberth-class Achilles was a small support-vessel carrying out functions nearly identical              to those ascribed to the vessel in the Full Circle novel. While there are many examples of Trek novels             drawing on previous novels and comics, it is much more uncommon for novel authors to draw on the Trek video              games. (Not unheard-of, granted, but much less common).

Given the above evidence, it seems most likely that at the time of the Full Circle novel, there were either two Achilles in service (a situation not unheard of following massive conflict with the Borg, as in the case of the starships USS Melbourne at Wolf 359), or the Achilles-class warship had been mothballed after the Dominion War and the Oberth-class vessel remained in service. I think most will agree that given the enormous number of starship names assigned (indeed, sometimes randomly) by video games like Armada, name conflicts in the expanded universe aren't just inevitable, they're quite common. In situations like this one where the overwhelming evidence favors a previous version of a starship, I think we have to go with the option that makes the most sense. SwordandScales 08:15, March 13, 2011 (UTC)