Changes: J class

Revision as of 22:30, 12 January 2016

For the 23rd century starship class, please see class J starship.

The J-class was a starship design of Earth origin utilized by the Earth Cargo Service as a freighter. They were operated by captains with an Earth Cargo Authority license. These vessels have a history dating back to the early 22nd century, with one of the ships of the class, the ECS Horizon, commissioned in 2102. (ENT: "Broken Bow", "Fortunate Son", "Horizon")

Technical data

Physical arrangement

The forward more maneuverable tug section of the J-class starship could separate from the large aft cargo module. These ships were capable of hauling loads of up to 30,000 metric tons. (ENT: "Horizon")

Propulsion systems

J-class ships were capable of maintaining a maximum speed of warp 2. When the cargo load was full, it was, however, only safe to travel at warp 1.5. The warp reactors were personally designed by Zefram Cochrane himself, and there were rumors that he personally signed the inside of each reactor casing. The inertial dampers aboard the J-class were far less advanced than that of later warp-capable vessels. As such, all passengers on a J-class freighter would have to hold on to handles when the ship went to warp, or else risk losing their balance. (ENT: "Horizon")

Tactical systems

File:Alien vessel fought off by the command module of the Horizon.jpg

ECS Horizon separated from the cargo module, firing on a pirate ship

J-class ships were protected by polarized hull plating and armed with two forward-mounted plasma turrets. By the mid-22nd century, the original weapons were not powerful enough to protect the ships from the pirates they encountered. It was, however, possible to upgrade them or to increase the original weapons' yield by rerouting the impulse relays and tapping power directly from the impulse engines. (ENT: "Fortunate Son", "Horizon")

Ships of the class

Named

ECS Horizon

Unnamed

Unnamed J class starships

Uncertain

Horizon

Appendices

Appearances

ENT: "Horizon"

Background information

J class diagram — An example of the J-class format of computer display, containing a schematic of the J-class

In the final draft script of "Horizon", the J-class was described thus; "It's a large [...] cargo ship comprised of several large, numbered CARGO MODULES strung together, and a CREW MODULE perched at its nose." The same scene description went on to specify, in a bracketed note, that the J-class was to look similar to the Y-class, but be "slightly more compact." A later scene description commented that the "Command Module [while alone] is a compact, maneuverable vessel."

The exterior of the J-class was designed by John Eaves and rendered in CGI by Brandon MacDougall for Eden FX. [1]^(X)

Since the J-class was meant be an earlier design than the NX-class, the art department of Star Trek: Enterprise intended to make the workings of the ECS Horizon appear to be more primitive than those of Enterprise NX-01. "We wanted the instrumentation on the Horizon to be just a little clunkier," explained Michael Okuda. "We went with larger buttons – that just seemed to make it less advanced – [and] signage in this 'retro-stencil' look." (Star Trek: Communicator issue 144, p. 32)

The computer displays on the J-class were another concern. "We had to do a whole new set of bridge graphics for the Horizon," James Van Over recalled. This facilitated an experiment whereby the art department inverted the normally white-text-with-black-background format seen on the show. "We tried black letters on a white background and tried to keep the same look," Van Over clarified, "but made it look like it might be a step back for the interface, or a case where they set theirs differently." (Star Trek: Communicator issue 144, pp. 32 & 33)

Several J-class bridge situation boards and control panels were sold in the It's A Wrap! sale and auction. [2] In addition, several furniture items including a side chair, table and lamp from Mayweather's quarters, [3] a table from the galley, [4] and six swivel chairs from the bridge [5] were also auctioned off.

In the script of ENT: "Fortunate Son", this class was colloquially referred to, in dialogue, as "class-J". This reference was changed, though, so the class is consistently referred to as "J-class" in canon.

External link

J class at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Sidebar starship class|
-:''See [[Class J]] for other uses of this term.''
+|Name=        	J class
+|image=       	Ecs horizon.jpg
+|imagecap=    	The J-class {{ECS|Horizon}}
+|owner       =  Private ownership
+|operator    =  [[Earth Cargo Service]]
+|Type=		[[Freighter]]
+|Active=	[[22nd century]]
+|Cargo       =  30,000 [[metric ton]]s
+|Speed=		[[warp factor|Warp 2]]
+|Armament  =    2 [[Plasma cannon|plasma turrets]]
+|Defenses  =    [[Polarized hull plating]]
+}}
+{{disambiguation|the [[23rd century]] starship class|class J starship}}
+The '''J-class''' was a [[starship]] design of [[Earth]] origin utilized by the [[Earth Cargo Service]] as a [[freighter]]. They were operated by [[captain]]s with an [[Earth Cargo Authority]] license. These vessels have a history dating back to the early [[22nd century]], with one of the ships of the class, the {{ECS|Horizon}}, commissioned in [[2102]]. ({{ENT|Broken Bow|Fortunate Son|Horizon}})
-[[Image:Ecs horizon.jpg|thumb|The [[ECS Horizon|ECS ''Horizon'']], a J-class freighter, in [[2152]].]]
+==Technical data==
-The '''J-class''' is [[starship]] design of [[Earth]] origin, which was utilized as a [[freighter]] with a history dating back the early [[22nd century]]. These vessels were commonly used by the [[Earth Cargo Service]], but would eventually be superseded by the larger [[Y class|Y-class]] by the [[2150s]]. ({{ENT|Broken Bow|Fortunate Son|Horizon}})
+===Physical arrangement===
+[[File:ECS Horizon bridge.jpg|thumb|J-class [[bridge]]]]
+The forward more maneuverable tug section of the J-class starship could separate from the large aft cargo module. These ships were capable of hauling loads of up to 30,000 [[metric ton]]s. ({{ENT|Horizon}})
+===Propulsion systems===
-The [[inertial damper]]s were far less advanced than that of later [[warp]] capable vessels, because when going to warp, all passengers on a J-class freighter have to hold on to handles, or else lose their balance. This is similar to the way [[human]]s would hang onto the handles in [[subway]] [[train]]s. ({{ENT|Horizon}})
+J-class ships were capable of maintaining a [[maximum warp|maximum speed]] of [[warp factor|warp 2]]. When the cargo load was full, it was, however, only safe to travel at warp 1.5. The [[warp reactor]]s were personally designed by [[Zefram Cochrane]] himself, and there were rumors that he personally signed the inside of each reactor casing. The [[inertial damper]]s aboard the J-class were far less advanced than that of later [[warp-capable]] vessels. As such, all passengers on a J-class freighter would have to hold on to handles when the ship went to warp, or else risk losing their balance. ({{ENT|Horizon}})
+===Tactical systems===
-[[Image:MuddsShip.jpg|thumb|[[Harcourt Fenton Mudd|Harry Mudd]]'s antiquated class J cargo ship, in [[2266]].]]
+[[File:Alien vessel fought off by the command module of the Horizon.jpg|thumb|{{ECS|Horizon}} separated from the cargo module, firing on a pirate ship]]
-Though antiquated in design, the Class J would remain in service well into the mid-[[23rd century]].
+J-class ships were protected by [[polarized hull plating]] and armed with two forward-mounted [[Plasma cannon|plasma turrets]]. By the mid-22nd century, the original weapons were not powerful enough to protect the ships from the pirates they encountered. It was, however, possible to upgrade them or to increase the original weapons' yield by rerouting the impulse relays and tapping power directly from the [[impulse engine]]s. ({{ENT|Fortunate Son|Horizon}})
+==Ships of the class==
-In [[2266]], [[Harcourt Fenton Mudd]] possessed "a small class J cargo ship" that he utilized as a [[transport]]. ({{TOS|Mudd's Women}}) The same year, [[Starfleet]] maintained an "old Class J starship," with an apparently defective [[baffle plate]], as a cadet vessel. ({{TOS|The Menagerie, Part I}})
+; Named:
+* {{ECS|Horizon}}
+; Unnamed:
-==Class J Ships==
-;Named
-* [[ECS Horizon|ECS ''Horizon'']]
-;Unnamed
 * [[Unnamed J class starships]]
+; Uncertain:
+*''{{dis|Horizon|starship}}''
 ==Appendices==
-===Appearances===
+=== Appearances ===
 * {{ENT|Horizon}}
-* {{TOS|Mudd's Women}}
-===Background===
+=== Background information ===
+[[File:J class diagram.jpg|thumb|An example of the J-class format of computer display, containing a schematic of the J-class]]
-While sharing the same class name, what can be seen of Mudd's transport, for obvious reasons, bears little resemblance to the ''Horizon'', so they cannot be fully established as members of the same design. This may suggest that the designation, over time, came to represent functionality, versus appearance, much as has been seemingly established with the [[Antares class|''Antares''-class]] designation.
+In the final draft script of "Horizon", the J-class was described thus; "''It's a large [...] cargo ship comprised of several large, numbered CARGO MODULES strung together, and a CREW MODULE perched at its nose.''" The same scene description went on to specify, in a bracketed note, that the J-class was to look similar to the Y-class, but be "slightly more compact." A later scene description commented that the "Command Module [while alone] is a compact, maneuverable vessel."
+The exterior of the J-class was designed by [[John Eaves]] and rendered in [[CGI]] by [[Brandon MacDougall]] for [[Eden FX]]. {{DrexFiles|2009/05/24/ecs-horizon/}}
+Since the J-class was meant be an earlier design than the {{Class|NX}}, the art department of ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise]]'' intended to make the workings of the {{ECS|Horizon}} appear to be more primitive than those of {{NX|01}}. "''We wanted the instrumentation on the ''Horizon'' to be just a little clunkier,''" explained [[Michael Okuda]]. "''We went with larger buttons &ndash; that just seemed to make it less advanced &ndash; [and] signage in this 'retro-stencil' look.''" ({{STC|144|32}})
+The computer displays on the J-class were another concern. "''We had to do a whole new set of bridge graphics for the ''Horizon'',''" [[James Van Over]] recalled. This facilitated an experiment whereby the art department inverted the normally white-text-with-black-background format seen on the show. "''We tried black letters on a white background and tried to keep the same look,''" Van Over clarified, "''but made it look like it might be a step back for the interface, or a case where they set theirs differently.''" ({{STC|144}}, pp. 32 & 33)
+Several J-class bridge situation boards and control panels were sold in the [[It's A Wrap! sale and auction|''It's A Wrap!'' sale and auction]]. {{stala|8925,8479,8276,7751,6850,6570,6298}} In addition, several furniture items including a side chair, table and lamp from Mayweather's quarters, {{stala|2628,6189,9207,9663}} a table from the galley, {{stala|2839,9206}} and six swivel chairs from the bridge {{stala|4708}} were also [[Star Trek auctions|auctioned]] off.
+In the script of {{ENT|Fortunate Son}}, this class was colloquially referred to, in dialogue, as "class-J". This reference was changed, though, so the class is consistently referred to as "J-class" in [[canon]].
+===External link===
+* {{mbeta}}
-[[Category:Earth starship classes]]
-[[Category:Federation starship classes]]
 [[de:J-Klasse]]
+[[Category:Earth starship classes]]