STAR TREK Size Comparison Charts - Discovery 23rd century

A the size chart with the ships from Star Trek Discovery which are active in 23rd century.

 

PS: A special thank (and all copyright) for the picture material to: John Eaves, Drex Files, Star Trek Fact Files and Star Trek The Magazine, Starship Collection Magazine and The Light Works.

Size calculations:

Enterprise (DSC)      Klingon Sarcophagus

USS Discovery      Beacon of Kahless

USS Shenzhou      Cardenas class

Hoover class      Shepard class

Malachowski class      Nimitz class

Vulcan Shuttle Solkar 

 __________

The size of the Klingon Sarcophagus Ship

The Sarcophagus, or Ship of the Dead, was a Klingon starship that originally served as the command vessel of the House of T'Kuvma. In 2256, the Sarcophagus was encountered by the USS Shenzhou at the edge of Federation space.

The Set Designer David Moreau published a top view of the Sarcophagus ship's bridge. My calculations follow a purely mathematical approach. In this case I was able to use the correct dimensions from the bridge set.
On this you can see the dimensions of the opening of the front window (9'-6'' = 2.74m + 0.15m: overall 2.89m).

Sarcophagus ship bridge - by David Moreau

According to this set blueprint, the entire dome window has a diameter of 4.27m.
It is one of the largest bridge sets ever built for Star Trek. However, I had my doubts early on about the officially published length of the ship (2550.6m), because it seemed very gigantic (even for such a large bridge window).

This gives the entire spaceship a width of 472.7m.

 This results in a length of 993.06m for the Sarcophagus ship.

 

The size of the Beacon of Kahless

The Beacon of Kahless was an ancient, sacred Klingon artifact. According to prophecy, it would call together the twenty-four Great Houses of the Klingon Empire, who would then unite in the face of a common threat. The individual who lit the Beacon was known as the Torchbearer.

schematic by Eaglemoss Collection

Commander Burnham meets the torchbearer and kills him on the hull of the Beacon of Kahless by igniting the thrusters of her spacesuit, ramming the Klingon's Bat'leth into his body.

screencapture by trekcore.com (DIS "The Vulcan Hello")

As a result of this collision, both are pushed into space and crash off the beacon's wings. At this moment, the size of the beacon can be calculated well, because the hull pattern allows to identify the impact point.

screencapture DIS: "The Vulcan Hello"

Commander Michael Burnham (actress Sonequa Martin-Green) is 1.64m tall. Therefore I assume the Klingon warrior is about 2m high.

Overall, this results in a length of 156.57m for the Beacon of Kahless.

The impression of the size is also confirmed by the design sketch by Samuel Michlap.

design sketch by Samuel Michlap (ArtStation.com)

The size of the USS Edison - Hoover class

The Hoover class was a 23rd century Federation starship in service during the 2250s. Two ships of this class, including the USS Edison NCC-1683, fought in the "Battle at the Binary Stars" of 2256.

According the designer of the ship (John Eaves), the ship class was named after the US Air Force Pilot Bob Hoover.

• The premise for all my deck calculations: a deck is 2.5m + 0.5m for EPS cables, power cables, ... = 3m height for a deck.
• My calculations follow a purely mathematical approach. I do not compare bridge modules or disk heights with each other. I always pull in decks based on the rows of windows and then calculate a physically plausible room height.

This is the side view of the Hoover class:

schematic by Starship Collection

With a height of 3.0m per deck, the Hoover class has a total length of 430.25m.

If you use the official size of 356.3m, the ship would have a deck height of only 2.48m (including 0.5m for EPS cables,...). Just by the number of rows of windows in this class of ships, there are 30 decks. Considering this amount, the official size of the ship would be much too small.

The size of the USS Buran - Cardenas class

The Cardenas class was a 23rd century Federation starship in service during the 2250s. The USS Yeager NCC-1437 fought in the "Battle at the Binary Stars" of 2256.
Gabrel Lorca was the commanding officer of the mirror universe ISS Buran NCC-1422.

• The premise for all my deck calculations: a deck is 2.5m + 0.5m for EPS cables, power cables, ... = 3m height for a deck.
• My calculations follow a purely mathematical approach. I do not compare bridge modules or disk heights with each other. I always pull in decks based on the rows of windows and then calculate a physically plausible room height.

This is the side view of the Cardenas class:

schematic by Starship Collection

With a height of 3.0m per deck, the Cardenas class has a total length of 440.7m.
This is one of the few examples where the official length of the ship coincides with the mathematical "real" ones.

The size of the USS Kerala - Shepard class

The Shepard class was a 23rd century Federation starship in service during the 2250s. Several Shepard class starships fought in the Federation-Klingon War of 2256. (DIS: "Battle at the Binary
Stars")
According the designer of the ship (John Eaves), the Shepard class was named after American astronaut, Alan Shepard.

• The premise for all my deck calculations: a deck is 2.5m + 0.5m for EPS cables, power cables, ... = 3m height for a deck.
• My calculations follow a purely mathematical approach. I do not compare bridge modules or disk heights with each other. I always pull in decks based on the rows of windows and then calculate a physically plausible room height.

This is the side view of the Shepard class:

schematic by Starship Collection

The ship has 21 decks. With a height of 3.0m per deck, the Shepard class has a total length of 622.0m.

If you use the official size of 505.5m, the ship would have a deck height of only 2.44m (including 0.5m for EPS cables,...). Then a room height of 1.96m remains. Members of large species, such as the Kelpians, would then have considerable difficulty walking through the rooms.

Starfleet black badge - Section 31

Recently I bought the magnetic insignia black badge seen in Star Trek Discovery.

screenshot from DIS Season 2 trailer (trekmovie.com)

This Starfleet Division badge is a exact replica of the uniform insignia worn in Star Trek Discovery. The design taken directly from the screen-used hero prop.

The size of the USS Clarke - Malachowski Class

The USS Clarke NCC-1661 was a Malachowski class Federation starship operated by Starfleet during the mid-23rd century. It was destroyed in a battle against a Klingon fleet at the Battle of the Binary Stars in 2256.

The ship was named after the US Air Force pilot Nicole Malachowski, the first female member of the famed Thunderbirds acrobatic flying team.

• The premise for all my deck calculations: a deck is 2.5m + 0.5m for EPS cables, power cables, ... = 3m height for a deck. 
• My calculations follow a purely mathematical approach. I do not compare bridge modules or disk heights with each other. I always pull in decks based on the rows of windows and then calculate a physically plausible room height.

schematic by Starship Collection

The ship has 11 decks.
After calculating the decks, this results in a length of 277.0m. The official size of the ship is correct.

The size of the USS Europa NCC-1648 - Nimitz Class

The USS Europa NCC-1648 was a 23rd century Federation Nimitz class starship operated by Starfleet under the command of Admiral Brett Anderson. In 2256, the Europa was one of the nearest Federation starships sent to rendezvous with the USS Shenzhou‎ following contact with an unidentified Klingon vessel during the Battle of the Binary Stars.

• The premise for all my deck calculations: a deck is 2.5m + 0.5m for EPS cables, power cables, ... = 3m height for a deck. 
• My calculations follow a purely mathematical approach. I do not compare bridge modules or disk heights with each other. I always pull in decks based on the rows of windows and then calculate a physically plausible room height.

After calculating the decks, this results in a length of 522.7m.

The Starship Collection magazine specifies a length of 383.3m. This seems very small due to the many windows of the USS Europa (25 decks). Then the decks of the ship would only have a height of 2.2m (including 0,5m EPS cables,...). That would result in an efficient room height of only 1.7m.

screenshot by trekcore.com (DIS: "Battle at the Binary Stars")

With this small length, the shuttle bay would shrink as well.

screenshot by trekcore.com (DIS: "Battle at the Binary Stars")

How long is the Enterprise NCC-1701 from Discovery?

The USS Enterprise NCC-1701 was a 23rd century Federation Constitution class starship. Captain Christopher Pike commanded the Enterprise from the early 2250s into the 2260s. In 2257, Captain Pike on the Enterprise sent out a priority 1 distress call that was received by the USS Discovery while en route to Vulcan. The Enterprise rendezvoused with the Discovery after they dropped out of warp.

• The premise for all my deck calculations: a deck is 2.5m + 0.5m for EPS cables, power cables, ... = 3m height for a deck. 
• My calculations follow a purely mathematical approach. I do not compare bridge modules or disk heights with each other. I always pull in decks based on the rows of windows and then calculate a physically plausible room height.

schematic by Starship Collection

The episode's screenshot clearly shows that Captain Pike's Enterprise is not over-sized. The ship fits well in the well-known Star Trek universe (with the placement and size of the windows) with 22 decks.

screencapture by trekcore.com (DIS "Will You Take My Hand?")

With a deck height of 3m, a length of 376.4m is calculated for the Enterprise. It is slightly larger than the Enterprise from TOS (289m).

With the impression of the size of the main shuttle bay from the battle with Section 31 (seen in  Season 2), you can see well that the shuttle bay must have a height of three decks.

screencapture by cygnus-x1.net (DIS: "Such Sweet Sorrow, Part II")

The size of the Vulcan Cruiser from Star Trek Discovery

The Vulcan cruiser was a type of small starship used by the Vulcans in the 23rd century. It was capable of landing on a planetary surface.

The Starship Collection magazine indicates a length of 142m for the Vulcan Cruiser. This seems surprisingly big in relation to what you see in the DIS episode "Lethe".

screencapture by startrekvulcanology.blogspot (DIS "Lethe")

Sarek is 1.81m tall. Applying this size on the side view of the Vulcan Cruiser, then you get a length of 43.35m for the ship.

schematic by Starship Collection

Considering that the ship can land and can be flown by only one person, this seems much more plausible than 142m.

Due to the height of 1.81m I have drawn a normal room height of 2.5m. This fits very well with the visual appearance of the cockpit and implies that the shuttle could have two decks.

screenshot by memory-alpha.fandom.com (DIS: "Lethe")

screenshot by memory-alpha.fandom.com (DIS: "Lethe")

The size of the U.S.S. Discovery from Star Trek Discovery

The USS Discovery NCC-1031 was a 23rd century Federation Crossfield-class starship, under the command of Captain Gabriel Lorca.

• The premise for all my deck calculations: a deck is 2.5m + 0.5m for EPS cables, power cables, ... = 3m height for a deck.
• My calculations follow a purely mathematical approach. I do not compare bridge modules or disk heights with each other. I always pull in decks based on the rows of windows and then calculate a physically plausible room height.

In my first calculation, I used the deck height based on the promotion image of CBS. However, I later realized that this must contain wrong proportions, because there are not enough decks left to match the rows of windows.

picture by CBS

If so, the middle section of the discus would only have one deck. Then there would be missing intermediate decks!

Crossfield Class CGI by Starship Collection

schematic by Starship Collection

schematic by Starship Collection

With this information I have calculated a length of 750.5m. The officially announced size of the ship is therefore correct! Of course, the length mainly results from the overlong warp nacelles.

The size of the ship is also reflected in the size of the bridge, which extends over one and a half decks (a human is between 1.80 and 2.00 meters tall). Commander Michael Burnham (actress Sonequa Martin-Green) is 1.64m tall.

screencap by trekcore.com

foto by fotographer Caitlin Cronenberg

The size of the U.S.S. Shenzhou from Star Trek Discovery

The USS Shenzhou NCC-1227 was a 23rd century Federation Walker-class starship, under the command of Captain Philippa Georgiou. (DIS: "The Vulcan Hello")

• The premise for all my deck calculations: a deck is 2.5m + 0.5m for EPS cables, power cables, ... = 3m height for a deck.
• My calculations follow a purely mathematical approach. I do not compare bridge modules or disk heights with each other. I always pull in decks based on the rows of windows and then calculate a physically plausible room height.

From the TV-Show we know that the ship has 15 decks.
This is the side view of the USS Shenzhou:

schematic by Starship Collection

Because the USS Shenzhou is a 23rd-century ship, it does not have Jefferie's tubes between the decks.
The size of the ship is also reflected in the size of the bridge, which extends over one and a half decks (a human is between 1.80 and 2.00 meters tall). The area of the bridge extends over the height of one deck.

foto by Aaron Baiers

For the calculation I used the blueprint of the bridge of the USS Shenzhou. Using a height of 1.80m for a human, this results in a height of 3.39m for the Shenzhou's viewscreen.

special features BluRay Star Trek Discovery Season 1

Because of my purely mathematical approach to calculate the sizes of the Starfleet vessels with a deck height of 3m, we also get exactly the visual impressions in the show. The lines through the bridge deck (red lines deck 12 to be seen on the side view) are not quite enough over the viewsreen because this is bigger than 3.00m (it's 3.39m).

schematic by Starship Collection

Therefore, this results in a length of 423.4m for the USS Shenzhou.

This is one of the few examples where the official length of the ship coincides with the mathematical "real" ones.

STAR TREK Size Comparison Charts - Shuttles Part 2

Here is the part 2 of my Shuttle Size Chart Project.

PS: A special thank (and all copyright) for the picture material to: John Eaves, Drex Files, Star Trek Fact Files and Star Trek The Magazine, Starship Collection Magazine and The Light Works.

Size calculations:

Shuttle ARGO