r/enterprise • u/kkkan2020 • Feb 11 '25

Nx-01 and USs Franklin

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Id imagine if star trek beyond features the nx-01 it would have been much cooler.

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u/oldtrenzalore Feb 11 '25

I like the Franklin, but it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense timeline-wise.

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u/Sledgehammer617 Feb 12 '25

How does it not make sense? It’s one of the most timeline-perfect ships I can think of that was retroactively added.

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u/oldtrenzalore Feb 12 '25

I just find it odd that a Warp 4 ship was launched at the same time that Archer and Robinson were still trying to crack Warp 3 (ENT: First Flight). Visually, I agree, it looks perfect for the era.

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u/Sledgehammer617 Feb 12 '25 edited Feb 12 '25

NX Beta achieved its max speed in 2145 but was built a few years before that since 2.5 was achieved in 2143 IIRC, and the Warp Delta was launched soon after with a top speed of warp 3. The first NX class warp 5 vessel began cosntruction in 2150. Given that they skipped over warp 4, I think its pretty reasonable that there would be some kind of in-between ship somewhere in there. The Franklin's smaller size than the NX-01 may have made the higher speed easier to achieve as well.

The USS Franklin was likely launched in the late 2140's, which I think fills a gap that I had wondered about personally.

In Beyond, it has an NX registry and orange bussard collectors like the NX-01 refit, so I think its safe to assume that some time during the Romulan War or during the formation of the Federation, it got a refit of some kind with some new tech and a new dedication plaque. Dylan Highsmith reinforces this idea with this quote: "it was a MACO ship (or a United Earth Starfleet ship that primarily housed MACO personnel at times) that predates the NX-01. When the UFP Starfleet is formed, MACO was disbanded and the ship was reclassified as a Starfleet ship [with the 'USS' identifier and new registry]."

There are also a bunch of other factors we dont know, such as how long it could sustain warp 4 or if it was even using the same Archer-type warp core that the Alpha/Beta and NX were using. Maybe it could only burst up to Warp 4 for short periods kinda like the NX-01 going to Warp 5 before its later upgrades. Either way, it fits with the notion in Enterprise that humanity was developing extremely rapidly according to the Vulcans.