| Korvessa | 19 Aug 2014 9:34 p.m. PST |
If the Enterprise had enough ordinance spread out over the ship to self destruct, wouldn't any shot set that stuff off? Especially a ship that doesn't seem to meet even minimal OSHA standards? |
| MajorB | 20 Aug 2014 2:15 a.m. PST |
You don't need ordnance spread all over the ship. Just a suitable charge in the right place … |
| GarrisonMiniatures | 20 Aug 2014 3:04 a.m. PST |
Or a quick method of making the dilithium go critical. |
| David Manley | 20 Aug 2014 4:26 a.m. PST |
Maybe NATO's IM programme had progressed well by the 23rd century :) |
Gunfreak  | 20 Aug 2014 4:45 a.m. PST |
Ordinance is placed in the torpedo bay, noy all over the place. The phasers are energy and so is not ordiance. |
| Frederick | 20 Aug 2014 6:07 a.m. PST |
This raises once again the question that I have about the whole concept – why have a self-destruct at all? Seems counter-productive – especially if you can over-load the warp engines After all, it's not like naval vessels have anything like it (except maybe to scuttle the ship) |
| jpattern2 | 20 Aug 2014 6:48 a.m. PST |
Frederick, exactly, I always thought self-destruct was the deep-space version of scuttling a wet-navy ship.
Other than some type of complete self-destruct, how do you keep a ship, or even the critical components of a ship, like its weapons, out of the hands of the enemy?
Maybe overloading the warp engines isn't as reliable, or more easily reversed, or something. |
| boy wundyr x | 20 Aug 2014 8:01 a.m. PST |
The plot needs a big button, and sometimes for something to go wrong with the big button, so a big backup button too. |
| Gunfreak | 20 Aug 2014 8:25 a.m. PST |
Actualy in sevral episodes, the self destruct is infact an overload/detonation of the warp drive, it simply removed the magnetic confinment, so the mater anti mater gets fre range and boooom! |
 Parzival | 20 Aug 2014 8:39 a.m. PST |
As a nuclear engineer once told an anti-nuke nut at a public information meeting, "Lady, if an atomic bomb hits our city, the extra radiation released from this plant is the least thing you'll need to worry about." When the warp core goes "boom," it really doesn't matter what any remaining warheads do. |
 optional field | 20 Aug 2014 9:49 a.m. PST |
All well and true about the engine destroying the ship, but from what I remember of the actual scene where they do destroy the ship (was it ST III?) it seemed like there were many small charges all over the ship, not a single big boom. |
| Gunfreak | 20 Aug 2014 10:51 a.m. PST |
Well TOS is not the place to look for continuity! TNG and byond is much better at that. |
| jowady | 20 Aug 2014 12:55 p.m. PST |
Bismarck and other German Capitol ships carried scuttling charges. So by the way did German Tiger, King Tiger and Jagdtiger tanks. |
| RavenscraftCybernetics | 20 Aug 2014 1:30 p.m. PST |
dont forget, the hull is treated with Corbomite. |
| DsGilbert | 21 Aug 2014 7:03 a.m. PST |
ST:III should be ignored. There is so much wrong with that movie, soooo much. Asking about, self destruct buttons, is like asking why they had exploding bridge panels in the simulators. |
| Patrick Sexton | 21 Aug 2014 12:28 p.m. PST |
'Bismarck and other German Capitol ships carried scuttling charges. So by the way did German Tiger, King Tiger and Jagdtiger tanks.' Gotta like a mind set that designs in an acknowledgement of defeat. |
| capncarp | 24 Aug 2014 8:23 p.m. PST |
RavenscroftCybernetics: "dont forget, the hull is treated with Corbomite." Pity. If it were treated with Carbonite, you could get a complete restore in about a week! You just have to keep your account current and paid up! |
