The BUDGET Galaxy-class - Nebula-class - Star Trek Starships Explained 

I love the "hatchback" versions of the Starfleet capital ships. Miranda, Centaur, Nebula, Parliament are all pretty cool ships to me.

Nebula class appears about the same mass, just without the 'neck.' This actually makes for a more efficient shield bubble than Galaxy.

This is one of my all time favorite star ship classes. It's amazing! I would have loved a Star Trek series with this class as the main hero ship.

The Nebula was an efficient and capable starship and battle cruiser that made good use of every corridor. The Galaxy on the other hand, was meant to be a testbed for the Federations new tech, and to be a deterrent for war with the Klingons. The Galaxy was oversized for the role of a mere explorer. A good majority of the ship was undeveloped in case of mission specific roles(most of which never appeared.) The Nebula was the better of the two in terms of operational success.(love this ship!) 😁

One of my favorite ships. I like that it's more compact than the galaxy plus the modular pod, it can be made more suited for pretty much any kind of mission.

In the episode where this ship premiered as the USS Phoenix it was able to cause devastation on par with the Defiant and likely could've put up a pretty good fight against the Enterprise. It's hardly a "budget version" anymore than the Reliant was to the original Enterprise.

I've always had a thing for a more compact style of ship in Trek. The Defiant, Akira, Saber, Steamrunner, Nebula, Luna and even Sovereign classes have always been my favourites because of their layouts.

I generally thought of the Nebula class as the Galaxy series equivalent to the Miranda class in comparison to the Constitution class - a smaller, more combat focussed vessel featuring a lower crew allocation and the capacity to fit mission specific modules.

For me, the Nebula-class is to the Galaxy-class as Miranda-class is to Constitution-class.

All the benefits of a galaxy class without saucer separation. Probably a little faster and greater range too given less mass but the same engine and nacelles. I bet they have a 10 Forward too.

The Nebula-class has always been one of my favorite ships. It might look a squished Galaxy-class. But it looks better proportioned compared to the Galaxy's large head on a small body.

Nebula is basically the same mass and displacement as the Galaxy, just a different configuration.

god i love the nebula class, shes just a more efficient galaxy class, even more of the firepower and monsterous shielding capabilities and without the neck those shields are even MORE effecient. i really really wish we could get one as a hero ship, even if it were just a miniseries spinoff id take it gladly. :3

Always had a soft spot for the Reliant-esque ships of Trek. The Miranda, Nebula, Norway, and most of all the Akira. 'Twas a joy for me to have seen the Nebula the first time on "the Wounded" and later on in "Redemption".

Nebula is just a slightly smaller Galaxy. It's modular pod makes it more useful IMO. There's a reason there's so many refit Sutherland types in Picard.

The better way to think about it is: Nebula is your standard Impreza. Galaxy Class is WRX/STI. One is a workhorse. One is for showoff, speed, performance.

I thought the Melbourne from WOLF 359 was an Excelsior class, the same that delivered Commander Shelby and Admiral Hansen to the Enterprise-D and then left with the Admiral back on board.

The Nebula is my all time favorite Starfleet ship, and I loved the Sutherland class when it came out. If I was in Starfleet, I'd captain one

I love the Nebula Class, Great design

Never understood the idea that this was inferior to the Galaxy. More compact means that it should have better shield and warp efficiency, as well as having the modular design that brings forth the potential for way better weapon/sensor possibly.

One of my favorite ships in Star Trek Online. For fun, I often refer to the ship in the game as "A galaxy ship that wasn't fast enough when the ESD (Earth Space Dock) closed the door."

I used to have a forum RP back in the day that used a nebula with the cheese wedge converted into a fighter hanger. It also sacrifice some of the interal facilities around the main shuttle bay to increase capacity. I want to say we tried to keep it to holding a dozen fighters plus support facilities, extra crew...

Rumour has it you were spotted buying several Horga'hn at the gift shop.

Nebula Class was the first ST ship I ever fell in love with.

I believe she was the most produced class of the 24th century. She cost 10 percent less in resources than a galaxy class. I thought the Lemington was destroyed during the dominion war. ( dialogue) off screen

The Nebula-class is a ship that I think is visually appealing to look at, with an equal measure of grace and bulk to it's structure. If a Nebula-class was either my first assignment or first command, I'd be very happy and consider myself lucky.

One of my favorites! I was beyond excited as a kid to get the MicroMachines version of the Farragut. Still one of my favorites to use when my kids play with them.

Pretty sure Hansen commanded a Galaxy class at Wolf 359 per the script and the battle bridge shown in the episode.

The huge advantage of the Nebula class is that top module is removable. So you can swap that module out easily and quickly at SpaceDock. So you could grab a warfare module full of torpedoes or heavily built out sensor module for spying on the Romulans. Even better, when upgrades come out you just swap the module, instead of having to sit in a dock for months sending engineers into the ship and upgrading inplace. Of course that doesn't upgrade the rest of the Nebula but it's something

Space Pizza cutter FTW!

To me, the Nebula class has always been to the Galaxy class what the Miranda class was to the Constitution class.

Basically, the Nebula-class is the Miranda-class configuration of a Galaxy-class, just like how the Centaur-class is the Miranda-class configuration of an Excelsior-class, or the Luna-class is the Miranda-class configuration of a Sovereign-class.

Wasnt the melbourne a Excelsior class?

I always loved the Nebula class. They are my favorite ship class in Bridge Commander.

1 detail about the Nebula Class, that I've heard, is that there's a configuration that allows it to dock with a separated saucer section and transport it, at warp, to a StarBase. This makes a lot of sense to me. And would explain why a Nebula Class was sent to recover the Enterprise crew at the end of ST: Generations. The final season of ST: Picard would seem to validate this as a possibility.

The ending of Picard S3 wouldve been totally different if that was the only stardrive section available to Geordi 😂

One of my favorite ships. One of my Alien Captains in STO use it almost exclusively. It's chonky, it's cute, but most importantly - it wants to have a little snacc. ( _And also the ship I favor picking in Starfleet Command III_ )

If I were to command a Nebula class starship it would be the "Chesse wedge" and I call it the USS Ashville.

I main the Sutherland class, the 2410's variant from Star Trek Online (and made canon in Picard) and the mission pod I use is a round one that is basically a fusion of the both the triangle pod and the round pod from the Nebula. I fluffed it that it is a sensors-and-missile pod

nebula class has the nice features from the galaxy without the hideous neck, AND it has modular bits. Perfect

Good to hear from you Adam! As, for what Battleship Agincourt, I agree fully!

I was hoping to hear about the Endeavor the nebula class U.S.S. Endeavor NCC-71085 from the lore she had been assigned to the battle groups at wolf 359 and sector 001 but I'm sure that is just an oversight.

this ship was designed to be a galaxy style Miranda ...

I knew the Melbourne wasn't a Galaxy class Starship. But i am glad i found out it was a Nebula Class Starship.

The Nebula Class also seemed to be a sort of "rapid build" battleship if needed. Galaxy Class firepower and power output, but on a more lean and mean design. It's good design sense, take what makes the Galaxy distinctive (it's capricious saucer section) and put a short, easy to produce, and easy to reconfigure drive frame which also gives a smaller profile to enemy sensors. In fact, if Admiral Pressman's "phase cloak" had been allowed, the Nebula would have been a good candidate for a battle ready starship, a sort of greater advancement of the old Ares Class commanded by Captains like the tactical genius Garth of Izar. A phase cloak, a ship with the firepower of a Galaxy, and you would have a ship that would genuinely give the Romulans, the Dominion and even the Breen and Cardassians pause. Excellent presentation!!

Yay. Two Lt Commander Adam videos! He might be back, folks! Lt Commander Adam Ship reviews are back, I hope!

Ah the Nebula. Always loved the underslung nacelle designs and this is my favourite!

Fun fact; the Phoenix-style superstructure wasn't meant as a variant of the ship; it was never seen again because the shows crew hated how it looked and felt it "didn't fit" the ship, resulting in it being flat-out _replaced_ by the triangular version. Making the existence of the triangular version likely to be a retcon.

Nebula Class with the cheesewedge please! TNG Era... Such a gorgeous ship

You forgot that 4 nebula class ships can be seen at the battles of chintaka and sacrifice of angels in deep space 9

In the video games Star Trek: Armada and Star Trek: Armada II, the Nebula-class is depicted as a "science ship"; that is, it has four special weapons where other ship classes have just one. The special weapons allow the Nebula-class to disrupt enemy shields, destroy incoming torpedoes, temporarily duplicate an allied ship, or send an engineering team to an allied ship or station to repair its systems.

Love the disappearing damaged saucer at 14:06

I'd prefer a 'cheese-wedge' named the Quixote, the ship Star Fleet assigns to verify far-fetched and likely bogus reports of mysterious sightings and unknown cosmic wonders that the more major vessels can't be bothered with. Most of the crew assigned to me would probably be there because they've gotten in trouble on other ships and this is their last strike.

*Using Smith voice*: MIIIIIIIISTER Adam! Welcome back, we.......missed you. In all seriousness welcome back I actually missed hearing your voice for these videos. For which particular version of the Nebula class I like .... I prefer the one with the weapons pod like the Sutherland has...or had...? I will admit every time I reference the term "star drive", I always reference in my head to what you say... "Poor star drive" lol. I can't get it out of my head now. Anyways glad you had a fun time on vacation. Everyone needs one now and then.

I like how the rounded pod version on the phoenix looks like an AWACS so id choose one of those. Name it something like Zephyr or Sol

Anyone else had the thought about a Nebula class with a heavy weapons pod? Like two PPC or other cannons

Nebula class has always rocked! Respect its versatility!

The layout on the nebbie's makes more sense than the galaxies.

I always assumed that the Nebula’s were not su much a “budget Galaxy” as they were a more “Mission Modular” multi role ship built using the same basic tech and design elements as the Long Range Deep Space explorer Galaxy Class. The Nebula’s weren’t meant to go quite as far afield, but could be easily equipped to do highly specific tasks. They would likely follow after the Galaxy’s. After the Enterprise discovered something new or interesting a Nebula would be dispatched with much more task specific scientific and survey gear to fully map it out. Galaxy’s were the broad explorers. Nebula’s were the long range deep examination ships. Depending on what sort of mission pod they carried.

I never understood why the Phaser array runs the same arc length as the Galaxy right over Nacelles, the same goes for the top array running the full arc when the platform is there. Why keep the shuttle bay behind the bridge when it's not easily accessible in front of the giant thick-neck pylon just right behind it, there seems to be a shuttle bay right in the very back below the platform.

Nebula Class is a Miranda of the Galaxy, so why didn't people hate on the Miranda? (they probably did but idk)

It looks to be a more battle-worthy and rugged design than the Galaxy class. That it used many parts in common with the Galaxy class was a definite advantage, The only problem that I can see is the fact that the lower phaser strip is blocked in part by the warp nacelles. Overall a more compact design with much the same, if not identical power as the Galaxy. Therefore, one wonders why, if not a vehicle built more for combat when the Galaxies were admittedly built for exploration and research. That raised "sensor pod "structure was easily the size of some of the early starships and could easily mount an incredible array of weaponry similar to the torpedo launcher installation on the later Akiras. This was not the bargain basement Galaxy. This was Starfleet producing the warship that the Galaxy was not. Internally, it was undoubtedly more a warship and less a travelling classroom. Certainly less of a "civilian" component to the crew. I like the design.

It's not even a "budget" Galaxy class. It's literally a Galaxy class folded-up to save space, and in that respect the design actually makes _more_ sense than a Galaxy class. Plus it has that interchangeable mission module on top, which is cool.

Oh it probably wasn’t important it’s the frickin enterprise dude

Imo a Nebula with the sensor/utility pod should have a far greater mass than any Galaxy despite the absence of a 'neck'

I always thought the "cheese wedge" weapons pod should have been able to fire, like, 20 photon torpedoes at once. Also, what's with the disappearing debris from the Wolf 359 scene?

Not sure why but I prefer the look of the Miranda class over the Constitution class and the Nebula class over the Galaxy class. It may just be the compactness of the ships and the necks of the Constitution and Galaxy classes that I am not a fan of.

There's something to be said for being a bit less of a target. Yeah, the Nebula isn't perfect, and pushes the 'line of sight' nacelle rule to the breaking point, but I remember it as THE truly modern alternative Starfleet ship. There certainly do seem to be more of them than the Galaxy, which does suggest that they are a more cost effective version. If we'd seen New Orleans class ships in action first, then that class might have more love now, possibly at the expense of the Nebula. The fact that just appearing in action brought it appeal might seem unfair, but otherwise we just kept seeing Miranda and Excelsior (and the ever doomed Oberth) ships, which resulted in the conception of Starfleet having done little in its Lost Period, but largely building and maintaining ships from the previous century; yes, there was the Constellation Class, thankfully, but, again, its Motion Picture era nacelles marked it as an old ship. It was nice to see a Galaxy class level design that wasn't a Galaxy class. Squished or not, I remember it as being visually appealing, AWAC dish and all, which made perfect sense for "The Wounded". If Maxwell hadn't scored a ship with such good sensors, would his vendetta had even happened? I thought the Nebula appearance in "Generations" was a key moment, one of the rescuing ships NOT being a Galaxy, but still having that glorious Galaxy (Platter) primary hull. It was a visual cue that despite the loss of the Federation flagship, that the modern Starfleet continued. (if only a New Orleans could have appeared there alongside it, instead of a tiny Oberth and the much used Miranda!).

I have the unpopular opinion that Nebulas are the battleship version of the Galaxy battlecruisers - not as fast but even stronger shields and less speed.

Okay - Yes I would love to be in command of a Ship, USS Vision NCC-64137 - Nebula Class Refit, Dominion War variant. Specialty in Intelligence. However, in Star Trek Online - the Monitor variant, with the extra hangar deck would be an awesome choice. Swap them out prior to your next mission--super modular and flexible. Nebula may be a 'budget Galaxy-Class' - I think of it as a Buick vs. a Cadillac; both built with similar bodies, from the same maker - just different packages. One's more expensive, but carries all the same items - with extras. Whereas the Nebula (Buick) would be the one that would be for more flexible options, same engine, slightly different layout, smaller, more maneuverable, than the Galaxy-Class (Cadillac) as it has all the bells and whistles, on a larger degree than the Nebula, but in that, I would still choose the Nebula. The Nebula is like the 24th century version of the Miranda Class. Since it uses the Galaxy Class setup (at least for the saucer section, you could virtually have any bridge lay out you want--Galaxy Class-Style (Generations), any variant of the TNG bridge, a lot of the same things available on the Galaxy would be available on the Nebula. Too many Battle - Pancake references are running through my head. However, I love the Nebula Class; second to the Defiant, this is my favorite design. Thank you for this post, much appreciated!

Note: Andrew Probert (TNG ship designer) once said on Trek Yards that the Nebula class was developed from a concept of a saucer recovery vessel for the galaxy class, should a galaxy class ship's drive section not be present or functional, I guess.

Merrymack and monitor. Those were the names of the two first ironclad warships. Us civil war. One was union the other confederatcy.

Okay, I admit it...the "Dorito pod" was good.

I love this ship! One of my personal favorites from the TNG era. I often hoped we'd get to spend more time aboard one, since they seemed to be so common in the TNG era fleet.

I get the feeling Adam say poor star Drive 🙏❤

hey trek central I love the work u do keep it up my friend😊

Nebula class always reminded me off the Miranda Class. With the Pod above the saucer and nacelles below

Ah yes the Nebula or as I like to call it "the world's greatest kitbash". You know as a kid watching "The Wounded" for the first time I remember them mentioning the Phoenix for the first time and thinking "oh great I wonder if this will be a Miranda or Excelsior" then being pleasantly surprised when the Nebula showed up.

I love this one. It just gets stuff done.

Mom can we get a Galaxy Class? No we have a Galaxy Class at home. Galaxy class at home:

It always perplexes me that they use the Battle-Bridge set for the Nebula class bridge. It is so clear that the primary hull is taken directly from the Galaxy, it would make so much more sense to re-use the Enterprise-D bridge.

It looks like a far more practical version of the Galaxy class. The long, narrow necks of so many ships do not make sense.

The Nebula is a fighting man’s Galaxy class. The negative space between the Galaxy’s nacelles makes it’s drive system significantly more efficient, but the compact hull configuration of the Nebula is both more physically resilient and allows for a more compact and effective shield arrangement. Add on the triangular tactical pod and the Nebula can easily out fight the Galaxy.

I actually prefer the Nebula over the Galaxy🫣. And I currently fly the Sutherland upgrade in Star Trek Online (the carrier version), love it to bits

Yeah, the Nebula Class (FTP TEMU) was militarily listed as a "Torpedo/ Gun Frigate, or a Heavy Assault Frigate ...) It was listed online and in a couple of books...

Why is it, when listening to Lieutenant Commander Adam, I see Captain Morgan Bateson (Fraser Crane) (Kelsey Grammer) ?

If it's the cheapest ship why can't they make newer versions of galaxy class?

Subjectively it might not look as impressive or "sexy" as a Galaxy, but Imho it would make a superior choice for most role applications. 1. As an exploration vessel it has that big "sciencey" pod array thingy which would therefore offer a far superior insight into whatever it happens to be scanning or searching for as it explores new frontiers. 2. The compact design arguably makes it more agile which is good for many combat and non-combat situations plus it physically fits places a Galaxy doesn't lol. And God knows Star Trek loves to add episodes with tight spaces for Starships to have to squeeze through! 3. That massive oversized pod was apparently interchangeable to other pod options depending on the role required. Again, this makes it a more role-flexible ship compared to the more limited role options for the Galaxy. 4. This superior role flexibility would give it a longer shelf life. 5. Regardless of looking smaller than a Galaxy, I'm not sure that it actually was in regards overall volume. The saucer appears to be grafted straight onto the hull, losing the "neck" section of the Galaxy. But what it loses in neck it appears to can in "arse" lol... plus the great big pod which is smaller, equal or bigger than the saucer of other Starships... almost like having two saucers.(and solar panels for extra extra cool 🤔🤣) 6. That rear shuttle/cargo bay looks considerably bigger than the Galaxy which means it can accommodate larger ships or more of whatever it's looking to carry. We can see how that would be a great advantage.

It's one of my favorites, I like the wedge shaped variant the most the "tactical pod" it I had to name it for some reason Endurance seems like the kind of name a Nebula class ship would have. I always picture them as the Hufflepuff of starships.

The cheese-wedge and I would name it "USS Lollipop"

4 Nacelle version likely operated in a 3 on 1 off configuration while at high warp, running with 1 main and 2 aux nacelles, 2 main, op main 2 nacelles... cycling through them to give each time to cool down. This would allow it to run farther, then just 2 nacelles. This would let it respond faster to situation with less risk of damage to the Nacelles due to overheat from prolonged warp runs.

The Nebula is the "modern" Miranda class. Take bits of the hero ship, rearrange, and "boom!", new ship. The weapons pod and smaller cross section means she is probably a better fighter than the Galaxy. It is let down by the stupid placement of the main shuttle bay.

I always think of the Nebula class as the Ford Ka to the Galaxy's Mondeo... smaller, cheaper but still a perfectly respectable vehicle, and it even comes with a roofrack as standard!

The Nebula class has the whole word soup of military buzzwords! MODULAR TACTICAL DYNAMIC lol

Always loved the Nebula class...a hatchback Galaxy class...😊

I happen to love Nebula class, it is my favourite of the Federation ship classes... weirdly enough.

I always looked at the Nebula like the V6 version of a sports car, almost the same but not quite the same. Also people do tend to bolt on things to their V6 to try to make it better like the pods lol

Could you do a segment on the archer class or have you done one already...thanks

It's probably slightly smaller - no interconnecting dorsal (which is actually quite chunky on the Galaxy) and the shorter secondary hull. Even taking into account the dorsal module. Even so, its gargantuan. I'd call mine the Arcadia, and it'd have the triangular pod

If I were to captain a Nebula class ship it would be the USS Cat's Eye, or the USS Eagle, or the USS Fox Fur, or the USS Tarantula. Basically anything fun that is also the name of a real nebula :)