Ship sizes in Trek have always been a bit ambiguous (at least before Voyager) and Trek enthusiasts have had to make due with using side-by-side comparisons and angular shots from the shows to extrapolate dimensions. Since the advent of good CG, this has become less of an issue (JJ Trek aside
). However, the ship that gets the most attention for its size is the Defiant class. There are estimates that range from 120m to just over 200. That's a fair gap even for TrekLore which is positively fuzzy on dimensions, anyway.
I propose that as Trek fans (and hardcore ones, at that
) WE come up with the dimensions that we wish it to be. After all, the old Trek canon has become obsolete, to an extent. So we can come up with any number we wish the Defiant to be, and hold it at that. I believe that since Trek canon is now going out the window (thanks to JJ), fans of the original timeline of Trek can stipulate the terms of what was and continue the original vein of the series as we see fit.
As it stands, the dimensions of the Defiant can have been put forth as:
120.5026 meters
170.8068 meters
200.0000 meters
These are what Saquist has extrapolated, and he has done (by far) the most intense study of the Defiant that I have yet seen.
Mark, I don't mean to hijack your thread, but I would consider this a perfect time to have a real debate on the dimensions of the class and have a concise and concrete decision on the subject. Perhaps this could be carried over to the
Saquist thread for the purposes of cohesiveness. I'm not looking for arguments on the subject, just a plain basic vote.