




Hull materials Edit

Hull enhancements Edit

Structural integrity Edit


While standard architecture uses supports and bulkheads to make constructs stronger or more durable, the fantastic stresses presented by combat, warp fields and spatial phenomena have caused engineers in the Federation and other spacefaring species to use force fields to hold the shape of a construction together. This is referred to as a structural integrity field.






The same year the tractor beam of Deep Space 9 was able to stabilize the structural integrity of Tosk's ship. (DS9: "Captive Pursuit")



Hull stress Edit



Microfractures Edit

























Hull breach Edit

USS Enterprise-B hull breach

The USS Enterprise-B's extensively breached hull





Notable hull breaches Edit

Hull temperature Edit

The hull temperature was the temperature experienced on a starship's hull when exposed to extreme heat. It was one of many factors taken into account for establishing starship design parameters.

As Enterprise NX-01 approached a hypergiant in 2154, the ship could only get as close as about twenty thousand kilometers out, before the hull temperature approached 1,100 degrees. During this mission, they encountered a Vissian starship, which had a hull constructed with trinesium and allowed it to withstand temperatures up to 18,000°. (ENT: "Cogenitor")

As the USS Enterprise pursued a Denevan ship heading into the Denevan sun in 2267, Spock began noting the ship's outer hull temperature on approach beginning at 480°, before announcing the temperature was at 1,000° and rising, and that they were getting too close. (TOS: "Operation -- Annihilate!")

The following year, when the Enterprise was hijacked by the Kelvans and forced to travel across the galactic barrier, as they made contact with the object, Montgomery Scott warned that the outside hull temperatures had risen to over 2,000°. (TOS: "By Any Other Name")

In 2364, Geordi La Forge attempted to cajole a cloaked and hostile Echo Papa 607 unit out of hiding, while it and the USS Enterprise-D were in orbit of the planet Minos, by entering the ship's battle section into the planet's atmosphere. In doing so, Lian T'Su initially warned that the hull temperature was at 1000° and rising, prompting La Forge to request emergency power to the deflectors. When the hull temperature reached 2,500°, Worf warned that the ship's deflectors were nearing overload. After the hull temperature reached 3,000°, Worf warned that they were about to lose number four deflector, and at 3,300°, the same deflector became inoperative. (TNG: "The Arsenal of Freedom")

Later that year, the Enterprise responded to a distress call from the Ornaran freighter Sanction, which had lost helm control and began losing orbit. Upon arrivial, Worf observed that the freighter's hull temperature was passing 3,000°, some moments later, the freighter began to disintegrate as its' hull temperature approached critical. (TNG: "Symbiosis")

In Doctor Beverly Crusher's attempt to shake a pursuing Borg type 03 by hiding by a nearby sun, she requested that Taitt and Barnaby bring the metaphasic shielding program online so that they could enter the sun's corona. Prior to initializing the program, the Enterprise{'}s hull temperature was at 12,000°, and the radiation level was near 10,000 rads. After activing the program, the ship's hull temperature dropped to a more tolerable 7,000°. (TNG: "Descent, Part II")

When USS Voyager's outer hull temperature reached 9,000°, the ship's hull began to buckle. (VOY: "Scientific Method")

See also Edit

Appendices Edit

Background information Edit


External linkEdit