# The Enterprise VS. Star-Destroyer **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 20, 2011, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-enterprise-vs-star-destroyer/568274 "2011-01-20T02:32:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![noobzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/54ee81/32.png) [@noobzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/noobzilla)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-enterprise-vs-star-destroyer/568274/1 "2011-01-20T02:32:35Z")
[http://robotics.caltech.edu/~mason/ramblings/starTrekVsStarWars.html](http://robotics.caltech.edu/~mason/ramblings/starTrekVsStarWars.html) Very well written article and I’m going to agree with the author. The Enterprise could bring a Star-Destroyer to it’s knees. Anyone care to disagree? ಠ\_ಠ ---
**Author:** ![Kilmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a6a055/32.png) [@Kilmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilmore)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-enterprise-vs-star-destroyer/568274/2 "2011-01-20T02:41:58Z")
Not with the ending but with the method. The Enterprise could just shoot a hole through the shields and transport a bunch of photon torpedoes to the Star Destroyer’s Reactor Core. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Credible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-enterprise-vs-star-destroyer/568274/3 "2011-01-20T02:42:42Z")
What kind of range does a Star Destroyer have on its weaponry? I think they could vaporize the Enterprise before they could get in close enough to transport aboard. I think it pretty much comes down to who gets in the first strike. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-enterprise-vs-star-destroyer/568274/4 "2011-01-20T02:45:27Z")
I’ll side with the Empire. All the Star Destroyer has to do is flee until the next episode (ie 46 minutes), when Kirk and company will have forgotten all about whatever they learned previously. The Enterprise is then a sitting duck to TIE fighters and turbo lasers. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-enterprise-vs-star-destroyer/568274/5 "2011-01-20T02:47:02Z")
Is it 2000 again already? [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=23098](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=23098) [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=42663](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=42663) ---
**Author:** ![Kilmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a6a055/32.png) [@Kilmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilmore)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-enterprise-vs-star-destroyer/568274/6 "2011-01-20T02:47:58Z")
Range is irrelevant. The Star Destroyer’s guns are aimed by Imperial troopers. The Enterprise’s are aimed by Pavel Chekov. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Credible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-enterprise-vs-star-destroyer/568274/7 "2011-01-20T02:49:49Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I’ll side with the Empire. All the Star Destroyer has to do is flee until the next episode (ie 46 minutes), when Kirk and company will have forgotten all about whatever they learned previously. The Enterprise is then a sitting duck to TIE fighters and turbo lasers. Heheh. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-enterprise-vs-star-destroyer/568274/8 "2011-01-20T03:37:20Z")
Make human-cyborg [relations](http://botropolis.com/wp-content/uploads/andr.jpg), not war. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-enterprise-vs-star-destroyer/568274/9 "2011-01-20T03:58:39Z")
Star Wars fans at this point bring out something called Incredible Cross Sections (ICS), point out that it’s officially canon, and that it claims that turbolasers have a yield of 200 _giga_tons. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-enterprise-vs-star-destroyer/568274/10 "2011-01-20T04:02:55Z")
> [@Kilmore](#): > > Range is irrelevant. The Star Destroyer’s guns are aimed by Imperial troopers. The Enterprise’s are aimed by Pavel Chekov. Okay then (since your opening line is to blame for the following): Death Star vs. Borg Cube. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-enterprise-vs-star-destroyer/568274/11 "2011-01-20T04:09:22Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Star Wars fans at this point bring out something called Incredible Cross Sections (ICS), point out that it’s officially canon, and that it claims that turbolasers have a yield of 200 _giga_tons. I think they included this in the canon specifically so they could point to it in the case of a Star Wars vs Star Trek debate. So I guess you could say it’s a case of _Chekov’s Gun_. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-enterprise-vs-star-destroyer/568274/12 "2011-01-20T04:21:06Z")
> [@Kilmore](#): > > Not with the ending but with the method. The Enterprise could just shoot a hole through the shields and transport a bunch of photon torpedoes to the Star Destroyer’s Reactor Core. Has there ever been anything written or produced for the Star Trek universe where anyone has actually done that? If it never occurs to them to do it to a Bird of Prey, I don’t see them suddenly figuring it out against an Imperial SD. Anyway, ignoring dramatic convention (so we can disregard the “Good Guys Always Win” factor) I put my money squarely on the Imperials. The Enterprise is a multi-purposed science vessel/diplomatic courier/interstellar daycare center that happens to have some big-ass guns welded to it. An Imperial Star Destroyer was designed from the ground up with one purpose: to kill the shit out of anything that gets in its ways. The Enterprise is crewed with people dedicated to the idea that violence should be a last resort, and that a peaceful relationship with any sophont is possible. The Imperials are Nazis turned to eleven. And, I think most important, a Star Destroyer isn’t just a battleship, it’s an aircraft carrier. The Imperials have an advanced understanding of fighter doctrine as applied to outer space. The Federation doesn’t even have any fighters, and no apparent anti-fighter defenses on its ships. The Enterprise would be cut to ribbons by wave after wave of TIE Bombers before it could ever get within torpedo range. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-enterprise-vs-star-destroyer/568274/13 "2011-01-20T04:46:34Z")
The E-D is the only Enterprise (or Starfleet ship) that qualifies for “interstellar daycare center”. Every other ship we’ve seen, including its immediate successor, has not had family or children aboard. Also, Starfleet does have fighters – the Peregrine class – but they don’t use them much. ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-enterprise-vs-star-destroyer/568274/14 "2011-01-20T04:53:11Z")
I’d say a Galaxy, Sovereign, or even a Defiant class ship would have no trouble defeating a Star Destroyer. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-enterprise-vs-star-destroyer/568274/15 "2011-01-20T06:24:52Z")
> [@Justin\_Credible](#): > > What kind of range does a Star Destroyer have on its weaponry? I think they could vaporize the Enterprise before they could get in close enough to transport aboard. I think it pretty much comes down to who gets in the first strike. In the Star Wars universe FTL travel is in hyperspace, where you can’t see what is going on. In the ST universe FTL travel is done by warping space - so the Enterprise is multiple times faster than a star destroyer. They could use the tactic Picard invented to get the Star Destroyer to shoot at its image while the actual ship is in warp and blows it up from much closer. It is also not clear that a Star Destroyer’s screens would stop a transporter. So, I vote for the Enterprise. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-enterprise-vs-star-destroyer/568274/16 "2011-01-20T06:35:50Z")
It seems like a “run n’ gun” method might work best for the Enterprise. Jumping to hyperspace seems like such a big process for big ships, and it doesn’t seem to be as fast as Warp Speeds. The Enterprise can quickly zip in, take a bunch of shots until the heat gets too much, and then run away. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-enterprise-vs-star-destroyer/568274/17 "2011-01-20T07:00:58Z")
It does not matter what kind of armaments and defenses the Star Destroyer has, if Kirk’s shirt is ripped, it’s game over, man … game over! ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-enterprise-vs-star-destroyer/568274/18 "2011-01-20T07:26:44Z")
Captain Kirk’s Enterprise? Could be a toss up. Depends on whether or not Scotty is givin’ her all she’s got, Captain!. If the Star Destroyer has a rare female commander, they’ve already lost. Between Kirk and Spock, no female on the show has been shown to be above the influence. Picard’s Enterprise? The Flying Day Care Center? Assuming Picard wasn’t able to use his high Charisma stats to just convince the Imperial theyd be better off leaving, he’d probably end up coming out on top, I would think. The TIEs would be a minor nuisance for Mr. Worf to dispatch with phasers (Ent D has quite a bit more firepower than the original Enterprise did, she’s shown to have almost full phaser coverage within the show itself). If they figure out where the shield generators are (or their cooling towers, or whatever the water towers that appear to be somehow connected to the shields in RotJ are, the fight ends a lost faster. As for beaming torpedoes into the enemy ship? Depends on if we’re watching the show or reading the books. Starfleet seems to get a _lot_ less principled and a _lot_ more pragmatic in a life-or-death situation in the books. One book had Mr. Data sticking a live Photon Grenade on a Jem’Ha’Dar trooper just as he was beaming back to his ship, the same book had the crew beaming a Romulan boarding party off the ship. Not very far off the ship, just to the other side of the hull. Basically, in the books, Starfleet fights about like how the Air Force does on Stargate SG1 (remember: It’s not fighting dirty if you win :D) ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-enterprise-vs-star-destroyer/568274/19 "2011-01-20T07:29:13Z")
I submit that the Emporer’s elite personal guards are all wearing redshirts, this does not bode well. ---
**Author:** ![History\_Mystery\_and\_the\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/53a042/32.png) [@History\_Mystery\_and\_the\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/History_Mystery_and_the_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-enterprise-vs-star-destroyer/568274/20 "2011-01-20T08:09:36Z")
Given that both vessels posses arbitrary shields, weapons, speeds and durability, I just don’t think we’re going to get a definitive answer 😛 Anyway, since I see no reason why the Star Destroyer’s weapons (they can perform orbital bombardment, I believe, so they must be long ranged and powerful), shielding (it exists, and I don’t know of any reason to believe it is any different to federation shielding: it might just be more passive, or Star Wars weaponry much more powerful) and ability to zoom (why do we think that hyperspace \< warp speed? Star Wars ships pootle around the galaxy, far, far away just fine) would be inferior, I’m happy to give the win to the ship that’s much, much larger. Edit: on the shield issue, I’m happy to assume that Star Destroyer shielding is able to prevent it the same way Star Trek shields do. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-enterprise-vs-star-destroyer/568274.md?page=2)