[Yagami Crewman]

Thinking on the size of the ship and the number of shuttles present, Do you think she could have been a colony transport of some kind? Perhaps even bringing in colonists to the Tarsus IV colony.

[Enterprise NCC-1701-A]

i think maybe the kelvin was just one ship of her class. and i hope they name the ship class Kelvin Class.

[jtrek79]

long range scientific vessel like the uss equinox

[Thascales]

Colony ship, interesting idea. I really liked the Kelvin, and would love to know more about her (commission a Kelvin series plx Paramount :P).

[NCC-73515]

Survey vessel

[Lord Tribble]

USS Kelvin
Expendable class

crewed entirely by redshirts

[horatio]

Originally Posted by NCC-73515

Survey vessel

Seems pretty straightforward. Wasn't she near the Klingon border or did I mix up something?

[Yagami Crewman]

She WAS near the Klingon border but then we would expect SOME frontier colonies out there. And one source of the tension between the two powers. All Starfleet ships have SOME ability to conduct limited scientific research but the huge number of shuttles and the fact that Winona was on board led me to think colony ship.

[horatio]

Originally Posted by Yagami Crewman

She WAS near the Klingon border but then we would expect SOME frontier colonies out there. And one source of the tension between the two powers. All Starfleet ships have SOME ability to conduct limited scientific research but the huge number of shuttles and the fact that Winona was on board led me to think colony ship.

But colonies near Klingon space? That sounds like a fairly adventurous endeavour and you might spend more time on zapping Klingon raiders than building your colony or working on the fields.

Survey ship is more natural if she operates near the borders.

[Yagami Crewman]

Originally Posted by horatio

But colonies near Klingon space? That sounds like a fairly adventurous endeavour and you might spend more time on zapping Klingon raiders than building your colony or working on the fields.

Survey ship is more natural if she operates near the borders.

Unfortunately in American history, that sort of behavior was NOT at all uncommon in the 19th century US expansion. All the Indian wars, the Mexican war, and nearly a war with Great Britain over the Oregon territory occurred for exactly such reasons. Again it would be a major reason why Klingons (Like Kor: "You've hemmed us in! Strangled our trade! Cut off vital supplies! You've been asking for war!) would be antagonistic to the Federation at this time.

As to the survey mission, it occurs to me that there are different types of survey:

Deep Space Survey: A ship with the best long range sensors and science gear like Equinox or Voyager.

Planetary Survey: A ship with more refined short ranged sensors and plenty of shuttles to dispatch ground survey parties and equipment over a wide stretch of the planet. IE: The USS Kelvin