[Admiral Archer]

Okay, so we all know that Kirk was practically in love with his ship, the original Enterprise. Six minutes of flying around the ship in TMP proved that to us, plus the signs of remorse he showed on Genesis watching as his ship burned up in the atmosphere. But how did Picard feel about his command? He obviously enjoyed commanding the Stargazer, as is obvious by his nostalgic memories in "The Battle" and "Relics", and his stubborn refusal to abandon the Enterprise-E in "FIRST CONTACT", plus his referring to the same ship as partly his in "COUNTDOWN" seem to suggest he loved that ship as well. Yet we seldom saw him refer to the Enterprise-D with that same glint in his eye. And when that ship was destroyed, he seemed to just shrug it off and say "Oh well, they'll just build another one." It seemed so disrespectful, at least to me. Did he really not enjoy the seven years he spent commanding the Enterprise-D? Or did Picard truly love that ship just as he did his previous command, and it's successor ship? What do YOU think?

[Captain Tom Coughlin]

He sums it up in Relics when he says something to the effect of the Enterprise being superior to the Stargazer in every measurable way, but you never forget your first love. I think that absolutely Stargazer was to Picard what Enterprise was to Kirk and Scotty.

[jla1987]

Originally Posted by Captain Tom Coughlin

He sums it up in Relics when he says something to the effect of the Enterprise being superior to the Stargazer in every measurable way, but you never forget your first love. I think that absolutely Stargazer was to Picard what Enterprise was to Kirk and Scotty.

Quite true.

For whatever reason, it seems that he cares more about the E...perhaps it's because the situations are more dire in the movies. IMO, the E is much cooler and prettier ship.

[Captain Tom Coughlin]

It took me awhile to get used to the Enterprise D when TNG first came out. It's so top heavy, it just looked weird to me. And all the families on board never resonated with me either. I liked the interiors for the most part. I think a cross between the interior sets and the exterior of Enterprise C would have been the way to go.

[celticarchie]

I think Picard had a different perspective of the Enterprise than Kirk did.

For Picard the feeling of home didn't come from the ship, but from his crew which was like an adoptive family to him, as long as that family was safe then the feeling of home could live on in another ship whether is was named Enterprise or not. There's one episode where he'd offered a promotion and he refuses that because he knows the Enterprise is where he belongs.

Kirk's relationship to the Enterprise was more akin to an addiction, and he can't separate that feeling from the ship. Really there is no reason for Kirk not to get that feeling from commanding another ship, or fulfilling another role in Starfleet. It's like a mental problem for Kirk that he just can't get over this one ship.

[kevin]

Well, Picard's brother and nephew had just died as well. Overall, that loss should have been much greater than the loss of the D.

But I'd agree that Kirk and the Enterprise were portrayed as weird 'soul mates' of a sort, whereas Picard had a more reserved and balanced perspective about his ship.

[Commodore]

For all intents and purposes, Picard commanded the Stargazer far longer than either the Enterprise-D or Enterprise-E, so I still think that ship is probably the one he still feels the most passionate about. But I also think he's quite aware of the special honor of commanding not one, but two starships named Enterprise. It's plausibe that only he and Kirk have held that unique distinction...

[Roysten]

Wonder if Garrett and the Ent C had a distinguished enough career to warrant Garrett getting the D. Apparently Harrimen didn't get the C, though I guess depending when the B was decommisioned I guess there will have been possibly 20 years between the B and the C.

I get the impression that Picard probably had the strongest feelings for the Stargazer, D then E in order, in INS he commented on how they weren't really explorers anymore, which leads me to believe he wasn't as keen with his time on the E. The responsibility of having all the families aboard probably but him off the D a bit, so like was mentioned before, the Stargazer will have been that first girlfriend that would never be forgotton.

[Commodore]

Originally Posted by Roysten

Wonder if Garrett and the Ent C had a distinguished enough career to warrant Garrett getting the D.

Had she lived, anything is possible, but it is plausible that the Enterprise-C was a relatively new ship when it was lost at Narendra III, and like the Enterprise-D, hadn't been in service that terribly long. Had the Enterprise-C not been lost, the Enterprise-D wouldn't have come until much later and might not have been a Galaxy-class ship but possibly a Sovereign-class or even some later design...

Apparently Harrimen didn't get the C, though I guess depending when the B was decommisioned I guess there will have been possibly 20 years between the B and the C.

It's also possible that Harriman wasn't the only one to command the Enterprise-B and the ship might have been in service for a very long time. Personally, I tend to favor an idea with the Enterprise-B being decommissioned (circa 2340) and being replaced only a few months later with the Enterprise-C...

[Roysten]

Is interesting how the gap between the C and the D is almost 20 years yet between other known examples (Orig - A, D - E) were on the scale of months after each other. Guess the only info on the B is that it was involved in the 2310 Tomed incident. Leaves a lot of leeway for when it was decomissioned and the C entered service. Reckon the Ambassador class came in the 2330s, so yeah I'd agree Commodore.

I doubt Picard would get the triple distinction of getting the F, though that would probably be beyond his time. Makes you wonder if other starships become (As, Bs) etc and their captains getting the same honor of a new ship of a new name, sort of happened with the Defiant.