So what's the crew size on a Daedalus-class ship?

[Republibot 3.0]

I was curious if anyone has any info on what the crew size of a Daedalus-class Fighercarrier was? I know the producers were always deliberately vague about that kind of thing, as it kinda' limited the writer's freedom, but have there ever been any onscreen references or inferences?

The standard assumption in SF is when there's a starship that functions as an aircraft carrier, the crew size is about the same as an American navy supercarrier, or around 5000 people (The full crew compliment of the RDM-Era Galactica was inferred to be about 5000 several times), and the folks I've asked all say something similar, but that seems unlikely to me. We don't generally see a lot of people scampering around the halls, we don't generally see big crews in the flight bays, and realistically it'd be really, really hard to hide the 30,000 people it'd take to man all six ships in the class.

SO: anyway, anyone got any solid numbers, or fannon, or reasoned speculation?

[escyos]

200ish. As said in "No Man's Land".

[hedwig]

I was curious if anyone has any info on what the crew size of a Daedalus-class Fighercarrier was? I know the producers were always deliberately vague about that kind of thing, as it kinda' limited the writer's freedom, but have there ever been any onscreen references or inferences?

The standard assumption in SF is when there's a starship that functions as an aircraft carrier, the crew size is about the same as an American navy supercarrier, or around 5000 people (The full crew compliment of the RDM-Era Galactica was inferred to be about 5000 several times), and the folks I've asked all say something similar, but that seems unlikely to me. We don't generally see a lot of people scampering around the halls, we don't generally see big crews in the flight bays, and realistically it'd be really, really hard to hide the 30,000 people it'd take to man all six ships in the class.

SO: anyway, anyone got any solid numbers, or fannon, or reasoned speculation?

I'm thinking that in one episode, Caldwell says something about their being something like 200 crew members on the Daedelus. Or maybe it was one of the other ship captains that said that.

Here's what is said about how many crew members were aboard the Prometheus. From that, we can speculate possibly 100 more aboard the Daedelus.

Using early-stage schematics of the satellite, the remaining members of SG-1 and the Prometheus crew underestimated the satellite's capabilities and the Prometheus was destroyed. There were 76 survivors of the over 115-member crew.

And here's what is said about the Daedelus:

The crew requirements of the Daedalus-class have never been stated, however the ship seems jam packed at places, and the mess halls are quite roomy. A nominal estimate, considering the crews required for multiple shifts, as well as the pilots and support crews for the F-302s, is given at a number between 150 and 250.

[McAvoy]

I always found that number to unrealistic. Aircraft carriers have a large crew for a reason. I am sure with advanced technology that number can be slashed. But here is the thing: you still need people to do certain tasks.

A typical Navy squadron alone has 11 or 12 aircraft and a total number of officers and enlisted can range 200 to 300 personnel.

The 304s have 16 and pilots DO NOT fix their own planes. Someone else does. Even assuming that these craft are more maintainece friendly and certain jobs can be merged with rest of the ship's tasks (admin, weapons handling, etc), the 302 Wing probably has around 80 to 100 personnel assuming some people take on more jobs.

The other thing too is the military runs on a 24 hour schedule. There is no 9 to 5 job and the office is closed. That means even if there were 200 personnel onbaord, around half of that would be sleeping if it was 12 hour shift.

[darth_timon]

There appears to be a lot of automation on a 304. SG1 was able to run a 304 for years in Unending.

[Republibot 3.0]

200ish. As said in "No Man's Land".

Wow! Big ship for such few people! Thanks!

[Republibot 3.0]

I'm thinking that in one episode, Caldwell says something about their being something like 200 crew members on the Daedelus. Or maybe it was one of the other ship captains that said that.

Here's what is said about how many crew members were aboard the Prometheus. From that, we can speculate possibly 100 more aboard the Daedelus.



And here's what is said about the Daedelus:

Well, that fits with the other comment, and if they said it onscreen, it counts. though it seems crazy-low for a ship so big. Thank you! I suppose the big mess halls could be extra capacity to carry infantry if they needed it. Or additional personnel for faraway bases.

[Republibot 3.0]

I always found that number to unrealistic. Aircraft carriers have a large crew for a reason. I am sure with advanced technology that number can be slashed. But here is the thing: you still need people to do certain tasks.

A typical Navy squadron alone has 11 or 12 aircraft and a total number of officers and enlisted can range 200 to 300 personnel.

The 304s have 16 and pilots DO NOT fix their own planes. Someone else does. Even assuming that these craft are more maintainece friendly and certain jobs can be merged with rest of the ship's tasks (admin, weapons handling, etc), the 302 Wing probably has around 80 to 100 personnel assuming some people take on more jobs.

The other thing too is the military runs on a 24 hour schedule. There is no 9 to 5 job and the office is closed. That means even if there were 200 personnel onbaord, around half of that would be sleeping if it was 12 hour shift.

That's always been my thinking, too: even if they leave maintenance and repairs for the bases and don't do it on ship, the crew seems crazy small.

Perhaps, we can retcon it by saying for budgetary reasons they're running with a skeleton crew?

[Republibot 3.0]

There appears to be a lot of automation on a 304. SG1 was able to run a 304 for years in Unending.

Wellllllll they were able to keep life support and energy going. That's a different thing than keeping the engines running, and we don't know how much of the ship had to be shut down or sealed off over the decades because it wore out or broke down. Also: they had the Asgard dealie to build them anything they really needed.

[hedwig]

It only took four people (Jack, Sam, Teal'c and Jonas) to run the Prometheus in the episode "Prometheus".

[fems]

It only took four people (Jack, Sam, Teal'c and Jonas) to run the Prometheus in the episode "Prometheus".

And just Sam in Grace, albeit it for merely four days and she didn't move but still...

[fems]

I always found that number to unrealistic. Aircraft carriers have a large crew for a reason. I am sure with advanced technology that number can be slashed. But here is the thing: you still need people to do certain tasks.

A typical Navy squadron alone has 11 or 12 aircraft and a total number of officers and enlisted can range 200 to 300 personnel.

The 304s have 16 and pilots DO NOT fix their own planes. Someone else does. Even assuming that these craft are more maintainece friendly and certain jobs can be merged with rest of the ship's tasks (admin, weapons handling, etc), the 302 Wing probably has around 80 to 100 personnel assuming some people take on more jobs.

The other thing too is the military runs on a 24 hour schedule. There is no 9 to 5 job and the office is closed. That means even if there were 200 personnel onbaord, around half of that would be sleeping if it was 12 hour shift.

I think it depends on what SOP is for these battle cruisers. So far we've always seen the ships going back to Earth after being attacked or employing their F302s. It's possible that the (badly) damaged F302s can only be fixed by people back on Earth or whatever off-world base they have because the USAF (or HWC) doesn't want to risk losing the specialists in an attack on one of the spaceships, or sending them out there to begin with on the off-chance the F302s will need fixing instead of keeping them on base and working on new/damaged F302s.

In most cases the battle cruisers can escape an enemy ship by entering hyperspace and perhaps firing back until they can get the hell out of Dodge. If they can't beat them then those few F302s probably won't make a difference either and they're all doomed anyway. So it's not that far-fetched to assume the F302s will simply be brought back to get fixed once they're damaged.

[Snowman37]

To those who are saying the crew should be comparable to a Naval vessel, you're forgetting one thing... they're in space. Life support is limited and continually draws on the ship's power source or a power source. Also take into account that most characters are portrayed as being multi-talented. What if the bridge crew is dead? What if an F-302 bay is decompressed, killing the pilots, but leaving the F-302's? No one's left to fly them? Considering the size of the ship, I'd imagine a good estimate would be about 200-400 people. There's no reason to think there wouldn't be up to 400, but given that the ship is highly automated and not built like a modern day Naval vessel, it's not unreasonable to think as light as 200.

[hedwig]

And just Sam in Grace, albeit it for merely four days and she didn't move but still...

Didn't she move the ship when she extended the shield around the alien ship and moved both of them out of the cloud? Or extended something so as to bring the other ship with her when she moved out of the cloud?

[McAvoy]

Has anyone actually served onboard a Naval Vessel before?

The ships are not steampunk-esque where you have a crewmember sitting there turning a dial or pushing a button. There are specific roles where even a computer has a hard time replacing: actually repairing computers and repairing anything in general. That is what uses up alot of personnel, actually fixing things.

Much of Naval ships is already automated and computerized with only a handful overlooking it all.

So unless this ship which BTW we haven't heard, is capable of self repair then you need a crew that repairs it let alone operate it. Real world militaries also don't have jack of all trades personnel either, you have people specifically trained and taught how to do certain specific tasks.

Life support of course is limiting, but we already have the technology (except for gravity) to support 100 people in a 100-200 meter ship. It's called a submarine.

Also going back to Earth every time a 302 or the 303 or 304 is damaged makes no sense.