U.S.S. Saratoga NCC-1887 (2286)
The U.S.S. Saratoga NCC-1887 was a Miranda-class starship. In 2286, while patrolling Sector 5, in the Neutral Zone, the Saratoga encountered a probe of unknown origin on a direct course for Earth. As the crew attempted to make contact, however, the ship was neutralized by the probe, the transmissions of which were being carried on an amplification wave of enormous power, impacting on all of the ship's systems. The ship’s power was subsequently restored when the probe left Earth.
U.S.S. Saratoga NCC-1887 | Deck 1 (2286)
Located on Deck 1 atop the primary hull, the U.S.S. Saratoga’s main bridge supervised all primary mission operations and coordinated all departmental activities. The bridge in 2286 was of similar design and layout to other Starfleet vessel bridges of the era, although this particular Miranda-class vessel had a smaller bridge than that of similar ships of the same class, such as the U.S.S Reliant. Located in the front of the bridge was the main viewing screen in front of the side-by-side helm and navigator consoles. The captain’s chair was directly aft of the aforementioned stations. Along the perimeter of the bridge were the primary stations for science, communications, and engineering, with secondary stations trailing along the wall towards the rear of the bridge.
Production Notes:
Ship Model (Physical)
As portrayed in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (Film, 1986)
The U.S.S. Saratoga was the same Miranda-class studio model used to depict the U.S.S. Reliant in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, but relabeled with a different registry number. The Miranda-class studio model was designed by Joe Jennings, Mike Minor, and Lee Cole.
Bridge Set (Physical)
As portrayed in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (Film, 1986)
After the filming of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, the starship bridge set was left in its “backwards” configuration as the U.S.S. Grissom bridge, with the command chair and helm/navigation consoles rotated nearly 180 degrees and moved closer to the perimeter stations to give the illusion of a smaller bridge with a different layout than that of the U.S.S. Enterprise. The set was left in this configuration for filming of the U.S.S. Saratoga scenes at the start of production. To differentiate it from the Grissom bridge, the set was repainted for the Saratoga scenes, with many of the display and console panels recolored and in some cases using new graphics created by Mike Okuda, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home being the first Star Trek production he worked on as scenic artist. For the Roddenberry Archive’s depiction of this bridge, we have decided to give it an elliptical configuration to solve certain problems that arose when trying to craft the model of the set in a way that makes sense from an in-universe perspective.