Inconsistent layout, depending on episode or movie.
Message:Enterprise was originally slated to have about 123 crew. Scripts changed to about 400 after "The Cage" had been shot and model footage was in the can.
The officially licensed Franz Joseph blueprints don't really line up to anything shown on screen. For example, the bridge restrooms are supposed to be just off the forward viewer - where no doors exist.
Enterprise had 23 decks, except for Star Trek V where it had 78.
Phaser emitters? Also keep moving. Theoretically, 12 on the saucer, four on the engineering hull, yet, basically, only two are ever shown in use.
Enterprise may be a science vessel...or is it. "The Cage" establishes Enterprise can sterilize half a continent with one full volley.
Starfleet General Order 24 can be translated into "Era Ten" speech in two words: "Tylerize them." If general order 24 is planetary destruction, and the ship has a naval command structure, and Enterprise is sent into hostile territory to, say, steal a Romulan cloak, then Enterprise is a WARship and Starfleet is military. You can prove me wrong by finding National Geographic's "kill them all" directive.
But it's a TV franchise, and I just want a good story with engaging characters, and TOS still can't be beat.
For more discussion on Enterprise's size I'll leave this article link - illustrations include a Matt Jefferies cutaway, then the Franz Joseph blueprint, then one by TNG designer Doug Drexler. Matt Jeffries is the aeronautical engineer who designed Enterprise. His designs are "correct," and everyone else's is wrong. It's that simple. The person who creates the thing establishes the "canon."
https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/ship-sizes-all-lies-big-pics.137050/
Yours,
IronMike
19-Oct-2021