Registration:

NX-74205

Name:

u.s.s. defiant

Deck:

deck 2

Plan:

mess hall

It is said an army marches on its stomach; as such, the mass hall of the U.S.S. Defiant is an important part of the starship. Not just a place for sustenance, it is also somewhere the crew can take a break from their duties

The U.S.S. Defiant was built from the ground up to be a pure fighting ship, an overpowered, over gunned prototype battle cruiser designed to face off against the threat of the invading Borg, and later, the Dominion. With all its facilities and functions geared towards combat operations, no interior space has been spared in the ship's design for off-duty pursuits such as rest and relaxation. Like the ocean-going combat vessels of Earth's 20th century navies, the Defiant has no recreation areas such as the holodecks or open-plan lounges found on larger ships. The Defiant's only informal area is its mess hall, a small room sandwiched between two of the ship's main corridors.

With its comparatively small crew complement of only 50 personel, the Defiant's mess hall performs an important function above and beyond the mere supply of food and beverages to the ship's officers. It is imperative that the crew's morale is kept high, and the placement of a single mess hall on board the Defiant goes a long way towards encouraging a strong sense of crew unity, the crew that eats together, fights together.

The mess hall of the Defiant becomes a focus for all the crew's attentions during the Dominion's invasion of the Alpha Quadrant. The ship's spent phaser energy cores, used up in the constant fighting against the Jem'Hadar Warships, are proudly put on display here as a testament to the Defiant's struggle with the enemy as an affirmation of the crew's will to fight to the bitter end.

Like all equipment and materials aboard the Defiant, the mess hallis spartan and compact, a wedge shaped room with doors leading to exterior corridors situated in the middle of the two longest walls. These doors remain open during meal breaks to allow free access for the crew members, but they are closed when the room is in use for other, more sensitive tasks such as mission breifings.