Star Trek: 10 Secrets About The USS Enterprise-G You Need To Know
5. Downsizing In The Move
They've just been getting bigger and bigger over the years with crew complements of the USS Enterprise gradually moving up from the 400 odd in Kirk's days right up to the 1500 housed aboard the Galaxy Class in The Next Generation.
While the Enterprise-E might not have topped up the number of individuals aboard it did stretch out the length of the flagship to 685 metres before the Odyssey Class Enterprise-F threw down the gauntlet at 1028m. The Enterprise-G marks the first time that the famous namesake has actually reduced its size and capacity almost back to those 23rd Century Constitution Class days with 500 crew and an overall length of 740m.
In the lineage, it's not quite the smallest and definitely not the biggest (looking at you, Enterprise-J) in terms of size or complement however it realigns Starfleet with its more exploratory nature than the militaristic lines it followed after the defeat at Wolf 359.
Downsizing, as Terry Matalas stated in an interview with Inverse.com was a conscious decision for the future to return the ship to being the underdog whereas the D and F were "huge battleships". The G would, as Matalas continued, "totally get its ass kicked in the wrong situation."