Why weren't the Sovereign-class vessels used in Dominion War battles?

Question

While not strictly military (according to the designers Eaves and Sternbach, they were not "escort" vessels, more like "sports car heavy cruiser"), and usually used for diplomacy and exploration, Sovereign still packs a punch, more than Galaxy-class vessels, due to how many torpedo launchers they have. They're also tougher (finally, a non-custom ship with real armour, even if only around critical areas). It's overall a better ship, stronger in battle, even if that's only because it's more technologically advanced.

They were introduced to service before 2373, and the Dominion War lasted until 2375. So why weren't they used in battles?

I can't remember where, but I read that they were "used to put out diplomatic fires". Why not use smaller vessels for these tasks, like the Intrepid, which was sent to Romulus, arguably a mission much more important than any of these unspecified "diplomatic fires"? The only time we saw a Sovereign in Deep Space Nine was on a computer screen, a silhouette.

What were the Sovereign-class vessels doing during the war? There had to be a few. There was the Sovereign itself, then the Enterprise, and some I can't remember by name.

I'm looking for both in-universe and tv explanations.

Answer 1

What were the Sovereign-class vessels doing during the war? There had to be a few.

Sure, but probably not very many compared to older starship models, given that they’d only recently been introduced.

It’s therefore not a huge surprise that we don’t see much of them in Deep Space Nine. There’s lots of war going on that we don’t see, and plenty of important battles and missions elsewhere. The few Sovereign class ships were probably spread quite thinly.

I’d also speculate that you might tactically want to save your most powerful ships for when you really need them, rather than sending them into battles like the one that re-took Deep Space Nine. Remember that when the Federation first heard of the Dominion, they sent a ship from their then-flagship Galaxy class through the wormhole as a show of strength, and that didn’t work out so well.

Finally, “diplomatic fires” may actually be very important — for example, for securing war resources, or preventing a race from joining the enemy. A shiny, powerful ship could be much more effective than an older or war-damaged one in convincing wavering allies that the Federation was strong enough to side with.

Answer 2

A real world explanation for the absence of the E and her sisters is that the producers and studios wanted to save the Sovereign-Class design for the movies.

The Intrepid-Class (USS Voyager), was similarly not included in the DS9 fleet scenes (The Intrepid sent to Romulus being the exception) because the producers did not want the audience to think that Janeway and crew were suddenly back in the alpha quadrant fighting instead of exploring the delta quadrant.

Answer 3

Whilst this is from the non-official canon within the novels; the Enterprise did take part in the Dominion War fighting on the front lines and launching covert operations into Cardassian space. This particular story line was in the Dominion War book series, the first and third book of which involve the Enterprise and can be found here and here.

It is explained in this book that the Enterprise has been fighting on the front lines for a while, and that the Cardassian ships are eager to bag a prize as large as the Enterprise.

Answer 4

I would assume that they were utilized in a manner similar to, though not in actuality, the Iowa class battleships of the USN. The USN did not put these ships at the front lines because they were BIG targets, they were EXPENSIVE, and they didn't want to run the risk of losing such a powerful ship. The IJN was similar in comparison as the Yamato class rarely saw action until 1944/45 when it was too late for them to have a noticeable impact on the war. In retrospect, the Sovereign class may have also been too much of a gamble because of the track record of the pathfinder USS Sovereign as stated in Star Trek: Bridge Commander.

Answer 5

Sovereigns are fleet in being ships. You don't send such ships out to the front line unless they are desperately needed. You keep them in places you want to prevent raids, since anything less than a fleet would be incapable of engaging them. Nobody will risk attacking the area because to do so would mean pulling a whole fleet to attack, which would weaken you position at the main battle line. So they are both kept safe from attack, and prevent attacks at the same time. If you deploy such a ship to the front lines though, they will be massive targets. Everyone will know what they are, and will focus on taking it out first, and you will surely lose it.

Answer 6

The E-E was the first sovereign class ship. It was the only one until 2375. The first sovereign class was meant to be the USS Honorius but the E-D was destroyed at the Battle of Veridian III 2 years before its completion. the USS Honorius was renamed the E-E. Also, it had the best firepower. Pulling it to the front lines will get it destroyed (like the USS Odyssey), so they left it in case the Dominion actually go through. The E-E is a fleet in one ship. It took out a Borg Cube and Sphere (although there were a dozen ships to help the E-E including the USS Defiant) multiple Son'a Battlecruisers (although sustaining heavy damage and a warp core) and the Scimitar (although it had the help of 2 Romulan Valdore class cruiser briefly).