Somewhere, out in deep space, the Starship Enterprise, NCC-1701-D, is patrolling a sector, keeping the Universe safe for what passes for democracy in the 24th Century. Suddenly, Lt. Worf speaks up. Sensors have detected an unidentified ship directly ahead. Captain Picard calls battle stations, that annoying red alert klaxon sounds, and for no good reason the entire bridge is flooded with dramatic mood lighting. The Captain tells Worf to punch it up on the video panel.
Last Christmas Eve, I found myself dragged into a nerd debate. While most of our friends discussed their recent parenthood and similar trials, three of us huddled around a dining-room table and discussed the sci-fi we grew up with and entered adulthood with. Of course, we all loved Star Trek, and a lot of talk centered around it, but then the topic of Star Blazers and its original form, Uchuu Senkan Yamato came up. Eventually, we started a full-bore geek out “hoodwin” of which ship would prevail in battle: The Starship Enterprise, or Earth Defense Force Ship Argo.
Finally, in a vain attempt to avoid working on a novel I agreed to write but am finding myself hating every step of the way, I set out to discern just which ship would prevail in battle. And my conclusion surprised me.
Before I go any further, may the hardcore anime fans forgive me for using the American names throughout this piece, but it’s how I remember the show the best. Also, fans of the original series of Star Trek will need to forgive me for using the Enterprise-D, but I do so because of all the ships to bear the name, it’s the best documented “canonically.”
To start let’s look at the size of the two ships.
According to the “Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual” the USS Enterprise NCC-1701D is 642.5 meters long. (For this image I rounded it up to 643, so sue me.) We have to assume that the Argo is the same size as the original Japanese Battleship Yamato, from which it is supposed to be constructed. That would put it at 263 meters long, less than half the length of the Enterprise. While my first impression of each ship would have had the Argo completely dwarfed by the giant floating hotel that is the Enterprise-D, the two aren’t that mismatched. However, the smaller size does make the Argo a slightly smaller target and a lot more mobile, so evasive tactics should help it.
For the sake of argument, let’s assume that each ship goes into the encounter knowing that the other is hostile for some reason. I really don’t believe that Captains Picard and Avatar (or Wildstar, for that matter) would just enter the fray with guns blazing without talking to the other, but since this is a giant geek-out battle, we’ll take hostility as read. The first question becomes, who can get in the first shot?
We know from the Comet Empire series that the maximum range on the Argo’s shock cannons started out at 7.5 megameters, or 7,500 kilometers, but that they were eventually upgraded to a 10 megameter (10,000 km) range. According to the “Technical Manual,” the Enterprise-D’s phaser range, however, is 300,000 km. This means that the Enterprise can start firing on the Argo much sooner than the Argo can fight back, and since Lt. Worf seems to miss a lot less often than the Gamilons do when he shoots, we can safely assume that the first three shots will take out the Argo’s main guns in short order. It’s also safe to say that the ship’s side-mounted pulse lasers will also get knocked out, but Worf probably wouldn’t bother, since in the episode “The Outrageous Okana,” Riker informs us that mere lasers wouldn’t even cut through the Enterprise’s navigational deflectors, let alone the main shields, so the lasers are useless. Also, any missiles that the Argo decided to launch would most likely be shot down in short order by the Enterprise’s phasers.
However, since the Argo has the miraculous “space warp” ability to suddenly jump from one place to another quickly, albeit with a shitload of preparation during which it’s supposedly helpless, let’s cut the Argo a break here. Let’s assume that the initial encounter between the two ships comes as the Argo is coming out of a warp, dropping them 5,000 km away from the Enterprise. This gives them an equal chance at first shot. Surely this gives the Argo the advantage, right?
No. We’ve seen from experience that Picard is very quick to react, and as soon as the Argo starts coming out of its warp, before it can recover and react, he will order a red alert and throw his shields up. We saw from the Comet Empire series that the shock cannons of the Earth Defense Force Flagship Andromeda, which were supposed to be more powerful than the Argo, couldn’t do crap against the energy shields around the top of the Comet Empire fortress Gatlantis. Thus, the Argo could keep pounding away for several minutes with its shock cannons, and the Enterprise’s shields would hold up.
Finally, in all desperation, the Argo starts to power up its Wave Motion Gun. This proved tricky for me to account for in this scenario, because the only answer for “how powerful is the Wave Motion Gun” seems to be either “really fucking powerful” or “just as powerful as we need.” However, the Wave Motion Gun has four fatal drawbacks.
First, the Gun fires pure energy. The Enterprise’s shields do wonders with dispersing energy. In fact, the Enterprise-D’s shields withstood the accidental self destruct of the USS Yamato (foreshadowing?) in the episode “Contagion.” The Tech manual claims that the self-destructive force of a Galaxy Class starship is equivalent to 10,000,000,000,000,000 joules, or one and a half shitloads of energy as I like to think about it. Odds are that if the Enterprise’s shields could stand up to this, they should be able to stand up to the Wave Motion Gun with only minor structural damage to the ship and all the shield generators being burned out. That, however, is the Argo’s best case scenario because of the other drawbacks.
Two, to aim the Gun, you have to point the ship right at what you are shooting at. Inability to aim the Gun autonomously means that the Enterprise can simply swing around and dive under or over the Argo, or at least keep moving, preventing the crew from aiming the Gun properly.
Third, the Gun seems to always require at least a ten second countdown, not to mention the time it takes to channel all of the engine’s energy into the Gun itself. This would allow LaForge, Wesley, Ro, or Ensign Huxtable more than enough time to move the ship out of the way before the gun fires. Whether or not Deanna could do it if she were at helm, seeing as how she crashed the ship twice, is debatable.
Fourth, the Gun seems really vulnerable to stuff going down its barrel. In the “Quest For Iscandar” series, the ship is almost destroyed by a drill missile burrowing its way down the Gun’s barrel, and in the “Comet Empire,” simply having one of Desslok’s mines in front of the barrel prevents the Argo from firing. (Sandor actually says “If we fire the gun now, we’ll blow up the ship!”) So, if Picard has half a brain in his head, as the Gun starts powering up, he’ll tell Worf to fire a photon torpedo down that big gaping hole in the front of the Argo. Boom. No more Wave Motion Gun, and likely no more Argo.
So, then the question becomes “can the Argo run away?” If the ship can survive the battle long enough to perform a Space Warp, and wasn’t too badly damaged to make a warp, the odds are they can. In “Quest For Iscandar” the Argo managed to travel 296,000 light years in under one year, meaning that their average speed was more than 296,000 times the speed of light. That includes stopping for battles, resupply missions, for Homer to try to swim home, and for Conroy to use the bathroom. The Enterprise’s normal cruising speed is Warp 6, or (according to the Technical Manual) 352 times the speed of light. This means that at normal cruising speed, the Enterprise would need 841 years to make the same trip. Even at Warp 9, the trip would take the Enterprise 195 years. Things level out somewhat at Warp 9.9999, where the Enterprise would be able to make the Iscandar trip in 542 days, but not only would they still be unable to catch up with the Argo, LaForge would never be able to sustain that kind of speed for more than a few minutes. Thus, the Argo escapes, and lives to fight another day.
Unless the Traveler or Q is aboard…but that’s another episode.
Now boys you and i both know that if the ENTERPRISE was to do battle with the YAMATO that the yamato ,s wave motion gun would destroy the federation starship in a heartbeat so why are you you even wasting your intelegence on this matter. so dont even give it a second thought. Yours Truly ADMIRAL BAKER ADM. FLT. EDF
Even if we take it as read that each ship considers the other hostile, that wouldn’t stop Picard from holding off. Even when he knew for a fact that another ship was hostile, Picard never opened fire first on ST:TNG. First he would try and talk to the hostile. Then the hostile would fire on him. Then Picard would STILL make one last attempt to communicate. When he was fired on yet again, only then would he order Worf to open fire.
Avatar & Wildstar on the other hand are accustomed to shooting first. If they’re not from Earth, they’re the enemy. Nobody in the universe likes the people of Earth except for lonely blonde girls living in isolation. Since in the Starblazers universe, human ships don’t look like the Enterprise, the Yamato would launch the Black Tigers and fire the main guns. If the main guns don’t work, they’d switch to the Wave Motion Gun. Since Picard has a foolish habit of holding out hope that everything will be all right, the Enterprise would just stand there while the Yamato blasted her into atoms.
Now if Kirk were in charge, it would be a different story. He knew better than to stand around talking when someone was trying to kill him.
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Well, It seems that you two put too little faith in Captain Picard. While he is somewhat of a diplomat, he didn’t get to be captain of the Federation’s flagship for no reason. Discounting the scenario imagining both sides hostile to each other, it is true Picard wouldn’t take the first shot. That does not mean however that he will take the hits. The first thing he orders when being fired upon is evasive maneuvers, and you can be damn sure he can and will stay out of the way of the Wave Gun. I can’t say much else since I don’t know anything about the ships of Battleship Yomato, but from what i learned here, I’m pretty disappointed; Such limited capabilities. It’s a shame too cause the series has pretty awsome looking ships!
Nice debate. Good thing both ships are from earth so in retrospect chances of them battling are extremely minimal.Picard and Avatar would probably settle their differences over earl grey tea and spring water ! LOL
WoW !!! this place is dead so I guess that meens this debate about Starblazers vs Star Trek is over too. Hmmm … Starblazers:The Next Generation ? Naaaa … too corney.
Actually IQ-9, a new series called Yamato Rebirth premiered in Japan in December of 2009. It still features Wildstar as the Captain, but the rest of the crew consists of the ‘next generation’, which (from the preview clips) appears to include he and Nova’s daughter.
And yes, this site is totally dead. I only came here originally by accident while surfing the net for Yamato stuff.
to be fair, it is impossible to tell who would win, considering that the Technical readouts for the Enterprise change every episode, but, i would put my money on the Yamato (Argo), the Enterprises Shields could not repel the Wave Motion Gun as Sanada (Sandor) states in “The New Voyage” that the Wave Motion Gun “Discharges the power of a small Galaxy” when fired. and the Yamato’s armor is pretty tough, considering the amount of shit it put up with, during the white comet invasion, the yamato endures the bombardment of every gun the White Comet can point at it, i think that the Yamato’s armour is just as strong as the Enterprises Shields, and if worst came to worst, Sanada would just deploy the Laser Deflection armour from the last episode of series 1, rendering the Enterprises Phasers completely useless
Just curious… don’t Federation ships have trouble dealing with tachyon? The main guns and the wave motion gun are tachyon based weapons. If this were so, perhaps the Enterprise would be more vulnerable than proposed here. I like both ships, but I have a softer spot for the Argo. I think that given the tachyon issue, if the Argo combined forces with the Enterprise, they would handily defeat the Borg. Think about it: The Argo could close with Enterprise, which could lock tractor beams onto the Argo, thereby controlling her movement and being capable of aiming her. The Enterprise can even extend her shields over the Argo to protect her while she charges up the wave motion gun and can aim her to effectively fire the wave motion gun at a rapidly moving and evasive target.
Ok, it is a bit late to join this discussion, but in Final Yamato (1983) the Yamato fired Wave Motion Shells from it’s main guns and destroyed targets (a fleet) at a range greater than 1 AU (that’s 93 million miles). And yes, every foil for the Enterprise seems to be some kind of inverse tachyon garbospeak, and the Yamato’s weapons and drives are tachyon based, with her sublight cruising speed stated to be .99%c. I simply don’t see a Trek ship standing up to it, and I love Star Trek. The worst the Enterprise would do is blow the third bridge off, anyway. Also, in Yamato: Resurrection (2009), the Yamato has missiles that explode and create small versions of Sanada’s mirror shield – nothing goes through them. The spirit of the Yamato is indomitable!
I am coming into this conversation really late and yes I too accidentally found this debate/website. But here’s my two cents worth. The Enterprise has two things that Captain Picard would use first (assuming that all of the talking is over and they both prep for immediate battle). The fast and precise phasers and photon torpedoes. Let us consider Wildstar (as the much wiser than he was as a junior officer) as the Captain of the same vesion of the Yamato seen in “Resurrection.” This version of the Yamato can fire 5 bursts of the Wave Motion gun and still not be helpless as the first Yamato would’ve been. That is trouble for the Enterprise as the Yamato could weaken her shields with 2 shots,use the shock cannons to damage and immobilize her and then finish her off. Now on the other hand,the Enterprise’s information systems would tell Picard to take out the Wave Motion gun first. Not easily done as this version of the Yamato has mobile shields that would absorb the phaser shots and she can still fire from behind them. EVEN CHARGE UP the Wave Motion Gun!!! And let’s point out as someone previously did,that the Yamato’s main weapons are Tachyon based! She may get damaged,but she’s a lot tougher than the Enterprise. And the Wave Motion Gun— The energy level of a small universe/galaxy?! WTF? How in the Hell could the Enterprise withstand that kind of force? Everytime other ships fire on the shields of the Enterprise you hear their level of effectiveness dropping as it is announced. The shock cannons would bring them down to nothing and then the Wave motion gun would be used. And Yamato is smaller and faster than the Enterprise. The best that Picard could do against this version of the Yamato would be medium damage. And keep in mind,I am a Trekkie also,but I just don’t see Wildstar being outgunned in this scenerio. The mobility as well as the firepower advantage goes to the revamped Yamato. There is no way (In viewing this dispute myself being ex-military and viewing the tactical advantages of both commanders and the firepower at each man’s disposal) the Starforce wouldn’t find a way to use that massive weapon. They could also use the Wave Motion capability of the shock cannons as well as utilize any surrounding asteroids as a moving belt to shield itself from phaser fire… Or simply coat the ship in the asteroids and fire from beneath that protective layer. I love both ships and commanders’ battle styles,but given the Yamato’s upgrades against even the top version of the Enterprise I’m going with the Yamato. You are my boy Picard (or even Kirk) ,but you have never faced that kind of firepower… Outcome,Yamato victorious… Enterprise completely vaporized!
Sorry Yamato fans. First thing is I’m rewinding this to Kirk’s day and using the uprated movie version. First the Big E has shields which withstood V’ger;’s weapon. A weapon that reduces ships, space stations, planets and stubborn pet hairs to stored data patterns. It will take at least one blast from the wave motion gun even at full power I’m sure. Remember the Enterprise survived multiple hits from the planet killer’s weapon in the “Doomsday Machine” and THAT was a weapon that cracks PLANETS into rubble. Certainly a match for the Wave Motion Gun.
Second is that as seen in the “Ultimate Computer” The Enterprise can fire while at Warp speeds. I don’t think the Yamato can TRACK anything moving at translight speed. So Kirk does a leisurely Warp 2 while firing phasers and lobbing photon torpedoes. as long as needed and Yamato can’t even SEE them coming.
Now as for phasers, we don’t know if in the 23rd century phaser frequencies can be adjusted. If they can then any defense Sandor can rig up will be futile but let’s assume they can’t and somehow Sandor manages to match the right frequency to deflect phaser fire. We will further stipulate that neither Spock or Scotty figures how to adjust the frequency during the battle although they; like Sandor, are renowned for this sort of thing.
That still leaves photon torpedoes on a ship with the advantage of tactically superior speed and the ability to aim and get at the underbelly of the ship. If Yamato does a large warp, the battle ends, if a small warp, Spock picks it up on his scanners and a volley of photons greets Yamato as she reenters real space.
Plus it leaves transporters. Boarding Yamato is tricky but an option.
Yamato spirit anyone? Enterprise spirit. Call it a wash.
Crew: Captain James Kirk. (Age at time of ST:TMP 43 years old.While a bit sad in later days, Kirk is no slouch in action. Avatar will just give him a stern look while he belts Wildstar across the jaw.
Spock: Easily Sandor’s equal as a scientist. Drops Sandor with a Vulcan nerve pinch before Sandor can trigger his limbs to blow up.
Scotty: Is there anything he CAN’T fix? Sorry Orion, No contest.
Uhura: Cat fight with Nova except Uhura knows how to fight.
Sulu: Holds off Venture, Dash, Homer, AND Eager with a fencing sword!
Chekov: Screams loudly and Sergeant Knox punches his lights out. (Had to give that one) Only to get phaser stun from Uhura.
That leaves IQ 9. and Doctor Sane. McCoy takes a hypo and knocks out Sane. IQ9 attacks him. “Dagnabbit! I’m a Doctor Not tech support!” Nurse Chapel distracts the perverted robot and runs down the corridor. Uhura rolls eyes and phasers the robot.
THEN the two sides start talking and figure out WHO is really behind their problems.
Yamato AND Enterprise Spirit Together??? God help the enemy.
Marc: Good points. I think that they both would recognize each other as earth vessels anyway. I am quite partial to the ideal of a cross genre battle royale where the Enterprise, the Argo/Yamato, and the Millennium Falcon take on The Borg, The Comet Empire, and the Death Star along with some Super Star Destroyers. Especially if the Black Tigers were outfitted with X Wing Fighters instead of the Cosmo Tiger Fighters the Argo/Yamato carries. Just thinking of the possibilities gets my inner nerd all twisted up.
Thank you for such a totally cool pair off. I loved The Argo (Yamato) and the Wave Motion Gun to me was and still is the coolest weapon I have ever seen in Sci-Fi animated or not. Im also a big Trek Fan and Love the Enterprise 1701 all the way to 1701-D.
However in a square off, If Avatar gets off even on shot with the wave motion gun, buh bye Enterprise!
I’d love to see Starfleet team up with the Yamato’s Earth Defense Fleet and have them battle the Dominion. The Dominion would be doomed!
Although Starblazers/Yamato was my “first love” as far as “Space Opera” or Sci-Fi, I love Star Trek and Star Wars as well. While I could understand the Argo/Yamato being mistaken for an enemy by Rebel Forces, I just don’t think that Enterprise would take more than 10 seconds to figure out she was an earth ship from another time/dimension. Further, I can’t imagine that they would be unable to communicate with Argo/Yamato either, unless her communications array were out of order as in the beginning of Comet Empire. If that were so, Enterprise would surely know that and also would surely recognize that they might be mistaken for an enemy vessel, and would stand off at a safe distance and/or engage in evasive maneuvers while not firing back, a clear sign even to a hot headed Wildstar/Kodai that they are not hostile. Then they could collaborate. Put Sandor, Spock, Orion, and Scotty together (or of we are talking about STTNG, substitute Data and Jordi) together with schematics of the power systems of each ship and within 48 hours, the Argo/Yamato will be sporting phasers, photon torpedoes, subspace communication equipment, teleporters, energy shields, and retractable matter/antimatter nacelles in addition to all her original hardware, and Enterprise will be sporting her own Wave Motion Gun and Wave Motion Engine so she can actually warp through space time, force shield rockets (if it is the Resurrection Yamato) and tachyon based weapons in addition to her original array. One thing is for sure, be they Romulan, Cardassian, Borg, Comet Empire, Bolar, Deinguil or whatever else, any enemy that crosses either ship after that (or even worse for them: both at the same time) will end up as cosmic dust faster than they can comprehend that either (or both) the Argo and the Enterprise did Picard Maneuvers, locked phasers, and fired wave motion guns. Imagine the possibilities if the wormhole that caused this meeting to occur then caused both ships to enter the Star Wars Universe and offer their assistance to the Rebel Alliance? Even Dr. Sheldon Cooper would be excited by that.
Eager: “Captain Wildstar, there is a fleet of Super Star Destroyers in attack formation closing fast, bearing 283.735, range 9.5 Mega Meters.”
Wildstar: “Lock Phasers, Photon Torpedoes, and Shock Cannons, full spread. Fire!”
Eager: “Wow! What Star Destroyers?”
Wildstar: “Anything else?”
Homer: “Sir, transmission from Lieutenant Commander Worf of the Enterprise.”
Wildstar: “Put it on the big screen.”
Worf: “Come on guys, seriously? I’ve got all this cool new hardware and you couldn’t leave anything for me to shoot? Thanks you one way mothe…”
Picard: “Worf!”
Worf: “Sir!”
Picard: “Wildstar is a Captain! You will address him with respect!”
Worf: (To Picard) “Yes Captain, I apologize.” (To Wildstar) “Good job. Impressive shooting. (Mumbling under breath) “Bitches”
Picard: “What did you say?”
Worf: “I said Pth-Ka, sir. It is Klingon for noble warriors.”
Picard: “You just made that up. It doesn’t mean anything. It’s Gibberish. Comm…”
Homer: “The line suddenly went dead, sir.”
Wildstar (smirking): Venture; fall back behing the Enterprise. Let Lieutenant Commander Worf have a turn.”
Venture: Roger!
I wonder who would win if the Yamato fought a Borg cube? The wave motion gun could destroy it, but if the Borg beamed aboard and accessed the Yamato’s main computer, then the Borg would adapt to the ship’s weapons.
WADR, I don’t think the Wave Motion Gun is something that can be “adapted to”…
I respectfully disagree. Remember, the Borg withstood the beam from the Enterprise’s main deflector dish, which I believe was similar to the wave motion gun.
Well, I seem to have stumbled across this site once again. I’m shocked that the discussion has continued on! Has anyone here seen the all-new Space Battleship Yamato 2199? IT IS AMAZING! Bandai has taken the original Quest for Iskandar storyline, and remade it with modern animation. The story is almost exactly the same, but with a few more characters, particularly female ones. Nova isn’t the only woman on board anymore. It’s beyond gorgeous. They’ve only released six episodes so far in Japan. There are some previews up on YouTube.
The new version’s wave motion gun seems to be even more devastating than the original. In this one, the floating continent orbiting Jupiter is the size of Australia, and it meets the same fate as the original. Blasted to dust. Absolutely no ship in it’s path would have any hope of survival, regardless of shield strength. Plus, the new version has Wave Motion Shields in addition to it’s armored hull.
Yes, I’ve only seen parts of it on Youtube, but it looks great. Both the acting and the special effects are excellent. The wave motion gun is devastating. I felt bad for the alien woman who was standing there helplessly wondering what was happening.
While I believe the original WMG could destroy a Borg cube outright, I think that the “Rebirth” Yamato’s six shot WMG would absolutely destroy it, especially if all six rounds were fired simultaneously. I mean, how could even the Borg stand up to that? The energy level is “Out of Calculate”. I think that is a lot.
Continuing the strain of thought upon the power of the Wave Motion Gun (or Transition Wave Motion Gun in SBY: Resurrection/Rebirth), canonically the Yamato has used this weapon to destroy two artificial suns on different occasions, turning one into a black hole, and then shortly after ‘destroying’ another black hole with it (Series 1 and SBY:Res respectively). I think in this case the power of this weapon is not only beyond any predictions we can make with our own science, but also beyond anything that our science fiction can come up with, especially since in the same film it is mentioned that the TWMG can merely “destroy the Moon.” As for whether or not any incarnation of the Enterprise or the Borg would be able to adapt whatever shields or technology they have against this weapon is missing the point. As Pab pointed out, the weapon is “just as powerful as we need” it to be, and whether or not it will be able to destroy something is completely at the whim of the writers.
Sorry to say that Yamato would turn enterprise into ashes IN JUST ONE SHOT.
Now (2199) they have a wave motion shields, and fires both shock and piercing ammunition from their canons… Enterprise’s done well against laser…but mass bulets are diferent.
Let’s not forget the WMG…
So, let’s put piccard, kirk, spock and worf above their little shields and see what happen WMG hits their head and turn then into “star powder”
I’ve watched the series and the thing is, the wave motion gun, about 15 of them could not vaporize the Comet Empire. I think that the Comet Empire is more powerful than you’d expect because it was enslaving everything in its path in the series. So there are shields that can stand up to it. But those shields were unusually strong in my opinion.
However, I have a tendency to think the Star Trek shields are not like the Comet Empire. They weaken easily. But it could withstand the “planet killer”. I’m going to write that as a one off.
In general I’d say whatever a wave motion gun is aimed at, that thing gets destroyed. It’s like having a few thousand really big nukes hurled at you.
Also, I’ve noticed that the wave motion gun is getting less powerful in later series. Several of them could not take out those 5 fleets of ships.
I think the only thing that is more powerful is the Death Star laser, and maybe the First Ones planet killer in Babylon 5.
Not much of a fair fight since Yamato was 2199 and Enterprise-D was mid 2300′s But I got 2 words for you baby, “Space Marines”. Yamato would warp its muzzle into the Enterprise-D and then it would be your red shirts and scientists against a squad of Saito led space marines boarding your ship and heading right for that engineering department manned by a pack of nerds led by the host of Reading Rainbow. And if that didn’t work out… well – just because the muzzle of the wave motion gun was blocked never stopped them from firing it ala/ 2010 live action movie.
I think the Wave Motion Gun if fired could blow away the Enterprise…like, c’mon, we’re talking about a weapon that destroys entire continent sized land masses with ease, don’t tell me a ship’s shields could defend that (even though in the original series the Enterprise took 2 shots from that planet destroyer). Other than that, I think the Enterprise has the Yamato beat with primary weapon (phasers vs shock cannons) range. There is also one thing they never mentioned in the argument…fighters. The Yamato has Cosmo/Black Tigers that could be launched and do damage to the Enterprise and would be too fast to be shot down.
Also coming to this late, as I just found it while searching around, bored. Now, with Yamato 2199 out, this is all answered much more clearly than in the original show. Remember in the original series when the Yamato was returning to Earth and Sanada switched on his ‘reflector force field’ that deflected Desler’s powerful Desler gun? Well, these things fire huge amounts of tachyons at their targets, and are much more powerful than phasers. And the Yamato’s shield delfected all of it, not taking any damage. The ‘Gamilons’ are shown in the new series to possess energy shields that the Earth ships’ PHASERS (they are called this in the official magazine of the show…sigh) cannot penetrate. The Yamato in the new show calls the reflector force field ‘Wave Motion Shields’ and they use them almost always, and they deflect a vast amount of energy before collapsing, unlike the Enterprise, whose shields constantly let enough energy through to at least blow up a couple of control consoles on the bridge (still haven’t figured out why they put explosives in there!). Yamato faces a fleet of 10,000 enemy ships and wins (although it does so by flying through them quickly and blasting a planet with the Wave Motion Gun, which consumes a large part of the fleet, then propelling itself through a jump gate by turning off the recoil absorber after the main blast has fired), but not every ship was destroyed. Star Trek phasers seem to be pretty weak, as they largely just sizzle across the surface of a target for a second, but the weapons from Yamato pass very destructively through ships, and the Yamato’s main guns have been seen to destroy several ships by passing through more than one with one shot. Some of these ships are much larger than Yamato herself. I don’t really think there would be any contest at all.