Klingon starships
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Klingon starships appear in televised and filmed installments of the Star Trek fictional universe. In that realm, these interstellar vessels are primarily employed by the military forces of the Klingon Empire as ships of war, in sizes ranging from that of present-day naval vessels to ones much larger. They are equipped with superluminal propulsion technology called warp drive, and armed with laserlike energy weapons called disruptors and photon torpedoes.
Though a variety of such ships have appeared on Star Trek, their design generally conforms to a style exemplified by the first Klingon vessel depicted in the show, shown during its third season. Designed by Matt Jefferies -- designer of the original Enterprise -- it featured a bulbous forward hull connected by a long boom to a winglike main hull with warp nacelles mounted on each wingtip. Jefferies sought to evoke a predator's shape akin to a that of a manta ray, and so made the ship's color scheme dark on top and lighter at bottom. (All later ship types borrow at least a few elements from this original configuration.)
In stark contrast to Federation starships, especially those of the 24th-century Starfleet, Klingon vessels are utilitarian in nature. They are often armed with disruptors and photon torpedoes as primary offensive weaponry, and later classes are equipped with cloaking technology.
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[edit] D5 class
The D5-class battlecruiser is a 22nd century Klingon starship equipped with disruptor cannons and photon torpedoes,[1] with a maximum speed of warp six.
D5s employed a basic Klingon battlecruiser shape: a small forward hull attached by a long, horizontal boom to a larger engineering hull, with aft-mounted impulse drive units above and two warp engines at the end of backwept pylons. The design is distinct from that of the later D7 ships by its bigger and less spherical forward hull, its larger, tapered nacelles, and engine pylons that sweep backward, not forward.
[edit] D7 class
| D7 class | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| First appearance | Elaan of Troyius |
| References | Prophecy |
| General Characteristics | |
| Maximum speed | Warp 7[citation needed] |
| Armaments | Disruptor cannons photon torpedoes |
| Defences | Deflector shields Cloaking device |
The D7 class is the first televised Klingon ship type, although it figuratively bore a Romulan flag in the original episode "The Enterprise Incident" under a technological alliance between the two Federation adversaries. Subsequent appearances in episodes "Elaan of Troyius" and "Day of the Dove" restored the Klingon mantle to the vessels. (The 1968 airdates for these episodes were out of step with their production order, so the D7 was first shown under Klingon command in "Elaan of Troyius"; the Romulan ships appeared afterward.)
The D7 designation never appeared on screen in the sixties, but was apparently used by members of the show's production staff. It was later made official in the Deep Space Nine episode "Trials and Tribble-ations" when show modelmaker Greg Jein built brand-new motion control models of both the D7 and Constitution classes.
The ship in "Elaan of Troyius" had nacelle-mounted green energy weaponry, and such weapons in "The Enterprise Incident" were specifically called 'disruptors' in dialogue.
In the animated shows created by Gene Roddenberry (who would later deem them non-canon), Spock calls D7 engines 'S-2 Graf units, roughly comparable to our warp drive'. The animated ships also seem to feature beam weapons which fire from the forward hull (as in "More Tribbles, More Troubles"). And though the hull's elliptical opening was never used in the original series, it became a photon torpedo tube in many animated episodes like "More Tribbles..." and "The Survivor".
[edit] K't'inga class
| K't'inga class | |
|---|---|
 K't'inga class starship |
|
| First appearance | Star Trek: The Motion Picture |
| General Characteristics | |
| Maximum speed | Warp 7[citation needed] |
| Armaments | Weapons of Star Trek#Phaserss photon torpedoes |
| Defences | Deflector shields Cloaking device[citation needed] |
An upgrade of the D7 design, this class of ship had the same basic design, but the model which was originally built for Star Trek: The Motion Picture differed slightly in proportions and was given a more detailed surface for its appearance on the larger motion picture screen. The color of the model was a deep green, but on screen it sometimes appeared blue-grey. In Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, the color was changed to light grey and maroon and it received detailed gold ornamentation to signify its role as the vessel which was transporting the Klingon Chancellor. The ship was later used in episodes of DS9 apparently as a regular ship of the line ("The Way of the Warrior").
This class appeared in a number of episodes of The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. Like the D7, this class was not initially identified on screen, although the novelization of The Motion Picture, written by Gene Roddenberry, identified it as K't'inga class. This designation became official in an episode of DS9. In the TNG episode "The Emissary", we learn that some of these ships were converted into special "sleeper ships" which could travel for decades with its crew in suspended animation.
Assuming a date of at least 2270[citation needed] for when this ship appeared in the first movie, that means this basic design has been in service for at least 100 years by the time of the last episode of DS9.
The large port on the front of the bulbous forward hull is seen to launch photon torpedoes from its first appearance and throughout most of its later appearances, however in the DS9 episode "The Way of the Warrior" ships of this class fire phasers, not disruptors, unlike most other Klingon warships. Throughout the series it also had a cloaking device, like all of the other Klingon warships seemed to have. On at least one occasion it used a pair of disruptor bolts which fired from the sides somewhere in the ST:TNG episode "The Emissary". Visual inspection of the studio model reveals 6 cannon-like emplacements that are meant to be the disruptor mounts. Early blueprints from Lincoln Enterprises (a Gene Roddenberry-approved source) showed this ship with at least 8 of these cannon emplacements, the extra two being under the main wing hull, but which on the studio model were replaced by large unidentifiable greebles. The Lincoln blueprints also (erroneously) label these eight emplacements as "sonic disruptors", probably based on the fact that the ST:TOS Klingon handweapon was a sonic one, but which of course ignore the fact that sound cannot travel through space, making it an unrealistic starship weapon. The Lincoln blueprints also call the ship a "D-4 Heavy Battlecruiser", but this appellation never became used or popular, probably because it seems retro when compared to the D-7 of ST:TOS, despite the fact that Gene Roddenberry himself had approved this. Fans have substituted other appellations for this ship, like D-8 or some higher variant of the D-7, but none of these are canon.
[edit] Bird of Prey classes
| Bird of Prey class | |
|---|---|
 22nd century Bird of Prey |
|
| First appearance | Star Trek III: The Search for Spock |
| General Characteristics | |
| Maximum speed | Warp 3.8[citation needed] |
| Armaments | Photon torpedoes Disruptors |
| Defences | Cloaking device Deflector shields Tractor beam emitters |
| Propulsion | Warp drive |
The Bird of Prey was first seen in the movie Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. This has become perhaps the most common Klingon ship design in modern Star Trek. It is much smaller than the D7 and K't'inga class cruisers. Standard crew complement is a dozen officers and men (stated by Hikaru Sulu in STIII).
Birds of Prey are fast and agile warships. They are the ship of choice for espionage and spy missions, and many Klingon commanders prefer to command them over the larger vessels in the fleet. The wings are movable and have three main positions: slanted down for battle, raised slightly above 180 degrees for cruising, and raised very high for landing (the Bird of Prey is one of the few starships that enter a planet's atmosphere and land on its surface; Federation Intrepid-class ships are another). Some designs incorporate a submarine-like periscope for the captain that also has weapon controls on the handles, allowing him to aim and operate the weapons himself; this design also featured movable disruptor cannons (this design was shown in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and Star Trek Generations).
[edit] Bird of Prey (22nd century)
This type of Bird of Prey was first seen in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "The Expanse". The Bird of Prey was heavily armed with several wing, neck and head mounted disruptor cannons,[2] and fore and aft photon torpedo launchers.[3]
The Bird of Prey was equipped with deflector shielding and two tractor beam emitters and was capable of at least warp 3.8.[2][3]
[edit] Bird of Prey (23rd/24th century)
There are at least two known variants to exist in the 23rd century and into the 24th century, the D-12 scout and the K'vort/B'rel variants. These types of Bird of Prey, like their predecessors, followed a standard design — a large wing span with a neck and a head. The D-12 was retired from active service because of a flaw in their design - a faulty component of their cloaking device could cause it to be activated by certain energy signals, causing the ship to drop shields and cloak at inopportune moments. The B'rel and K'vort variants were larger and stronger, though still classified as frigates/light cruisers.
These Birds of Prey were equipped with wing mounted disruptor cannons and at least one photon torpedo launcher, they were also equipped with deflector shields and a cloaking device.[4]
The D-12 variant was the ship used by Lursa and B'Etor in Star Trek Generations. Using a video device implanted in Geordi La Forge's VISOR, they were able to reconfigure their weapons to the Enterprise-D's shield harmonics, allowing their attacks to pass through the ship's shields. Their Bird of Prey was destroyed in the battle, but not before it had done fatal damage to the Enterprise.
Two of the B'rel variant were used by rogue Ferengi in TNG episode "Rascals". Ambushing the Enterprise-D, they inflicted crippling damage to the much larger Galaxy-class starship while taking only minor damage from her counter-attacks. No mention was made of how the Ferengi were able to acquire the vessels.
In the episode "Yesterday's Enterprise", in the alternate timeline, Enterprise-D is engaged by three K'Vort-class Birds of Prey while she was covering the retreat of the Enterprise-C through a temporal rift. These ships inflicted severe damage on the Enterprise-D, leaving her moments from being destroyed by the time the Enterprise-C made it into the rift, though one of the Klingon vessels was lost as well.
[edit] Vor'cha class
| Vor'cha class | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | Sins of the Father |
| General Characteristics | |
| Armaments | Disruptor cannons Photon torpedoes |
| Defences | Deflector shields Cloaking device |
The Vor'cha class could match a Federation Galaxy-class starship during combat, despite its considerably smaller size. It was first seen as the command ship of Chancellor K'mpec in the TNG episode "Sins of the Father". Although a massive ship for most missions, it is the battlecruiser mainstay of the Klingon fleet and has mostly phased out the aging D7 and K't'inga class cruisers, the latter of which are still used as support vessels in a fleet.
The design of the Vor'cha class is similar to the classic D7 class battlecruiser with a forward "head" supported by a thick horizontal neck running aft and attaching to a larger secondary hull with an impulse engine module on the dorsal side. A large disrupter cannon is mounted at the front of the "head", which is depicted prominently in a battle scene of the episode "Redemption". The Vor'cha class has two warp nacelles that are canted at the end of pylons. The warp nacelles of Vor'cha class vessels appear to have been influenced by Federation starship design as the nacelles are cigar-shaped with red Bussard collectors instead of traditional Klingon cruiser nacelles which are rectangular and emit a green or cyan color.
Some non-canonical sources suggest that the primary bridge module is capable of being launched from the rest of the ship, to act as a lifeboat.
The Vor'cha class was probably first put into service during the mid-24th century in response to the growing tensions with the Romulans and the Federation. This starship class served in many of the major crises of the late 24th century such as the Klingon Civil War, the Klingon-Cardassian War, the Klingon-Federation War and the Dominion War; several cruisers were lost to Dominion and Cardassian forces.
In the DS9 episode "Tears of the Prophets", a scene during the battle of Chin'Toka involved the Dominion dismantling a Vor'cha class starship piece by piece as part of their attack.
The Vor'cha class cruiser model was designed by Rick Sternbach for TNG.
[edit] Negh'Var class
The Negh'Var class starship is the largest class of vessel in the Klingon fleet to date. The Negh'Var, presumably the first of its class, served as the Klingon flagship from 2372. They served as flagships and saw successful action during the Dominion War. This heavily armed starship class is the largest and most sophisticated in use by the Klingon Defense Force during the Dominion War.
A variant of this class of ship appeared in the alternate future depicted in the TNG finale, "All Good Things...".
In the DS9 episode "Shattered Mirror", a mirror universe Klingon ship closely resembling the Negh'Var is seen - identical in appearance, except the mirror version is much larger in size (judging by the shots of the ship alongside the Defiant).
The design of the Negh'Var is closely based on the original D7 design. Obviously, it is much larger and more detailed. Furthermore, it has been made to appear more war-like in its aspect with the addition of two "fangs" on the primary bridge section. The function of the 'fangs' is unclear.
[edit] Raptor class
The Raptor class of Klingon scoutship was in use during the 22nd century and is classified as a scout vessel. The Raptor's hull is at least twice as thick as that of the Enterprise (NX-01) and reinforced with a coherent molecular alloy.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ "Judgement". Star Trek: Enterprise.
- ^ a b "Borderland". Star Trek: Enterprise.
- ^ a b "The Augments". Star Trek: Enterprise.
- ^ Star Trek Generations, (1994).
- ^ "Sleeping Dogs". Star Trek: Enterprise.
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