Alien Ships

[Niemz]

D7 class (Klingon)
Class specifications
Battlecruiser
Length: 228m
Crew complement: 440

The D7 class is the first Klingon ship design seen on Star Trek and appeared throughout Star Trek: The Original Series. Designed by Matt Jefferies, the designer of the original USS Enterprise, it set the standard for the bulbous primary hull, long central boom, and wing-like secondary hull with wingtip-mounted warp nacelles. Jefferies wanted to emulate the shape of a predator, something akin to a manta, and so he made even the color scheme of the ship dark on top, lighter on bottom.

Although this starship was designed and intended to be a Klingon vessel, its first appearance was as a Romulan vessel in the original series episode "The Enterprise Incident". In its next appearance in the original series episode "Elaan of Troyius" (which was actually filmed before "The Enterprise Incident") it was identified as a Klingon vessel, as it was in "Day of the Dove". It should be noted that the original airdates in 1968 for the above episodes were out of step with the actual order of episode production, but if we are to go by episode production number, its first appearance is in "Elaan of Troyius" in which it is identified as a Klingon vessel, and not in "The Enterprise Incident".

The "D7" designation was never used on screen in the original series, but was referred to as such by the producers of the show. It was later made official by its use during the Deep Space Nine episode "Trials and Tribble-ations", where the crew of the Defiant travels back in time and takes part in the events of the original series episode "The Trouble with Tribbles". For this episode, Star Trek model-maker Greg Jein built entirely new motion-control models of a D7 class vessel and the original Enterprise.

The primary weapon of attack it used in "Elaan of Troyius" were engine-mounted disruptors, which were later identified specifically as disruptors in dialogue in "The Enterprise Incident". In Star Trek: The Animated Series (which Gene Roddenberry created and was executive producer for, but later asked Paramount to consider non-canon), Spock calls the engines of the Klingon ship "S-2 Graph Units, roughly comparable to our warp drive". It also seems to have separate and distinct phaser weaponry firing from the command pod somewhere ("More Tribbles, More Troubles"). The opening in the forward hull was always presumed to be a weapon port, but it never saw use on screen in the original series. However, it was a photon torpedo tube in many of the episodes of Star Trek: The Animated Series, especially in "More Tribbles, More Troubles" and "The Survivor". The ship has at least four deflector shields like the Enterprise, and can travel at at least Warp 7 ("Elaan of Troyius").

Known ships
IKS Gr'oth

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K't'inga class (Klingon)
Class specifications
Battlecruiser
Length: 214m

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 was given a more detailed surface for its appearance on the larger motion picture screen. The color of the model was a deep metallic green, but on screen it always appeared as a shade of metallic blue-grey. In Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, the color was changed to light grey and maroon and it received detailed gold ornamentation, at first to signify its role as the vessel which was transporting the Klingon Chancellor, but was later used in episodes of DS9 and Voyager apparently as a regular ship of the line ("Sacrifice of Angels").

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 novelisation of The Motion Picture, written by Gene Roddenberry, identified it as K't'inga class. This designation became official in an episode of Deep Space Nine. In the Next Generation 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 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 Deep Space Nine.

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 Deep Space Nine episode "The Way of the Warrior" ships of this class fire an orange phaser-like beam from the same location. Throughout DS9 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 greeblies. 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.

Known ships
IKC Amar
IKS B'Moth
IKC Qo'noS Wa'
IKC T'Ong

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D12 "Bird of Prey" class (Klingon)
Class specifications
Scout (B'rel), cruiser (K'Vort)
Length: 110m
Crew complement: 12 (scout), 36 (cruiser)
Max. speed: Warp 8 (sustainable), Warp 9.8 (short-term, old scale)

First seen in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock this has become perhaps the most common Klingon ship design in the modern Trek era. Much smaller than the D7 and Ktinga class cruisers, the standard crew complement was only about 12 crew and officers. This ship class was the first Klingon design to be equipped with a cloaking device and was armed with both disruptors and photon torpedoes. They were also capable of planetary landings.

During the Next Generation era, larger versions of this ship were seen giving rise to the K'vort- class. The smaller version associated with Star Trek III is often referred to as the B'rel- class, however the only use of this name was used in reference to ships of the same size as the larger K'vort. The two are therefore identical, with no name given for the smaller design. Arguably, the Bird of Prey is produced in higher numbers than any other Klingon Vessel.

Known Bird of Prey starships:
"HMS Bounty"
IKC Buruk
IKS Ch'Tang
IKS Etam
IKS Hegh'ta
IKS Ki'tang
IKS Korinar
IKS Koraga (K'Vort)
IKS M'Char
IKS Malpara
IKS Ning'tao
IKS Orantho
IKC Pagh
IKS Rotarran
IKS Slivin
IKC Vorn
IKS Y'tem

* HMS Bounty
o Originally commanded by a Klingon Commander named Kruge. His ship was taken by the crew of the Enterprise after Kruge perished on the surface of the Genesis Planet. His ship was renamed as Bounty by Dr. McCoy and used by the crew of the former USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) to return to Earth. The Bounty's true name is unknown.
* IKS Buruk
o In 2367, transported Gowron to a rendezvous with the Enterprise-D.
* IKS Hegh'ta
o Fought in the Klingon Civil War for Gowron under the command of Worf's brother Kurn.
* IKS Ki'tang
o Fought in the Dominion war of the 2370s. The Ki'tang was a testbed for a successful means to evade a Breen energy-dampening weapon.
* IKS Koraga
o A ship upon which Worf commanded during the Dominion war. In 2375, the Koraga was ambushed and destroyed, along with the IKS Rotarran, by Jem'Hadar attack ships; much of the crew, including Worf, escaped in lifeboats and was recovered.
* IKS Pagh
o [Novelization] Commanded by General Chang, it was a prototype vessel that could fire while cloaked and was used in the assassination of Chancellor Gorkon.
o A second ship named Pagh hosted William Riker as part of the officer exchange program between the Klingon Empire and the Federation.
* IKS Rotarran
o General Martok commanded this vessel after his escape from a Dominion POW camp. The ship was later ambushed and destroyed by the Jem'Hadar in 2375, along with the Koraga.
* IKS Vorn
o In 2367, transported Duras to a rendezvous with the Enterprise-D.

[Niemz]

Bird of Prey class (Romulan)
Class specifications
Length: 131m

The Bird of Prey was a variety of Romulan starship in use during the 2260s (not to be confused with the Klingon platform also known as the Bird of Prey). Ships of this class were built as a saucer-shaped primary hull with two nacelles attached by forward-angled pylons; the most distinctive feature, however, was a red and white bird in flight painted onto the bottom of the hull. According to background lore, the original script for the episode "Balance of Terror" called for the Romulans to have a ship that was a copy of the USS Enterprise, which the Romulans had built using Federation technology that they obtained through espionage. However, the producers ultimately decided to have the Romulan ship only vaguely resemble the Enterprise, as evidenced by the saucer-like hull and cylindrical pylons.

In the episode "Balance of Terror", one such vessel crossed the Romulan Neutral Zone, destroyed three outpost satellites, and retreated as a test of Federation strength; however, the Bird of Prey was destroyed by the USS Enterprise before it reached Romulan space, possibly causing the century-long wait before another Romulan vessel was seen.

Birds of Prey had advanced weapons compared to Starfleet ships of the period, featuring a cloaking device and powerful plasma-based weapon; however, the ships were slower than Federation craft, possibly even lacking warp drive. This ship also seemed to suffer from an acute fuel shortage in the episode, which implies limited range, and also more of a Federation-style fusion or antimatter-based drive system as opposed to the "quantum singularity" power sources of the later Romulan ships in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

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D-7 class (Romulan)
Class specifications
Battlecruiser
Length: 228m
Crew complement: 440

In the original series, at least three starships of the Klingon D-7 class were used by the Romulans. (This came to pass when a fire at NBC's studio warehouse destroyed the only existing Romulan ship model (the 2260s Bird of Prey), necessitating re-use of the surviving Klingon props.) Novels (as well as fans) have speculated that these vessels were given to the Romulans during a brief alliance with the Klingon Empire against the Federation (in exchange for which, the Romulans provided the Klingons with cloaking technology), though this is non-canon and has never been confirmed onscreen. The Romulans refitted the D-7s in their service with cloaking devices and the Federation occasionally referred to Romulan controlled vessels of this class as "battlecruisers."

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In the Star Trek fictional universe, the Kumari class starship is a rarely seen starship produced and used by the Andorian Imperial Guard; several are believed to exist in 2154. The class first entered service sometime in the mid 22nd century as a response to Vulcan Surak class combat cruisers. The design of the Kumari class has a forward 'head' section supported by a horizontal neck running aft to two vertical warp nacelles on top of the secondary hull. The impulse engines, weapons systems and two large rectangular sections are on two inverted gull wing sections attached to the secondary hull; the purpose of these glowing rectangular sections are not known. The Kumari class is far more advanced than the NX class starship of United Earth Starfleet as the Kumari class is armed with a green tractor beam (as seen here [1]) and has lifeboats for the crew.

At least four are in service as of 2154. [2]

According to ENT "In a Mirror, Darkly", the Kumari class appears in the Mirror universe.[3]

In real life, the Kumari class is rendered as a computer-generated visual effect for Star Trek: Enterprise. Currently, very little is known about the ship.

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IKC: Imperial Klingon Cruiser
IKS: Imperial Klingon Ship

[earthcrusher]

good info niemz!