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== Ships commissioned ==
  
== Ships commissioned ==
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* {{IKS|Gr'oth}}
  
* {{IKS|Gr'oth}}
 
* {{IKS|Klothos}}
  
* {{IKS|Klothos}}
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* [[Unnamed D7 class starships]]
  
* [[Unnamed D7 class starships]]
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** [[Kang's battle cruiser (2268)|Kang's battle cruiser]]
  
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** [[Kohlar's battle cruiser]]
  
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== Appendices ==
  
== Appendices ==

Revision as of 14:10, 12 November 2012

The D7 class battle cruiser was a 23rd century warship originally designed and used by the Klingon Imperial Fleet, before being shared with the Romulan military during the late-2260s.

History

The D7 class Klingon battle cruiser served as the backbone of the fleet for several years during the 23rd century. (TOS: "Errand of Mercy" remastered, etc.) Among the mission profiles designated for this class was that of scout ship. (TOS: "Friday's Child", "A Private Little War" remastered)

By 2267, they were prominently featured in the Klingon Imperial Fleet, where they posed a serious threat to the security of the Federation and Starfleet. (TOS: "Elaan of Troyius"; TAS: "More Tribbles, More Troubles")

The Romulan Star Empire later began using the same the design by 2268. (TOS: "The Enterprise Incident")

According to the Star Trek Chronology the line regarding a Romulan-Klingon Alliance was added to "Reunion" to explain the Romulan use of D7s.

The Template:ShipClass battle cruiser began to replace the D7 class during the 2270s. The D7 was finally "retired decades" prior to 2377. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture; VOY: "Prophecy")

Interest in these vessels by the Federation continued to appear well into the 2370s, as data on this class was commonly found within numerous Starfleet files. (TNG: "The Naked Now", "The Last Outpost", "Conspiracy"; VOY: "Drone", "The Voyager Conspiracy")

Technical data

Physical arrangement

Constitution-D7 class comparison

Overview comparison with a Template:ShipClass starship

D7 class, Romulan variant

Romulan D7 profile

The D7 class was almost predatory in its appearance, with a spread-wing primary hull, long neck and head-like command pod. The early Romulan variants had a large bird-of-prey design painted on the hull, identical to what was found on the Bird-of-Prey. (TOS: "The Enterprise Incident") Other Romulan D7s had red and yellow feather-like detailing painted on the upper wing and nacelle pylon. (TAS: "The Survivor", "The Practical Joker")

The D7 bird-of-prey paintings have only appeared in the D7s of the remastered version of "The Enterprise Incident".

The bulk of the ships overall mass was incorporated in the aft section of the ship. The bridge was located on the bulbous head, which was separated from the aft section by a relatively thin neck that flared out into the wings. Jutting from below these wings were a pair of outboard warp nacelles. The ship's impulse engines were located on the caudal section of the ship. (TOS: "Elaan of Troyius")

This design had evolved from a classic design lineage dating back well into the 22nd century with the early D5 class battle cruisers. (ENT: "Judgment") In terms of dimensions, it was comparable in size to the Federation's Template:ShipClass starship. (TOS: "The Enterprise Incident")

Tactical systems

During the mid-23rd century, the D7 class posed a significant threat to the Federation with the classes impressive armament consisting of two nacelle-mounted disruptor cannons, a forward-mounted phaser emitter, and a forward launcher capable of firing photon torpedoes, magnetic pulses and disruptor blasts. (VOY: "Prophecy"; TOS: "Errand of Mercy"; TAS: "More Tribbles, More Troubles")

Unlike preceding and follow-on classes, the D7 does not appear to have possessed an aft firing torpedo tube.

While the D7 cruiser was often viewed as a threat to a Constitution-starship, under certain circumstances, it was possible for a Constitution to destroy a single D7 with a barrage of phaser fire. Following such an instance at the outbreak of the Federation-Klingon War in 2267, the USS Enterprise encountered a fleet of eight D7s, which was considered by Captain James T. Kirk to have superior odds. Despite these odds, Hikaru Sulu was confident the Enterprise could have defeated them. (TOS: "Errand of Mercy" remastered)

D7 firing projected stasis field

Firing a projected stasis field

In 2269, the Klingons developed a prototype weapon, described as a projected stasis field, which was first encountered on the IKS Gr'oth by the Federation. The field could be projected in up to three different directions at one time. The weapon, which was extremely powerful, was capable of completely paralyzing an enemy vessel, including all its vital systems. It was however equally crippling to the firing ship itself. Ultimately, it was determined by the Federation that this was so impractical in standard combat, that it posed no real threat. (TAS: "More Tribbles, More Troubles")

By the late 24th century, these vessels were considered rather antiquated, and were identified as being inferior in firepower to a Federation Template:ShipClass starship. (VOY: "Prophecy")

Cloaking device

Like its predecessor, the Romulan Bird-of-Prey, the Romulan D7 was equipped with cloaking technology.

Klingon ships were outfitted with cloaking devices as late as 2269. One of the first Klingon vessels to acquire the new technology was the IKS Klothos. (TAS: "The Time Trap"; DS9: "Once More Unto the Breach")

According to the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Journal the cloaking device was acquired by the Klingons as an exchange to several D7s with the Romulans during the Romulan-Klingon Alliance.

Propulsion systems

D7 engine room

Engine room, with a giant tribble colony

Some Klingon ships in the 23rd century were equipped with an S-2 graf unit, which was roughly equivalent to the warp drives in the Federation's Template:ShipClass starships. The warp drive of the D7 enables it to catch up with a ship traveling at the speed of warp 9. (TAS: "The Time Trap"; TOS: "Elaan of Troyius", "The Enterprise Incident")

The only glimpses we have seen of the D7's warp core were briefly shown in "More Tribbles, More Troubles".

In addition, D7s impulse drive consisted of four-port engines, presumably giving the ship enhanced maneuverability at sublight speeds. (TOS: "Elaan of Troyius" remastered)

Other systems

Romulan D7s were outfitted with food synthesizers. (TAS: "The Practical Joker")

Interior design

Crew complement

The average crew complement of a Klingon D7 was comparable to a Constitution-class, and consisted of around 430. (TOS: "Day of the Dove")

The interiors of the Romulan ship seen in "The Enterprise Incident" were the corridors of the Enterprise set with all wall props removed and a different lighting scheme.

Main bridge

Referred to by the Romulans as "Control Central", the bridge was the nerve center of the D7 class. (TOS: "The Enterprise Incident")

Conference room

Klothos conference room

Conference room of the D7 class Klothos

The conference room was used as a meeting place for the ship's senior staff for mission briefings. It contained a triangular table embossed with the emblem of the Klingon Empire, with each side of the table having its own set of chairs. Surrounding the table are various computer consoles. (TAS: "The Time Trap")

Ships commissioned

Appendices

Appearances

Background information

Name origins

The term "D7" remained the speculated designation for the Klingon battle cruiser for many years, with origins rooting to an incident Gene Roddenberry recalls in The Making of Star Trek, which is linked to how he likened the cast's relationship to that of a family:

I went to the stage one day, and they were all ready and waiting for me, because they knew I was really exhausted from some long rewrite sessions. As soon as I walked up to the set, Bill and Leonard blew a scene, but they blew it on purpose and began arguing very violently. Bill was shouting at the top of his voice, "Leonard! What do you mean saying this is a D-7 Klingon ship! It's a D-6!" Leonard shouted back, "No, you idiot, the D-6 has four doors over here and the D-7 only has two!" Bill immediately shouted back, "No, no, no – it's the other way around. You've got it all wrong."

While all of this is going on, I'm standing there, beginning to get frustrated, watching the minutes tick by and mentally counting the money we're losing in expensive crew time, because the cameras aren't rolling. And as the argument continued, I'm thinking to myself, "What are they talking about? They've gone too far!" Then I remembered thinking that I should remember which is the D-6 or the D-7. Finally I couldn't stand it any more, and so I walked in between them and said, "Come on, fellows, it really doesn't matter. Let's get on with the scene." Then the whole crew broke up laughing. This was their way of saying to me, "Hey, time is not that serious. Relax a little."

The designation was not actually referenced on screen until Star Trek's 30th anniversary, in the DS9 Season 5 episode "Trials and Tribble-ations", and later in the VOY Season 7 episode "Prophecy".

Studio models

see: D7-class model

Inconsistencies

  • In writing the DS9 Season 7 episode, "Once More Unto the Breach", Ronald D. Moore stated that he intentionally included a nod to The Animated Series by means of a reference to the TAS Season 1 episode "The Time Trap". Template:Brokenlink
  • In this reference, the elderly Kor recalled the time when he commanded the Klothos during the Battle of Caleb IV, a vessel he described as being "one of the old D-5 cruisers." While the reference the cloaking device-equipped Klothos matched the Klothos that appeared in "The Time Trap", the design itself had actually appeared as a slight variant of the D7 class, rather than the D5 class design that was later introduced in the ENT Season 2 episode ENT: "Marauders".
D7 class cruiser, prophecy

The D7 from "Prophecy"

  • The designation of the Klingon battle cruiser that appear in the episode "Prophecy" was misidentified in the script during the ship's appearance. Writer Mike Sussman later explained the mistake in a response to an article. [1] He assumed that the physical model built by Jein from "Trials and Tribble-ations" could be reused in the episode. However all the effects were apparently to be computer generated. To his knowledge, a CGI version of Jein's D7 did not exist at the time and it would have cost a fair amount of money to design one. Had Sussman been aware of this, he would have simply changed the script. As a result, this usage may be interpreted as a transitional predecessor to the K't'inga in the D7 lineage.

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