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| Affiliation: | Vulcan High Command |
| Type: | Science vessel/ Combat cruiser |
| Maximum Speed: | Warp 6.5 (science) Warp 7 (combat) |
| Armament: | Particle beam weapons, photonic weapons |
| Defenses: | Deflector shields |
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| Profile | |
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| Aft view | |
The Suurok class was a type of Vulcan starship designated by the High Command as a science vessel and combat cruiser during the mid-22nd century.
In 2151, after Enterprise was disabled by an unknown alien spacecraft, Jonathan Archer was concerned that the Vulcans would have sent a Suurok-class ship to "oh-so-politely" offer to tow them back home. (ENT: "Silent Enemy")
Technical Data
Design
The design of the Suurok class possessed a long, cylindrical primary hull and a unique circular, ring shaped warp drive.
Primary systems
During the 2150s, this design was among the fastest and most powerful starships operating in the Vulcan fleet. The Suurok possessed a top speed of Warp 6.5 in the science vessel variant. The combat vessel variant could go to Warp 7. (ENT: "Breaking the Ice", "Fallen Hero") The technology behind this advancement was considered "classified" as of 2151 from Earth Starfleet. (ENT: "Breaking the Ice")
Firing particle beam weapon.
The Suurok was armed with standard particle beam weapons. In combat, these vessels were capable of disabling, if not destroying, a force of three Mazarite warships in a confrontation. (ENT: "Fallen Hero")
The Suurok-class also possessed tractor beam technology which was considered "classified" from Earth Starfleet. The tractor beam emitter was located on the lower section of the primary hull, in front of the warp drive. (ENT: "Breaking the Ice")
Ships of the Class
- Named
- Unnamed
Appendices
Appearances
- ENT:
- "Breaking the Ice"
- "Shadows of P'Jem"
- "Fallen Hero"
- "Shockwave" (computer display)
- "United"
Background
Name
It is commonly believed that the name of this class is "Surak" class, despite Archer/Bakula clearly pronouncing the name as "Suurok" class in "Breaking the Ice", which also corresponded with the spelling that appeared in the episode's closed-captioning. This spelling was later confirmed as the spelling in the final draft of the script by Mike Sussman, who noted the former spelling may have appeared in an early draft of the script. The former spelling of "Surak" appeared later in an article written by Doug Drexler on the design of the ship, which appeared in an issue of Star Trek: The Magazine.
Original Design
The Suurok-class was designed by Doug Drexler, and was the first Vulcan starship design to appear on Star Trek: Enterprise, and first significant Vulcan starship design to appear in the Star Trek series. In designing the Suurok-class, Drexler felt a ship for the Vulcans, one of the primary species that define Star Trek, should be as memorable as possible.
The goal of his design was simplicity, so he went to the most memorable ship designs in Star Trek, those made by Matt Jefferies. One that caught his eye was the USS Enterprise (XCV 330), as it was rather different from all other designs in Star Trek to that date. He also remembered that the Vulcan ship from "Unification II" (the T'Pau) had a ring shape. So he based his idea on this, wanting a ship that would pass the "squint test": even when the ship is tiny on the screen, you can still easily recognize it. Drexler would further adapt the reddish colors of the T'Plana-Hath, which was featured in Star Trek: First Contact, in an attempt to create as much of a design lineage as possible, using what few references existed.
Other designs he considered using resembled the T'Plana-Hath much more then the final version, and some had spherical primary hulls, similar to the Olympic class starships, another design that was based off of an early Matt Jefferies design (the Daedalus class). One of the final decisions of the design process was to flip it upside down, as had been done with several ships previously. For the full story, as well as additional class design concepts, see external links below.
Revised Design
Following the initial appearance of the Suurok-class in "Breaking the Ice," the Suurok would be redesigned from its later appearances in "Fallen Hero" and "United."
Close up of some of the more notable design variations.
According to Robert Bonchune, "the design fell out of favor for a while," but would eventually be revised, by model builder Pierre Drolet, to include "better detail and texturing as well as modified dimensions." Bonchune further added that the reason for this was because, "the original model was just not up to snuff for what we needed. So it was superseded. They are theoretically the same ship, not two different classes or types."
Among the modifications made to the design included, a longer primary hull, with a flat underside, and a redesigned aft vertical nacelle strut, which changed from a blue glow to a red glow.
External Links
- Designing the Ti'Mur, by Doug Drexler. On-line version of the article that originally appeared in the July 2002 Issue 39 of Star Trek: The Magazine.