Klingon starships
In the Star Trek franchise, the Klingon Empire makes use of several classes of starships. As the Klingons are portrayed as a warrior culture, driven by the pursuit of honor and glory, the Empire is shown to use warships almost exclusively and even their support ships, such as troop transports and colony ships, are armed for battle. This contrasts with the exploration and research vessels used by Starfleet, the protagonists of the franchise. The first Klingon ship design used in The Original Series, the D7-class battlecruiser, was designed by Matt Jefferies to evoke a shape akin to that of a manta ray, providing a threatening and instantly recognizable form for viewers. The configuration of Jefferies's design featured a bulbous forward hull connected by a long boom to a wing-like main hull with the engine nacelles mounted on each wingtip. Though a variety of Klingon ships have appeared in Star Trek, their design generally conforms to this style. Most Klingon vessels were physically built as scale models, although later computer-generated imagery was used to create the models. In recent years, many of the original studio models have been sold at auctions.
All Klingon ships are equipped with some form of sublight engine, and most of these ships are equipped with superluminal propulsion technology called warp drive. Klingon vessels are usually depicted as being heavily armed, equipped with particle beam weapons called disruptors and photon torpedoes, an antimatter weapon, as primary offensive weaponry. Later Klingon ships use cloaking devices. For The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, Klingon ships were designed by Rick Sternbach to reflect technology exchanges as a result of an alliance between the Klingons and Starfleet. In the prequel television series Enterprise, Klingon ships are designed to appear more primitive than those chronologically later in the franchise. The interior of Klingon vessels is utilitarian in nature: this is intended to mimic an old submarine. Klingon ship names are usually preceded by the prefix "IKS", an abbreviation for "Imperial Klingon Starship".
Enterprise era[edit]
D4-class[edit]
The D4-class battlecruiser was a proposed design for the first Klingon vessel to appear in Enterprise. The vessel was originally designed for usage in the fourth episode of the series, "Unexpected". Designed by John Eaves, the D4-class was meant to represent a direct predecessor to Jefferies's D7-class. The design was similar to that of the D7-class, closely following its configuration and shape and incorporating a more rugged and primitive construction to make the ship appear consistent with the earlier time period. Eaves's team was able to finish the design and Foundation Imaging created a computer-generated model for the episode. However, the producers rejected the model because they disliked how the model's windows were not prominent as they were on other ship designs, stating that it could only be used if significant changes were made to the vessel. With only a few hours before the episode's deadline for delivery and exhausted from their recent work on "Broken Bow", the pilot episode of Enterprise, Eaves's team was unable to work through the night to make the alterations. Therefore, the producers decided to use an older CGI model in its place; the only other model available was a K't'inga-class battlecruiser made for Deep Space Nine. The use of the K't'inga-class created a continuity error in the series, with the same ship design seemingly in use for 225 years. thus, the producers decided that the K't'inga-class model would not be used again as it did not fit with Enterprise's theme. The designers involved later voiced their regret at having to use the older model, but acknowledged that there was no alternative due to the team's exhaustion.[1][13]
Raptor-class[edit]
The Raptor-class is the first new Klingon ship design depicted in Enterprise. The vessel is the subject of the first-season episode "Sleeping Dogs". Produced by Herman Zimmerman's art department, it was the first Klingon ship to debut as a completely computer-generated model. John Eaves was responsible for developing the basic shape of the Raptor-class in concept art; Doug Drexler later refined Eaves's sketches to create a CGI mesh using LightWave 3D. Foundation Imaging converted Drexler's work into the final CGI model seen in the episode. Eaves's objective was to make the craft appear more primitive than the Klingon ships later in the franchise's chronology, with exposed piping and rugged design. Eaves stated that the design was made to look "like it is made up of different pieces that are attached to one another, as opposed to a uniform shape". Several designs of various sizes were proposed before Zimmerman settled on the Raptor-class. While the vessel is lightly based on Industrial Light & Magic's Bird of Prey, Eaves attempted to make the craft appear as a precursor to the D7-class. Drexler, who worked closely with Eaves during the creation of the CGI mesh, was allowed to deal with the closer details of the model, such as the position of the shuttlebay. Drexler felt that the design held qualities of both a PT boat and a 19th-century ironclad warship. The overall style of Eaves's design was later used as the basis for future Klingon ships in Enterprise.[14]
Designated as a scout vessel, the Raptor-class is depicted as a stalwart vessel. Its hull, stated to be twice as thick as that of the Enterprise NX-01, can survive the pressures in the top 2 kilometres (6,600 ft) of a gas giant's atmosphere. Although designed by the production team as a precursor to the D7-class, the Raptor-class is far smaller; Eaves stated that his design would have had a crew of around 12. The ship is armed with two torpedo launchers and a disruptor array mounted towards the back of the ship. Like most Klingon ships, it has both impulse and warp drive. The Raptor-class only appears in one episode in the series, although its schematics are visible on several computer screens in later episodes.
D5-class[edit]
The D5-class cruiser is the primary Klingon capital ship used in Enterprise. Designed by John Eaves and compiled as a CGI model by Pierre Drolet of EdenFX, The D5 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 backswept pylons. The design is distinct from that of the chronologically later D7 ships by its bigger and less spherical forward hull, its larger, tapered nacelles, and engine pylons that sweep backward, not forward. The D5 was initially developed for the episode "Marauders" as a freighter, with visible cargo tanks on the model. This version of the ship was not held to be much of a threat to the Enterprise NX-01.[15]
The episode "Judgement" introduced the battlecruiser variant at the behest of producer Rick Berman. The episode originally intended to use a D7-class battlecruiser, but Berman decided that a less advanced ship should be displayed, using the D5 designation. Thus the tanker model was modified to become the D5-class battlecruiser, and would be used for the rest of the show as this era's most powerful Klingon ship.[15] Unlike the tanker, the D5-class was depicted as outmatching the Enterprise by a considerable margin.[16] The battlecruiser possessed both disruptor beams and cannons, as well as forward and aft torpedoes, and is shown as capable of orbital bombardment. The ship was heavily armoured in addition to its shielding, and was capable of warp six. The designers intended and scaled the D5-class's onscreen appearances to be 155 metres (509 ft) in length; however, an onscreen panel notes a length of only 75 metres (246 ft).[15]
Prior to the ship's appearance in Enterprise, the D5-class was alluded to in the Deep Space Nine episode "Once More Unto The Breach". Klingon commander Kor recalls that he commanded a D5-class ship called the IKS Klothos, an intentional reference by writer Ronald D. Moore to The Animated Series episode "The Time Trap". In that episode, the Klothos was depicted as a D7-class battlecruiser, the only Klingon ship design that existed at the time of production.
Bird-of-Prey[edit]
The Bird-of-Prey of the Enterprise era was intended as a predecessor to the Bird-of-Prey model originally designed for Star Trek III. The ship was designed by John Eaves, who used an abandoned concept for a modified Bird-of-Prey intended for Deep Space Nine as his starting point. The end design submitted by Eaves drew elements from this design sketch together with the previously debuted Raptor and D5-class ships, while echoing the original Bird-of-Prey design. The final design attaches an angular forward command section to a substantive engine section via a neck, with two warp nacelles placed above the ship's central impulse engine. Feather-patterned wings sweep downward to heavy weapons mounted on the tips. Elements from the abandoned D4-class design, such as exposed cabling, were also added to create a rougher appearing ship. The CGI model was created by Koji Kuramura at EdenFX. The Bird-of-Prey debuted in the episode "The Expanse" and made multiple appearances across Enterprise, used in roles such as a patrol ship or a destroyer accompanying the bigger D5-class battlecruiser.[17] The design was intended to be 145 metres (476 ft) long with a top speed of warp 5, and was heavily armed with several wing, neck and head mounted disruptor cannons,[18] and fore and aft photon torpedo launchers.[19] A large belly cannon on the underside of the ship was placed by Eaves to evoke the design of the A-10 Thunderbolt.[17]