Bird-of-prey

Bird-of-Prey is the designation for a number of different starship classes used by both the Klingon and Romulan fleets.

Klingon Bird-of-Prey

The Klingons have produced at least three classes of Bird-of-Prey, they all share a similar design of a primary hull with a long protruding neck at the front with a command bulb at the end, usually a photon tube can be found here. To either side of the main hull are wings with disruptor cannons mounted at the end, certain classes have additional armaments such as rear firing torpedoes and additional disruptors.

22nd Century Klingon BoP

22nd century Bird-of-Prey

The earliest known Klingon Birds-of-Prey was first encountered by humans in 2153 when one was used to attack the Enterprise NX-01 at the fringes of the Sol system (Enterprise episode: The Expanse). In 2154 a group of Augments successfully commandeered a Bird-of-Prey and used it to carry out a number of attacks until it was finally destroyed by The Enterprise (ENT episodes: Borderland, Cold Station 12 and The Augments).

File:Bop23kling.jpg

B'rel Class Klingon BoP

B'rel class

The B'rel class was in operation from the 23rd century well into the 24th century. It was fitted with a cloaking device, a technology obtained in the Klingon-Romulan alliance, the alliance also allowed the Klingons access to Romulan starships designs which influenced the development of this Bird-of-Prey class. (TOS movie: The Search for Spock & ST reference: Starship Spotter)

Insurrection class Klingon BoP

Insurrection class

The Insurrection class or QuD class was the next generation Bird-of-Prey brought into service in the 2290s. (TOS game: Klingon Academy)

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K'vort Class Klingon BoP

K'vort class

The K'vort class looks almost identical to the B'rel class, however appearances are deceptive as the K'vort class is a great deal larger with a wing span almost as wide as a Galaxy class starship. K’vort’s are also equipped with cloaking devices. The K'vort class was in operation in the 24th century but became far less widely used towards the end of the century with the introduction of more advanced cruisers such as the Vor'cha class.

Chuq'Beh class Klingon BoP

Chuq'Beh class

The latest Bird-of-Prey to enter service in the Klingon fleet, the Chuq'Beh once again takes it's design from the successful B'rel and K'vort classes. However, unlike it's predecessors the Chuq'Beh class' primary function is a long range artillery platform rather than the traditional fighter/cruiser role of Klingon Birds-of-Prey. (TNG game: Armada II)

Romulan Bird-of-Prey

Like the Klingons the Romulan Birds-of-Prey all conform to a similar design. The Romulan Bird-of Prey typically has a saucer like main hull with pylons supporting nacelles on either side.

22nd Century Romulan BoP

22nd century Bird-of-Prey

The first encounter with the Romulan Bird-of-Prey and indeed with the Romulans for humans was in 2152 when the Enterprise NX-01 stumbled into a Romulan mine field and was warned of by two birds-of-prey. The vessels were armed with energy weapons and had cloaking devices. (ENT episode: Minefield)

23rd Century Romulan BoP

23rd century Bird-of-Prey

Kirk's Enterprise first encountered the next iteration of the Romulan Bird-of-Prey when the Romulans used it to make a strike on Federation outposts along the Neutral Zone in 2266. The Bird-of-Prey was a similar size to its 22nd-century counterpart but was armed with a powerful plasma weapon and a new cloaking device (previous cloaking technology had apparently been rendered useless so this class’s ability to disappear was something of a surprise). This advanced weaponry used a great deal of power making the use of warp drive in this class impossible at times. (TOS episode: Balance of Terror)

Several FASA RPG supplements refer to this class as the V-8 Bird of Prey-class.

Connections

• Bird-of-prey article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.