The D4 class battlecruiser was a type of warship designed and built by the Klingon Empire during the mid-22nd through mid-23rd centuries. The distinctive silhouette became as much a symbol of the Empire as the Imperial Trefoil itself, and was carried forward into the D6 and D7 classes.
Service history[]
The D4 class entered service in the 22nd century, and by the early 23rd century was the mainstay of the Klingon fleet, though it was eventually supplanted by the D5 class. (TOS novel: The Final Reflection)
Some D4s served into the 2260s decade. Starfleet included them in Klingon tactical simulations, where they fought alongside the later D7 class against Constitution class vessels. (ST reference: Ships of the Line)
- Due to cropping the D4 class does not actually appear in the image describing these events in the book, but was in the same image, "It Would Have Been Glorious!" by Robert Bonchune, in the original calendar publication.
In the year 2272, several Predator-class ships were among the Klingon vessels assimilated by the Borg, who were manipulated by the rogue Vulcan scientist T'Uerell while she was allied with the Klingons. These assimilated Klingon ships engaged Starfleet in battle, during Admiral James T. Kirk's efforts to thwart T'Uerell's plans, and were destroyed. (ST video game: Legacy)
Specifications[]
By the year 2267 the D4 class carried approximately a crew of three houndred and four shuttlecrafts. It was armed with two disruptor cannons and four Torpedo launcher, two forward and two aft. Its deflector shields were almost on par with those of a Constitution class vessel and it could match its speed both on impulse and warp.(TOS reference: Harm's Way)
Known vessels[]
| D4 D'ama-class ("Predator") starships | ||
|---|---|---|
| Begh'poQ • Blue Fire • Chong'pogh • Death Hand • Deb'choS • Duy'Hub • Fencer • Fury • Gho'be' • GhoH'Sot • Hob'DIS • Hurgh'ragh • Luq'argh • MajQa'be' • NaS'puchpa' • Nay'par • PiqaD'nem • Qugh'tung • Qup'SoH • Qut'Such • TaD'moH • TajHu • Tar'be • Two Fingers • Wuv'a'tem | 
| |
Appendices[]
Background[]
The primary design this page refers to as D4 has so far only appeared in the 2006 Ships of the Line Calendar and Ships of the Line book. The John Eaves design was created by Koji Kuramura under Robert Bonchune, intended to be used in the Enterprise episode Unexpected, unfortunately as the production team had been over worked on the earliest Enterprise episodes they did not have time to make the model and a K't'inga class was used instead. Later appearances by the Klingons only featured specifically Enterprise era designs and Kuramura did eventually build the model of the D4, but it did not make an appearance on screen.
Douglas E. Graves aka deg later built what John Eaves refers to as the "definitive build" of his original D4 design. Graves' version has appeared on the cover ("Nothing But Trouble") of the 2014 Ships of the Line Calendar as well as appearing as the April spread in the 2015 SOTL ("Prowling").
Before Enterprise even existed the D4 class had been referred to in the novel The Final Reflection where until the early 23rd century it made up most of the Klingon fleet, unlike in Enterprise the D5 class was not contemporaneous of the D4 but was a new 23rd century design which eventually supplanted the D4.
The game Legacy also features a D4 class, an Enterprise era vessel but not the Eaves design, this type of D4 is also known as the Predator class in the game.