- For other uses, see Dreadnought.
Dreadnought cannon
The Dreadnought cannon was a weapon capable of destroying a planet.
History[]
It was developed secretly by the Klingon Empire in the 2270s decade to be used as a first-strike weapon. It was constructed and installed in a Klingon Dreadnought-class starship. However, in 2273, the dreadnought containing the cannon was destroyed by "Critters", a race which had previously attacked the Constitution-class USS Farragut in 2257 and captured a D7/Stormbird-class in 2267. The wreck was discovered by the Federation Starfleet USS Enterprise and the ChR Phoenix. Romulan Subcommander T'Cel and Rear Admiral James T. Kirk mutually agreed not to report the discovery so as to avoid all-out retaliatory war. To ensure a balance of power with the Klingons, however, Kirk informed the Klingons that he'd saved a copy of the cannon's schematics.
In 2286, Montgomery Scott, Kevin Riley and Tom Garrovick used those schematics to rebuild the dreadnought cannon for use against the "Critters". Phoenix provided raw materials for construction, and work proceeded as Kor's IKS Revenge engaged the "Critters" starship. The "Critter" ship cocooned Revenge and opened a wormhole to return to its origin point. Survivors from the Klingon ship were beamed to the Enterprise. As the "Critter" ship entered the rift's event horizon, Riley fired the cannon at Revenge. Energy from the antimatter annihilation plus the weapon's continued firing triggered a supernova-like explosion which annihilated the wormhole, the weapon and the "Critter" vessel. The sector would not be navigable for nearly 100 years. (TOS comic: "Debt of Honor")