The Enterprise-D decloaking after using an interphase cloaking device
An interphase cloaking device or phase cloak was a type of advanced cloaking device which not only made the user invisible but also allowed them to pass through other matter by phase shifting.
In 2268, the USS Defiant was lost in interspace while testing an interphase cloaking device. (TOS comic: "Raise the Defiant")
In 2269, under the supervision of Section 31, the USS Enterprise tested a phase cloak, which allowed the ship to fly harmlessly through a pulsar. (TOS - Year Four: The Enterprise Experiment comics: "Part 1", "Part 2")
In 2270, while testing a similar device, the USS Hood became trapped in interspace. (FASA RPG module: Ghosts of Conscience)
The Federation was successful in secretly developing the technology in 2358. However the test ship for the device, the USS Pegasus, was lost. The Pegasus was rediscovered in an asteroid field in 2370 where the USS Enterprise-D recovered and used the interphase cloak before making its existence known to a Romulan Warbird in the vicinity. This event was quite illegal under the Treaty of Algeron and further use and development was prohibited. (TNG episode: "The Pegasus")
The Klingons also tried to develop their own phase cloak in 2360s but abandoned the experiments after several accidents. (TNG episode: "The Next Phase")
In 2368 the Romulans tested their own interphase cloak on the science vessel RIS Apnex. An accident in the test caused one of the vessel's crew to go out of phase and the vessel was forced to send out a distress call, which was answered by the Enterprise-D. (TNG episode: "The Next Phase"; CCG set: Rules of Acquisition)
In 2370, the crew of Deep Space 9 discovered that the Ghost Riders were using Romulan interphase cloaking devices to hunt the Espiritu, which were only visible in the phased reality. Miles O'Brien was able to create a phase shifter which allowed the USS Ganges to go out of phase without the use of a cloaking device. (DS9 novel: The Big Game)
By 2376 the Romulan Star Empire was implementing phase cloaks in Tal Shiar Shadow-class vessels, though the high power requirement for the specialised cloak only allowed it to be functional for limited periods of time. (TNG video games: Armada, Armada II)
In January of 2377, Greg Forte speculated that the IKS noH'pach could be using an interphasic cloaking device, although the Klingons were not known to use it. (DS9 novel: Warpath)
In the Delta Quadrant the Srivani and Voth both used this form of technology. (VOY episodes: "Scientific Method", "Distant Origin")
Alternate timelines[]
In an alternate timeline where Montgomery Scott went back in time to rescue James T. Kirk before his absorption into the Nexus, the Klingon Empire and the Alliance had both developed interphase cloaking technology; although the Klingons developed it first and were members of the Alliance, they refused to share its secrets. Both the Klingons and Alliance used their cloaks to push high-yield photon torpedoes out of phase - the Klingons mined their worlds, and the Alliance secretly had a fleet of torpedoes following every Borg cube. (Star Trek novel: Engines of Destiny)
Appendices[]
- See also: Phase shifting
External link[]
- Interphase cloaking device article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.