The Romulan bird-of-prey was a type of Romulan Star Empire starship, a bird-of-prey in Imperial Fleet service in the 22nd century. These vessels were most notably in service as combatant vessels during the Earth-Romulan War. (ENT episode: "Minefield", ENT - The Romulan War novels: Beneath the Raptor's Wing, To Brave the Storm, ST reference: The Official Starships Collection)
Specifications[]
Ventral ship image.
The Romulan bird-of-prey was built in the 22nd century. The ship was 130 meters long; smaller than the contemporary warbird. The bird-of-prey was composed of a single saucer-shaped hull with a pair of up-swept warp nacelles mounted on either side. The ship was colored dark green, the customary Romulan livery of the time, and the nacelles gave off an intense green glow. (ST reference: The Official Starships Collection)
In 2159, some of the Romulan bird-of-preys were gray. (ST video game: Legacy)
The bird-of-prey was armed with disruptor cannons and beam arrays. The Romulan bird-of-prey's hull was teardrop-shaped. A pair of green-glowing impulse engine exhausts were mounted at the aft of the saucer. Above them, the stabilizer fin was affixed to the rearmost part of the ship. The hull was segmented and included a shield-generating deflector grid. The twin disruptor emitter was mounted on the bow of the ship, below the two main decks of the saucer. Whereas a section on the bottom of the ship was recessed one deck, the dorsal hull contained a raised section with an additional two decks and the main bridge on top. The pylons swept up- and forward aggressively. Dagger-like pointed nacelles sat at their ends. (ST reference: The Official Starships Collection)
The bird-of-prey was superior to a United Earth NX-class starship, although Starfleet took measures to match the combat capabilities when they built the Daedalus. Although vessels of this class were used as testbeds for early Romulan cloaking devices, after the ChR Praetor Pontilus was destroyed by antimatter-containment failure in its test stealth systems the Romulans did not develop a successful cloaking system for decades. (ENT episode: "Minefield"; ENT novel: The Good That Men Do)
History[]
Underside bird graphic.
The Romulan bird-of-prey was built in the 22nd century. (ST reference: The Official Starships Collection)
Two ships of the class were equipped with prototype starship cloaking devices in the 2150s, the ChR Praetor Pontilus and the RIS Praetus. (ENT novel: The Good That Men Do, ST module: Tactics)
These birds-of-prey were present at Unroth III, participating in the first contact between the Romulan Star Empire and United Earth in 2152. They watched the Enterprise (NX-01) while the Human ship was crippled by the minefield surrounding the planet's orbit. The Romulans demanded the Humans vacate Romulan space and fired warning shots at Enterprise. The two birds-of-prey cloaked when the Enterprise successfully departed the system. (ENT episode: "Minefield")
During the Earth-Romulan War between 2156 and 2160, Romulan birds-of-prey fought against the United Earth and its allies. Four such ships engaged an Earth Starfleet NX-class cruiser and a Columbia-class starship, Enterprise during the war. One of the birds-of-prey veered out of control after being damaged by the Earth ships. (ST reference: Ships of the Line 2014)
On February 16, 2157, the ChR Terrh'Dhael, ChR Khuea and ChR Grukhai destroyed a Vissian outpost in the Gamma Hydra sector, and engaged a Human patrol fleet consisting of eight ships, led by Enterprise. The Romulans retreated when the Khuea and the Grukhai were destroyed by the Vissians. On December 29, 2157, the Terrh'Dhael rendezvoused with the warbird IRW Pontilus at Haakona, after the planet's civilization had been destroyed by the Romulans. (ENT - The Romulan War novel: To Brave the Storm)
In 2159, Romulan starships engaging the Earth forces were gray-colored. (ST video game: Legacy)
On May 1, 2160, the Terrh'Dhael engaged warp drive during a suicide run against Draylax. The planet was heavily damaged, and the Draylaxians were brought on the edge of extinction. (ENT - The Romulan War novel: To Brave the Storm)
In the 23rd century, this class of ship was succeeded by the Vas Hatham-class bird-of-prey. (TOS episode: "Balance of Terror")
In the 25th century, the design of the 22nd century bird-of-prey was revived for the T'varo-class. (ST video game: Star Trek Online)
Known vessels[]
| This article or subsection has an associated category. | Romulan 22nd century bird-of-prey starships |
|---|
- ChR Brak'en
- ChR D'soria
- ChR D'tervik
- IRW Jazkal
- ChR Joran
- ChR Lubato
- ChR Maruccius
- ChR Mentenius
- ChR Munia
- ChR Narrocian
- ChR Opalius
- ChR Pesanius
- ChR Pola
- ChR Praetor Pontilus
- RIS Prateus
- ChR Sapotius
- ChR Setro
- ChR Solus
- ChR Strato
- ChR Tovarek
- ChR Truntis
- ChR Velosh
- ChR Vrenek
- unnamed 22nd century Romulan bird-of-prey starships
Appendices[]
Connections[]
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| Bird-of-prey classes | ||
|---|---|---|
| Romulan birds-of-prey | 2150s • late-2150s bird-of-prey • 22nd century • 23rd century (Kelvin timeline) • Ferrax • T'varo • T'Liss • Vas Hatham • Temar Vastaram • D'vas | 
|
| Reman birds-of-prey | T'varo |
|
| Klingon birds-of-prey | 22nd century • 2260s • 23rd century (Kelvin timeline) • M'Chla • B'rel • Chuq'Beh • D12 • D'Gavama • E4 • E6 • G2 • Khitomer • K'vort • QuD • Z'gavasta • Z'gavva • QulDun • Norgh • Ki'tang • Hegh'ta | 
|
External link[]
- Romulan bird-of-prey (22nd century) article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.