An example of a ship-mounted phase cannon from 2152.
In order to protect crews from the dangers of natural phenomena and hostile alien races and cultures alike, many starships are equipped with weapons of some sort, mounted directly onto the ships.
History and specifics[]
The USS Enterprise firing phasers in 2266.
Purpose[]
Starship weapons were often a form of gun or torpedo. Guns such as phaser cannons and disruptor cannons were a form of naval artillery. Phasers would inflict thermal and kinetic damage on a target, sometimes vaporizing it. Missiles or torpedoes were a form of self-propelled explosive munition, and could be guided or unguided. Photon torpedoes inflicted kinetic explosive damage. One type of gun and one type of torpedo launcher were the standard equipment on most warships for all major species, such as the Federation, Klingons, Romulans, Cardassians, Ferengi, Breen, Gorn, Tholians and Dominion. (TOS video games: 25th Anniversary, Judgment Rites; ST video game: Starfleet Command, ST video game: Starfleet Command II: Empires at War ST video game: Starfleet Command: Orion Pirates, SA video game: Starfleet Academy, ST video game: Klingon Academy)
A standard Starfleet photon torpedo changed little in appearance for 100 years.
They were used in conjunction to deplete the shields of an enemy target, then inflict damage directly on the hull and essential systems of the vessel once shields were depleted. One type of weapon was sometimes more effective against shields vs ship's hulls. Sometimes directed energy weapons like phasers were preferred to deplete shields, then photon torpedoes used to destroy the hull directly. However, both weapons were effective in any case, and phasers alone were often enough to destroy a target, being preferred for disabling a specific enemy ship's system, since they could accurately target one localized part. (TNG video games: A Final Unity, Generations, Birth of the Federation, ST video game: Bridge Commander)
History[]
The Klingon Empire employed disruptor weaponry on starships.
In the early days of United Earth Starfleet, before the 2150s, a human starship was generally equipped with archaic plasma cannons and spatial torpedos. Later these weapons were superseded by phase cannons and photonic torpedos, which were either early weapons of the phaser and photon torpedo family, or perhaps just archaic terms for these weapons. (ENT episodes: "Broken Bow", "Silent Enemy")
By the 23rd century, almost every species capable of warp travel had adopted particle beam weapons such as the phaser, and antimatter warheads such as the photon torpedo. The Klingon Empire and Romulan Star Empire, the Federation's two most powerful political adversaries, employed disruptors, a weapon similar to a phaser, and photon torpedos, or occasionally in the case of Romulans, plasma torpedos. (TOS video games: 25th Anniversary, Judgment Rites; ST video game: Starfleet Command, ST video game: Starfleet Command II: Empires at War ST video game: Starfleet Command: Orion Pirates, SA video game: Starfleet Academy, ST video game: Klingon Academy)
See also[]
- accelerator cannon
- assault phaser
- chain pulsar
- compressor beam
- disruptor cannon
- disruptor nacelle
- energy wave
- heavy disruptor
- ion cannon
- particle cannon
- phase cannon
- phaser array
- phaser bank
- phaser emitter
- photon torpedo
- plasma torpedo
- quantum torpedo