Hello and welcome to another episode of Truth OR Myth Beta Canon, a Star Trek web series that dives into the history of any given topic using Beta Canon sources and my own imagination to fill in the gaps. In today’s episode we’re looking at the Klingon D7 Class Battlecruiser, as first seen in Star Trek: The Original Series, to better understand its place in Star Trek History.
Many fans of this channel have been chomping at the gagh for me to do some Beta Canon videos on Alien Starship Classes. And so, after careful consideration, I thought it was only fair, to begin with, one of the OG Alien Starships, the D& Battlecruiser.
But as always, because this IS a Beta Canon and fan fiction video, all information re-laid should pretty much be taken with a grain of stardust, and only considered a little bit of Star Trek Fun!
A sturdy starship class, the Klingon D7 Battlecruiser would be used by the Empire for centuries. But what do we know about this durable Klingon Design, join me as we find out…
After the sudden and unexpected termination of the war with the United Federation of Planets in 2257, the Klingon Empire was in chaos.
The Great Houses, which made up the leading council of the Empire, were at each other’s throats, with old hatreds and rivalries starting back up with a vengeance.
With the fear of civil war on her doorstep, Chancellor L’Rell of the Klingon Empire needed to focus the Great House’s attention on something else, UNITY.
But to achieve this goal, she needed something to bring these houses together. Something that would symbolize cooperation, and in turn, would get all the smaller houses of the Empire back in line.
And what better way, for an Honorable Warrior species to come together as one than with a new starship design which would strike fear within the Galaxy, the D7 Battlecruiser.
Sitting at a length of approximately 228 meters and a width of 160 meters, the D7 Battlecruiser would be 18 decks tall and be designed to be operated by 480 Officers and warriors.
The design of the Battlecruiser was an innovative one… Utilizing technologies developed by all the great houses, the D7 would be one of the most powerful and versatile designs ever created by the Empire.
Again, to promote unity among all the houses in the Empire, L’Rell would hand over the construction of this class to the Great Houses themselves. Forcing cooperation for the resources and technologies to build them.
The D7 Battlecruiser would have a standard safe cruising speed of warp factor 5, and an emergency maximum speed of warp 6.6.
Because of the Klingon Empire’s focus on Battle Systems, the advancement of propulsion technologies in the 23rd Century would be a slow movement. Because of this lackadaisical attitude toward speed, Federation Starships could easily outrun and out manoeuvre a Klingon Starship, a situation that the Empire would not change until almost the turn of the Century. Still, during the latter part of the 2260s, the Klingon Battlecruiser could achieve far greater speeds, such as warp factor 9, but at extreme risk to ship and crew.
Tactically, the D7 Battlecruiser was equipped with nacelle-mounted Disruptor cannons, forward-mounted Phaser Emitters, and a forward launcher capable of firing torpedoes and severe Disruptor blasts.
This launcher could also be modified to launch other things such as probes or magnetic pulses… The D7 would also become a test bed for most new technologies developed by the Empire.
In 2269 a D7 Battlecruiser was modified to test a new Klingon Weapon called a projected Stasis Field. This powerful weapon system could emit an energy dampening field which rendered an enemy starship immobile and virtually powerless.
Often seen by historians as the equal to the Constitution Class of the day, The main Control centre, or main bridge, was in a tower at the top front of the starship and was smaller than its Constitution Class counterpart.
However, ultimately this weapon was considered a failure as it required far too much power to be practically used in combat, disabling the Klingon vessel as much as it did the enemy vessel.
Shielding for the D7 Battlecruiser would be standard for Klingon Vessels of the time. However, another innovative new technology would eventually be included in this class of warships, the cloaking device.
After a brief alliance with the Romulan Star Empire in the late 2260s, the Klingon Empire would acquire cloaking technology in exchange for several D7 Class Starships equipped with the latest Warp Propulsion Systems of the Empire the S2 Graf Units.
And although the Star Empire would incorporate these vessels into their fleet, it was merely the engine design that they would want. So, the Romulan D7 Variant would only have limited production.
The Klingon Empire, however, felt they had gotten the better end of the deal, with cloaking devices deployed in all D7 Battlecruisers, and then installed in all the other classes within the Imperial Fleet.
Variants of cloaking technology were not new to the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, as even the empire had a primitive form of this technology during the first Federation/ Klingon War.
But Starfleet was able to develop a countermeasure for this early Klingon Tech, and it wasn’t until the Star Empire developed a far more advanced version, that the Empire truly embraced it.
Like most of the Klingon Starships Classes, the D7 was designed to look menacing, like a predator, with the bulk of ships mass in the aft section of the starship, where most living quarters and ship operations areas were located.
One interesting note about Klingon Ships however is the fact that most included a galley, where live food would be prepared for the crew as most Klingon Warriors did not like dead or replicated foods. Though replicators and food synthesizers were available through mostly utilized for beverages such as Racktajino which is considered the Klingon Version of Coffee.
Like most Klingon Vessels, any officer not on duty was encouraged to drink and celebrate victories of the past through stories and song. This fostered a sense of comradery among the Klingon crew and in between battles allowed for a release of some of the Klingon Aggression inherent in the species.
Senior officers could also get special permission for their pets from the home world to accompany them aboard the ship. For missions that required large numbers of troops to be transported, the D7’s cargo bays could be easily converted to barrack-style facilities to allow for greater numbers of warriors to be transported.
Some versions of the Class would even be modified to contain a shuttlebay, though most D7Battlecruiser would not contain, what most Klingons thought to be, this luxury.
The D7 Battlecruiser would undoubtedly make its mark in Federation history and the Galaxy at large.
Striking fear into its enemies, the D7 certainly achieved its goal, but by the mid-2260s, the D7 Battlecruiser was beginning to show its age.
The United Federation of Planets and Starfleet Command had been pumping out starships and new starship designs at an alarming rate. Although the Klingon Empire never cared much about keeping up with its neighbours, several encounters during the 2260s had been devastating for the Klingon Empire, proving that perhaps it was now time for the D7 to get an upgrade.
So, the Klingon High Council demanded its starship engineers do just that, upgrade the D7 class to bring it to the honourable status once again, or all would be executed and replaced with a new team that could achieve that goal.
Using stolen information from its intelligence officers throughout the Alpha and Beta quadrants, the engineering design team would accomplish the high council’s demand and present the council with the design plans of what was then known as the D7M Class Battlecruiser.
But shortly thereafter, with the launch of the prototype the IKS Gahklor, the variant of the class would be officially renamed the K’Tinga Class Battlecruiser after the honourable sacrifice of its Captain-General Karg, who was also known at K’Tinga, which translates to Bringer of Destruction.
And although the K’Tinga Class Battlecruiser was far superior in every way to its older D7 Brother, the D7 itself would continue to be constructed and utilized through the Empire.
In fact, many of the Smaller houses would simply purchase newer K’Tinga versions of technologies and install them directly into the D7 Starships they already owned.
And because of this “mix and match” approach, the Original version of the D7 Battlecruiser would not cease being produced, until the early 2290s. With already constructed starships of the class remaining in operation even in the mid-24th century.
Constructed and designed to prevent a Klingon Civil War, the D7 Battlecruiser would go on to symbolize the birth of a new era for the Klingon Empire, protecting its borders and stroking fear in the hearts of anyone who encountered one. Earning this Class, its honourable place, In Klingon History…
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