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Design lineage Service history

B'rel Class

SpecsImagesInternals
Size Comp
Universe : Prime Timeline
Affiliation : Klingons
Class Name : B'rel Class
Type : Cruiser
Unit Run :
Koraga - Destroyed [1]
Pagh [2] - Active
plus 1,652 others built in total. 521 have been lost in all. 715 have been retired from service.
Commissioned : 2327 - 2359, class remains in service
Dimensions : Length : 327 m [3]
Beam : 276 m
Height : 60 m
Decks : 15
Mass : 800,000 metric tons
Crew : 390
Armament : 2 [4] x Mark 10 pulse disruptor cannon [4]
6 x Mark 8 disruptor cannon, total output 14,250 TeraWatts
2 x High Power photon torpedo tube
4 x Emergency photon torpedo tube with 385 rounds
Defence Systems : Standard shield system, total capacity 877,500 TeraJoules
Heavy Duranium / Tritanium Double hull plus 5 cm High density armour.
Standard level Structural Integrity Field
Warp Speeds
(TNG scale) :
Normal Cruise : 6
Maximum Cruise : 7.8
Maximum Rated : 9 for 10 hours.
Strength Indices :
(Galaxy class = 1,000)
Beam Firepower : 285
Torpedo Firepower : 320
Weapon Range and Accuracy : 355
Shield Strength : 325
Hull Armour : 700
Speed : 792
Combat Manoeuvrability : 4,950
Overall Strength Index : 387
Diplomatic Capability : None
Expected Hull Life : 50
Refit Cycle : Minor : 1 year
Standard : 1 years
Major : 10 years

Notes

One glance at the B'rel class cruiser is enough to see the intention of its designers. Virtually identical to the Bird of Prey in layout [5], the B'rel is three times the length and approximately twenty five times the volume of the smaller ship, putting it firmly into the cruiser bracket. The extra size has been used by the designers to provide an extra torpedo tube plus four emergency tubes in place of the Bird of Prey's one of each, replace the Mark 8 disruptors with Mark 10 models and install a secondary armament of six Mark 8 cannon. The thickness of armour across the ship has been more than doubled and the shield system has been considerably upgraded. Other systems have also been uprated in line with the ships cruiser status. Internally, the deck layout has been accommodated within the scaled up design by simply putting three decks in the place of every one. Like the B'Rel there are few windows on this ship; only one in three decks has any windows at all.

The B'rel class vessel entered service in 2327, and has remained in the fleet ever since. An extensive programme of refits has kept them front-line vessels for some forty years, although the Vor'Cha class Attack Cruiser has become the vessel of choice in this area. In the 2360s the B'rel mostly patrolled friendly areas, and was a common sight to Federation Starships during this time. With the Klingons war with the Cardassians and the brief conflict with the Federation the type was brought into conflict with Federation Starships for the first time, where it performed reasonably well. Recently it has also seen a great deal of action against the Dominion where it has not performed so well, its age and second rank status counting against it. Nevertheless, the sheer numbers deployed mean that this design should continue to see service in some form until the turn of the century.

Colour key

Canon source Backstage source Novel source DITL speculation

References

# Series Season Source Comment
1 DS9 7 Penumbra
2 TNG 2 A Matter of Honor
3 Speculative Comparison of the B'Rel to the Enterprise-D in 'Rascals'. Note that the 109 metre bird of prey is a different ship which has its own entry.
4 Generic canonical information
5 TNG 6 Rascals
Series : DS9 Season 7
Episode : Penumbra
Series : TNG Season 2
Episode : A Matter of Honor
Source : Speculative
Comment : Comparison of the B'Rel to the Enterprise-D in 'Rascals'. Note that the 109 metre bird of prey is a different ship which has its own entry.
Source : Generic canonical information
Series : TNG Season 6
Episode : Rascals

Comments

The B'rel is widely - but incorrectly - claimed to be the class name of the Klingon Bird of Prey first seen in "Star Trek III : The Search For Spock". Most sources - even official ones - claim that the B'rel is in the region of 110 metres long, while there is a K'vort class of the same external appearance but which is significantly larger.

In fact this is not supported by canon. The name B'rel was first used in the TNG episode "Rascals". The image on the images page is from that episode, and clearly shows the vessels to be in excess of 300 metres in length. The special effects used for this sequence are in fact a re-use of the sequence involving the K'Vort class battlecruisers in "Yesterday's Enterprise", so canonically speaking there is no visible difference between the B'Rel and the K'Vort!

For more details, see my article concerning the Bird of Prey.
© Graham & Ian Kennedy Page views : 80,634 Last updated : 20 Sep 2016