Galor Class - Specs

Type 3

Universe :	Prime Timeline
Affiliation :	Cardassians
Class Name :	Galor Class
Type :	Destroyer [1]
Unit Run :	Aldara [2] - Active Kraxon [3] - Active Prakesh - Destroyed [4] Reklar [5] - Active Trager [6] - Active Vetar [7] - Destroyed [8] plus 844 others built in total. 668 have been lost in all.
Commissioned :	2343 - present
Dimensions :	Length : 371.88 m [9] Beam : 192.23 m [10] Height : 59 m [10] Decks : 15
Mass :	1,687,000 [10] metric tons (estimated)
Crew :	300 [10]
Armament :	1 x High Power phaser bank [11] 8 [10] x Medium power spiral wave disruptors [10], total output 13,000 TeraWatts 3 x Model 2 photon torpedo tube with 150 rounds
Defence Systems :	Standard shield system, total capacity 729,000 TeraJoules Heavy Kelindide Double hull plus 7 cm High density armour. Standard level Structural Integrity Field
Warp Speeds (TNG scale) :	Normal Cruise : 6 Maximum Cruise : 8.9 Maximum Rated : 9.2 for 8 hours.
Strength Indices : (Galaxy class = 1,000)	Beam Firepower : 260 Torpedo Firepower : 225 Weapon Range and Accuracy : 300 Shield Strength : 270 Hull Armour : 820 Speed : 852 Combat Manoeuvrability : 2,940
Overall Strength Index :	347
Diplomatic Capability :	Approximately equivalent to Starfleet Grade 2
Expected Hull Life :	50
Refit Cycle :	Minor : 2 year Standard : 2 years Major : 16 years

Notes

The Galor is the mainstay of the Cardassian fleet, making up over half of their total Naval forces. When it first entered service in the 2340's the Galor was intended to oppose smaller and older vessels such as the Miranda, Excelsior, Norway and New Orleans classes. Initially the Cardassians wanted to also develop a much larger, more powerful design to oppose the Ambassador and Akira and the upcoming Nebula design, but this proved to beyond their resources and the project was dropped in its early stages. Instead it was decided to build a very large number of Galor class ships and operate 'hunter packs' of two or three together against the more powerful Starfleet ships.

The Galor is a rugged, sensible design. The engineering section is mounted at the forward end of the single hull structure, [12] a move which puts the drive systems well forward of the centre of gravity. This makes the design inherently stable in all flight regimes, greatly simplifying many of the control systems - although it does reduce the vessels manoeuvrability somewhat. The single high power phaser bank is located directly ahead of the engineering area, [13] reducing the length of conduit between the warp core and the weapon which increases the system's resilience to battle damage. The control spaces are directly above the blades on the vessels centreline, while the long narrow hull projecting aft from them holds the fuel tanks, habitation areas and other less essential systems.

The use of a powerful phaser bank was intended to allow the Galor to blast through the shields of an enemy vessel in just a few bursts, a philosophy which has proved somewhat optimistic over the years. The phaser is roughly equal to a Starfleet Type IX model, which is very powerful for a ship the size of the Galor. But the single installation gives the Galor a relatively poor firing arc for this weapon, something not improved by the ship's low manoeuvrability. The medium power disruptor banks are roughly equal to a Type VII phaser, which is more in line with the Galor's size.

Originally it was planned to use burst fire torpedo systems but as with the Romulans, the Cardassians have had great difficulty developing this technology to the point where it can be used safely and effectively. The Galor thus has three standard torpedo tubes, two forward and one aft. The extra room this left over allowed the torpedo complement to be increased from a planned 160 to 200.

The Galor has generally proved a useful enough vessel for the Cardassian military, but it is not really a serious competitor with the Federation Nebula class or Klingon Vor'Cha. The planned run of three thousand or more ships never materialized, and only eighteen hundred have been built, less than a thousand of them of the better Type 3 model. When the Klingons invaded Cardassia in 2372 the the Cardassian fleet's inferiority was shown; some three hundred Galor class ships were destroyed within less than a week at the hands of the Klingon fleet. The chaos caused by that invasion has severely disrupted the resources of the Cardassian military, already stretched thin during the revolution on Cardassia. Although Cardassia itself is now a Dominion member, their own fleet is not thought to be receiving a great deal of support from the Dominion and its ability to conduct operations, especially beyond the Cardassian border, is thought to be seriously compromised. The Galors have suffered heavily at the hands of the allies during the war.

Colour key

References

#	Series	Season	Source	Comment
1	DS9	6	Sacrifice of Angels
2	DS9	1	Past Prologue
3	DS9	3	Defiant
4	DS9	4	The Way of the Warrior
5	TNG	6	Chain of Command, Part 1
6	TNG	4	The Wounded
7	TNG	7	Journey's End
8	VOY	1	Caretaker
9			Star Trek Deep Space Nine Technical Manual	Stated on page 167
10			Star Trek Deep Space Nine Technical Manual
11	TNG	6	Chain of Command, Part 2
12			Visible on the shooting model
13	DS9	1	Emissary

Comments

The Galor seems to be the mainstay of the Cardassian fleet, so I've written it up as a pretty solid design. The fact that the Galor is weaker than the big Federation and Klingon ships comes from "The Wounded", when the Enterprise-D dealt with a Galor without any serious effort, and "Sacrifice of Angels", when a pair of Galaxys blew the hell out of a Galor in about five seconds flat. The Maquis have also been seen to give a Galor a half-decent fight in Peregrines, which are about equal to a Starfleet Runabout.

The fact that the Galors use phaser-type weapons comes from "Chain of Command, II" in which Captain Jellico orders the Cardassian fleet to dump their main phaser coils as they leave the nebula they're hiding in. The spiral disruptors are from the DS9 TM - and actually on screen the ship's weapon beams do sometimes seem to have a spiral (or more accurately, helical) pattern within them. I don't think I've ever seen a Galor fire a torpedo, but I guess they must have them so I put a couple on.

These days, I guess it's possible that the Galor is getting upgrades from the Dominion to make it more of a real competitor, but I haven't seen any evidence of this so far.

The dimensions, mass, and Medium Cruiser designation are all from the DS9 Tech Manual. The usual care should be applied using this source, but there are no obvious errors here. The TM does suggest a top speed of Warp 9.6 but it suggests that speed for virtually every design in the book, which seems a little unlikely, so I have gone with a lower speed.

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Last updated : 22 Dec 2021

Series :	DS9 Season 6
Episode :	Sacrifice of Angels

Series :	DS9 Season 1
Episode :	Past Prologue

Series :	DS9 Season 3
Episode :	Defiant

Series :	DS9 Season 4
Episode :	The Way of the Warrior

Series :	TNG Season 6
Episode :	Chain of Command, Part 1

Book :	Star Trek Deep Space Nine Technical Manual
Comment :	Stated on page 167