D'deridex Class

A D'deridex class warbird.

The D'deridex-class Warbird (also known as the B-type Warbird or Warbird class) was the backbone of the Romulan fleet during the mid to late 24th century.

History

The emergence of the massive D'deridex-class Warbird in 2364, during an encounter with the USS Enterprise-D on the edge of the Neutral Zone, signaled the end of a fifty-three year Romulan isolation. (TNG: "The Neutral Zone")

Over the next ten years, these Warbirds, under the command of both the Romulan military and Tal Shiar, would participate in numerous encounters with Starfleet and the Dominion.

By 2374, they were prominently featured in the Dominion War, where they were instrumental in forcing the Dominion fleets back time and again.

The class saw action during the First and Second Battles of Chin'toka and the final showdown of the conflict, the Battle of Cardassia.

Despite their power, many ships of the class were destroyed by the Dominion, including the flagship. (DS9: "In the Pale Moonlight", "The Reckoning", etc.)

Technical data

The D'deridex-class Warbird, classified as a cruiser by Starfleet, was one of the most advanced vessels in the Romulan Star Empire. Warbirds were roughly twice as long as a Federation Galaxy Class starship with a lower overall maximum speed. (TNG: "The Neutral Zone", "Tin Man")

Physical arrangement

The outboard plan of the Warbird's design incorporated a unique horizontally split-"shell" hull design, with a prominent forward section. The bulk of the ships overall size was incorporated in the open-shell, which resemble two separate "wings" that meet at either side at the warp nacelles, at the "tail" and off the "neck", which was connected to the "head" or primary forward hull section. The "head" featured the bridge, main engineering and a majority of the primary weapon systems of the vessel. (TNG: "The Neutral Zone", etc.)

[edit] Tactical systems The primary directed energy weapons array of a Warbird was located in its "head", and consisted of a disruptor array, capable of firing both beams and pulses, which also appears to have been shared with a torpedo launcher. (DS9: "The Die is Cast"; TNG: "Face of the Enemy", "Timescape"; VOY: "Message in a Bottle") Some Warbirds have also been known to be equipped with phasers. (TNG: "Contagion")

Three additional weapon arrays were located, one each, along the top of the upper "neck" support, along the bottom of the lower "neck" support, and at the tip of the "nose". (TNG: "Contagion", "Unification II"; DS9: "What You Leave Behind")

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  Firing forward disruptor beams

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  Firing forward disruptor pulses

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  Firing forward torpedoes

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  Firing phasers (inner upper array)

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  Firing disruptors(outer upper array)

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  Firing disruptors(nose array)

Although not mentioned on screen, the original Probert design of the Warbird was to have a single torpedo launcher positioned at the upper "nape" of the ship, at the top foremost position of the upper "shell". In addition, the Warbird was to have a total of ten disruptor emitters, positioned in various locations on the model. These positions included: one pair on the "head" (one on either "cheek"), one pair on the vertical structure at the aft end of the ship (one on either side), two pair on the aft edges of the port and starboard dorsal and ventral wings (one emitter each location, total of 4), and one pair at the dorsal apex of the ship.

Cloaking device

Like earlier Romulan ships, D'deridex-class Warbirds were equipped with cloaking devices, which protect them from detection in most evasive situations. Like all cloaking devices, the D'deridex-class could utilize them when in defensive situations or combat situations. However, cloaked Warbirds radiated a slight subspace variance at warp speeds; therefore ships traveling at speeds above warp 6 ran a much greater risk of being detected through their cloak. (DS9: "The Search, Part I", "The Die is Cast") There were other unconventional means to penetrate the Warbird's cloak. While traveling under cloak, all electromagnetic emissions, including communications, aboard a Warbird were carefully monitored. (TNG: "Face of the Enemy")

Propulsion systems

A D'deridex class vessel's engine core

Warbirds utilized a forced quantum singularity as a power source. If that system was not functioning perfectly, or was damaged even slightly, it might have shown through the cloak as a magnetic disturbance of some kind. The destruction of the engine core of a D'deridex-class Warbird usually led to the complete destruction of the entire ship.

In order for a Warbird to remain undetected while under cloak, the radiative emissions from the warp engines had to be precisely balanced. A slight misalignment in any of the Warbirds' Nullifier Cores would create a small magnetic disturbance in space whenever the ship was in motion. This could make the ship detectable while cloaked. The effect of this disturbance, when it occurred, appeared intermittently as a polarized magnetic distortion. (TNG: "Face of the Enemy")

The use of the confined singularity limited the Warbird's overall maximum speed. For a Warbird to match the maximum speed of a Galaxy-class starship, it needed to exceed its engine output by 30%. Doing this would typically cause the Warbird's Warp Drive to sustain irreparable damage. (TNG: "Tin Man")

The confined singularity could occasionally cause time shifts into the future. This occurred to Miles O'Brien for a brief period. By having this ability, he was able to prevent an attack on Deep Space 9 by a Romulan Warbird. Also, if the singularity signature was carefully scanned, it could be monitored through the cloak. (DS9: "Visionary")

Additional systems

Tractoring a shuttlepod

At least one tractor beam was located in the forward section of the Warbird, specifically in its lower "neck". (TNG: "The Mind's Eye")

Although several features of the Warbird were never addressed on screen, Andrew Probert, the designer of the Warbird, has noted the locations of several unmentioned components, including the locations of the aforementioned weapon systems.

The navigational deflector is supposed to be "V"-shaped faceplate located on the "face" of the ship. However, the center of this faceplate was instead featured as the primary disruptor array/torpedo launcher by the VFX editors.

The impulse engines are non-existent on the Warbird model. Probert admitted this mistake as an oversight – one made, in part, due to a limited time schedule for design and construction.

Interior design

A typical corridor

The primary color scheme aboard Warbirds was distinctively beige and green-gray or teal.

Due to the extreme size of Warbirds, these vessels were littered with numerous long corridors. (TNG: "The Mind's Eye"; DS9: "Improbable Cause")

Main bridge

The design of the main bridge of a Warbird shared numerous similarities to both its Klingon and Federation starship counterparts.

Located in the front of the bridge, against the forward bulkhead, was the ship's main viewscreen.

Directly behind the viewscreen, and to the left, was the location of the pilot's console, which contained helm (and possibly navigator) functions. In some ships, the pilot stood at his console; in others the pilot was allowed a chair.

To the right of the pilots' position was the station sometimes held by the executive officer. This console had access to the ships' weapons systems.

The command chair was located near the rear of the bridge on a raised platform. Around the perimeter of the command chair were various stations. (TNG: "Contagion", "Face of the Enemy"; DS9: "The Die is Cast")

Major variations in bridge design include a side-by-side seating arrangement for the commander and subcommander. (TNG: "The Neutral Zone")

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  Bridge of Tebok's Warbird, 2364.

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  Bridge of Lovok's Warbird, 2371.

At least four different types of D'deridex-class bridges have appeared in Star Trek, each significantly different than the next. Although rather consistent in terms of layout, these variations – including positions and design of auxiliary consoles/stations, style of command chair and design of view screen – appear to vary as much between Warbirds as they vary between different Klingon Birds-of-Prey. The bridge that appeared in "The Die is Cast" was, by far, the most elaborate, followed closely by the bridge in "Face of the Enemy".

According to the script for "Face of the Enemy", the original bridge layout placed the command chair to the far back of the bridge so that 'no officer went unsupervised'. This, however, was not how the final layout for the bridge was designed, as there were consoles positioned just outside the commander's peripheral vision, or even directly behind the commander's chair. The bridge that later appeared in "The Die is Cast" placed several auxiliary consoles well behind the commanders field of vision.

Ready room

Adjacent to the bridge was the commander's ready room or command center. Although appearing to vary by ship, one style included (but was not limited to) a large desk and couch, with removable table and a window viewing into space. (DS9: "Improbable Cause", "The Die is Cast")

In some cases, ready rooms functioned as command centers, and included monitors and display consoles. This allowed the commander to monitor the control of ship or fleet activities without actually being on the bridge. (TNG: "Redemption II")

Wardroom

The Wardroom was the conference or officers' room connected to the main bridge by a set of doors. Its function was similar to that of an observation lounge, but also served as the dining area for the ship's senior officers. (TNG: "Face of the Enemy")

This would seem to indicate that a meal preparation room was located near the ward room, in order to best facilitate the serving of the officers' prepared meals.

Engine room

Engine room

The engine room section was located at the ventral base of the forward "head" of the Warbird. Its layout was similar to that of a Galaxy-class starship, with primary situation station in the center of the room, and associated consoles along the walls surrounding the room.

One outstanding difference between the main engineering of a Warbird and other Romulan starships, from those of the Federation and Klingons, was the absence of a large matter-antimatter reactor core. In place of this bulky component, the Romulans had a wall compartment, which contained their Romulan engine core. (TNG: "Timescape")

Procedure room

The procedure room aboard a Warbird was a starkly-lit chamber, with a chair at one end of the room, and with various movable pieces of equipment positioned around it. (TNG: "The Mind's Eye")

Shuttlebay

The shuttlebay aboard a Warbird was located on the ships "E" Deck, Section 25. The size was large enough to contain at least one Starfleet Danube-class runabout. (DS9: "The Die is Cast")

Although not specifically called "E" Deck, it was described as being "two decks down" from "C" Deck. Due to the unique configuration of the Warbird it is unknown if this follows their standard designation procedures.

Cargo bay

Cargo bay of the Khazara.The cargo bays served as storage areas for the ship's cargo, and possessed shelving space along the walls opposite of the main cargo bay doors. (TNG: "Face of the Enemy")

According to Probert, the original design of the Warbird was to have a two large cargo bays centered on each side of the foremost position of the lower "shell".

Crew quarters

The crew quarters aboard a Warbird were located on the ships "C" Deck. They were sparsely furnished, with a table and chairs in the center of the floor, and a set of bunk beds incorporated into the walls. Crew quarters could also have force fields integrated in and around their bulkheads. (DS9: "The Die is Cast")

The crew quarters that appeared in "The Die is Cast" were a redress of the crew quarters aboard the USS Defiant. Variations are known to have included a bed fully detached from the wall, and a sink with mirror along the far left wall from the entryway. (TNG: "Face of the Enemy")