Yet another variation of the Bird-of-Prey design, the D12, as it was seen in Generations, appears to be a more contemporary (i.e., 24th century) version of the original B'rel-class vessel, although not quite a better ship. After all, the class was retired due to defective plasma coils, which, apparently, play some part in maintaining the stability of the cloaking system.

It is not known what differences exist between the B'rel and the D12. Since the designations are different and the time periods are around sixty or seventy years apart (at least, the D12 in Generations was twenty years old), one would assume that some internal technology distinguishes the two from each other, while the exteriors and basic weapons technology are of the same design.

Another hazy area for the D12 is its size. It seemed to be approximately the same size as a B'rel in Generations, and the crew of that vessel was about the same size as a B'rel's, but one must wonder why the Klingon Defense Force would build a Bird-of-Prey that was just like the B'rel and label it something else, even if the internal equipment were different. Starfleet, at least, (usually) uses the practice of installing new equipment in old designs and retaining the class name. Therefore, to justify the different name, it remains possible that the D12 actually was a slightly different size from the B'rel, though probably not as significantly different as a K'Vort.

See the entry for the Klingon D7-class Battle Cruiser for my speculations concerning the D12 designation. However, one you won't see there is this one I just thought of: perhaps Starfleet uses Dx class designations to indicate sub-classes, ships with the same external design but some significant internal variations. This would open up the possibility that a D12 is just the twelfth incarnation of the B'rel (complete name being B'rel-D12), and the D7 was the seventh incarnation of some previous Battle Cruiser class. Of course, this is purely conjecture on my part.

Return to "Known Vessel Classes of the Klingon Empire"