Klingon Warbird.

[Timo]

Actually, we've never heard Romulans call the ships anything other than "Warbird."

They do use the names of individual warships whenever one is prominent in an episode - Haakona in "Contagion", Dividices and Genorex in "Inter Arma" etc. And to be certain, those are instances of a Romulan using a proper name for her/their vessel, not a foreigner doing the same.

They also self-designate some of their ships "transport" or "science vessel" (say, "Eye of the Needle"). Although it would have been fun to hear "bird of burden" or "curious crow" there instead.

However, I thought having the Klingons have a cloak was a bad idea in the first place. Where's the honor in hiding and surreptitiously attacking enemies unawares from the shadows?

That's only assuming Klingons are obsessed about honor. Which they really weren't until Worf came along. Kruge, the Klingon who introduced Kloaking to their species, was a backstabbing bastard who used "honor" as a flimsy excuse for killing the woman he had exploited in his spy ops. And come to think of it, so was every other Klingon who ever spoke of honor...

And every other character who did so, really, be they friend or foe. Romulans were the worst backstabbers and traitors of them all in TOS, yet the ones the most eager to rant about falling on their own swords. Clearly, cloaks and honor is a working combination - it makes sense, the same way the filthiest liar would be the character most likely to raise pious hell if he were accused of not being entire truthful.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Forbin]

There's no use rationalizing it; it was a stupid writers' mistake in both Enterprise and ST:XI. I didn't like either and have expunged them from my personal canon.

 

[Char Aznable]

 

[Forbin]

 

[Anwar]

Funny double-standard though: ENT got blasted for that one mistake, but NuTrek didn't.

 

[Rett Mikhal]

Because Enterprise can't get no respect.

 

[StarryEyed]

Funny double-standard though: ENT got blasted for that one mistake, but NuTrek didn't.

Probably because Broken Bow was held to a higher standard. The "noise level" of continuity violations was much lower then. By the end of the third season of Enterprise, the standard for continuity was completely altered. Calling a Klingon ship a "warbird" was NOTHING at that point.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Funny double-standard though: ENT got blasted for that one mistake, but NuTrek didn't.

once is a mistake. Twice is canon.

 

[A beaker full of death]

Ah. The curse of Star Trek III strikes again.

 

[StarryEyed]

Ah. The curse of Star Trek III strikes again.

Not that Star Trek III (or any of the movies for that matter) thrill me, what exactly are you referring to here?

 

[Nerys Myk]

Ah. The curse of Star Trek III strikes again.

Not that Star Trek III (or any of the movies for that matter) thrill me, what exactly are you referring to here?

The shift in villain from Romulan to Klingon, without changing other elements in the script and the design of the bird of prey model.

 

[Timo]

But much of the effect of that shift sounds like an urban legend.

"Honor transferred from Romulans to Klingons"? There's no honor theme in ST3. Kruge and his female spy talk about the impending death of the latter with calm tones of voice, is all. Nothing particularly Romulan or Klingon about that. And in any case, Klingons were the honorable ones in TOS, or select ones of them were: gracious in defeat, speaking of "worthy opponents", abiding to deals and treaties. Romulans never respected a treaty or a deal, and they were always setting up devious traps and underhanded schemes when Klingons only did that half the time...

"Ship design transferred from Romulans to Klingons"? Romulans never had ships shaped like that in TOS, with head, neck and wings. Klingons did.

"Ship designation transferred from Romulans to Klingons"? Romulans never had Birds of Prey in TOS. And in any case, Kirk goes to the trouble of specifying "Klingon Bird of Prey" when offering an explanation to the simmering space ahead of them - establishing that there are various sorts, perhaps including Romulan, Orion and Bugomite ones.

"Cloaking capability transferred from Romulans to Klingons"? ENT has now pre-empted that one. And in any case, we never heard Klingons wouldn't have had cloaking in TOS. How did they get the drop on our exceptionally alert (i.e. on an official war footing) heroes in the teaser of "Errand of Mercy" if not with the help of an invisibility device? Really, "Balance of Terror" was always the odd one out, with the dubious claim that our heroes would be unfamiliar with invisibility devices.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[SilentP]

To be frank, the term 'warbird' sounds so generic and non-specific a term, that to say only a single species could use the term sounds...odd. Should we jump down people's throats when they call the vessels from two races 'scout', 'starship' or warship? Hell, didn't fighter planes used to get called warbirds?

If both the Klingons and Romulans had their ships designated the same thing with a culturally specific name that would make no sense to go from one culture to the other, then you may have a point.

 

[Timo]

Should we jump down people's throats when they call the vessels from two races 'scout', 'starship' or warship?

We did get quite a bit of throat action when a pre-Federation spatial navy dared call itself "Starfleet" even though the name was clearly trademarked for Kirk's employer...

If both the Klingons and Romulans had their ships designated the same thing with a culturally specific name that would make no sense to go from one culture to the other, then you may have a point.

And even there we could easily dismiss the arguments in favor of the more pressing language-related ones. Who says Klingons have warbirds? The answer to that is very clear: Vulcans say it first, in "Broken Bow". Perhaps the general avian thematique in spacecraft is universal (these things fly, for chrissakes!), but the use of avian themes in naming these spacecraft is a uniquely Vulcan thing? In that case, the Klingon names would in fact be what Vulcans taught to Earthlings, and the Romulan names would of course be Vulcan ones since Romulans are Vulcans.

 

[F. King Daniel]

While everyone's bitching about the name, I'd like to say how heart warming it was to see that they'd used the classic D7 battlecruiser in STXI, even keeping the TOS grey colour!

(I loved the extra layer of detail added, too)

 

[The_Baroness]

And in any case, we never heard Klingons wouldn't have had cloaking in TOS.

Didn't we also see koloths's ship decloaking in the TOS-era part of Trials and Tribble-ations?

 

[A beaker full of death]

Romulans never had Birds of Prey in TOS.

Oh come on.

 

[Nerys Myk]

They had ships painted with what humans ( in this case a guy named Stiles) called a "bird of prey'. Thats as close as the dialog in the show came to giving the Romulan ship a name

KIRK: Both these outposts and this vessel will be considered expendable. Captain out.
STILES: We know Outpost four has been attacked, sir, so if we intercept Romulans now
KIRK: After a whole century, what will a Romulan ship look like, Mister Stiles? I doubt they'll radio and identify themselves.
STILES: You'll know, sir. They're painted like a giant bird-of-prey.

What they called the model used for the SFX, I dont know. (Anyone have a shooting script?) I believe the fans and the merchendising department have called it a "Bird of Prey". No idea which came first.

 

[A beaker full of death]

^ Just so.
If Stiles had said they're painted like a giant cheese danish, sure enough the Klingons would be zipping around in pastry today, and some viewers would insist there's no connection.

 

[Nerys Myk]

^ Just so.
If Stiles had said they're painted like a giant cheese danish, sure enough the Klingons would be zipping around in pastry today, and some viewers would insist there's no connection.

Obviously there's a connection, but Timo's point was the Romulans did not call their ships "Birds of Prey."