• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Length of the D7

James Wright

Commodore
Commodore
I've been thinking about the length of the Klingon D7 battle cruiser, exactly who established the length at 228 meters?

James Wright
 
The earliest source in which I’ve seen the specific figure of 228 meters is the original (1994) edition of The Star Trek Encyclopedia: A Reference Guide to the Future, by Michael Okuda, Denise Okuda and Debbie Mirek.
 
What I can't figure out is, when Matt Jefferies made a rough sketch of the ship he gave it a length of between 620' and 680'. I've only seen the sketch once and now I can't find it.
How did the length increase to 747'? (200' shorter than the Enterprise)


James
 
Last edited:
Again, I'd think the graphic is to blame. It is the first application of scale to the model, and "feet" wouldn't play a role there. Rather, "How does this look right next to the hero ship?" would be a question directly answered by drawing the Klingon ship next to the Enterprise so that it looks sufficiently menacing.

Timo Saloniemi
 
Using the drawings and scale provided in the book "The Making of Star Trek" I got 2 different measurements for the D7, the first using the side view was 680', the second using the top view was 725'.

James
 
We know it’s in that ballpark, but sizes aren’t usually settled until someone comes up with a convincing layout based on production and onscreen sources. Given his Phase II cutaway, how would Matt Jefferies have laid out the deck lines, and what would be the size that works with deck plans?
 
I've never seen the Phase II cutaway! Since he designed both TOS Enterprise and the TOS D7, I wonder why didn't he develop one official length scale that could be used for both ships? Going back to the Phase II cutaway plans,(Just speculating here) wouldn't he have to developed the height of each deck depending on each decks use?

James
 
Matt Jefferies originally established the size in his drawings. They can be found on the D7 model page at Memory Alpha.
Edit: I tried to copy them here, but didn't seem to work.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for posting those links!:techman: The book about Klingon military power is a fine piece until you get to the D7, I don't agree with the length given for the ship.
I can open the second site you listed and read the text but I can't view any of the images.

James
 
I know that my original question was about the length of the D7 but I have a question about the D7 and K't'inga. Even though the length of both ships is different, do the D7 and K't'inga share the same width and height?

James
 
Last edited:
According to the "Official" blueprints (the old TMP set from '79), the K'Tinga was:

Length - 214.3 meters
Beam - 152.4 meters
Draft - 57.3 meters

According to Mark McMaster's blueprints of the D7:

Length - 216.408 meters (?!?)
Beam - 152.4 meters
Draft - 55.28 meters

Anyway you want to cut it, the two are not just variants. The K'Tinga is certainly supposed to be based on the older design but, I would expect that they would be two distinct production designs. When you dig into FASA's Star Trek the Role Playing Game's background material, the K'Tinga is treated as a later production version of the D7 family, and NOT as a distinct class.

There is absolutely NO consistency in fandom, or canon; let alone between the two...
 
According to Mark McMaster's blueprints of the D7:

Length - 216.408 meters (?!?)
Beam - 152.4 meters
Draft - 55.28 meters

FWIW, those length and beam measurements are metric conversions of 708 ft. and 500 ft., respectively.

Oh, and it's Michael McMaster.
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top