What class of Romulan ship is this?

[Dukhat]

Apparently, the confusion thus arose from there being a Challenger class in the slide show and a Challenger class in the comic world, and there being a report of what shapes of ships had been seen in the slide show and a fan awareness of what "the Challenger class" ought to look like...

Exactly. That's the same confusion that led to the erroneous Rigel class description of "a Galaxy saucer and three nacelles attached to a Constitution secondary hull" (which was actually the Niagara class, but not actually those parts, just similar looking parts).

 

[milo bloom]

I really like this cover:

It's a pretty nifty story too.

Spoiler: about the comic

Kirk falls back in time and sets up a message with rocks that he knows future Spock will see so he can slingshot back and rescue him

Also a fan of that Romulan ship, would love to see it used again somewhere.

 

[MLJames]

I recall hearing about the "proto-Challenger" design before, which might also be described as the movie-era Enterprise with the nacelles stuck on the saucer instead of their rightful place. I wasn't aware that the Belknap had appeared outside of fan work though.

IIRC, there was an entry in DC's Who's Who guide about starships that had the Belknap in it. I remember thinking it was funny-looking because they had put a circular deflector dish on it in place of the elliptical one it really has.