Why wasn't the Rotarran in "Once More Unto the Breach"?

[toughlittleship]

Does anyone know why the Ch'Tang was Martok's ship in "Once More Unto the Breach", rather than the Rotarran?

Was it so that they could create new crewmembers rather than bring back the cast from "Soldiers of the Empire" and "Sons and Daughters"?

Does anyone know if Ron Moore mentioned this in an internet chat back when the series was on?

 

[StarryEyed]

I've never heard of a reason but the most likely in-universe answer is that the Rotarran was damaged and undergoing repair.

We learned in Inter Arma Einem Silent Leges that Klingon ships were the most-often damaged of the allies because Klingons were relentless in pursuing their attacks.

 

[Timo]

Speculative dramatic reasons for the different ship might include

-making it look like Martok commanded more than just one ship
-leaving the fate of the ship more open; her possible destruction wouldn't stop other writers from using the Rotarran
-causing Martok to be "off balance" and lacking in friends and allies other than Worf

but the most likely reason still is that the Rotarran crew would have been expected to reappear if their ship did, and there wasn't enough of a budget for that many speaking parts or for hunting down the specific cast.

Timo Saloniemi