A Klingon warbird
A Romulan D'deridex-class warbird
In starship classification, a warbird was a type of warship. They generally resembled large predatory birds. (TOS: "Balance of Terror"; TNG: "The Defector")
Three cultures are known to have operated warbirds:
- Klingon Empire
- Romulan Star Empire/Romulan Free State
- Romulan warbird, utilized during the mid-22nd century (ENT: "Babel One")
- Romulan warbird, utilized during the 2340s (TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise")
- Romulan warbird, utilized during the 2390s (PIC: "Absolute Candor", et al.)
- D'deridex-class warbird, utilized during the mid-2360s and mid-2370s (TNG: "The Neutral Zone"–DS9: "What You Leave Behind")
- Oh's warbird, utilized in 2399 (PIC: "Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 1", "Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2")
- Red Lady-type, described as warbirds in 2399 (PIC: "Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 1", "Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2")
- Valdore-type warbird, utilized during the late 2370s (Star Trek Nemesis)
- Reman
- Scimitar, a prototype referred to as a "Reman warbird" (Star Trek Nemesis)
| Starship types |
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| attack vessel • attack fighter • battle cruiser • battleship • bird-of-prey • carrier vessel • colony ship • combat cruiser • corsair • corvette • cruiser • destroyer • diplomatic vessel • dreadnought • escort vessel • exploration vessel • flagship • freighter • frigate • garbage scow • geo-terraforming vessel • heavy cruiser • holding vessel • interceptor • light cruiser • medical ship • military vessel • mining vessel • patrol ship • pilot vessel • prison ship • raider • reconnaissance ship • robot ship • runabout • science vessel • scout ship • star cruiser • starliner • starship • supply ship • support ship • survey ship • tanker • timeship • trading vessel • training ship • transport ship • troop transport • tug • warbird • warship |
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Background information[]
The term "warbird", as used within the Romulan Empire, dates back as far as 2154, as the Romulan drone ship was a modified warbird; this, however, was most likely a warbird of a much earlier design than that of the D'deridex class. The term was known to Starfleet as early as a 2344 encounter with the USS Enterprise-C. It is, however, unclear if this specifically refers to the D'deridex-class design or that of yet another unknown warbird class.
The word in the Romulan language apparently is "D'deridex", as what Data refers to in the episode "Tin Man" as a "D'deridex-class cruiser" is also referred to as a "Warbird-class starship" by Picard in "The Defector".
Prior to Star Trek: Enterprise and Star Trek Nemesis, "warbird" or "Romulan warbird" were used exclusively to refer to D'deridex-class starships. Brannon Braga has mentioned that the use of the term "warbird" to describe Klingon ships in "Broken Bow" was a mistake, implying that the production team only wished Romulan ships to be identified as warbirds.
External links[]
- Warbird at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
- Warbird at Wikipedia