Star Trek: Vor'cha Class Attack Cruiser | Ship Breakdown

Spacedock breaks down the mighty Vor'cha Class Attack Cruiser of the Imperial Klingon Defence Forces.
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Battlezone II Music by Carey Chico
Spacedock does not hold ownership of the copyrighted materiel (Footage, Stills etc) taken from the various works of fiction covered in this series, and uses them within the boundaries of Fair Use for the purpose of Analysis, Discussion and Review. Produced by Daniel Orrett. Owner/Executive Producer at Spacedock.

[@Spacedock]

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[@Invictus_Praetorian]

THIS is awesome! I would really like to see you do a series like this for the ships of Star Citizen! o7

[@ApsalusSigma]

Qapla'! :]

[@Crusader2132]

Hey friend, the Vorcha is actually a battlecruiser not a medium cruiser, it's referred to as such by both Martok and Gowron on at least 2 different occasions. The Neghvar is a battleship.

[@norad_clips]

Me a day ago: Gee, I which Spacedock would make a Vor’cha video Spacedock:

[@TeraQuad]

They always do that. Spying on its fans that is.

[@TheCormTube]

Your which came true.

[@Restilia_ch]

Back in the mid 90s, during DS9's last years, I had a large model of a Vorcha. It was a kid's toy, with buttons for various sounds, but it was 18-inches of awesome. I named it Martha. :3

[@darwinxavier3516]

Those were really good models despite being kids toys. I picked up several of them including the Vor'cha at Comicon.

[@Kaefer1973]

About 18 inch buttons with sounds? Was is as far as toys go, a high quality and highly detailed model with the green colouring being a bit on the lighter side as compared to this video? If so I had the same and it was great (Also the reason this is one of my favourite space ship designs). Certainly one of the best gifts I got as a child.

[@ryandtibbetts2962]

WHY DID YOU SAY THAT NAME???!!!!!

[@Restilia_ch]

@@Kaefer1973 Yeah, it was more of a mint-green than KDF-green.

[@Kaefer1973]

@@Restilia_ch Minty green, yes that's it.

[@benlaskowski357]

I first saw the Vor'cha in 'Reunion' of course, and was stunned. It instantly became my favorite Klingon, and Star Trek, ship.

[@zeropianozeronetwork4107]

*Is playing Star Trek Online as a klingon* Phone: Spacedock posted ‘Qapla! me: FOR THE EMPIRE!!

[@LordBloodraven]

Me: Such obedience will bring you victory... and victory is life.

[@valtersplume3726]

What's 'Qapla?

[@zeropianozeronetwork4107]

Valters Plūme i cant tell if that is sarcasm but Qapla’ is Klingon for Success

[@mostlymessingabout]

@@LordBloodraven I am dead

[@Tezunegari]

I love how the design elements of the D7 / K'tinga can easily be seen in the Vorcha and Negh'var. Unlike the Klingon ship designs in Discovery that have no real connection to any design seen before (maybe the Sarcophagus, but that never really felt Klingon to me due to the size it was supposed to be).

[@Raguleader]

They also share elements with the Bird of Prey (but then the movie-era BoP was likely designed to fit with the D7/K'tinga). I will say that the Discovery BoP shares some very general similarities with the forward-swept wings, but you never get a very good look at it anyways. Kind of wish the Romulans had gotten the same sort of attention in TNG/DS9 as the Klingons did, but instead we had to deal with only the two Romulan ships (the Warbird and the shuttle) for two whole shows. Only Nemesis bothered to expand their fleet any further.

[@Tezunegari]

@@Raguleader I always saw the lack of new Romulan ships as part of the Romulan desire for secrecy. They just prefer to use ships that look alike, meaning the Warbird from early TNG is nothing like the Warbird from late DS9. And the new Valdore's and the Scimitar in Nemesis are the results of Dominion technology falling into Romulan hands or a change in military doctrine (instead of massive D'Deridex Warbirds more smaller ships like the Valdore with a few monster ships like the Scimitar).

[@Raguleader]

@@Tezunegari When I saw the Valdore in the trailers, I got excited because I thought we'd finally see Romulan Birds of Prey again, but nope, just a sleeker faster Warbird (also cool, but not what I hoped for, and promptly never seen again).

[@xanderguldie]

Ugh, the models in discovery and Picard are abominable

[@MrDibara]

@@xanderguldie I mean, Picard at least had that one "outdated" Romulan Bird of Prey that I thought looked really cool. Too bad the actual Romulan fleet had an atrocious design, though.

[@jamieolberding7731]

The Vor'Cha class is an AWESOME Klingon ship that kicks ass!

[@justaguybehindacomputer9804]

Sees video upload: “Welp, time to drop my interstellar conflict, it’s *spacedock* time!”

[@alden972]

I'm literally watching DS9 as this came out.

[@Self-replicating_whatnot]

I'm figuratively watching DS9 as this came out.

[@alden972]

@@Self-replicating_whatnot Well now I'm spiritually watching.

[@seanwhitman8353]

My god, you too?

[@TheBType]

A series about how utopias are hard to maintain but are still a worthy goal to try and shoot for and how even if it’s difficult good things are worth at least trying to preserve, even in times of massive upheaval, is something a lot of people could use right now.

[@venomgeekmedia9886]

quite clear that when the Vorcha was built they were trying to compete with the nebula and ambassador class. when put next to the enterprise D there's a very clear embodiment of the state of the Klingon empire in the early to mid 24th century. its a shame we never got to see alternative prow and dorsal modules.

[@Th0ughtf0rce]

Narrative wise, they were meant to rival of the Romulan D'Deridex as well, but in a very different way. The warbird, being much bigger and powered by a singularity core, had bigger power reserves, which translates to greater total shield and weapons output. The number of disruptor emplacements throughout the hull also provided better coverage. But the Vor'Cha, with its forward oriented weapons load out, had a far more destructive frontal barrage. Being much smaller and more nimble, it had no problem bringing it to bear on any single target.

[@nefariousgremlin7554]

Qapla'!

[@airplanemaster1]

That broadside profile view makes me extremely happy and I don't know why.

[@darwinxavier3516]

Today is a good day for Spacedock.

[@onigojira]

STO made me really appreciate this ship that I'd otherwise forgotten about, as it really didn't find much of a niche on the show. But its actual role as a mid size battle cruiser made it fun as hell to play as. I've moved on to more chill styles of play using carriers to do most of my fighting for me, but I'll always remember fondly my first Vorcha, and how exciting it had been to take her for a ride.

[@fireforeffect1979]

Was always disappointed they shows creators never used the disruptor cannon more.

[@apotheases]

Probably budgetary reasons. Now with CGI effects it would be a ton easier.

[@darwinxavier3516]

They turned it into a solid green beam instead. Just like how the K'tinga now shoots red beams instead of torpedoes from it's chin.

[@EliteF22]

Budget and time constraints. Like how the animators forgot to put in the shield hit effects during the Dominion War scenes and they went "oh well" and moved on.

[@adamwelch4336]

I know right!

[@casbot71]

Perhaps they could be *remastered?* Imagine DS9 with all the battle scenes redone with modern effects and a more gritty style - (BSG meets Rogue One,) with a lot of panning and zooming in and out to show the sheer scale of Trek battles. With ships that can fire on each other at 💯's of thousands of kilometres and hit, but can also close the distance to point blank in seconds. [That'll really upset the fanatic Star Wars fanboys… I like both IP, but still] And completely adhering to Star Trek Lore - shields, relative ship sizes ect. That would be easier with CGI as the values could be programmed in and it could actually be done as a "simulation", with the visuals enhanced afterwards. The battle is worked out and they move a virtual camera around it.

[@aliensounddigital8729]

Very beautiful design.

[@1joshjosh1]

My uncle served on this ship. Thank you for your service!

[@WUZLE]

I was so happy to see these show up in TNG after years of being stuck with the Romulan "Klingon" BoP as the only Klingon ship we ever saw. Ship models were so expensive to build that they stuck with the BoP for far longer than they should, to the point the at least three different sizes of the damn things showed up.

[@Sabactus]

I'd like to see you do Harlock's Arcadia. Dealers choice on which version.

[@ajzebadua]

For better or worse, the most recent Harlock series' Arcadia is simply stunning. Fully second this.

[@bustrobot101]

I remember reading somewhere - from a Star Trek video game manual I think, don't remember which one, so canonicity is questionable, but hey - that the Vor'cha was the Klingon's Empire's answer to the Galaxy Class but didn't quite live up to that role; though it found great use in what it became. Honestly the Vor'cha is one of my favourite Klingon ships. It's the same menacing look as many other Klingon ships but it has a really nice sleek and modern look to it.

[@dragonalpha9894]

Correct. It ended up about half an Galaxy worth in combat value at first. Though was quickly updated to be almost a full Galaxy match.

[@twandepan]

Dragon Alpha muuuch cheaper than a galaxy class too. So for one galaxy class there will probably be 2 or 3 Vor’cha cruisers.

[@darwinxavier3516]

It was the first Klingon ship that could match size and power with even an Excelsior. It took them longer still to match the size of a Galaxy with the Negh'var.

[@davidlewis5312]

It probably did accomplish that outside of combat as whenever we see a Klingon ship conducting anything other than patrol or outright combat duties; its a Vor'cha. Survey work, archaeology, etc. Vor'cha's are sent on those mission as well as it has the space for proper lab suites on a temporary basis. You aren't getting that on a B'Rel for certain. Still in terms of size and power it would remain behind the Galaxy and D'Derix (sp) until a few refits caught it up. Ultimately it took the Negh'var to get ahead as the first 'next gen warship' ahead of the Validore Warbird and sovereign class. Interesting that the Klingon's went bigger and bulkier while the other two sleeked down into the Next Generation of warships.

[@sidoney101]

Thank you for this vid. As a kid I built a model of the Vor'cha class. One of my favourite spaceship designs.

[@darkelmer]

I know this might trigger some but it's funny how I just realized how this cruiser if flown backwards and had gold paint with silver trim would look oddly like a nabu fighter....

[@Fenristhegreat]

Star wars always has been backwards...

[@sparrowlt]

@@Fenristhegreat dont go there

[@OkOk-dj7ut]

@@Fenristhegreat you better not

[@rickyevans2697]

@@Fenristhegreat Them’s fighin’ words!!!

[@MerakBashee]

One of my favorite Klingon ships to be sure. Thank you for this!

[@martin4374]

You are Klingon... "What else could I be?"

[@thehighguarduk4820]

I always loved the design of the Vor'cha class, fantastic video really well discussed!

[@Huntress236]

Here's something for you to think about at SpaceDock, Goa'uld Ha'tak class mothership has a central pyramid that is triangular on its base, yet the pyramid landing pads are square pyramids. What is that all about? How does landing work for the Ha'tak?

[@joshuachase9742]

I never noticed that before, and now I'm never going to be able to stop thinking about it.

[@Huntress236]

@@joshuachase9742 yeah, it was the same for me.

[@prinzstinkesocke4593]

Thank you for all your hard work on these videos

[@Kaefer1973]

I got a great model of this as a gift when I was a child, and it has been one of my favourite space ship designs ever since. It's such a great and elegant yet functional design. I don't think the design to be particularly aggressive though.

[@raptor050]

One of my favorite Klingon ships.

[@thomashill6347]

Thanks for a wonderful look at a good looking Klingon ship, it is nice to have a advance from the K'tinga class. I just enjoy the Klingon ships so.

[@sevensinsvelocityshop7563]

One of my all time favorites, capable of planetary bombardment, fast, maneuverable for its size, and tough

[@jonnybridin]

I would truly love to see an episode on the Prometheus class. I love that ship!

[@tombeer9]

About time you got to do this ship

[@Simon-ow6td]

Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Skull Throne! Comments for the Algorithm!

[@DavidBarkland]

Comments for the Algorithm!

[@invidofinp1828]

Comments for the algorithm!

[@Deridus]

Heresy, heresy everywhere... ... ... Good. Goo-o-o-od.

[@starliner2498]

@@Deridus Tell khorne to fuck off for me

[@Deridus]

@@starliner2498 As a servent of Tzeentch... I gladly accept this task.

[@deanlawson6880]

Another great video! Thanks for these excellent vids!

[@MichaelAussie05]

Brilliant content thanks for your time and efforts.

[@George_M_]

The Vorcha was my favorite looking Klingon ship. No extra pods, giant gun in front, clean lines...

[@ODST_Parker]

I have to admit, I kinda prefer the Negh'Var, but the Vor'cha class is definitely up there on my list. I know Klingons love their hit and run tactics, but sometimes you just need a big, bad battlecruiser to get the job done. Overwhelming force of heavy cruiser groups combined with smaller, cloaked ships? Hell yeah, that's the way.

[@Hyp89]

My favorite ship from the entire Star Trek universe...period.

[@nicholasmorsovillo2752]

I remember when they first introduced the Vor'cha Class was in the season 4 episode Reunion and then seen again in the 2 part episode Redemption.

[@lexington476]

Oh I remember the first time on next generation one of these ships appeared, it would awesome when I was a kid

[@jamesp7987]

I will never forget how the refit Galaxy Class Dreadnought was able to take on 2 Negh'var Class Battle cruisers.

[@stormy2143]

no one: Vorcha: Nyaaaaarrrh! Filthy human!

[@mattwho81]

I like to think the Vorcha represents the Klingon empire getting back on its feet after the Praxis disaster. For decades the empire had resorted to updating the aged D7 and various Birds of Prey designs which were far cheaper. The Vorcha was the first sign the Empire was recovering economically and making its might known. This restoration would eventually culminate in the might Negh’var battleships.

[@gordondavis6168]

A beefed up, logical descendant of the D7 class. Fragile boom neck of D7 corrected and a huge forward disruptor stinger.

[@ZodZulu]

Nice work. I just got finish watching DS9 on Netflix. It was all over The series

[@-werksmith2078]

I have always understood that the Vor'cha was the replacement for the D7 and a frontline ship as the D7 had become obsolete in the role as a frontline defender and no longer held any intimidation factor.

[@philredding117]

Good Video !!!

[@antmcgowan]

Thoroughly excellent 👍🏻

[@jackmoorman6925]

This is one of my favorite class of ships of the KDF .

[@loupiscanis9449]

Thank you

[@TheNubadak]

This kicks ass.

[@llamabing5215]

Was the background music from the star trek space fighter game, I forget the name. The one where you're a shuttle pilot on the Excelsior

[@LtCWest]

Nope, combat music from the game Star Trek Legacy

[@llamabing5215]

@@LtCWest thanks, I knew it was combat music for something. My finely tuned murder sence never forgets a jam

[@EnterpriseXI]

Loving the Star trek and star wars ship vids. Try doing ships from the Macross franchise like my fav ships the VF-0 and VF-25 Messiah

[@EnterpriseXI]

Hey Daniel here's another ship that you could probably do a review on the Federation attack fighter we see used during the Dominion war in DS9

[@templarw20]

Was thinking about this the other day. Seems like the Vor'cha is a "classic" battlecruiser - that being a ship that has the firepower of a larger battleship, but has much higher speed at the expense of defenses. So while the Negh'var is a more traditional slugger, and the B'rel is lighter cruiser/destroyer/frigate (depending on definitions, I use slightly different ones than you do), the Vor'cha is able to be in either group, either as the heavy slugger and command ship of a BoP attack wing, or flankers and escorts for a heavy Negh''var strike group.

[@fondlebuddies2982]

You forgot to mention the Starfleet intel that went towards this ship! (Most obviously the bussard collectors!) This was unheard of until this ship came around!

[@WillKeaton]

Do you think the vorcha from Mass Effect were named after this ship? Or is it a coincidence?

[@cosby714]

I have a model of a Vor'cha class on my desk actually. It just looks amazing, and threatening.

[@invidofinp1828]

As it should.

[@ELCADAROSA]

Is the D7 on the list of future videos? I looked, but couldn't easily find a Spacedock video on this.

[@thorshammer7883]

How many ships and how many troops did Emperor Vitiate have during his Sith Empire's attack on the Old Republic in the Great Galactic war which lasted for almost 30 long and bloody years?

[@lukasvillar9328]

A video about Brünhild from the Legend of the galactic heroes universe would be very good ... It's the most beautiful ship in Sci fi history.

[@TheZamaron]

I alsways saw this as the Klingon's response to Starfleet making bigger and bigger ships with the Galaxy Class, sure they were friends, but always best to be prepared for a war.

[@stealthirl]

Wasn’t there a 2nd bridge aswell as the upper rear triangle being a warrior drop ship. Vague memory of reading that in the encyclopaedia 1st edition or mid 90s magazine

[@joshuaamitai]

I still have the ship with sounds heheh the k'tinga class is the best ever !

[@Colin_]

Have we ever seen if there was info about any other attachments on the front section other than the the super heavy disrupter?

[@artembentsionov]

I sometimes misspell it and call it the Vorchan, like the Centauri cruisers in Babylon 5.

[@zerox8413]

The name to much resemblance... 😅

[@DMSProduktions]

GOOD for hunting the Veq!

[@cholodelrosari0543]

The Vorcha class cruiser was the Klingon's answer to the Starfleet's Galaxy and Ambassador class while the newer Negh'var class was their answer to the Sovereign class. I just noticed that the Vorcha class warp nacelles are reminiscent to those 24th century Starfleet starships . This implies that at some point, the Federation have shared their technology to the Klingons due to their status as formal allies .

[@marcusjustice6165]

Lieutenant Commander Worf was initially assigned aboard the I.K.S Bor'tas as weapons officer during the Klingon Civil War where he found out the Vor'Cha Class Battle cruiser Disruptor Fire can be reduced by Fifty percent using a modified tractor beam.

[@aTADtoofar]

I love this ship!!!

[@scottcameron1345]

Love your stuff. Please do the big ship from Disney black hole

[@xuanhoangnguyen3447]

Please do the Prometheus class please!!! I love that vessel especially it muilty vector mode.

[@yortsemloh1156]

Would you consider a video on the K’Tinga Class Battle Cruiser?

[@bigevil1001]

Can you do a video on the K’Vort class? Please? No one on KZbin is talking about it but it was one of the main Klingon ships in TNG.

[@maxsteel4934]

Not sure if you do this on ships based on cartoons and game's but the Blue Typhoon from sonic X is a fav ship of mine and i would love to see a episode done on it as for game's the great fox would be sweet to see

[@AdmiralStoicRum]

I think i understand the wings. The weapons are placed on their tips. Having wings allow them to have overlapping fiends of fire at closer range... Which if they had the weapons forward wouldnt be an issue. Tsak

[@RonJohn63]

It looks to have design elements from the Star Wars universe: the notched bow, and command tower in the rear.

[@ziib123]

Spacedock! Buddy! Pal! Are you gonna make more homeworld stuff?

[@Demolitiondude]

Dem Boyz don't know ow to dakka propa!

[@fatwithmoney8953]

Love this ship!!!

[@JustTooDamnHonest]

The Vor'Cha class is a ship fit for a high ranking command officer within the Klingon Empire.

[@xuanhoangnguyen3447]

Hey Spacedock what happened to the default subtitles? Recently your new videos seem to lack it.

[@rafnick44]

Apparently one Romulan didn't like it...

[@digitalcabbage910]

I'd like to see a video on the Andromeda Ascendant.

[@gre4231]

Could you make a video on the USS Vengeance?

[@Orca19904]

Perhaps the most notable Vor'cha-class vessel would be the IKS Bortas, which served as Gowron's flagship during the Klingon Civil War in the late 2360's.

[@bigevil1001]

What Starfleet vessel do you suppose was most comparable to the Vor’Cha. I’m guessing probably the Nebula or the Ambassador Classes.

[@xenoplaguedoctor2912]

perhaps it would be interesting to see some Gundam ships like the White Base or the Nahel Argama

[@QuarkGamingLLC]

Ah yes, my favorite sci-fi, Star Effect, I mean Mass Trek

[@sleepingbackbone7581]

lol

[@oswin887]

Any chance on the Federal Corvette from Elite Dangerous?

[@grantt1589]

love the ship in star-trek online

[@randyranderson690]

What? No mention that the forward pod was interchangeable with other pods to be able to fill other roles?

[@The-Jeff]

Another great video. Could you do Rick's "Car" from Rick and Morty?

[@HarPlayer]

Any information on the Breen ships???

[@Viguier89]

My favorite ship from my favorite TV show.

[@Kaefer1973]

Which one? It may have been my favourite Ship on TNG (besides the Galaxy and D'deridex), but on Deep Space Nine there were so many designs I'm not sure.

[@Viguier89]

@@Kaefer1973 DS9, the Defiant sharing the same place.

[@Kaefer1973]

@@Viguier89 Which would make the Defiant the best design of DS9, I'll agree since I can't think of anything better right now (I like the Jem Hadar attack ships as well, but they don't match the Defiant).

[@richardmartin3243]

What would have happened if the Klingon Empire was able to jump I could do on battlestar galactica

[@ZeroB4NG]

i have a challenge for you, just to see if it is at all possible. do one of these videos, just one, for the Klingon ships of Discovery. I bet you, there is not enough information or even picture material around to do one of these... and i bet you that will remain true until STD is done.

[@mb2000]

You know your days as the pride of the Klingon fleet are numbered when you’re destroyed by one or two photon torpedoes fired from a 40 odd year old repurposed Cardassian mining station... But I do like the Vor’cha design, definitely the 24th century’s D7/K’tinga. That said, I only ever really remember the Vor’cha getting beaten... the Bortas being attacked by Birds of Prey (Redemption), getting blown up attacking DS9, being tractor beamed by the Defiant (Way of the Warrior), crashing out of the wormhole (Dramatis Persona) getting hit by its own mines (Sons of Mogh), getting rammed by Dominion ships (Tears of the Prophets I think).

[@mb2000]

Steven Strain True, but given the stations structural inadequacies mentioned in prior episode and despite the Starfleet upgrades, you’d have thought that 50 or so Klingon warships would have been enough to overwhelm a static target long before they got to fire off many of those 5000 torpedoes. I mean, the phaser and torpedo launchers weren’t even deployed and ready until after the Klingons started firing!

[@parallaxgames]

More Klingons! Always more Klingons!