The Classic Klingon D-7 Cruiser - Stupid or Genius Design?? Animated Breakdown!

[@Richy0326]

Other possibilities: 1) Klingons admire cunning, so it could be a deception - the neck looks like the weakest part of the ship in order to trick people into attacking what is actually the most heavily armoured & hardest to hit part of the ship. This improves the mobility of the ship by removing the need to put large amounts of armour over the entire ship, and instead only needing heavy armour over a small neck structure. 2) The weapons are all forward facing, so the neck wouldn't be exposed to incoming weapons fire anyway. 3) It's designed to have other modules attached to it. 4) It's to create a choke point to make it harder for boarding parties to capture both the bridge and the drive section.

[@mdsx01]

The trouble with idea 1 is that it relies on the deception being completely maintained. If their enemies ever get any data on the actual armor layout of the ship, well, dont know about you, but I'd be pumping torps into the engine section like I was trying to impress a girl.

[@Dawt_Calm]

@Richy0326 Absolutely. Maybe it's simply a remnant left over from older designs. A "traditional" way to build a warship. Conventional thinking for Klingon engineers, always with a mind toward designs that favor Klingon combat tactics. The ostensibly vulnerable "neck" is supposed to lure a foe to attack that area. That's where the Klingon's want you, going for their neck, while you get a D'k tahg to the gut. It dates back to Chontay, the ritual hunt. Their tactics and engineering was likely influenced by millenia of hunting animals that were used to killing Klingons, who had redundant organs and nerves, by going for the neck. A weak point. So their tactics would have been influenced by that, hence their whole conception of combat and engineering too. A Klingon looks at a D-7 and says "Yeah what a great design, it just made a lot of sense at the time. Was practical". Though another species, with different sensibilities, would have other ideas of what a ship should be. We should try and see the design, not through our own human eyes, but through the eyes of a Klingon.

[@arbhall7572]

Bingo. Impossible to take that bridge if it's even lightly defended.

[@shimata17]

Klingons admire cunning but loathe deception. Klingons look down on Romulans bor their constant use of trickery.

[@davidbeppler3032]

@@arbhall7572 This is the reason. That and the radiation will kill the officers when the ship is pushed to maximum capability. Remember the Klingon cloaking tech is insanely power hungry and when it is active it multiplies radiation by reflecting it back in.

[@crungus__]

I think the neck actually works perfectly with the design. It’s an offensive ship designed to attack head-on, and the great thing is that the weak-point of the neck completely disappears if you look at it from the front.

[@raven4k998]

yeah it does because it's hard to hit like the conney's thin neck section

[@MrSteveK1138]

Not so much a "Well actually," but more of this view. The thinner neck area would reduce the overall mass of the D7 as opposed to a heartier section that would increase mass and reduce maneuverability. Klingon ships like the D7 and K22 Bird of Prey from what I have seen hit hard and fast, move quickly out of the enemy's main weapon arcs and position for another run.

[@aaronpulley7528]

Can't hit your vulnerable neck if you're moving too fast to hit!

[@MrSteveK1138]

@@aaronpulley7528 And maneuvering to present a minimal silhouette to the target

[@aaronpulley7528]

I play this game called Avorion, with procedurally generated ships. Sometimes enemy ships generate really thin, or with thin parts, and those parts are SO hard to hit! Drives you loony. So much that I've thought of doing it intentionally on my own player-built ships. I'm not sure it isn't as good as armor.

[@benjimain6]

The neck of the constitution is even thinner lol. And theres a warpcore in there as well. Both designs are flawed, but look good.

[@HandleyR]

I am sure the integrity of the core shielding was questionable and this was mentioned in an episode or film.

[@xxnightdriverxx9576]

I think the maneuverability theory makes the most sense. We all know that Klingons value that maneuverability very highly, since they need it to bring their main forward weapons to bear. Adding more structure around the neck would only increase the ships mass unnecessarily, and increased mass slows you down again. And as you said the neck would be incredibly hard to hit in the first place, so keeping it thin could be a valid tactic to protect it. Lets say it would be 2, maybe 3 times as thick. We have seen the damage star trek weapons do to unshielded targets. It is indeed quite realistic that a hit from a strong weapon (like a torpedo) would still cut the ship in half, even with the thicker neck. So making it thinner would at that point be more useful, as it is harder to hit.

[@foxxojones4757]

I personally dispute the "Harder to hit" point, mainly due to a scene in the Next Generation which shows the Enterprise D destroying a group of small craft very quickly, granted, since it takes place a century after the Original Series, and we never got to really see how accurate the 1701 Enterprise's weapons were, so I guess in that respect, the point still stands.

[@shimata17]

Deflector shields are the bread and butter of all Star Trek ships of all species. Without shields a ship would need heavy armor but heavy armor is no match for a salvo of photon torpedoes. Klingons used disruptor weapons to break shields. The Federation use Phasers to drain shields. When the shields are down, the fight is over except for surrender negotiations and Klingons take no prisoners. TOS torpedoes are not super accurate. They rely on massive energy release near a target to disable shields or destroy an enemy vessel.

[@patrickstivers7387]

Then you aim for the point where the "neck" connects to the "body" of the ship.

[@atmosdwagon4656]

Agreed with the firing angle point; Klingon and Romulan warships are both notable for the sheer amount of forward-facing firepower they have, vs the Federation who prefers a more flexible approach (Phaser Strips over Disruptors, torpedo launchers with fore and aft mountings that feed from the same magazine). This makes sense for a species with a strong warrior culture prone to imperial expansionism and getting into lots of fights as a stronger "broadside" helps in straight up fights vs other regional-galactic powers.

[@captcorajus]

@@patrickstivers7387 In theory that's a good strategy, but the flaw is in execution. Keep in mind that at no time will you get the opportunity to fire at a fresh enemy where they will NOT have an opportunity to fire back. That's called an 'exchange'. The idea is to come away from the exchange in better shape than your foe. If you MISS, you've opened yourself up to damage to critical systems that may put you at a disadvantage later in the fight. You LOST the 'exchange'. In that case you are much better off attempting to disable a critical system in the main hull then trying to risk a 'one shot' kill. Now, you may try some cleaver maneuvers to 'get in close' to optimize your targeting but I would submit that if a Klingon captain 'lets' you do that, he's probably baiting you. ;) Klingons are well aware of that apparent 'vulnerability' their thin neck may offer an opponent, and they will absolutely use that assumption to their advantage.

[@GreyhawkGrognard]

According to the FASA Star Trek material, the boom section was separable specifically in case of crew mutinies. Since all the control functions were in the boom, this would leave the drive section pretty well useless while the captain and officers escaped in the boom. The long neck might be needed to help isolate the command section in that scenario; it's easier to lock down a narrow boom, rather than a wider (and more structurally stable) section.

[@NauticalCoffin2404]

It's a pretty shit ship if you can only control systems from one location in a ship. Not just an internal CIC, but even the drive section having all the machinery right there but no way to control it in case the bridge/boom section gets shot.

[@robertcampbell6349]

And the officers could order a self-destruct immediately after safe boom separation. Great disincentive to mutiny.

[@michaelblackwell7408]

If you think the D7 was weak, what about the D18. It came constantly with a bent boom in the package. It literally was like a command section attached by a space worm. The only thing scary about that destroyer was not making it to the battle at all, "no thanks, I'll go in the K23."

[@GreyhawkGrognard]

@@michaelblackwell7408 I love the design of the D-10, though.

[@esobed1]

Exacty.

[@Setebos]

Let's try this: the majority of the D-7's sensors are in the forward section, so it would perhaps increase their overall effective sensitivity by maintaining a distance from the engineering section. On a perhaps related note: if there's a worry about the D-7 boom section, then shouldn't there be a (perhaps lesser) concern over the neck which separates the primary hull from the engineering hull on the Starfleet Constitution class starship?

[@aaronpulley7528]

The neck protects the sensors up front from the radiation in the back? I like that.

[@A407RAC]

Well yes - just see what happened when Khan attacked the Enterprise!

[@Setebos]

@@A407RAC Thank you. I was hoping someone besides me would bring that up.

[@SharpsKC]

Yes, keeps the sensors and comms as far as possible from the noise and physical shadow of engineering. Like a modern submarine the drives may create a sensor shadow. But, it probably all works together,

[@AC4ace]

@@A407RAC Um, what I remember happening is Khan shooting the Enterprise neck (more specifically, in the torpedo launcher), and all that happens is a few guttering flames that are quickly extinguished and one torpedo launcher getting knocked out. No serious structural damage, no ship getting blown in half. Seems to me that the Constitution's neck isn't nearly as vulnerable as some people think it is.

[@entropy11]

I always considered the neck to be probably like just, solid structure with a single hallway and conduit through it. You'd have an easier time damaging literally any other part of the ship. It also makes the entire bridge bulb very defensible in case of boarding or mutiny.

[@TheMule47]

what i love about the D-7 design, especially with the original intention of the aperture in the front of the command module being a sensor/deflector dish, is that it is a design based around similar technology and "form-follows-function" principles as with the Constitution-class, but just from a different perspective. this helps solidify a sense of verisimilitude in Star Trek's made-up technology. both designs have warp nacelles, deflector dishes, impluse engines, and separate hull sections linked by thinner booms or necks. these designs mutually support each other as concurrent designs, meant to do similar things with similar technology, just from different people.

[@frankb3347]

Enemies having to come down one long corridor to get from one end to other makes it highly defensible from the inside.

[@LightStrikerQc]

Makes sense if all the shuttlebays and docking port are on the rear sections. Made to prevent enemies from taking over the ship.

[@j.g.woitas841]

Personally, I think this style comes from several factors. 1: culture. KIingons seem to like the vague triangular shape. It can be seen in their cloth patterns, buildings, and even weapons. 2: battle tactics. Klingons favor a hit and run style combat VS a straight up brawl. In a hit and run style combat, having MORE ships, but weaker overall is an advantage. Not to mention a overall, per ship economic savings, thus allowing you to build more ships than of a more 'robust' design. Lastly. Weapon power! Much like today's navies. Heavy structural design just isn't feasable given the energy output of the weapons... So why bother with the time, energy, and costs of a more structurally robust model, when a single Torp will still 'Scrap' it?

[@captcorajus]

YES! They operate in 'wolf packs' of three ships, not independently like the Federation does, and as I said, they are all about warping in, and striking quickly to disable a foe. The high maneuverability design, and low profile is all about letting them get off better in that 'first exchange'.

[@moblinmajorgeneral]

One thing people tend to forget about Star Trek is that being within 1light second of a ship is considered point blank in combat. Even maximum magnification isn't going to guarantee a phaser is going to hit where it's aimed. Compare to Star Wars where the Nebulon-B has a weak neck that's even more vulnerable because basically every engagement happens at visual range.

[@drawingdead9025]

There has never been a Star Trek battle, in canon, outside of visual range.

[@moblinmajorgeneral]

@@drawingdead9025 Remember that the visuals can be deceiving. Most times ships are within 100,000km of each other, it's basically like the other ship is right next to them.

[@chrissonofpear1384]

@@drawingdead9025 'The Wounded', tells you otherwise. Captain Maxwell vs the Cardassian transport and one Galor-class. Only seen on a tactical map, but clearly labelled as occurring at 10s of thousands of kilometres. Obviously, in other cases, visuals will not match dialogue, sometimes, or could be taken as artistic licence. Though the final battle with Reliant in Wrath of Khan sure seems intended to be very close range.

[@drawingdead9025]

@@chrissonofpear1384 Ok, fair point.

[@GBHickz]

@@chrissonofpear1384 I've assumed for a long time that the star trek version of "kilometer" was different from the kilometers on a planetary body, as often they'll say something is several thousand kilomters away but is obviously right in front of them on screen.

[@terencemcquillan5750]

There is definitely a cultural element to the design of the D-7 (and all Klingon ships) in that their leaders "lead from the front", and why you have the "Klingon promotion" trope. This can also see this in the comparative layouts of the bridges of the Enterprise and a D-7. On the Enterprise, Kirk sits in the middle of the bridge where he gets input from the various stations ("let us all go together"). On a D-7, the commander sits by himself out in front of his crew ("FOLLOW ME!")

[@KingofPotatoPeople]

I used to think it was a cultural thing…..it would force a Klingon crew to face enemies head on. No neck vulnerability if you approach the enemy aggressively.

[@pills-]

...No neck vulnerability from running away either, so probably not cultural given what we know of Klingons 😆

[@patrickstivers7387]

@@pills- Actually there would be a neck vulnerability given that most Klingon warships lack dorsal or ventral weaponry to keep an enemy from sweeping in from above or below as they withdraw.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

Good point. Can't shoot the neck if you can't see the neck from your angle. Now looking at Starfleet ships, one might assume they would point the ventral side towards the enemy to protect the bridge at the top, but that exposes their nack and engine compartment.

[@faragar1791]

When it comes to long spindly neck pieces on spaceships, I usually think back to the justification used in 2001 space odyssey. The engines for the spacecraft were powered by nuclear reactors. To make sure the crew was safe from the radiation of the reactors, the crew compartment and bridge were placed at the end of a very long neck structure at the front of the ship, far away from the engines. (One of the easiest ways to keep yourself safe from radiation is to space yourself as much as possible away from the radiation source).

[@Idazmi7]

The reason Enterprise has a neck is actually saucer separation, which was conceptualized as a core part of the design before the show aired - the neck is a docking mechanism. The saucer, meanwhile, was meant to land on planets, but that never happened thanks to budget concerns.

[@tomasr.]

Also in Avatar or Horizont Event. This design with a remote habitable and engine section makes scientific sense.

[@NauticalCoffin2404]

Insulation would do the job. You can swim in pools with nuclear reactor rods 12 meters below and be perfectly fine. In fact you are receiving less radiation as the water is blocking background radiation as well. At least for our 21 century nuclear fuels, every 7 cm of water cuts the radiation lvl in half.

[@Idazmi7]

@@NauticalCoffin2404 There's a lot less power in a modern nuclear reactor than there is in a Klingon battlecruiser.

[@spaceflight1019]

That philosophy may be valid because it shows up in Event Horizon.

[@jamesgross6921]

There also could have been material shortages that warrant such a thin neck, or mass requirements that must have been obeyed during the design phase to maintain acceptable levels of maneuverability

[@frankharr9466]

My own pet theory is that at the time of TOS, the Klingons had been suffering an extended period of economic decline. Finding ways to make do with less would be high on the agenda.

[@MestreDentistaGUC]

I think that it may also just be designed after a native "crane-necked" predator bird on their homeworld. And they're figuratively riding it into battle. 🤷🏽‍♂️

[@MichaelRainey]

Cranes on Q'onos are ten feet tall and carnivorous.

[@EnterpriseKnight]

Your 3d models are really cool. I love all the added detail. Wish you could make some TMP ships next

[@resurrectedstarships]

Oh yeh!

[@DrXanatos]

Well ACTUALLY! ...I got nothing. One thing I just thought up is that it is a deliberate bait for the enemy, making them think that it's a weak part and going for it and suddenly the D7 turns to face the enemy and fire a devastating barrage at them.

[@NauticalCoffin2404]

The bait thing works once.

[@DowJonesDave]

It's for improved weapon firing arcs. If you ever played Star Fleet Battles, one advantage of the design is that the weaponry in the boom can fire in almost 360 degree arcs. Less weapons are needed due to the improved firing arcs. The forward phasers can fire directly to the rear also. Fewer weapons with improved firing arcs uses less power. In the game, Klingons are the only ones who can charge all their weapons and maintain a very high speed. They can use high energy turns, which are energy intensive, while charging all weapons, if you give up overloading your disruptors, or move at a slightly lower speed. Also extra power for electronic warfare systems (my favorite thing).

[@Grandtemplar1191]

I always thought it had something to do with the sensors. While the Star drive section may not have put out enough radiation to effect the crew, it may have been a source of interference for some of (but not all) of the sensory systems.

[@Aetrion]

A lot of the extended lore for Star Trek seems to imply that spaceships rely entirely on their structural integrity field to keep them in one piece during maneuvers and combat. The SIF is basically just artificial gravity cranked up to hundreds or thousands of Gs to hold all the bulkheads and frames in place with tremendous force. As long as the field is intact the ship is extremely sturdy, to the point where the shape of it can be any ridiculous flight of fancy. Once the field goes however the ship is only sturdy enough to stay together while maneuvering under thrusters, and any serious weapon would simply vaporize it anyways. That's at least my sort of headcanon explanation for why sometimes weapons shoot holes in ships and sometimes they vaporize them without even leaving any wreckage.

[@hansmeier8953]

This, absolutely. Armor is a pointless concept even on a contemporary ship, much less a science fiction spaceship.

[@Ishlacorrin]

@@hansmeier8953 Not really true, Armour on Space ships makes sense because you are not limited by mass as much. You can have literal meters of armour thickness in space and it will not hamper you as much as you might expect. With that much mass even energy weapons are going to have trouble getting through it. The main reason you see little armour in Trek designs is that their version of FTL depends on ships mass to a rather large extent. There is also the fact that Trek weapons tend to be very low yield compared to a lot of other sci-fi IPs, so basic energy shielding is enough to defend yourself.

[@pwnmeisterage]

Starfleet ships frequently encounter and explore new phenomena - weird anomalies, strange radiations, exotic conditions and emissions - so some reinforced layers of armour plating and raw physical mass seems prudent. "Engines down, power banks depleted, computers offline, we've lost all power" seems to be said far too often. But Klingon ships are built to confront, attack, and chase enemies. They need effective defenses against whatever kind of stuff their enemies are shooting at them. But otherwise they need agility and firepower more than they need hard defenses. If structural integrity fields suck less power than hauling all that extra mass around then they'd favour it.

[@Ishlacorrin]

@@pwnmeisterage You would think that about Fed ships, and yet when you see the breakdown they barely have enough material to maintain structural integrity in space. Add to that all the windows that are made out of see through aluminium (How they created that is anyone's guess) and they have next to no armour on any of their ships till the defiant class.

[@singletona082]

Love your models. Pity Paramount seems so... GRUMPY about more ambitious fan projects. I'd always figured the neck was an intentional weak point so the crew could, in an emergency, evacuate to the sombrero and jettison in case a warp core breech. Sure losing is dishonorable, but know what's worse? Losing your seasoned war veterines to an engineering accident rather than battle. Plus it may well have been that from a cultural perspective the captain MUST be at the fore of the ship as they face their enemies and building the bridge into the body of the craft would feel like both trying to be cowardly hiding among the defenses and leave the bridge vulnerable to a mutany. After all it is established that murdering the CO is a viable way to advance in rank. So having a bridge that has a natural choke point makes sense if you don't ENTIRELY trust your crew.

[@mmcleod06]

This also could allow the ship to separate into two pieces, so that the enemy has two opponents with weapons to face. Now I'm wondering how to say "Saucer sep" in Klingon.

[@TheRealNormanBates]

heh heh.. the "Sombrero" Is that Klingon for "immediate evacuation!"? I guess in proper Klingon it would be So-bre-O

[@paulbeaney4901]

I love this ship design. It looks very menacing and maneuverable standing still 😍

[@pancakelens75]

I totally agree, I’ve ALWAYS dug this ship!

[@venomgeekmedia9886]

love your d7 model. keeping that shiny 60s silver look, makes it very reminiscent of soviet MIGs. someone pointed out to me that even if you take the head of a D7 your still left with a formidable body section which can still fight.

[@jonskowitz]

I've been trying to work the radiation hazard angle too, but there's an internal consistency problem that the Federation also places the shuttle Bay in the engineering section, same as the Klingons. I could buy that maybe the engine techs simply wear heavier protective clothing than would be practical for the command staff, but why subject your shuttle techs to the same hazard. Then I had a thought this morning, radiation could be the reason for the neck/boom design but not for health reasons but instead to reduce interference for the computer and sensor systems. That seems to check out across both Federation and Klingon designs.

[@Idazmi7]

The shuttlebay on Enterprise could easily be shielded, since it is in the section farthest aft: just add a single wall with special shielding components, or even forcefields. The reason Enterprise has a neck is actually saucer separation, which was conceptualized as a core part of the design before the show aired - the neck is a docking mechanism. The saucer, meanwhile, was meant to land.

[@popeofsimps2924]

I feel another reason for having a thinner neck is the fact the D7 uses a lot of front facing weapons, so to keep a already fairly wide design from being even wider the neck design is made to hide behind the front head while attacking, the thinner front silhouette allowing for less chance to be hit by enemy fire

[@DowJonesDave]

It's for improved weapon firing arcs. If you ever played Star Fleet Battles, one advantage of the design is that the weaponry in the boom can fire in almost 360 degree arcs. Less weapons are needed due to the improved firing arcs. The forward phasers can fire directly to the rear also. Fewer weapons with improved firing arcs uses less power. In the game, Klingons are the only ones who can charge all their weapons and maintain a very high speed. They can use high energy turns, which are energy intensive, while charging all weapons, if you give up overloading your disruptors, or move at a slightly lower speed.

[@randy5655]

I have a fan generated plan of the D-7 I got in the 70's. The main hull was engineering and enlisted crew quarters with officers in the forward section. The best description I have seen of Klingon society is the novel, The Final Reflection, and I think the ships show the society's warrior attitude. There was a Star Trek novel that had the boom section separated from the main hull but connected by a fiber optic cable allowing the two parts to operate together in attacks.

[@weldonwin]

The skinny neck also keeps the ship's overall mass down, allowing them to keep it fast and nimble. Klingons seem to favour fast, manoeuvrable ships after all which is extra important considering they tend to have all their main weapons focusing forwards, so they have to be able to come about fast if they get outflanked.

[@DarrynSullivan]

In the game Starfleet Battles the long neck is used to explain why the phaser's have extended arcs that can reach across the hull from one side to the other.

[@DowJonesDave]

I'm a player. Yes you are correct. It's for improved weapon firing arcs. If you ever played Star Fleet Battles, one advantage of the design is that the weaponry in the boom can fire in almost 360 degree arcs. Less weapons are needed due to the improved firing arcs. The forward phasers can fire directly to the rear also. Fewer weapons with improved firing arcs uses less power. In the game, Klingons are the only ones who can charge all their weapons and maintain a very high speed. They can use high energy turns, which are energy intensive, while charging all weapons, if you give up overloading your disruptors, or move at a slightly lower speed. With the extra power, ecm and eccm become a major tool for the dance of death.

[@darkhorse13golfgaming]

I think psychology and culture would've had a big hand in the design. Klingons are definitely not stupid and the weapons forward design suits their way of thinking, hit hard while you face your enemy. The neck probably allows for agility in warp speeds and maybe even sublight allowing them to bring their weapons to bear quickly.....maybe?

[@PatriciaCross]

Bravery/Honor definitely plays a roll in this. Crew in the fore section and bridge are right up front as close to battle as possible in a seemingly more vulnerable part of the ship. There are likely multiple things going on here; tradition for example, but this idea of riding into battle in an extended fore reaching part of the ship is likely something going back well in their history. It may even go back to pre-space naval days. Klingons also like both ramming and boarding. The shape of the bow of the D7 has a very ram friendly design, and you could impale the ship pretty deep into far larger enemy vessels pretty easily and literally empty the entire fore crew and all the officers into an enemy vessel with Batleths. This feature alone seems like something right out of Klingon Naval history. It also explains why the whole section can be detached so easily, as another benefit would be that you could drop the entire front section if you cannot back out of a rammed enemy vessel.

[@MidnightSt]

I just want to say that your 3d modelling, as well as shaderwork (including the warp bubble one) is pretty good :)

[@richgweil]

Great video! I love this ship design, which is one of the reasons I preferred playing Klingons in SFB. Anyway, I can definitely see the design being a result of multiple factors mentioned here. In particular, perhaps Klingon warp engines were less efficient (at least initially) so having a more warp-geometry friendly design was important. Adding to that, you want to keep the mass down for a variety of reasons (particularly maneuverability, so you use the boom design rather than the Imperial Star Destroyer wedge design. This takes less materials, of course, so they're cheaper to make as well. I'm just rambling. :) Thank you for the video! Loved the 3D design as well.

[@DowJonesDave]

It's for improved weapon firing arcs. If you ever played Star Fleet Battles, one advantage of the design is that the weaponry in the boom can fire in almost 360 degree arcs. Less weapons are needed due to the improved firing arcs. The forward phasers can fire directly to the rear also. Fewer weapons with improved firing arcs uses less power. In the game, Klingons are the only ones who can charge all their weapons and maintain a very high speed. They can use high energy turns, which are energy intensive, while charging all weapons, if you give up overloading your disruptors, or move at a slightly lower speed.

[@Daya337]

I heard somewhere.. read? that the forward section was also capable of being used as a life pod/life boat? of sorts. However such a design would be able to mount other equipment in a module design such as a troop pod along side of this long spindly neck. You even point out that ships are supposed to be partly modular in star trek.

[@David_B_Dornburg]

Waay back in the early days of Trek conventions (mid-70's), I remember there being speculation that the neck of the D7 might contain the deflector/shield system machinery for the ship and it being the thinnest hull area, is where the system was connected directly to the hull plates. This was even reinforced in the K'tinga class with all the greeble's added by the SpFx crew for TMP.

[@robinburt5735]

I always thought it was because the front of the engineering section had lots of forward facing weapons on it and it had to have a long neck so not to obscure firing arcs

[@ericmadsen7470]

I've always loved the classic ships from the TOS era. The D7 is the best of the Klingon ships in service. An oldie but a goody no matter which century.

[@TentaclePentacle]

there is a reason why on a klingon ship the engineering section is called the reactor pit. It's a pit of radiation.

[@Anlushac11]

According to Memory Alpha the D-7 has a crew of 430. Most of the rear hull is machinery. If you look at the leading edges of the rear hull you will notice a grill covering that front of the hull just inboard of the warp nacelle pylons. Those are supposed to be Bussard collectors that neck down to connect to the impulse engines. The D-7 is supposed to be able to skim a gas giant to refuel. The front of the Enterprise warp nacelles were supposed to be Bussard collectors.

[@climberly]

Your radiation theory is now my head cannon for the discovery klingons.

[@hoffenwurdig1356]

Many, many yeard ago, I saw a blueprint arguing that the length of the neck functions as a type of radiator or thermal dispersion system with active liquid cooling -- it is designed to serve the high-thermal-output systems such as engines and weapons. The device within, reaching along the length of the neck and back into the primary hull, was a closed circuit labelled as the intercooler. The image was part of the screensaver “Scotty’s Files,” one of the many Macintosh screensavers under the name “After Dark."

[@coolal19]

When I was a kid watching TOS reruns, I associated the Klingon species name with the structural design of the D7. To me, the dual lower nacelles looked like they could "cling" onto another object or ship.

[@scpguy1381]

They could also just be built for head on attacks thus hiding the neck. This kind of links up when you realize all of its weapons are pouting forward or back, places where the neck isn’t really visible

[@DaveAtUofL]

perhaps it's just simply because the klingons designed the cruiser to fight head on (hence the forward heavy disrupters.) and thus the profile makes more sense, if they are shot head on the head protects the neck and the distance from the main hull provides some protection to the warp core due to the distance from the main body of the ship.

[@ministrychannelsa4216]

Here is the main reason: To understand Klingon ship design, you have to understand Klingon culture. Their whole philosophy is to battle, lead from the front in battle, and die in battle. This philosophy is carried forward in their ship design and their ships take form over function. Allowing them to lead from the front. To be the spear head. The neck is toughly armored and strengthened. But to have a triangle shape, would not allow the main crew to definedly in the front and leading from there. They wanted other races to see their bravery and see them leading from the front.

[@balamx2802]

Still the coolest design of all the fictional starships. I've heard its design was inspired by the manta ray, just backwards. The boom corresponds with the manta's tail. The neck makes just as much sense as putting the bridge on a Federation ship exposed on the top center of the primary hull, as if making it a bullseye. Ships in the Star Trek universe rely entirely on shielding, which makes perfect sense considering the power of phasers/disrupters.

[@TheRealNormanBates]

The ship design may have also been partially inspired by the Martian war machines from George Pal's *The War of the Worlds.*

[@michaelmorton5698]

One exception is the Federation-class dreadnought. The bridge is nestled within the primary hull, making for an extremely difficult target. My father had the deck plans for this class and I spent hours going over everything.

[@BraveSteelDragon]

One of the points to take into consideration is the culture behind its design. Klingons favor bold, up-front engagements, and as such their ships are primarily tuned and known for their massive front-facing firepower. This leads to reason that the neck was rendered so thin because its shape was not a critical factor; look at the ship from the front, and all you'll see are the pod and the drive section, while being in the direct line of fire of its disruptors and main torpedo launcher. Any strike from a different facing would (in their eyes) mean that the ship was out-maneuvered or out-matched by either a superior or dishonorable foe. You can find similar structural arrangements on other klingon ships, especially bird-of-preys, who are especially known for their more hit-and-run tactics relying on massive burst of frontal damage and then rapidly maneuvering away from the engagement to recloak and prepare for another strafe run. The D7 could be an offshoot of this, focusing on higher thruster maneuverability and precision to maintain constant frontal contact with their target while eschewing some of the more sophisticated cloaking systems of the nimbler bird-of-preys.

[@crownprincesebastianjohano7069]

An interesting thought, actually. People get so used to Federation thinking of arrays that line of sight for weapons is not as important. But for an ambush predator like a Klingon ship, with 80% of their fire power forward, and from fixed heavy disruptor cannons with limited traverse, a small forward section maximizes the firing arc of those weapons.

[@BraveSteelDragon]

@@crownprincesebastianjohano7069 it is why i take huge issue with how discovery and jj-trek presented both klingon and federation ships. the ultra-organic shapes of klingon ships in both discovery and jj-trek are a huge and anachronistic departure from what is known to be the klingon style, hell even ST:ent knew better. for federation ships, the first time i saw the concept art for discovery i was like "that looks like an hybrid between a D7, a romulan warbird and a constitution rather than a proper starfleet ship"

[@DarkTau]

Another potential reason for that shape is that it's a very "predatory" look and puts some intimidation factor into play whilst making the most of the comparatively limited resources the Klingon Empire has or had for building ships and after a while became a somewhat traditional starship design from the early D-series cruisers to the D7 and K'Tinga through the Vor'cha and Negh'var.

[@TheValarClan]

Originally the forward Torpedo port was a deflector…. It later became a Torpedo port…. a big one. You can see it looking the same in the AMT model from the 70’s. I recall it because I put it on backward… sticking out as a thumb… Years later my model making improved….

[@Queue_M4]

I saw an interesting perspective for this design ages ago that I quite like: The ship is designed to always face towards it's enemies, like the Sontarans from Dr. Who, this idea makes sense when you consider all the heavy weapons are facing forward too and enemies cannot hit the neck from the front view.

[@michaelblackwell7408]

That's a reasonable assumption but you could face the enemy with a thicker boom as well

[@nickm9102]

the origional Design was to have the forward pod as a swappable module simmilar to the Nebula class "Sensor Pod" A concept addressed in several tech manuals printed in the 80's this allowed for the drive to be mass produced and the forward pod determined if they were a recon ship or a battle cruiser. this concept was continued to a lesser extent with the Bird of Prey design and even the Vor'Cha Class cruiser which was designed to have the forward pod having field seperation. (I'm guessing the theory there is having the forward disruptor cannons and torpedo launchers detatchable in order to lay an ambush when approperate it just turns out there was very few times for that tactic on screen until DS9 and by then they moved on for ship Ideas)

[@TheBigExclusive]

They said in Star Trek: Enterprise that the front of Klingon ships are the heaviest armored parts of the ship. Its fools attackers into thinking the "head and neck" section is vulnerable, when they are actually the strongest and most heavily armored.

[@JTkirk21508]

This is the theory I had with the USS Vengeance Bridge, that it looks so open and weak but it's the most shielded part of the ship aside from the warp core/ engineering. So you would fire at the bridge and not at the weapon systems or anything else crucial.

[@TheBigExclusive]

@@JTkirk21508 - it's same rule that Batman has in the comics. He puts a big bat on his chest as a way to draw attention and taunt attackers into shooting his chest. But the chest is actually the most heavily armored part of the Batsuit.

[@JTkirk21508]

@@TheBigExclusive He be playing chess not checkers.

[@Jennagryphon]

A bit late to the show I admit, but, I offer another posability. One that was mentioned in, I think star fleet battles, or something, its been a while so parts of my memory is fuzzy about it. Part of the original model design, the neck being like that, also alowed the forward section of the ship to be a giant lifeboat. The explody stuff was all in the engenearing section, thus in the event of the risk of the ship blowing up, they can evacuate to the head and excape, same for battle damage, if the ship took a lot of damage, the forward section, being a smaller target has a better chance of serviving, thus saving personal.

[@nopenope5812]

I always thought that the the neck was designed to separate the engine section from where the officers were stationed. I imagined that the warp core was more rudimentary and radiation leaks were common causing crew exposure.

[@twinkytwinklier1400]

My personal theory is that the starship shields work both ways, blocking fire from both direction. Right before a ship open fire, it’ll have to temporarily lower their shields right around the path of fire, then re-raise them back up. The weapons module there could have its own shields system, which means that when the main weapon is firing, it only needs to lower the shields just for that part, while keeping the shields around the engineering section still active. This way they can keep shooting even when they are being fired upon.

[@nathanrendelman]

from a few of the star trek books, the design was in part the Klingon officers lead from the front, and claim the glorious first kill. putting the bridge as far forward as possible, keeps the officers up front...

[@MarkOakleyComics]

This makes the most sense to me as well. Honor through glorious combat is their first priority above all other considerations. I can completely see how they'd sacrifice engineering logistics for displays of bravado. In fact.., I've never figured out how the Klingons managed with their barmy culture to achieve space travel at all, let alone internal combustion or, say, basic plumbing, but hey, "sci-fi", right? Star Trek would be a far lesser thing without the Klingons. K'Plah!

[@mikethompson2650]

I remember reading back when the show was in its first run that the D7 was intended to look like a snake, so it has a long neck. It was also intended to be light and very maneuverable with little science ability. Just attack and raid whatever the captain feels like.

[@Paul12345671]

I've been leaning towards the theory that the boom-section is not as delicate as it appears. It could be a solid rod of neutronium or something incredibly strong.

[@nbsmith100]

in the jeffries drawings the "torpedo tube hole" spot at the front was actually a deflector dish emplacement for the d7. secondly if combat was taken at actual space combat distances rather than the visual distances seen on film the thin boom of a neck isn't that much of a weakness and is that much less of a target area to hit. if they are attacking someone head on then the boom is also not visible at all to who's being attacked. also as the main drive area has the antimatter, then keeping the VIP stuff like important leaders and main weapon arrays further from a possible big explosion does mean they have that much more chance to survive and carry on fighting at a later date, as small of a chance that would be in an uncontrolled antimatter/matter reaction.

[@barrybend7189]

What about looking at the Khitomer class Battleship?

[@ITSFUNZ]

Also when the D7 was used by the Romulans it was referred to as a bird of prey by both sides ! To me kind of funny because it was made to look like a goose ! Typically a prey menu item ! Still they always look cool when they fly together !!!

[@lexington476]

It would be cool to do a episode on all the D7 variants from the FASA Star Trek.

[@IMRROcom]

BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Inception, Still have the game on my C64

[@alexcharbonneau4991]

The sensors are the most logical reason to me. Mounting them as far forward as possible would considerably reduce any blind spots caused by the mass and radiation from the warp nacelles. The ability to see any threats would be top priority in a combat vessel. Thanks for the video!

[@allenmercant8]

In the very first TOS technical manual that forward tube was labeled as the deflector. Makes sense since there's no other deflector dish that would permit warp speeds. Although it looks very weapon-y I was always a little disappointed when they started shooting torpedoes out of it in the movies.

[@Club12-Nightclub_Music_Remixes]

I have some blueprints of the D7, acquired in the mid-80s. According to the blueprints, the entire forward pod and boom can separate. A battle bridge in the aft section is then used. It's not too different from the Enterprise-D's separating abilities. The forward pod's shaft can house sensors or a torpedo launcher.

[@TomMcD71]

Well actually if the forward pod was used as an escape pod then I can understand

[@riff2072]

Escape pod. How would you like to be the Klingon Commander that goes back to the High Council and say, "I used my escape pod to run away from the Kirk." :)

[@swampking7914]

The ship design of a Klingon is more of a hammerhead style ship design if you’re looking at the D7 head-on you can rarely see the portable neck most Klingon tactics or head-on attacks plus it would allow you to focus the shield power around a specific area as well as your weapons yes you have that vulnerable spot but usually Klingon ships are faster more maneuverable than their counterparts meaning they can angle weight and only show the heavily armored heavily armed part of the ship

[@thefirstprimariscatosicari6870]

Iconic if nothing else

[@STEPHENDANERD]

Well, actually - My usual reply to people suggesting this is a weakness is - "How do you attack this 'weakness'?" In Star Trek, vessels are always shown to be fastest going straight ahead while other directions are managed by smaller manoeuvring thrusters, and weapons are always line of sight (which is odd, but shh). So to get line of sight on the 'weakness' you've presented your own ship side on to the Klingon weapons, exactly what they want. Which, alright, that's mostly only equal 1 on 1 battles, what about uneven fights or all out war? Assuming it is just a hallway, there's nothing critical there, you've dedicated a considerable force to cutting the neck (while the Klingons are shooting at you), at worst killing the cabin boy carrying a bucket of Gagh and triggering the airlocks, but the enemy ship is still fully capable of firing back, now from 2 separate vectors that will each require being destroyed individually instead of one blast crippling the entire ship... It's a lose-lose if you go for the neck.

[@meligoth]

DS9 was the catalyst in showing the vulnerabilities of Klingon ships, but that was mostly from large scale battles where smaller ships could swarm a D class. In one on one, it takes much more skill to even attempt to exploit their perceived weaknesses than multiple ships ganging up on one.

[@ITSFUNZ]

I may skip a few timelines here ! Sorry !!! It appears to me that the Klingon war ship had a plasma type weapon as used in the battle with Veger ! Able to fire forward and from the rear ! The long boom would enable a larger buildup of this plasma before release, by bouncing it back and forth through the entire length of the ship further intensifying the pulse before release !

[@s3p4kner]

It was a torpedo. Plasma is a gas, it would spray outward worse than a hosepipe since magnets don't contain once out of the container. How do the crew travel through the ship if the neck is filled with charged plasma at 10s thousand degrees? Also, the video author has addressed your idea at the start of the video.

[@IMRROcom]

Some of your points are rather valid, But I'm inclined to be believe it is for maneuvering. Space warfare is in 3D with no up or down. etc. unlike some of those space games that show dog fights much like in WWII. I believe you will be running at your enemy or running away [Vectoring into or away from]. In most battles you will have the front pointing at you or away from you. You might run into a parallel chase situation, but at those ranges the chasing ship will vector into the the chassed ship so all the ships will see of each other is the front and rear arc. If it gets to a point the "Neck" is vulnerable to attack, the battle is over well before that point as the ranges have closed to the point you can target the flanks. The other point is in targeting, unlike the Federation that is always targeting engines etc. I do believe like everything in war you target the center mass. Now with the area for the center mass basically missing, You have a smaller target to try and hit if you aim at the center mass, or do you try and target either end with the larger sections? you also have a bigger chance of missing that target area as those areas are in them self a much smaller target. You just gave the attacking or defending captain choice and a decision to be made. Target center mass, Target the back, Target the front or Target the "Neck" Those split seconds that the attacking or defending captain needs to think about what he is going to do or could do...Could be a 1st or 2nd shot for you it could be an advantage much like Dazzle Paint on a ship in the World Wars. Put a Dazzle paint on the D7 with a few off set circles and ovals on the rear or a modern reader reflective paint like on a stealth fighter or ship. The D7 odd shape might be harder to hit than most people think. Yes I used modern things we have today like Rader, Reflective paints etc. but in the future I'm sure they have advanced on those technologies as well, including defenses for them too. "Shields", "Cloak", "Armor Plating" "Ablative Armor". I'm sure most battles in space were done with a small number of ships so that front to rear facing arc is mostly valid. In a front or rear firing arc the "Neck" is covered by the front or the rear of the ship, it can not be hit. How many battles do we have like Wolf 359, DS9 etc. I'm also looking at the likes of B5 and BSG among others. Most ships are patrol or interceptors or in NAVY terms Destroyers, Frigates, Cruisers, Littoral, Corvettes etc. The huge Battle ships and war ships have mostly fallen out of the picture. Not know much about WARP and or high speed space travel, but looking at modern supersonic planes, Things were done to make them faster like the thin waist coke bottle shape, pointed nose cones that put the sound barrier pressure wave before or aft of the wings etc. Just so many things we as humans who have not travel beyond the moon do not understand about space travel and warfare. As Lt. Uhura said "You're like a baby, making noise, don't know what to do." "But Stupid! Ignorant Like A Child... "

[@tonosama516]

My thoughts align with your conclusion. Weapons are so powerful that a ship that loses it’s shields will sustain heavy damage, armor only able to mitigate and delay the eventual destruction. This “reality” allowed designers to have freedom to create intimidating ships that make a statement. Great video. Cheers! 🖖

[@naomy1701]

my guess is this: back then it was just the rule of the cool: it looks awesome, and prob noone realy bothered to think about the plausibilty of the design until much later

[@gameoverinsertcointocontin8102]

I think someone mentioned the long neck was done for similar reasons the Discovery of 2001 had a long neck. Tne warp core/reactor is powerful but not shielded all that well because Klingons had been pushing the limits of what their technology could do. So the most of the Klingon crew is in the head section while the aft is only rotated in and out as neccessary.

[@michaelarmstrong5106]

The separation of the command pod from the star section would allow for faster refit during war time. A bridge was taken out but the star drive is still good, disconnect and attach a new command pod or vise versa. Less waste, faster return to battle and easier upgradability.

[@thorin1045]

the design from the show clearly taken inspiration from real life plans for long range space vessels (long and flimsy, since one of the best radiation shielding is distance, and any hit will be fatal anyway.) adding the part that materials are not strong in universe to take hits (until later shows bring it back with cgi, you do not want to damage the physical models or paint over them,) so once the shield down, the neck and the main body is equally strong, cannot take any hit at all.

[@gavinjoth5347]

You Nailed It. Star Fleet Battles detailed this extensively. Many D-6 / 7 class were 'penal'cruisers, urilizing convicts as well as subject races as secondary crew. Separation and isolation of access points were key in minimizing threat of mutiny. Having just 1 turbo shaft down the neck gave the Imperial Klingons in the 'head' some safety.

[@jhallam2011]

Good to see you doing these videos again! 👍😀 always liked these and you do such a great job!!!

[@insanusmaximus2857]

It's a fantastic design. All the ships in TOS look great, especially the movies. I really don't care for the flatter, thicker designs they go for in the later shows.

[@branboy9936]

Note I didn't read other comments so if I repeat someone sorry My thoughts are -to keep changes down to mini or associations down to minimum - to keep from wasting materials - have an area for escape pods - to divert solar winds from slowing down the ship

[@Rekaert]

I've always like the D7 design, and I think most, if not all fans looked at that neck and thought, "now that's a bit thin and tempting". I was glad to see the Vor'Cha address that whilst keeping the overall general shape. Just a shame they angled the nacelles outwards. I always did like the D7's inwards hooking nacelles. Gave it a bit of sinister attitude with those sharp angles.

[@Trader_65-OT]

Going from memory, the Starfleet Battles game had the D7 pretty maneuverable. In Fact there was a Battle strategy known as the Saber dance designed from the capabilities of the D7 and the rules of the game

[@michaelkeha]

Given how warp core breaches are somewhat common in combat as a reason for ships going boom so having your important staff away from the massive exploding thing that safety detach itself makes sense

[@posindustries]

While the D7 is obviously the most prominent example, it's worth noting that a number of ships from across multiple different spacefaring cultures, particularly in the Beta Quadrant, seem to favor modular designs like these with a thinner neck connecting separated command and engineering sections. 24th-Century Romulan warbirds, the vast majority of Klingon warships, and Federation starships following similar design silhouettes to the Constitution-class all share this common design feature in one way or another. This suggests that something about either warp field geometry or starship engineering makes this an advantageous design choice.

[@Logarithm906]

sensor separation. You stick all your sensors far from the weirdness going on around the warpcore, nacelles, heavy disruptors etc. The ball shape of the pod gives you good field of view and you just accept that you won't see behind you as well as you can see everywhere else (not that that matters, Klingons would rather attack than run anyway, they might not even notice they can't see behind them...).

[@josephmorgan4327]

I don't know if this is true in Startrek but the command section could be separated from engineering section due to the radiation interfering with the sensors in some way. This would make sense if the Klingon sensor technology was inferior to the federation at this point in time. Therefore having a long neck could provide better situational awareness at the cost of structural integrity.

[@onetruekeeper418]

I used to think that the reason for the long neck on the D-7 cruiser was that the Klingon senior officers in the command section wanted to separate themselves from the enlisted ranks in the main engineering section in case of mutiny. The long neck had a corridor with several guarded checkpoints to make sure that only those with the proper clearances were allowed to proceed to the command section to carry out their orders.

[@LazarusRemains]

The most likely explanation is just that material science in the 23rd century is advanced enough that seemingly thin areas of a starship are pretty well protected.

[@Schindlerphoto]

We have to remember that a lot of the "In universe" designs are influenced by the warp field. The boom leading out to the command section might be necessary, at least during the era that it was designed, might have been necessary to help maintain a stable warp field. Or it simply could be a cultural thing, a particular design detail that dates back to when the Klingons used ocean going vessels, the Klingons are, after all, really big on tradition.

[@panzerdeal8727]

The Blueprint set from ToS made me like the D-6 and D-7's. The layout of manovering thrusters and disrupter mounts, were heavily biased towards the Belly portion, but indicated an ability to roll relative to the "Galactic Horizon". The thoughts of being able to pass "under' a starship for a firing pass reminded me space is a 3 dimentional volume. Most sci fi shows ignore that a bit.

[@ditzyneko637]

Ever since i first saw a D-7 on screen ive been in love with it. It has a sort of beauty and intimidation factor that just speaks to me.

[@Poor-gecko]

Being old, I remember cold war philosophies. Good SCI-FI comments on the present day society after all. The Soviet Union had a philosophy of fielding large numbers of weapons, using the minimum materials, designed for life expectancy. In the day a fighter aircraft had a life expectancy of a week in battle and they were designed to meet those needs. So the Klingon ship was a minimalist design, the long neck saves weight and material to build more ships, and probably adds to maneuverability. The neck could be shielded. It would seem the Klingons could field three ships to one Federation, so three guns to one? Don't think ship versus ship but squadron vs ship.

[@antwan1357]

It would be nice to have new lore saying that the klingons invented ship separation making two ships to fight. A small maneuverable head separating with the main body escaping with essential cargo or information to the klingon empire escaping to give to leadership. Also a ship without a neck that is much weaker could be a precursor that needs the neck to fix design flaws unknown to the regular fan.

[@stoobeedoo]

Sometimes the Occam's Razor approach of 'because it looked cool' is more a case of not so much wanting to disrespect fans, but to remind fans that sometimes creative decisions for visual media like films and TV are made far more with regard to characterisation than ship design. It's not to try and downplay the complexity of what the lore becomes after a franchise grows and grows. Being a lore nerd myself, I can empathise, but I remind myself sometimes to not overthink it, too. There's a reason particular 'enemy' vessels in sci fi worlds look red, or green, or dark, and the 'goodies' are usually grey, white, silver or beige - it's tied to the old characterisations of good vs. evil. A lot of the original production ideas behind a lot of the Star Trek lore that exists today came from real world examples. The Romulans, for example, are simply Imperial Rome in Space - hell, their planets are Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, and their society (even their eagle warbird emblem) was based upon such. I'm surprised they don't speak Latin! XD At least, that's what the writers of Balance of Terror were going for when the Romulans were created, and in doing so, created an interesting race in the Star Trek world that became far more complex in-lore than its original intent. I'm more the sort of person who loves the history behind these creations, and what motivations the creators of the show used to come up with designs of ships and aliens. I've always guessed the Klingons might have been inspired by the Mongols, but I haven't read up enough on the history of the original CBS show to know. All this aside, I really enjoy your videos and commentary, particularly on the FASA games as that's something I've always wanted to learn about. Your ship models are also fantastic.

[@darrenholcomb2266]

An additional factor is any weapons implacements mounted on the forward pod have considerably greater firing arcs available by having the pod mounted to such a structure. The main body of the vessel, with its nacelle mounted primary forward disrupters and aft torpedo launcher, delivers all its weapons fire along that axis only. Secondary disrupter implacements, say under the bow corners of the pod's triangular hull section, provide extensive lateral firing coverage. The D-7/Katinga's boom structural weak point is also comparable to the Constitution's structural weak point of it's thin connecting neck. Both design elements that would be perminantly phased out of all subsequent starship classes within both navys beginning with the very next ships designed to replace them.

[@nexusofice9135]

A "Danger Theory" argument: Ever think the Crew and Officer quarters in different areas separated by a thin narrow area would help the Officers control the Bridg in case of a mutiny? Klingons fight with each other things all the time. The "Danger" might very well be the crew themselves to the officers? And if the Officers can keep control of the bridge they can keep command more easily. Klingons are known for infighting. And secretly backstabbing behind a veneer of honor. This seems a more poetic explanation to myself at the very least as a thought exercise.

[@BlastHardcheeseable]

There's also the possibility of a cultural reason: The command officers are in the front of the ship. They lead from the front, and Klingon philosophy is that you do not retreat ( although this is not 100% true, many wise Klingons know there's no dishonor in a tactical withdrawal in the face of certain death when your objective matters more than your desire to reach Sto-vo-kor). So maybe this is the Klingon way of leading from the front, since the front of the ship is going to receive damage before the rest of it in the opening charge. I'd also say the maneuverability with thrusters is probably the other big reason why the long neck exists.

[@RoyceGrey]

It's possible that Klingon doctrine puts something in front so that it's harder to to hit the back and disable the ship that way. It's like a buckler, it's in the face of whoever they're firing at so IT takes the hits, not the explody bits in the back.

[@toska8664]

Another idea: Having your torpedo magazine close to your warp core might have been a concern then. Maybe back in the day torpedo payloads were always active and weren't charged by anti-matter from the warp core. So torpedo magazines might not be so dangerous now due to deactivatable torpedoes till they are ready, but back then they had to manufacture anti-matter torpedoes with both active ingredients so they were dangerous. Hence the enterprise keeping it's weapons away from the core till TMP where the Photon launchers literally straddle the warp core. So it must not be so much a concern by then. You also get warp core integrated weapons in that refit too giving this theory legs.

[@EricRuskoski]

Nice! Also thought of a few things to add... A: Could be that its telescopic, but due to honor, no Klingon would 'retract' the neck for the intended combat mode, as it would be seen as cowardice. But as they do use Cloaking, this would also have to be a specific reason, as they don't see that as cowardice... Maybe an early war story that became popular and causing all following commanders to honor this tail! B: Could be that it's heavily armored, or has special case deflectors that would make targeting it more difficult, along with its smaller area. Good Vid! Thanks

[@resurrectedstarships]

huh...retracting neck is an intersting idead perhaps for SOME Klingon designs if not this one.