In traditional terminology, a battle cruiser was any large armed cruiser (or warship) with battleship armament and fast speed, that carried lighter armor than a battleship.
In starship classification, the term battle cruiser was sometimes used synonymously with heavy cruiser. The Klingons once referred to the Federation Constitution II-class USS Enterprise as a battle cruiser. (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock)
According to the account of Duras, son of Toral, Jonathan Archer referred to his own Enterprise as a "battle cruiser" when Duras encountered the Earth Starfleet ship in 2152. (ENT: "Judgment")
Duras most likely lied about Archer's use of the term "battle cruiser" in an attempt to shed a negative light on Archer or to avoid embarrassment at having his own warship defeated by a Human vessel built for exploration. Archer himself stated, "I didn't say any of those things." However, if Archer did use the term, it may have been just for effect as he was trying to impress the Klingons.
The Klingon Empire and Romulan Star Empire utilized battle cruisers throughout the 23rd and 24th centuries.
Beginning in 2268, the Romulans acquired the D7 class battle cruiser from the Klingons as replacement of the Bird-of-Prey. (TOS: "The Enterprise Incident")
Some Klingon battle cruisers were equipped with cryonic technology, which allowed crews of the late 23rd century to be placed in cryogenic sleep for long voyages. (TNG: "The Emissary")
During the late 2370s, Klingon battle cruisers were not always the ship of choice for all missions, however, as more agile craft, like the Klingon Bird-of-Prey, were better suited for some tasks. (DS9: "Once More Unto the Breach")
Tim Watters mentioned a Cardassian battle cruiser as the first combat engagement of Red Squad. (DS9: "Valiant")
Battle cruisers by race[]
- Andorian battle cruiser
- Earth/Federation battle cruisers
- Jem'Hadar battle cruiser
- Klingon battle cruisers
- Krios Battlecruiser
- Promellian battle cruiser
- Rekag battle cruiser
- Romulan battle cruisers
- Son'a battle cruiser
Battle cruisers by name[]
Unspecified battle cruisers[]
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 |
Appendices[]
Background information[]
In the various scripts written for Star Trek: The Next Generation, the stardrive section of the USS Enterprise-D was referred to as "the Enterprise battle cruiser".
External links[]
- Battle cruiser at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
- Battle cruiser at Wikipedia