D'deridex class
The D'deridex-class, alternately known as the B-type warbird, or warbird class starship, was one of the largest and most powerful mainstays of the Romulan Star Empire. It served as the backbone of the Romulan fleet during the later half of the 24th century.

History 

The uncloaking of a warbird of this type in 2364, during an encounter with the  on the edge of the Neutral Zone, signaled the end to fifty-three years of Romulan isolation. () 

Over the next ten years, these warbirds, under the command of both the Romulan military and the Tal Shiar, participated in numerous encounters with Starfleet and the Dominion.

By 2374, they were prominently featured in the Dominion War, where they were instrumental in forcing the Dominion fleets back, time and again. The design saw action during the First and Second Battles of Chin'toka, as well as the final showdown of the conflict, the Battle of Cardassia. ()

Five warbirds were used in the Battle of the Omarion Nebula, joined with fifteen Cardassian  cruisers in a combined fleet of twenty ships. The entire fleet was ambushed and destroyed by a fleet of 150 Dominion ships. () At least seven warbirds were present in the Federation Alliance fleet at the Battle of Cardassia. One is known to have been destroyed and at least five survived. ()

At some point circa 2380, ten D'deridex-class warbirds battled six Borg cubes. The  was present for this conflict, but fled the scene. ( opening title sequences)

, a 31st century temporal agent, brought a database with him to the 22nd century that included schematics on the D'deridex-class. Captain Jonathan Archer and T'Pol scrolled past the schematics in 2152. ()

Technical data 

The D'deridex-class warbird was classified as a battle cruiser by Starfleet. Using a forced quantum singularity as a power source and the latest in Romulan cloaking technology, the D'deridex was not only one of the most advanced vessels in the Romulan Star Empire, but also in the Alpha Quadrant. These warbirds were roughly twice as long as a Federation  starship with a lower overall maximum warp. ()

Two D'deridex-class warbirds outgunned an  starship in a Starfleet simulation. ()

Physical arrangement 
The outboard plan of the warbird's design incorporated a unique, horizontally split "shell" hull design, with a prominent forward section. The bulk of the ship's overall size was incorporated in the open-shell, which resembled two separate "wings" that met at either side at the warp nacelles, at the "tail" and off the "neck", which was connected to the "head" or primary forward hull section. The "head" featured the bridge, main engineering, and a majority of the primary weapon systems of the vessel. (, etc.)

Tactical systems 
The primary directed energy weapons array of a warbird was located in its "head", and consisted of a disruptor array, capable of firing both beams and pulses, which also appears to have been shared with a torpedo launcher. (; ; ) Some warbirds were also known to have been equipped with phasers. ()

Three additional weapon arrays were located, one each, along the top of the upper "neck" support, along the bottom of the lower "neck" support, and at the tip of the "nose". (; )

Cloaking device 

Like earlier Romulan ships, D'deridex-class warbirds were equipped with cloaking devices, which protected them from detection in most evasive situations. Like all cloaking devices, the D'deridex-class could utilize them when in defensive or combat situations. While traveling under cloak, all electromagnetic emissions, including communications, aboard a warbird were carefully monitored. ()

As was the case with virtually all cloaking devices, the warbird could not have its shields and cloak active simultaneously. Cloaked warbirds radiated a slight subspace variance at warp speeds; therefore, ships traveling at speeds above warp 6 ran a much greater risk of being detected through their cloak. 

There were other unconventional means to penetrate the warbird's cloak. One of the most effective methods of doing so, pioneered by the Dominion, was to use an anti-proton beam scan, which proved to be effective in almost every situation in which it was used. ()

Propulsion systems 

The fact that a typical D'deridex-class warbird used a forced quantum singularity as its power source gave the ship some vulnerabilities. If that system was not functioning perfectly or was damaged even slightly, it might have shown through the cloak as a magnetic disturbance of some kind. The destruction of the engine core of a D'deridex-class warbird usually led to the complete destruction of the entire ship.

In order for a warbird to remain undetected while under cloak, the radiative emissions from the warp engines had to be precisely balanced. A slight misalignment in any of the warbird's nullifier cores would create a small magnetic disturbance in space whenever the ship was in motion. This could make the ship detectable while cloaked. The effect of this disturbance, when it occurred, appeared intermittently as a polarized magnetic distortion. ()

The use of the confined singularity limited the warbird's overall maximum speed. For a warbird to match the top speed of a Galaxy-class starship, it needed to exceed its maximum engine output by thirty percent. Doing this would typically cause the warbird's warp drive to sustain irreparable damage. ()

The confined singularity could potentially cause time shifts into the future. This occurred to Starfleet Chief Engineer Miles O'Brien for a brief period. As a result of this effect, he was able to prevent an attack on Deep Space 9 by a Romulan warbird. Also, if the singularity signature was carefully scanned, it could be monitored through the cloak. ()

Additional systems 

The warbird was equipped with at least one tractor beam, located in the forward section of the warbird, specifically in the lower "neck". ()

Interior design 

The primary color scheme aboard warbirds was distinctively beige and green-gray or teal.

Due to the extreme size of warbirds, these vessels were littered with numerous long corridors. (; )

Main bridge 

The design of the main bridge of a warbird shared numerous similarities to both its Klingon and Federation starship counterparts.

Located in the front of the bridge, against the forward bulkhead, was the ship's main viewscreen. Directly behind this, and to the left, was the location of the pilot's console, which contained helm (and possibly navigator) functions. In some ships, the pilot stood at his console; in others, the pilot was allowed a chair.

To the right of the pilot's position was a station sometimes held by the executive officer. This console had access to the ship's weapons systems.

The command chair was located near the rear of the bridge, on a raised platform. Around the perimeter of the command chair were various stations. (; )

Major variations in bridge design included a side-by-side seating arrangement for the commander and sub-commander. ()

Ready room 

Adjacent to the bridge was the commander's ready room or command center. Although appearing to vary by ship, one style included (but was not limited to) a large desk and couch, with removable table and a window that provided a view of outside the ship, such as showing a perspective of space when the vessel was in its normal environment. ()

In some cases, ready rooms functioned as command centers, and included monitors and display consoles. This allowed the commander to monitor the control of ship or fleet activities without actually being on the bridge. ()

Wardroom 

The wardroom was the conference or officers' room connected to the main bridge by a set of doors. Its function was similar to that of an observation lounge, but also served as the dining area for the ship's senior officers. ()

Engine room 

The engine room section was located at the ventral base of the forward "head" of the warbird. Its layout was similar to that of a Galaxy-class starship, with primary situation station in the center of the room and associated consoles along the walls surrounding the room.

One outstanding difference between the main engineering of a warbird and other Romulan starships, likewise distinguishing it from those of the Federation and Klingon Empire, was the absence of a large matter-antimatter reactor core. In place of this bulky component, the Romulans had a wall compartment, which contained the quantum singularity engine core. ()

Procedure room 

The procedure room aboard a warbird was a starkly-lit chamber, with a chair at one end of the room, and with various movable pieces of equipment positioned around it. ()

Shuttlebay 
A shuttlebay was located two decks down from the ship's "C" Deck, in Section 25. This area was large enough to contain at least one Starfleet  runabout. ()

Cargo bay 

The cargo bays served as storage areas for the ship's cargo, and possessed shelving space along the walls opposite of the main cargo bay doors. ()

Crew quarters 

The crew quarters aboard a warbird were located on the ship's "C" Deck. They were sparsely furnished, with a table and chairs in the center of the floor, and a set of bunk beds incorporated into the walls. Crew quarters could also have force fields integrated in and around their bulkheads. ()

Variations are known to have included a bed fully detached from the wall, and a sink with mirror along the far left wall from the entryway. ()

Ships commissioned 
Named
 Belak
  (holographic)
 Devoras
 Haakona
 
 Makar
 T'Met
 Terix

Unnamed
 Unnamed D'deridex-class starships
 Lovok's warbird
 Sela's warbird
 Tebok's warbird
 Tomalak's warbird

Uncertain
 
 Dividices
 Genorex

Appendices

Appearances 
 
 
  (illusory)
  (databank image)
 
  (illusory)
 
 
 
  (illusory)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  (holographic)
 
  (database image)
  (database image)
  
 Opening credits
 
  (illusory)

Background information 
A master systems display-like cross-section of Lovok's warbird, created by Doug Drexler for  depicted approximately 26 decks.  The graphic was auctioned in  as part of It's A Wrap! sale and auction and again in .

Designation 

In the script for , the Romulan warbirds are identified as D'daridex class cruisers".  This spelling is changed to "D'deridex-class" after this episode aired. The designation as "B-type" is mentioned in , which could be seen as an aptly conceived designation since it coincided with the introduction of the slightly differing second studio model (see below). The ship is also referred to as a "warbird class starship" by Picard in "The Defector".

The warbird that appears in  is referred to as a "battle cruiser", however, according to the script for that episode, the Romulan vessel was also referred to as a Bird-of-Prey.  

According to the Star Trek: Star Charts (p. 63) and the Stellar Cartography: The Starfleet Reference Library ("Federation Historical Highlights, 2161-2385"), there was a star system named D'deridex, which might be the possible origin for the name of this starship class, in the Beta Quadrant. The system's primary was an F-class star.

Studio models 
See: Dderidex-class model.

Technical Manual 
The following information of specifications and defenses comes exclusively from the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual:

 Production Base: Unknown; Romulan Star Empire
 Type: Heavy Cruiser
 Accommodation: 1,500 plus officers, crew, and troops
 Power Plant: One artificial singularity-drive warp core feeding two nacelles; two impulse system
 Dimensions: Length, 1,041.65 meters; beam, 772.43 meters; height, 285.47 meters
 Mass: 4,320,000 metric tonnes (est.)
 Performance: Warp 9.6 (observed)
 Armament: Six ship-mounted disruptors; two photon torpedo launchers
Some of this information contradicts data from the original specifications of warbird designer Andrew Probert and also some observations of the D'deridex-class in canon episodes.

Additional reading 
 Star Trek: Starship Spotter. Adam "Mojo" Lebowitz & Robert Bonchune. New York: Pocket Books, 2001.

See also 
 D'deridex

External links

cs:Třída D'Deridex
de:D'deridex-Klasse
es:Clase D'deridex
fr:Classe D'deridex
ja:ディデリデクス級
nl:D'deridex klasse
pl:Warbird klasy D’deridex, typ B
Romulan starship classes