Trekipedia

K’el Ri’anda class

Constructed in mid-2271, the K’el Ri’anda class was the first attempt by Klingon ship designers to construct a battleship, rather than a cruiser or frigate. In March 2279, a K’el Ri’anda, escorted by six D’ath D’lan (D-11) class ships, attacked a group of Romulan ships near the Triangle, consisting of a single S’ten Vastam (V-6) class cruiser and three Vas-Tagor Lattam (T-2) class destroyers. The Klingon commander, confident in his new ship, pressed the attack, only to find the Romulan cruiser his equal. After several exchanges of fire, the Klingon force had suffered the loss of three D’ath D’lan class ships, and serious damage had been done to the K’el Ri’anda; the Romulan cruiser had received moderate damage, and one destroyer had been eliminated. The Klingons, wary of losing the battleship, began to withdraw, but the Romulan commander decided to launch a counterattack against the Klingons. The battleship still had plenty of fight left and was able to disable another of the Romulan destroyers. At this point, both sides disengaged; the Klingon ships withdrew to Klingon space, while the Romulan commander returned to the area of the battle and salvaged what he could of his ships, taking in tow a disabled D’ath D’lan. This skirmish proved to the Klingon Defense Force that the K’el Ri’anda still needed improvements. Of the 21 K’el Ri’anda class ships built, 20 remained in active service in 2281, and one was missing and presumed lost. The ships were constructed at Taamar and were produced at a rate of two per year. The class name, K’el Ri’anda, translated to “the dangerous fat man;” the brunt of many jokes about being more dangerous to their crews than to the enemy, these ships were also known to Starfleet crews as “the fat man” and “the turtle.”^[1]

References

• ^[1]FASA-2301: Klingon Ship Recognition Manual