Star Trek: 10 Design Secrets Behind Iconic Ships

10. Sh’Raan

Though the Vulcans are one of Star Trek’s most significant races, before Star Trek: Enterprise they had precious few ship designs to their name. The Suurok-class Sh’Raan, the first appearance of a major Vulcan ship in the franchise, thus presented a daunting challenge for designer Doug Drexler.

Drexler’s primary goal was for the spacecraft to pass the ‘squint-test,’ that is, be instantly recognisable even when tiny on screen. Recalling that the Vulcan ships in The Next Generation episode Unification II sported a rough ring-like shape, Drexler felt that this merited reviving the ‘ring-ship’ concept put forward for the original Enterprise.

Drexler then modified the ‘ring-ship’ – twin rings around a long, narrow core – to be more Vulcan by introducing curves and peaks inspired by the Vulcan temple and clothing seen in Star Trek III. Blending this with the reddish colouration of the T’Plana-Hath – the Vulcan craft that appears in First contact – Drexler arrived at the Sh’Raan’s sleek design.

The finishing touch was added when Drexler and the producers decided that the craft should be supported by, rather than hanging from, its central spar, a move Drexler felt defied convention and made “the Vulcans look like they control powers beyond Human ken.” With this decision the external engines being experimented with were dropped and the design approved.