Star Trek: 10 Secrets Of The Klingon Bird-of-Prey

Long before we were scratching our heads about the TARDIS-like interiors of the USS Discovery-A, Star Trek fans have wondered what the Gre'thor is up with the size of the Klingon Bird-of-Prey.

In-depth articles have been written on the topic and EC Henry's recent YouTube video breaking down exactly how two humpback whales could possibly fit inside the HMS Bounty is required Bird-of-Prey-related viewing:

To break it all down: The Bird-of-Prey appears to shift sizes between 50 meters long and 150 meters long within Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and several episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation (see "The Defector" and "Reunion") seem to indicate the existence of a much larger Bird-of-Prey variant that clocks in at around 350 meters long.

To clear this whole mess up, the writers of TNG and Deep Space Nine have referred to two types of Birds-of-Prey, the B'rel and K'Vort-classes, and Star Trek Generations introduced the retired D12 type Bird-of-Prey (which also retroactively appeared in DS9's "Past Prologue").

What's the difference between these three styles?

Well, the episodes and movie themselves, as well as Michael and Denise Okuda's Star Trek Encyclopedia, don't really help matters, alternatingly telling us the B'rel-class is the larger of the three variants while also telling us it's the K'Vort-class that's the jumbo-sized Bird-of-Prey. Rick Sternbach's Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual also muddies the waters, detailing an even larger Bird-of-Prey that's 685 meters long, nearly the length of the Galaxy-class USS Enterprise-D.

But sure, go off about how Discovery ruined Star Trek continuity.