Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Gul Dukat
6. Dukat Named His Bird Of Prey After A Lost Love
Following his legitimisation of Tora Ziyal, his daughter from an affair with a Bajoran woman, Dukat rapidly falls out of favour with The Detapa Council, his own family and Cardassian society as a whole. Demoted from his prestigious role of Legate, and forced into command of a lowly freighter, Dukat's humiliation seems complete when he is denied action in the Klingon war, reduced instead to menial courier duties.
Dukat's fortunes would shift, however, when a routine escort mission with Kira Nerys turns into a tense battle with a Klingon Bird of Prey, resulting in the capture of the Klingon vessel, the transport of its crew onto Dukat's freighter, and their subsequent deaths as a vengeful Dukat blasts the ship to pieces.
Ignoring The Detapa Council's orders to return the ship to Cardassia for study, Dukat instead launches a one man guerrilla war against the invading Klingons. Whilst not stated in-universe, Star Trek Fact Files suggest that Dukat used this ship in his negotiations with The Dominion, allowing them to study Klingon technology in preparation for their invasion. The non-canon customisable card game would shed further light on this renegade vessel, revealing that Dukat named it Naprem, in honour of Ziyal's late mother.