Artwork & Original Stats by Christopher Cornelius

NOTES - circa 2330:

Known sphere Of Operation: Empire-wide use
Data Reliability: C
Major Data Source: Klingon Sector Intelligence
 
     On 2285, as the Empire continued to push it boarders against the Romulans and the Federation, it was decided to produce a new kind of ship to help push the boarders out. In 2286, it was decided to produce a new kind of vessel, the D-21 D’Ktahg class of attack cruiser, named for the honorary blade carried by most Klingon warriors. But the D-21 would see dismal failure as an attack vessel, when serious flaws in systems became apparent. By the end of it’s first year of production, three A models had been destroyed and one scrapped, after overzealous Klingon captains had engaged Romulan and Federation heavy cruisers with superior ranged weapons. It was found the D'ktahg was lacking something and it was a rear firing torpedo and improved shields, along with other ship systems. When these problems were fixed the vessel was to take a new variant and it was decided to produce the B version with the corrections.
     By 2288, the B variant had been launched, and was immediately a success. Soon afterward, the Romulans became extremely interested in the D-21 as a medium cruiser. In mid 2293, the Romulans launched a large task force with the single purpose to capture a squadron of D-21s. Although the initial attack by the Romulans had proved damaging to the Klingon vessels, the close in nature of capture operations became the Romulans undoing. As the Romulan vessels closed with the damaged D’Ktahg’s the Klingons turned and fired their weapons. The Romulans had not counted on the aft firing torpedoes. By the end of the battle, the Romulans had lost two Whitewinds, with two others severely damaged, and three Bright One destroyers. Although one D-21 was destroyed, two others were finally captured. The battle caused quite a stir in the Romulan high command, and the loss of the small fleet gave the Klingons a tactical advantage for nearly four months. There are rumors abound of a new C model with greater firepower and greater speed. The vessel was produced at the Jurris Industrial Inc. Yard 2 of Fonwal.