Cardassian Ship Classes

StarshipsStations, Shuttles & ProbesUncertain Cardassian ClassUnknown Cardassian Class

 

Starships


Bird-of-Prey

General description

Gul Dukat managed to seize a Klingon Bird-of-Prey in 2373.
Article: The Bird-of-Prey Size Paradox
Klingon Bird-of-Prey Gallery

Known ships

Etam
 

Annotations

Gul Dukat's BoP that he captured in DS9: "Return to Grace" is included here only in case someone should miss it. It is not a regular starship of the Cardassian military.

See also Klingon Ship Classes

Class specifications

Length: 110m
Max. speed: Warp 8

 


Bok'Nor type

General description

The Cardassians are among the many races to use this very common ship design.
Article: Redresses of the Merchantman

Known ships

Bok'Nor
 

Annotations

The Bok'Nor was destroyed through sabotage in DS9: "The Maquis". It is a re-use of the versatile Merchantman as it first appeared in "Star Trek III". The structure is exactly the same, only that the Cardassian version is painted ochre and with a Cardassian emblem.

Class specifications

Transport
Length: 150m

 


Freighter type 1

General description

This type of freighter is used by the Bajorans as well as the Cardassians.

Known ships

No name given
 

Annotations

The freighter appeared as a part of a Cardassian convoy the Defiant was supposed to protect in 2372 when it was attacked by the Klingons (DS9: "Rules of Engagement").

Class specifications

Freighter
Length: 260m

 


Freighter type 2

General description

This type of freighter is used by the Bajorans as well as the Cardassians.
Article: Redresses of the Husnock Ship

Known ships

No name given
 

Annotations

The freighter appeared as a part of a Cardassian convoy the Defiant was supposed to protect in 2372 when it was attacked by the Klingons (DS9: "Rules of Engagement").

Class specifications

Freighter
Length: 250m

 


Freighter type 3

General description

This freighter wouldn't stand a chance against a Nebula-class vessel.
Article: Redresses of the Mondor

Known ships

No name given
 

Annotations

  1. In TNG: "The Wounded" the USS Phoenix attacked one Cardassian freighter, which was represented by the model of the Pakled ship. The color was changed to a more intense ochre, according to Cardassian design principles.
  2. We might decide to keep the number of different Cardassian freighter designs reasonable. If we don't look too closely, we may claim that type 3 is identical or at least similar to type 1, even if the model actually didn't have the warp nacelles.

Class specifications

Freighter

 


Galor

General description

The Galor class is the most powerful ship of the Cardassian military as of 2367, but clearly inferior to Federation Galaxy class.
Gallery: Cardassian Starships

Known ships

Aldara
Kraxon
Prakesh
Reklar
Trager
Vetar
 

Annotations

  1. Rick Sternbach designed the Galor for TNG: "The Wounded". 481m is the supposed original design size of the ship, at which it was shown in TNG. In the course of DS9, the Galor was purportedly scaled to be only 372m long (reference: DS9TM and David Stipes). On the other hand, we have a clear shot of the Galor with the Defiant directly above it, where the Cardassian ship must be about 500m long (and even larger if we believe in a 170m Defiant). In DS9: "The Way of the Warrior" the Galor is the same size as a Klingon Vor'cha, 481m. I think most battle scenes in the Dominion War would support a 481m Galor too.
  2. The color of the deflector array at the very front of the ship was originally yellow or orange in TNG: "The Wounded" and "Ensign Ro". The color was later consistently switched to red, also on the CG versions for later seasons of DS9. Strangely the publicity shots of the Galor on the box of the Ertl model kit or in Star Trek Mechanics show a blue deflector like it was never on screen.

Class specifications

Cruiser
Length: 481m
Crew complement: 600

 


Hideki patrol ship



Hideki fighter

General description

The Hideki is a small Cardassian warship with limited firepower. One variant is operated on its own as a patrol ship, another one in fleet operations as an attack fighter.
Gallery: Cardassian Starships

Known ships

No name given
 

Annotations

  1. The physical Hideki model was first used in DS9: "Profit and Loss" and implicitly identified as a shuttle, but it was more prominently identified as "Cardassian patrol ship, Hideki class" in DS9: "Tribunal". The model's basic color is gray as opposed to the usual Cardassian ochre or brown. The plasma glow is bluish. There is something like a cockpit window, indicating a small size of the vessel. Still, the comparison to the station Deep Space 9 in "Profit and Loss" shows a ship close to 100m length comparable to the Defiant, quite large for an alleged "shuttle".
  2. A CG model of the Hideki was built for the Dominion War episodes. While the basic proportions seem to be the same, some details were altered. The cockpit windows are gone. But most obviously the color is now the typical Cardassian ochre; the plasma glow is yellow. We usually see the ship act as a fighter in the big battles. It may be a matter of taste whether the two variants can be still supposed to be the same class. I have decided to regard the fighter as a Hideki variant, since the shape is the same and the size is largely consistent.
  3. The name "Hideki" is taken from a Japanese physicist. Of course, the Cardassians wouldn't name a ship class for a human scientist, so the name must be a coincidence.
  4. The DS9TM states: "One interesting note about the Cardassian fighter is that the basic planform seems to have been adapted from that of the USS Defiant, particularly in the forward hull notch, bridge morphology, and aft hull assembly. Starfleet is of the opinion that some classified design documentation may have been compromised." The fighter resembles the Defiant indeed, but the suggestion that the two designs could have influenced each other in any way is silly. What use could the Defiant's mere superficial shape have for a Cardassian ship with completely different technology, and how could the Cardassians come up with a plagiarized design so quickly, even sooner as the Federation with the Defiant? Like many other things in the DS9TM starship section, I ignore this notion, which is just bad speculation.

Class specifications

Patrol ship, fighter
Length: approx. 98m

 


Keldon

General description

The Keldon class is based on the Galor class. The hull is extended with a large troop or cargo module on the top and two "tail fins" of unknown purpose.
Gallery: Cardassian Starships

Known ships

Koranak
 

Annotations

  1. The Keldon makes its first appearance in DS9: "Defiant" where its class seems to be already known. Not the appearance of a new ship type, but rather the fact that the Obsidian Order is building their own fleet of Keldon-class ships, was the surprise to both the Cardassian military and Starfleet. Except for DS9: "The Die is Cast", where the Jem'Hadar destroy a fleet of about ten of these ships (the other vessels being Romulan Warbirds), the Keldon class never appears again.
  2. The Keldons in "The Die is Cast" are capable of cloaking, thanks to a technology transfer with the Romulan Tal Shiar.
  3. Since the fleet that attacked the Founders' homeworld consisted of nothing but Romulan D'deridex-class and Cardassian Keldon-class ships, it is safe to assume that the Koranak was of the Keldon class, although the ship was not visually identified in DS9: "The Die is Cast".

Class specifications

Cruiser
Length: 481m

 


Military freighter

General description

The Cardassians use a similar freighter design as the Klingons, but considerably smaller.
Article: Redresses of the Groumall
Gallery: Cardassian Starships

Known ships

Groumall
 

Annotations

  1. Gul Dukat's Groumall (DS9: "Return to Grace") was supposed to be smaller than the later green Klingon variant, and since some details were changed too (most notably nacelles were added), I no longer assume they are the same size.
  2. According to John Eaves's concept sketches as shown in Star Trek: The Magazine, the bridge is located at the ship's rear end, above the impulse engines.

Class specifications

Military freighter
Length: 256m

 

Stations, Shuttles & Probes


ATR-4107

General description

This is a warp-capable self-guided tactical missile for large-scale planetary attacks. It carries an explosive charge of 1000 kilograms matter and 1000 kilograms antimatter.
Gallery: Cardassian Starships

Known probes

"Dreadnought"
 

Annotations

"Dreadnought" is the nickname B'Elanna gave the weapon. The designation ATR-4107 is how Dreadnought referred to itself, although it is unlikely that the Cardassian would use Latin letters or anything comparable. The DS9TM mentions a "heavy penetrator" in the assessment of the Cardassian war industry, which could stand for this type of weapon.

Class specifications

Length: approx. 100m
Max. speed: Warp 9

 


Monac type

General description

The Monac Shipyards consist of several large structures connected to each other.

Known stations

No name given
 

Annotations

  1. The CG model used for the shipyards in DS9: "Shadows and Symbols" is a still coarse prototype of what would become the more detailed repair facility in "Tacking into the Wind" (see below). The round central complexes of the Monac Shipyards are connected with arms to which smaller drydocks are attached. These are missing on the repair station. The structures of the Monac Shipyards have to be much larger anyway. Each of the small drydocks is large enough for a Galor-class vessel. A Jem'Hadar fighter has about the same size relative to the repair station as these little "spiders". The repair station is about 1400m across as listed below, while one central complex of the Monac Shipyards measures roughly 3500m.
  2. Because of the similarity to the repair station, I assume that the shipyards were already built by the Cardassians, although they are called "Dominion shipyards".

Class specifications

None available

 


Nor type

General description

This large type of Cardassian space stations consists of a central core, a habitat ring, a docking ring, three upper and three lower docking pylons.
Gallery: Cardassian Starships

Known stations

Empok Nor
Terok Nor (later: Deep Space 9)
 

Annotations

  1. The assumption that the type of this station could be named "Nor" is somewhat conjectural but would be very fitting (although we don't know what "Nor" means). There may be more stations of this type. It is not clear if all of them serve to process ore, though. Empok Nor was said to be largely identical to Terok Nor, but we don't know where and how the station was in service before it was abandoned apparently in open space.
  2. The original design size of Deep Space 9 was 3600 feet or 1097m, as the window heights and the diameter of the promenade deck and especially the diameter of the Ops easily prove. One reason for scaling the station up was probably to make it simply more "important". The other reason may have been to allow a Galaxy- or Nebula-class ship to dock underneath the upper pylon, which would be easier at a total diameter of significantly more than 1000m. In some shots with a Nebula-class ship (and in the opening credits since the 4th season) the station seems to be even more than 2km wide. The 1451m diameter in the DS9TM is actually a compromise between these two extremes. Nevertheless, I tend to ignore the rather few shots with the Nebula and go with the design size, in order to match the interior and exterior sets. It would also help to keep the Defiant consistently at 120m instead of 170m, considering that 120m/170m for the Defiant is roughly the same as 1097m/1451m for Deep Space 9.

Class specifications

Diameter: approx. 1km
Max. accommodation capacity: 7000

 


Orbital defense platform

General description

The orbital defense platforms are employed by the Cardassians to protect a planet against an invasion. Equipped with superior offensive technology in the form of 1000 plasma torpedoes, the drawback is that the regenerative shielding of the platforms is dependent on a central shield generator.
Gallery: Cardassian Starships

Known satellites

No name given
 

Annotations

Many orbital platforms prominently appear in the Chin'toka system in DS9: "Tears of the Prophets". We can also see them in orbit of Cardassia Prime in "What You Leave Behind".

Class specifications

None available

 


Relay probe

General description

The relay probe was built in a joint venture of the Cardassians with the Bajorans in 23??.
Gallery: Cardassian Starships

Known probes

No name given
 

Annotations

  1. The relay probe was first shown in DS9: "Destiny", where it allowed subspace communication with the Gamma Quadrant through the Bajoran Wormhole. The probe was destroyed by the Jem'Hadar in 2373 (DS9: "By Inferno's Light").
  2. The model of Amargosa Station from "Star Trek Generations" was redressed to act as the much smaller relay probe. Essentially the two long arms were shortened by taking away some of the sections and putting on the end caps again. The pole on the bottom side of the station was removed together with the struts running between the pole and the arms. There were similar struts on the upper side, close to the arms themselves. These struts are missing too on the relay model. The receiver was removed from the focus of the antenna dish. The vertical arm is still the same as on the Amargosa station, although it was cut off from the Fact Files image. Oddly, the lighting of the relay model is the same as of Amargosa station, so it looks like there are inhabitable rooms on the tiny probe.

Class specifications

None available

 


Repair facility

General description

The repair facility is a space station with large arms, at each of which a at least one starship can be serviced. The facility is also equipped with several shuttlebays.
Gallery: Cardassian Starships

Known stations

No name given
 

Annotations

The repair facility, located in the Kelvas system, appeared in DS9: "Tacking into the Wind", a refined version of the Monac type (see above). Among several other details, additional spikes and domes were added to the top of the mushroom-like central structure. We can see several of the stations in orbit of Cardassia Prime in "What You Leave Behind".

Class specifications

Diameter: approx. 1400m

 


Shuttle

General description

This Cardassian shuttle is about 15m long and is capable of carrying at least four persons.

Known shuttles

No name given
 

Annotations

The shuttle is a re-use of the Cardassian Hideki class, scaled down to a size where it would have to be less than 20m long compared to a Jem'Hadar fighter in DS9: "Tacking into the Wind". There are some modifications to the CG model that may help to accept the much smaller size. The protruding structures on the top side are taller. The fork at the aft end was shortened, and something inserted between the two arms that looks like a propulsion system. It should be noted that Hideki-class ships have been used as shuttles before, but it was always possible to claim that they are much longer than 20m.

Class specifications

Length: approx. 15m

 


Shuttle type 2

General description

Nothing is known about this small craft.

Known shuttles

No name given
 

Annotations

A boxy shuttle type was in the shuttlebay of the moon base at Chin'toka in DS9: "Tears of the Prophets".

Class specifications

None available

 


Workbee

General description

Nothing is known about this small craft used at a Cardassian repair facility. It may be manned or automated.
Gallery: Cardassian Starships

Known shuttles

No name given
 

Annotations

The workpod could be only faintly seen near the repair facility in DS9: "Tacking into the Wind". The CG model, with a different color, with some detail changes and without the outrigger, would later appear as Assan's shuttle.

Class specifications

None available

 

Uncertain Cardassian Class

These are vehicles depicted in the DS9 Technical Manual. They were never shown on screen, but their appearance in this official reference book may qualify them as quasi-canon.


Instrumented probe

General description

Starfleet has studied at least one type of probes used by the Cardassians.

Known probes

No name given
 

Annotations

The DS9TM shows a Cardassian probe, but doesn't give us any details on it. With its similarity to the (a million times larger) Galor-class cruiser the depicted probe looks just silly. I don't (want to) believe that it exists.

Class specifications

None available

 


Terok Nor lifeboat

General description

Before they were largely replaced by Starfleet ASRVs, the station Terok Nor was equipped with lifeboats of Cardassian design.

Known shuttles

No name given
 

Annotations

DS9: "Visionary" confirms the existence of lifeboats on Deep Space 9. The DS9TM depicts and describes a Cardassian type of lifeboats, of which 12 are supposedly retained at Deep Space 9, upgraded to interplanetary flight.

Class specifications

Width: 3.7m
Height: 4.7m

 

Unknown Cardassian Class

Kornaire, first posting of Dukat as a glinn, mentioned in DS9: "Waltz"

Manora shipyards, potential Klingon attack target in DS9: "Once More Unto the Breach"

Outpost 47, located in the DMZ, mentioned in DS9: "Defiant"

Rabol, transport, transferred Gul Dukat to Deep Space 9 in DS9: "Indiscretion"

Ravinok, transport, portions of the hull of the crashed ship visible in DS9: "Indiscretion"

The little visible portion didn't allow to identify a class.

Tevak shipyards, mentioned to have been sabotaged by the Cardassian resistance in DS9: "When It Rains..."

 


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