By 2270 the Klolode class cruisers which the Romulans had acquired from their Klingon allies were rapidly becoming obsolete. New vessels were urgently required to counter the Federations new Constitution 2 class starships and the advances of the ever increasingly restive Klingon Empire.
Using some Klingon technical assisstance, the Romulans designed two new ship classes: a small cruiser designed for scouting and commerce raiding and a large battlecruiser. The Klingons immediately saw the potential of the cruiser and despite being allied to the Romulans, launched a daring raid penetrating deep into Romulan territory. Here they attacked a convoy on route from the Romulan research yards to their assembly and testing grounds and stole an incomplete D'Ronex prototype. The Klingon/Romulan alliance ended before the battlecruisers design was completed but the new cruiser soon went into full production with the Klingon Imperial Fleet. The Klingons named the cruiser K'harza (Dragon).
The K'harza went into active service in 2286 and was foremost in a number of skirmishes along Federation and Romulan borders. Although they performed well the Klingons were displeased with some aspects of the Romulan design and produced their own armaments and command module for the ship. Though clearly a powerful new weapon, the K'harza proved too large and unwieldy for the "hit-and-run" missions favoured by the Klingons and Klingon crews were uneasy about the K'harza; some considered it an "alien" ship.The heavy cruiser was deployed along the Federation border as a deterrent force until the Khitomer Accords were signed five years later.
Despite a fine service record, the ships fate was sealed after the battle of D'Tahg'in Cho in 2298 when a Klingon K'harza squadron was repelled by an equal number of Romulan vessels. At his court martial, General K'Ting claimed that the Romulans had designed exploitable flaws into the heavy cruiser. His claims did not save him from execution, but the heavy cruiser role was gradually assumed by large variants of the Bird of Prey design. In the hands of the Klingons, this design did not fare as well as its Romulan counterpart. The Romulans retired their D'Ronex derivative between 2330 and 2337 but you can still find the occassional K'harza privateer hijacking unsuspecting merchant ships along the trade routes.
Length: 246 metres
Beam: 247 metres
Draft: 120 metres
Crew Compliment:
Weapons: 2 pylon mounted underslung Disruptor Cannons
Cloaking Enabled: Yes