Memory Alpha
Register
Advertisement
Memory Alpha

The IKS Rotarran was a Klingon Bird-of-Prey in service during the 2370s.

Service on the Cardassian border

During the Klingon-Cardassian War that began in 2372, the Rotarran spent two years as part of the occupation force patrolling against the Cardassian fleet. (DS9: "Soldiers of the Empire")

In mid-2373, the Rotarran was forced to retreat along with the rest of the Klingon fleet when the Cardassian Union joined the Dominion. (DS9: "By Inferno's Light")

Following that event, the Rotarran suffered half a dozen defeats in combat with the Jem'Hadar. Heavy casualties mounted as this continued over a period of seven months. In one instance, a Cardassian ship was trapped between the Rotarran and an asteroid field. The Cardassians' power was failing, they had no other reinforcements nearby, and the Rotarran's weapons were fully charged. Suddenly, three Jem'Hadar ships appeared out of the asteroid field, and the Rotarran was denied the kill. Because of this and many other similar encounters, the crew came to believe that the Rotarran was a cursed ship, and all aboard were dishonored. (DS9: "Soldiers of the Empire")

Martok's captaincy of the Rotarran

IKS Rotarran bridge

Martok and Worf on the bridge of the Rotarran

In late 2373, General Martok was assigned command of the Rotarran by the Klingon High Council and dispatched to locate the missing IKS B'Moth. Joining him as his first officer was Worf and Jadzia Dax as Science Officer. Both were serving on detached duty from Starfleet at the time.

Plotting course for the last known position of the B'Moth, the Rotarran was forced to circumnavigate the Tong Beak Nebula in order to avoid the Jem'Hadar. Martok's wish to avoid a fight struck a sour chord with his weary crew.

On the way, Martok reviewed his crew's personnel reports, which included remarks such as: "Dishonorable conduct," "lack of respect," "dereliction of duty," "inattention to orders," "unmotivated," and "insufficiently aggressive." This did not go over well with Martok nor Worf, Martok likening the report to a prison record. Together they vowed to restore honor to the Rotarran and make it a ship worthy of the Empire.

Mid-route, the Rotarran detected a Jem'Hadar patrol ship on a reconnaissance mission outside of Cardassian space, performing active polaron scans of the sector. Despite the tactical advantage the cloaked and armed Rotarran had over the patrol ship, Martok opted to avoid a conflict and continue to pursue their mission of locating the B'Moth. Frustration from this missed opportunity, combined with three barrels of bloodwine, finally made things come to a head on the Rotarran.

Upon reaching the Cardassian border, the B'Moth was discovered 500,000 kellicams inside Cardassian territory. Martok, who had explicit orders from the High Council not to enter Cardassian territory, was unwilling to cross the border to rescue a crew that may or may not be alive at all. This struck a major chord with Martok's crew, which nearly led to mutiny.

File:IKS Rotarran fires on Jem'Hadar attack ship.jpg

Taking on a Jem'Hadar fighter

Moments later, a Jem'Hadar warship entered sensor range, which the Rotarran defeated. Afterwards, the 'Rotarran successfully rescued thirty-five survivors from the B'Moth.

Upon their return, the High Council issued a commendation to the entire crew of the Rotarran. Despite crossing the border against orders, the Council viewed the destruction of a Jem'Hadar ship and the rescue of thirty-five warriors as ample justification for crossing the Cardassian border. (DS9: "Soldiers of the Empire")

Martok continued to maintain the Rotarran as his flagship, and also continued using it for patrolling the Cardassian border. (DS9: "Blaze of Glory")

Prior to the Second Battle of Deep Space 9, the Rotarran served as a "lookout" for the incoming Dominion-Cardassian fleet. Upon its return to DS9, the Rotarran took up a defensive position near the USS Defiant, as it mined the entrance to the Bajoran wormhole, where it engaged several Jem'Hadar warships. Following the battle, Worf would once again be assigned to the Rotarran. (DS9: "Call to Arms")

Service during the Dominion War

Duty with the Second Fleet

File:Defiant and Rotarran at Starbase 375.jpg

The Rotarran and Defiant at Starbase 375

Following the Second Battle of Deep Space 9, the Rotarran and Defiant joined the Second Fleet. After three months of defeat by the Dominion, the Rotarran, with the remains of the Second Fleet, were forced to return back behind Federation lines in early 2374. (DS9: "Call to Arms", "A Time to Stand")

The Rotarran later rescued Captain Sisko and his crew from a planet in an uncharted dark matter nebula, and returned them to Starbase 375. The Rotarran docked at the starbase briefly before rendezvousing with the IKS Vor'nak to receive reinforcements. Although Martok requested fifteen replacements, he only received five from General Tanas.

After the completion of the personnel transfer, Martok received orders to escort a convoy of Klingon cargo vessels to Donatu V, a two-day journey. En route, Martok conducted battle drills to train the reflexes of his new crew.

File:Klingon freighters, sons and daughters.jpg

Convoy duty

Following the simulation, the crew was recalled to the bridge because the ship's sensors detected a Jem'Hadar attack ship. After a frantic yet fruitless "encounter", it was realized that Bekk Alexander Rozhenko forgot to erase the battle simulation program from the sensor display.

The next day the convoy came under attack from two Jem'Hadar attack ships. During the attack, the Rotarran lost internal communications, and experienced a plasma leak on Deck 5 after suffering damage to the primary plasma injector. Ultimately the Rotarran destroyed the two attacking warships, and successfully delivered the convoy to Donatu. (DS9: "Sons and Daughters")

The Rotarran later undertook another mission. Benjamin Sisko spoke to Worf while he was aboard, telling him there had been no news of the Defiant, which was on a mission to destroy a sensor array in the Argolis Cluster. (DS9: "Behind the Lines")

The Rotarran later assisted the Defiant in destroying two Dominion ships. With the Defiant acting like a decoy, two Dominion ships were lured in to attack it. Just as the Dominion ships began their attack, the Rotarran decloaked and immediately destroyed one of the ships. The Defiant simultaneously powered up, and successfully destroyed the second ship. Following their successful ploy, the two ships were recalled to Starbase 375.

File:Klingon fleet, Sacrifice of Angels.jpg

Arriving with reinforcements

Following the recall to Starbase 375, Martok and Worf returned to Qo'noS aboard the Rotarran to make a plea to Chancellor Gowron, on behalf of Captain Sisko. It was their intention to convince Gowron that he must commit the Klingon Defense Forces to join the combined Federation fleet in their attempt to retake Deep Space 9. (DS9: "Favor the Bold")

After some convincing, Martok and Worf were able to persuade Gowron to spare some ships for Operation Return. Mid-battle, the Klingon fleet, led by the Rotarran, joined the fray and effectively opened a hole in the Dominion lines. (DS9: "Sacrifice of Angels")

Duty with the Ninth Fleet

On stardate 51247.5, one week after the Rotarran's return to DS9, General Martok was promoted to Supreme Commander of the Ninth Fleet. Despite his promotion and the offer to have quarters aboard the station, Martok chose to keep his flag aboard the Rotarran. He noted that despite the ship's cramped quarters, he would still feel like he was in the war.

By the end of the same week following the return to Deep Space 9, most of the Rotarran's crew was transferred to the battle cruiser IKS Ya'Vang, which had taken heavy losses in its previous engagement. (DS9: "You Are Cordially Invited")

In late 2374, Martok lead an attack wing of Klingon warships from aboard the Rotarran during the First Battle of Chin'toka. Although had fifteen ships lost or severely damaged by Jem'Hadar fighters during the initial stages of the battle, however, the Rotarran made it through unscathed.

Upon the fleets successful defeat of the Cardassian orbital weapon platforms, located around the orbit of Chin'toka, the Rotarran began transporting ground troops to the planets surface. (DS9: "Tears of the Prophets")

IKS Rotarran escapes Monac solar flare

The Rotarran escaping Monac's solar flare

In early 2375, Martok re-enlisted Worf to once again serve as his first officer, during a dangerous mission, where they intended to use the Rotarran to destroy the Monac shipyards, in the name of the late Jadzia Dax. (DS9: "Image in the Sand")

To do this, Miles O'Brien devised a plan, that used the Rotarran's deflector dish to fire an electromagnetic pulse at a magnetic instability near the equator of the Monac sun, to trigger a solar plasma ejection.

When the Rotarran reached the system, the ship decloaked and fired the EM pulse at the sun's corona. Their first attempt was unsuccessful, but upon their second attempt, while under fire by the Jem'Hadar, they successfully triggered a solar flare, which destroyed the shipyards. (DS9: "Shadows and Symbols")

In 2375, the Rotarran's cloaking device was stolen by Quark and Rom to be delivered to Ezri Tigan, a Trill mercenary in the mirror universe in exchange for the release of Grand Nagus Zek. Rom later installed the cloaking device aboard the Regent's flagship but also conveniently sabotaged it, disabling the ship. (DS9: "The Emperor's New Cloak")

Several weeks later, repairs to the Rotarran, as well as the USS Hornet, were delayed to repair the Romulan warbirds IRW Dividices and the IRW Genorex. (DS9: "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges")

Toward the end of the war, the Rotarran and the IKS Koraga, commanded by Worf, were ambushed by a Dominion patrol near the Badlands. The Koraga was destroyed, but the Rotarran was able to recover six of its starboard escape pods. (DS9: "Penumbra")

Not long after that incident the Rotarran was involved in a failed attack on a Cardassian world, Avenal VII. Martok himself was seriously injured in the attack. The Rotarran returned to Deep Space 9 three days after the news of the defeat had reached the station. (DS9: "Tacking Into the Wind")

Crew of the Rotarran

Template:Bird-of-PreyClassStarships

Appendices

Appearances

Background

Martok seems to have not used the Rotarran at the Second Battle of Chin'toka, (DS9: "The Changing Face of Evil") for if he had, it is likely it would have been disabled by the Breen energy dissipators and destroyed. We know he was present at the battle as his voice is heard over the communications system.

It is unclear if Martok continued to use the Rotarran through the end of the war; if it was the vessel he used during the final Battle of Cardassia in DS9: "What You Leave Behind", or if he had taken command of the (later unseen) IKS Negh'Var, being that he had since risen to Chancellor.

The Rotarran is the most often seen Klingon Bird-of-Prey in Star Trek, with thirteen appearances.

External links

This is a featured article. At the time it was featured, it was considered one of the best examples of the Memory Alpha community's work. If you see a way this page can be improved further though, we invite you to contribute.
Revision ID missing!Date missing!Blurb
Advertisement