Stuffing Whales into a Spaceship!

The Klingon Bird-of-Prey is a small ship. Can it fit two humpback whales inside its cargo bay! Let's find out!

Credits:
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Bird-of-Prey model by Chris Kuhn. Textures by Alexander Klemm

Music: Stay The Course by Kevin MacLeod

[mrg]

In the Star Trek world, the inconsistency of the Bird of Prey's size is insignificant next to the inconsistency of how long the writers think a kilometer is.

[pairaka]

Even if the scales don’t match up, we all know that Scotty was a miracle worker. He would have made them fit in a shuttle.

[gallifreyarchives]

Klingons having moving corridors makes sense to me, from a cultural standpoint as well as practical. With the Klingons being a warrior culture, adaptability to any given situation is a worthy skill to have. So having a cargo bay that is versatile and can adapt to different cargos, (eg different sized kills from hunts, or scavenged bits of tech from a raid) makes sense.

[mitwhitgaming]

I always imagine that people making movies in the 80's had no idea how obsessed people would get with details like this.

[GeahkBurchill]

EC Henry is exactly the kind of fan who should be earning money creating canon and lore for major franchises. That fact that neither Viacom or Disney are tossing money at him with a catapult is a crime against art.

[EVAUnitA]

The proper scaling of a Klingon Bird-of-Prey is a meme amongst Trekkies.

[AJWatkins]

"I've been looking forward to this." - some random Count of Serenno, idk

[UGNAvalon]

“How many humpback whales can we fit into a spaceship? Join me as I painstakingly & accurately recreate ship models & movie scenes in order to answer this question!”

Seriously tho, so much dedication in order to answer a question that must’ve been smoldering at the back of every viewer’s mind since watching these films! Mad respect! xD

[SchneeflockeMonsoon]

The D-12 was supposedly 115 m long, crewed by only 12 people as a stealth ship, swinging its wings through all four positions.
The B’Rel meanwhile was the light cruiser about 230 m long, onto able to swing its wings down or to a neutral position.
Finally, the K’Vort was a heavy frigate/troop transport of 350 m and unable to move its wings at all.

And you’re telling me this one wasn’t any of them?!

[Chalor.]

The Bird's of Prey ships have always been a major "just go with it" kinda ship. Like they'll be made out to be these tough rather large ships, then often appearing 75% the mass of the pint-sized Defiant on DS9. It's as if all of those lit up windows are more like peepholes.

[DrakeAurum]

Clearly the Klingons incorporated Pym particles into the design of the Bird of Prey.

Excellent work as always, and a fascinating article.

[ReptilianLepton]

So, the moral of the story is that we were very lucky the probe didn't give a damn about blue whales.

[coltnichols]

"I've always wondered if you could fit humpback whales into a Klingon bird of prey"... Have you now?

[davidatkinson]

Scotty was a miracle worker. The laws of physics don't apply when he's around. Hence insane deck numbers in the next movie. Bounty was halfway between a DeLorean (based on her previous captain) and a TARDIS. Just accept it.

Edit: Like button hit on this video. Subscribed.

[DJS]

Birds Of Prey were made the same way as a Tardis; they're bigger on the inside! 👍

[elicrowther]

Possible head cannon for the size discrepancy of the ship: the cloaking device was on the fritz causing an optical illusion that made the vessel appear larger or smaller than it should have been.

[bubbadoom]

I wish the people that currently ran Star Trek, cared this much about Star Trek.

[RoballTV]

At this point, you've answered to many questions floating in the back of trek and sw fans minds that I've started to consider you as the authority. I'll believe your resolutions to these questions more than people directly involved in the productions of the movies and shows XD

[Kozzist]

"I've always wondered if you could fit humpback whales into a Klingon bird of prey"
EC Henry 2021

[maximthemagnificent]

You've now put about five times more thought into the plot of Start Trek IV than the script writers.