Info Starships Fleet Yards Treknology

Episodes Database Fandom Community

Discovery Mirror Universe Ship Classes

Terran Empire Unknown Terran Class Alien Rebels

For the Mirror Universe ships of Discovery, the same caveats apply as to the Starfleet ships and the Klingon ships of the series. Any attempt to reconcile them with the Mirror Universe ships from classic Star Trek is futile.

Terran Empire

Cardenas	General description The Cardenas class is a comparably large ship type that is in service in the mid-23rd century. The design features a saucer with a small boxy engineering hull at its aft end and four angular nacelles on pylons that are arranged as an "X".	Known ships ISS Buran NCC-1422
	Annotations We can see the Mirror Universe ISS Buran NCC-1422 in DIS: "What's Past Is Prologue". See also Discoverse Federation Ship Classes	Class specifications Length: 440.7m

Charon

General description

The ISS Charon is the flagship of the Terran fleet and also houses the palace of the emperor in the 2250s. The massive ship is powered by a super-mycelial reactor, which can be seen in the form of a glowing "ball" in the center of the ship.

Known ships

ISS Charon

Annotations

The ISS Charon appears in DIS: "Vaulting Ambition" and "What's Past Is Prologue".
The Charon doesn't exist in the Prime Universe and is most likely a sui generis design in the Mirror Universe.
The scaling relative to the Discovery (that flies straight through the reactor) confirms that the Charon is several kilometers long.
We see the christening ceremony of the Charon in "Terra Firma II", but the actual ship is not shown on this occasion.

Class specifications

Length: 9.6km

Class A	General description This appears to be a common type of shuttlecraft.	Known shuttles No name given
	Annotations This shuttle is used by Duggan, one of Lorca's co-conspirators, in "Terra Firma II". Unlike the Charon, it is possible that the Class-A shuttle exists in the Prime Universe as well.	Class specifications None available

Constitution

Defiant variant

General description

The Constitution class was introduced around 2240. The design consists of a round saucer, thin neck, tubular engineering hull, tapered pylons and tubular nacelles. In the Mirror Universe, one ship of the class appeared before its time and was kept in service after many modifications.
Article: The Visual Continuity of Star Trek

Known ships

ISS Defiant NCC-1764
ISS Enterprise NCC-1701

Annotations

We can see the wireframe drawing of the ISS Defiant on a display in DIS: "Despite Yourself". Curiously, it is still labeled as "USS Defiant", although the depiction shows the ship after many years with many modifications in Terran service. The Defiant is meant to be the very same ship that vanished in TOS: "The Tholian Web" and resurfaced in the Mirror Universe more than 100 years earlier, in ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly". The depiction in the episode is rather coarse, but it includes two changes to the design that point to a redesign of the ship, rather than to a reimagination. The nacelle pylons are not straight any more but have a kink with an embedded pod, much like the phaser pods on the Miranda class. There are also four cut-outs in the saucer edge. Overall, the wireframe with its short neck and rounded engineering hull matches a bit better with the proportions of the reimagined DIS-style Constitution than with the look of the ship in classic Star Trek. It appears that the ship was not clearly shown for a reason, either to save the surprise about the redesign of the original Constitution for a later occasion, or because it was not yet finally decided to what extent the ship would be altered.
The anachronistic technology of the USS Defiant supposedly allowed Captain Archer and later Empress Sato to defeat the alien rebellion. Despite this technology leap, the Mirror Universe itself developed standard Constitution-class ships as late as at the same time as in the Prime Universe, as evidenced by TOS: "Mirror, Mirror".
The ISS Enterprise appears in DIS: "Mirrors", where the ship is stuck in an interdimensional pocket and serves to hide a clue to the Progenitor puzzle. It is the first time we see an actual Constitution class of the Mirror Universe. Since DIS/SNW overwrites the visuals (and not the "facts") of the old Star Trek, it was absolutely certain beforehand that the ship would look the same as the "new" USS Enterprise as first seen in DIS: "Will You Take My Hand?" in early 2018. Any complaints that the ISS Enterprise is a reboot are more than six years late.

Class specifications

Length: 442m

Crossfield

General description

The Crossfield class is a large starship type of the Terran fleet of the mid-23rd century. The design consists of a saucer with three separate concentric rings, which is connected by a thin neck to an engineering hull with a triangular planform. The two nacelles of this ship type are extraordinarily long. The armament of the Crossfield class includes phasers and photon torpedoes. A spacious shuttlebay is located at the aft end of the engineering hull.

Known ships

ISS Discovery NCC-1031

Annotations

After crossing over to the Mirror Universe, the USS Discovery successfully masquerades as the ISS Discovery in DIS: "Despite Yourself". Therefore it is clear that the unseen Mirror Universe class looks the same except for the hull lettering. Conversely, the real ISS Discovery ends up in the Prime Universe, where it is destroyed by the Klingons.
It seems that the ISS Discovery was not equipped with the spore drive, although the technology should basically be known in the Mirror Universe too because it is used in a different fashion on the ISS Charon and although in the Prime Universe the class was designed specifically for this experimental propulsion system.
The actual ISS Discovery appears in "Terra Firma I+II" in the third season.

Class specifications

Length: 750.5m

Large shuttle

General description

Emperor Georgiou uses this type of shuttle, which is still small enough to fit into the shuttlebay of the Crossfield class.

Known shuttles

No name given

Annotations

We can see the shuttle in "Terra Firma I". It was apparently created by digitally extending the existing hull around the aft hatch of a standard shuttle.
It is possible that this is the same design as the above Class A from the same Mirror Universe double episode. The size is about right, and the wing-like extensions appear to match the ones of Class A.

Class specifications

None available

Standard shuttle	General description This type of a warp-capable shuttle is used on the USS Shenzhou and probably other starships of the mid-23rd century. It has two pilot seats, and a large crew or cargo compartment.	Known shuttles Shenzhou Shuttle 03
	Annotations Burnham and Lorca use the Shenzhou Shuttle 03 to transfer to the ISS Charon in DIS: "Vaulting Ambition". See also Discoverse Federation Ship Classes	Class specifications None available

Walker	General description The Walker class is in service in the mid-23rd century. It is a mid-sized ship type. The design consists of a saucer and a pylon assembly leading down to two angular but tapered nacelles below the saucer hull. The bridge is located on the underside of the saucer.	Known ships ISS Shenzhou NCC-1227
	Annotations The Mirror Shenzhou appears in DIS: "Despite Yourself", "The Wolf Inside" and "Vaulting Ambition". See also Discoverse Federation Ship Classes	Class specifications Length: 423.4m Deck count: 15

Warp pod

General description

Terran ships of the 23rd century Constitution class may be equipped with at least one warp pod.

Known shuttles

No name given

Annotations

The warp pod was used by Moll and L'ak to escape from the ISS Enterprise in DIS: "Mirrors" and can also be seen when they are captured at the beginning of DIS: "Erigah".
There is no Prime Universe equivalent of the warp pod. It is a deus ex machina that would allow Moll and L'ak to escape, without making sense. The refugees on the ISS Enterprise reportedly used all escape pods and all shuttles to abandon the ISS Enterprise. But they left the warp pod behind, the arguably most capable auxiliary vessel? Also, how could L'ak and Moll conceal it from Burnham and Book, who think that all (other) shuttles and pods are gone? Finally, it doesn't look like 23rd century at all.

Class specifications

None available

Unknown Terran Class

ISS Cooper, mentioned in DIS: "Despite Yourself"

The crew of the Discovery encounters the ISS Cooper and mistakes it for the USS Cooper, a ship that should currently be out of service for a refit.

Alien Rebels

Various wreckage We can see wreckage of mostly Klingon origin in DIS: "Into the Forest I Go", "Despite Yourself" and "The Wolf Inside". Most of it is indeterminate, some parts may be attributed to the Quch class. See also Discoverse Klingon Ship Classes

Vulcan cruiser	General description This is a small warp-capable ship of Vulcan origin in the mid-23rd century. Its warp engine is ring-shaped, as it is typical of several Vulcan designs.	Known ships No name given
	Annotations The Vulcan cruiser attacks the USS Discovery at the beginning of DIS: "Despite Yourself". It is the same design as the small Vulcan ship in DIS: "Lethe", here explicitly called "cruiser". See also Discoverse Federation Ship Classes	Class specifications Length: 43.3m

Back to Starship Database index

Top

View as gallery