"Triceratops" research cruiser intelligence report.
Star Fleet Intelligence (SFI) has given this report an 75% reliability rating.

Update: In 2374, Starfleet engineers were permitted to examine several Gorn vessels including an operational "Triceratops", as part of a technology exchange program. The engineers found that this type of vessel is called "Ts'Chach Tshcess", (translation: "Looking for something"). SFI Has upgraded this report to a 98% reliability rating.

General Specifications:

Length: 256m (Confirmed)
Width: 189m (Confirmed)
Height: 58m; ~90 with sensor array deployed (Confirmed)
Max Warp: 6.9 (Confirmed)
Cruise: 5.8 (Confirmed)
Max. Impulse: .45 lightspeed (Confirmed)
Crew: 255

Armaments: 8 X-ray lasers (2 fwd, 2 aft, 2 port, 2 stb.).

Type: Research Cruiser

About Ship: The Triceratops was the mainstay of the Gorn fleet from 2237 to 2266, when it was superceded by the Megalosaur. Originally designed as a heavy cruiser, the Triceratops was heavily armed, with eight X-ray lasers. The outer hull was a composite armor of a synthetic sapphire-based ceramic embedded with duranium alloy fiber, an inexpensive, bulky, but durable and strong hull material.

The original sensors suite was somewhat limited, and after the Triceratops had been on service for 10 years, a retrofit program added a retractable sensor array, an unusual arrangement. The original sensor/deflector dish was quite small, situated between the two forward laser emitters. Enlarging the original sensor would have required extensive reworking of the forward internal configuration, and just hanging a large sensor dish outside the hull would disrupt the warp dynamics of the vessel. The retractable array was a stopgap measure implemented with the knowledge that the next generation of ships would include greater sensor capability from the start. The array retracts into a bay situated just beneath the impulse engines, aft of the shuttlebay. It is deployed only at sublight speeds, and is retracted whenever the ship travels at warp velocity.

When the Megalosaur was introduced in 2266, all Triceratops cruisers were withdrawn from front-line service. About half the fleet of Triceratops cruisers were converted to research cruiser configuration, and the remaining ones were converted to transports. In the transport version, many internal systems were moved or reconfigured to provide a very large cargo bay, and the shuttlebay is moved aft and now occupies the bay that formerly housed the retractable sensor array and its retraction gear.