HMS Bounty " HMS " Bounty " " was the name given to the Klingon Bird - of - Prey commandeered by James Kirk and his command crew in 2285 . The name was originally suggested by Dr . Leonard McCoy as an ironic joke , in reference to the famous sea - going vessel of the same name which was taken over by mutineers in the 18th century . ( ) Genesis . The Bird - of - Prey , operating under its original name , was a 23rd century Klingon starship . This Bird - of - Prey was in the custody of the Klingon Imperial Fleet . Commander Kruge was the commanding officer of this ship . He had convinced the crew members aboard the vessel that they should acquire the Genesis Device from the Federation for the empire . In furtherance of this goal , the Bird - of - Prey attempted to disable the by targeting the engine section , which resulted in the inadvertent destruction of the science vessel . Later , in a confrontation with the , the bulk of Kruge ' s crew was killed when Kirk manipulated them into boarding the " Enterprise " , which was subsequently destroyed via self - destruct . After the death of Kruge on the surface of the Genesis planet , Kirk and his crew were easily able to commandeer the ship , and used it to transport Spock , whose body had been regenerated by the Genesis wave , to Mount Seleya on , where his " katra " was successfully reunited with his body . ( ) The voyage home . After three months , during which the " Bounty " underwent repairs , such as maintenance and conversion of some of its operating systems , Kirk and his crew used the ship to return to Earth in order to face charges regarding their unauthorized appropriation of the " Enterprise " . During their journey home , however , they were made aware of the destructive effects on Earth of an extremely powerful alien probe . Upon further investigation , Spock realized that the probe was attempting to establish communication with humpback whale s , a species which had been extinct for two hundred years . Having no choice , the crew elected to undertake the extremely risky slingshot effect to travel back in time and retrieve two humpbacks , with the intention of returning to the 23rd century and re - establishing communication with the probe . After successfully using a time warp to travel to the year 1986 , Kirk ordered the " Bounty " set down in Golden Gate Park under cloak . Although it initially appeared as if the crew would be unable to return to their own time due to the decrystalization of the ship ' s dilithium crystals as a result of the time travel , Spock was able to develop a plan whereby high - energy photon s could be collected from the nuclear reactor of a naval vessel , and then injected into the dilithium chamber , causing recrystalization . As this was occurring , Captain Scott performed a series of modifications to the " Bounty " s cargo bay , transforming it into a whale tank with which to transport the humpbacks . The modifications complete , the " Bounty " departed to retrieve the whales , in the process coming across a Finnish whaling vessel attempting to kill the whales . Still under cloak , the crew positioned the " Bounty " between the boat and the whales , successfully deflecting a harpoon . Kirk then ordered the " Bounty " decloaked , an act which had the effect of frightening the whalers off . Using the " Bounty " s transporter s , the whales were beamed aboard , and the crew was able to recreate the time warp and return to the 23rd century . However , upon their arrival , the " Bounty " s power systems began to fail as a result of their close proximity to the probe , and subsequently crashed north - west of Alcatraz in the San Francisco Bay . As there was no power left with which to open the bay doors , the whales were trapped and in danger of drowning , necessitating Kirk swimming underwater and accessing the explosive override , opening the doors and freeing the whales . After a brief round of communication between the whales and the probe , the probe ceased its destructive signal and departed Earth . ( ) Appendices . Background information . In " Star Trek IV : The Voyage Home " , the design of the bridge aboard the " Bounty " was completely redressed from the vessel ' s original appearance in " Star Trek III : The Search for Spock " . This appearance acted as a reference for all future bridges aboard Klingon ships . An early storyboard draft of featured the " Bounty " in spacedock being disassembled by Starfleet engineer s . A blocking model of the Bird - of - Prey was created by ILM . It measures approximately 9 " × 2 " , 5 " × 5 " , 7 " × 7 " and was made from foam core , cardstock , styrene , and plastic . According to , the authors " " . . . assume that the bird - of - prey in " Star Trek III " was a " B ' rel " - class ship . . . " " . Apocrypha . The Decipher RPG module " " identifies it as the IKS " B ' rel " , the prototype of the class and gives its registry as IKC - 9200 . The novella " The Chimes at Midnight " calls it the IKS " Katai " .