Gorn starship A Gorn starship was a type of vessel utilized by the Gorn Hegemony during the mid - 23rd century for conducting raids . The Gorn ship was designed with four nacelle s , and its class configuration was unfamiliar to the Federation prior to the late 2260s . In 2267 , a Gorn starship approached the Earth outpost on Cestus III at space - normal speed using the outpost ' s regular approach route . Before the outpost knew what hit them , the Gorn ship knocked out the outpost ' s phaser batteries with their first salvo , leaving the outpost defenseless . The weapon used was described by a survivor as being " like phasers , only worse . " The Gorn ship continued to assault the outpost , until it was obliterated . The Gorn starship later attacked the , which had been lured to the colony by false signals . The " Enterprise " s counterattack with full phaser and photon torpedo banks proved ineffective against the deflector screen of the Gorn ship , which was located just outside visual range . After the Gorn ship retrieved its landing party via transporter , it withdrew from Cestus III , and attempted to flee into an area uncharted by the Federation at that time . The " Enterprise " pursued , and eventually overtook the Gorn ship at Warp 8 , before both ships were immobilized by the Metron s . ( ) Appendices . Background information . The Gorn ship did not appear in the original version of the episode , but rather , was conceived for the remastered episode that aired in . StarTrek . com cites the reason for this to be partially because the producers were given " " a certain amount of leeway , given time and budget considerations , to be a bit creative . " " The site describes a design that " " reinforces the concept that to achieve warp speed capabilities , nacelle - type structures are required and that a dorsal command center / bridge is also standard . " " Visual Effects Producer Michael Okuda was the one who usually designed the new ships for the remastered series , but in this instance gave Visual Effects Supervisor Niel Wray the opportunity to do the honors . " " I thought ' how cool , I can design something totally new for Star Trek . " " , Wray gleefully commented . The ship was only shown at a distance , both the viewscreen and in space afar from the " Enterprise " " to stay consistent with the original story intent . " The CGI model of this ship itself was therefore not " skinned " ( thereby saving costly computer rendering time ) because the ship was never shown up close . The new , digital model was constructed at CBS Digital in the CGI software . ( " Sci - fi & fantasy modeller " , Vol . 26 , p . 49 ) In 2015 , former " Star Trek " Producer Dave Rossi made the entire starship database of the remastered " Original Series " available to Project Manager Ben Robinson for representation in the British partwork publication " " from Eaglemoss Collections . However , these models , including the Gorn starship , were not quite production and / or print ready as the models needed to be converted into , the software package of choice for the vast majority of " Star Trek " digital modelers . Robinson assigned Fabio Passaro , among others , to this chore . In 2016 , ten years after the airing of the remastered episode , a model of the Gorn starship was announced as part of " The Official Starships Collection " . It was given coloration and final details by Michael Okuda . This improved CGI model was featured in the . Apocrypha . The FASA adventure book " Demand of Honor " gives this ship the name " Gress ' sril " .