A Gorn starship is a type of vessel utilized by the Gorn Hegemony during the mid-23rd century for conducting raids. The Gorn ship is designed with four nacelles, and its class configuration is 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 its 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 USS Enterprise, 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.