Standard Sci-Fi Fleet: Difference between revisions

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These are full-fledged space ships; they have the endurance to go anywhere, but aren't powerful enough to be actual capital ships (military vessels may be referred to as "sub-capital" ships). The addition of [[Stealth in Space|stealth/cloaking capability]] to any of these turns them into the equivalent of submarines, allowing writers to [[Recycled in Space|recycle WW2-era destroyer vs. U-boat stories]], regardless of the [[You Fail Physics Forever|bad physics involved]].

* ''Cutter/Corvette/Frigate/Destroyer'' - Various smaller warships, ranging from small assault boats slightly larger than a Bomber to massive ships nearly a mile in length. Which size class gets which name varies from universe to universe, but is usually in the size and name order given above. With the exception of those crewed by main characters, these are usually the equivalent to [[Red Shirt~~|Red Shirts~~]] in the fleet when the shooting starts. Generally speaking, deployed in groups ("flotillas") or as escorts for larger ships. They're sometimes referred to (especially destroyers) as "Tin Cans" because of their thin hulls.

* ''Cutter/Corvette/Frigate/Destroyer'' - Various smaller warships, ranging from small assault boats slightly larger than a Bomber to massive ships nearly a mile in length. Which size class gets which name varies from universe to universe, but is usually in the size and name order given above. With the exception of those crewed by main characters, these are usually the equivalent to [[Red Shirt]]s in the fleet when the shooting starts. Generally speaking, deployed in groups ("flotillas") or as escorts for larger ships. They're sometimes referred to (especially destroyers) as "Tin Cans" because of their thin hulls.

** ''Cruiser'' - [[Jack of All Stats]] of warships. Big enough to take care of themselves, fast enough to run from most anything that can squish it (which there're a lot, since a Cruiser often trades hull defense for firepower), and expendable enough that they don't require escorts.

* ''Assault Carrier'' - The Assault Carrier is basically a smaller version of [[The Battlestar]], only carrying a single squad or two of small craft. Many are capable of operating in the atmosphere, even (''especially'') if no other type of ship in the fleet can. These ships are usually considered their own autonomous units within the fleet, and commonly split off on separate missions (this makes them useful for the main cast of a series). The ''White Base'' of [[Mobile Suit Gundam]] is the [[Trope Maker]] here.

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Some ships stand out due to various unique constructions or abilities, and are less noted for specific size or roles. These aren't found in every series, but appear often and are notable enough to warrant special mention:

* ''Detachable Drive'' - An uncommon class of ship or Small Craft that basically serves as a flight system to allow a ship type of similar or smaller size to move further than it is normally designed to (Faster Than Light travel for an extreme example). These are often little more than a drive system, fuel, and an external docking mechanism for the craft to attach to (see also [[Mecha Expansion Pack]]). Commonly used by [[Space Fighter~~|Space Fighters~~]] or [[Humongous Mecha]], although versions for larger ships are also seen from time to time. They're always ''way'' cooler than mere Space Tugboats.

* ''Detachable Drive'' - An uncommon class of ship or Small Craft that basically serves as a flight system to allow a ship type of similar or smaller size to move further than it is normally designed to (Faster Than Light travel for an extreme example). These are often little more than a drive system, fuel, and an external docking mechanism for the craft to attach to (see also [[Mecha Expansion Pack]]). Commonly used by [[Space Fighter]]s or [[Humongous Mecha]], although versions for larger ships are also seen from time to time. They're always ''way'' cooler than mere Space Tugboats.

* ''Missile/Torpedo Boat'' - A ship whose main armament consists almost entirely of missiles and/or torpedoes. A few universes, [[Kinetic Weapons Are Just Better|due to their technological development]], may have the main fleets be basically this.

* ''Minelayer'' - If [[Space Mines]] are involved, something must carry them to where they will be used. Though even then this job may be given to missile boats or freighters. May also be a [[Mook Maker|mobile munitions factory]], however.

* ''Colony Ship'' - These generally aren't very well armed, even if only because they tend to be outdated more often than not. They carry lots of colonists and everything you need to start a colony: equipment, construction materials, animal and plant specimens, living environs. Sometimes designed to become raw materials for the colony, especially in the slower-than-light models. Comes in [[Generation Ships|Generation Ship]], [[Human Popsicle]] sleeper ship, [[Terraform~~|Terraforming~~]] seeder ship, and vanilla [[Faster-Than-Light Travel|FTL]] colony ship flavors.

* ''Colony Ship'' - These generally aren't very well armed, even if only because they tend to be outdated more often than not. They carry lots of colonists and everything you need to start a colony: equipment, construction materials, animal and plant specimens, living environs. Sometimes designed to become raw materials for the colony, especially in the slower-than-light models. Comes in [[Generation Ships|Generation Ship]], [[Human Popsicle]] sleeper ship, [[Terraform]]ing seeder ship, and vanilla [[Faster-Than-Light Travel|FTL]] colony ship flavors.

* ''Mining Ship'' - A mobile base for mining and ore processing. May dispatch and maintain swarm of mining robots digging a planet or large asteroid, or slurp up small asteroid fragments with [[Tractor Beam]]. In the latter case it may carry specialized weapons to break bigger stones into rubble. Depends on the setting, but in various forms tend to crop up in more logistically-minded ones.

* ''Science Vessel'' - The [[Squishy Wizard]] of space, these ships generally aren't meant for combat but have specialised equipment and capacities that can be [[Improvised Weapon|repurposed as weapons]]. Typically equipped with advanced sensor arrays, [[Reverse Polarity|Polarity Reversers]], and a [[Deus Ex Machina]] or two if you're lucky.

* ''Space Gun'' / ''Monitor'' - The spaceborne equivalent of the self-propeled artillery, the Space Gun is a ship (usually of the smaller classes, but some can be of any size up to Space Station) that consists of a command bridge, the biggest weapon they could find (up to, but not always, a [[Wave Motion Gun]]), the engines to move it around, and little else. Space Guns are usually [[Glass Cannon~~|Glass Cannons~~]] that add to the overall firepower of a fleet due to their ability to punch well above their weight, but are otherwise vulnerable and have to be screened by fighters and other ships.

* ''Space Gun'' / ''Monitor'' - The spaceborne equivalent of the self-propeled artillery, the Space Gun is a ship (usually of the smaller classes, but some can be of any size up to Space Station) that consists of a command bridge, the biggest weapon they could find (up to, but not always, a [[Wave Motion Gun]]), the engines to move it around, and little else. Space Guns are usually [[Glass Cannon]]s that add to the overall firepower of a fleet due to their ability to punch well above their weight, but are otherwise vulnerable and have to be screened by fighters and other ships.

* ''Space Station/Star Base'' - Usually rivaled in size only by the Battleship and Dreadnought (or in more extreme universes, Worldship) classes, these are (relatively) immobile structures used for all kinds of duties, from habitats, to fortresses, space ports, factories, and the like. [[Colony Drop~~|Colony Drops~~]] are always a danger when these things get knocked out of orbit. If the space station is even bigger than a [[World Ship]], it might be a [[Dyson Sphere]].

* ''Space Station/Star Base'' - Usually rivaled in size only by the Battleship and Dreadnought (or in more extreme universes, Worldship) classes, these are (relatively) immobile structures used for all kinds of duties, from habitats, to fortresses, space ports, factories, and the like. [[Colony Drop]]s are always a danger when these things get knocked out of orbit. If the space station is even bigger than a [[World Ship]], it might be a [[Dyson Sphere]].

As noted in the Army trope, the variety of these ships often varies by medium. As even with animation (traditional ''or'' CGI), making and showing a lot of stuff can be time-consuming or expensive. Therefore, many television series' or movies stick with Battlestar or Cruiser-class vessels only, while games often expand further than that.

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** The main fleet mainly consists of destroyer, cruiser, corvette and carrier. Destroyer as [[Fragile Speedster]]. Cruiser as [[Mighty Glacier]]. Corvette are purely point-defense against missiles and are defenseless against any destroyer or cruiser. Carriers have no fighters nor guns, instead launch crazy amount of AI controlled suicide bombers. Each of them have their own weaknesses, even the mighty cruiser can be blown up in one hit by a destroyer if its shields are down. Although a cruisers' main gun can blow up a destroyer in one hit, because lighter ships travel faster in hyperspace in the series, it makes sense for a team of destroyers [[Zerg Rush]] on the much slower cruisers, hoping with [[More Dakka]] a lucky shot could sent its shield out of commission long enough for other destroyers to deliver the fatal blow.

* ''[[Macross]]'' uses all of these for its colonization fleets, with the Macross-class ships typically being Dreadnought sized Carriers with a Gun Platform built in, whole squadrons of Assault Carriers, colonization ships in the form of gigantic domed cities, fighters, bombers, destroyers, cruisers, [[Humongous Mecha]], and throwing in specialized ships such as factories, entertainment, science/research, farms, and so forth. The only one they don't have yet (Though the Zentraedi probably do) are Worldships.

* In ''[[Legend of the Galactic Heroes]]'' navies are built up of small one-man space fighters, carriers of said fighters, and normal cruisers that are mostly of the space gun type (with the ratio of carriers to cruisers being approximately 1:50 in most navies). [[The Empire]] has one model of each and [[The Federation]] has one model of each. Admirals of the fleets have flagships that are usually little more than [[Ace Custom~~|Ace Customs~~]] of the normal cruisers, though some flagships are big enough to serve as ships of the line. In addition [[The Empire]] is also shown using Destroyers and Gunships (really small Cutter/Corvette type ships) and also built two World Ships, but the latter are static defenses that are immobile {{spoiler|until they attached huge engines to one and sent it against the other in an attempt to recapture it}}.

* In ''[[Legend of the Galactic Heroes]]'' navies are built up of small one-man space fighters, carriers of said fighters, and normal cruisers that are mostly of the space gun type (with the ratio of carriers to cruisers being approximately 1:50 in most navies). [[The Empire]] has one model of each and [[The Federation]] has one model of each. Admirals of the fleets have flagships that are usually little more than [[Ace Custom]]s of the normal cruisers, though some flagships are big enough to serve as ships of the line. In addition [[The Empire]] is also shown using Destroyers and Gunships (really small Cutter/Corvette type ships) and also built two World Ships, but the latter are static defenses that are immobile {{spoiler|until they attached huge engines to one and sent it against the other in an attempt to recapture it}}.

* The Iron Tribe (Humans) and most other tribes in ''[[Heroic Age]]'' used mostly Fighters, Cruisers and the occasional Battleship, but many tribes also had one or two Space Station-sized Space Guns (like the Iron Tribe's Ruby and Topaz Cores). The Iron Tribe also had two similarly-scaled Science Vessels, the Pearl Core which used force fields and gravity manipulation, and the Blue Core which disgorged hundreds of [[Attack Drone~~|Attack Drones~~]]. The ''Argonaut'', on the other hand, was a Battestar that carried [[Humongous Mecha]] and small satellite-like drones instead of Fighters.

* The Iron Tribe (Humans) and most other tribes in ''[[Heroic Age]]'' used mostly Fighters, Cruisers and the occasional Battleship, but many tribes also had one or two Space Station-sized Space Guns (like the Iron Tribe's Ruby and Topaz Cores). The Iron Tribe also had two similarly-scaled Science Vessels, the Pearl Core which used force fields and gravity manipulation, and the Blue Core which disgorged hundreds of [[Attack Drone]]s. The ''Argonaut'', on the other hand, was a Battestar that carried [[Humongous Mecha]] and small satellite-like drones instead of Fighters.

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** ''The Peacekeeper Wars'' shows two full battlefleets going at it: Peacekeepers and Scarrans.

* ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined]]'''s Cylons avert the trope, because their fleets mainly consist of just basestars and their Raider complements, along with perhaps a Resurrection Ship. The Colonials, on the other hand, don't - before the nuclear holocaust, it appears that the Colonial Fleet was divided into battlestar groups - [[Title Drop|BSGs]] - consisting of battlestars and (presumably) support vessels. This doesn't really affect the show, because the only two military vessels to survive are the battlestars ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus''.

* The ships of ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' can be partially classed into a [[Standard Sci-Fi Fleet]], although most space-faring civilizations seem to use only a very few ship classes (and of course the titular Stargates make the use of ships optional altogether in some situations). The Goa'uld have the largest variety, with the fighter-like Death Gliders, small cargo ships that are essentially shuttles, medium-sized bombers, dedicated troop transports, and Hatak mother ships, which are basically Assault Carriers, carrying both lots of cannons and lots of Death Gliders. Some powerful Goa'uld also developed larger Capital Ship classes. ''Most'' large ships in the 'verse seem to be "Battlestars," including all large Earth vessels, though a few alien races do provide exceptions.

* The ships of ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' can be partially classed into a Standard Sci-Fi Fleet, although most space-faring civilizations seem to use only a very few ship classes (and of course the titular Stargates make the use of ships optional altogether in some situations). The Goa'uld have the largest variety, with the fighter-like Death Gliders, small cargo ships that are essentially shuttles, medium-sized bombers, dedicated troop transports, and Hatak mother ships, which are basically Assault Carriers, carrying both lots of cannons and lots of Death Gliders. Some powerful Goa'uld also developed larger Capital Ship classes. ''Most'' large ships in the 'verse seem to be "Battlestars," including all large Earth vessels, though a few alien races do provide exceptions.

** The Wraith, of all races, approach this trope the most, having Dart fighters, slightly-larger scout ships (only one is ever shown, though), supply ships (carrying people for food), cruisers, and massive Hive ships. Both of the latter are [[The Battlestar|battlestars]], carrying large numbers of Darts as well as armed with powerful energy cannons. There was also the one-off Super-Hive, which got big as a result of a powerful energy source. It could probably take on an Ori mothership and win.

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== Literature ==

* The [[Honor Harrington]] series uses all of the above, and adds a few more namely the Dreadnought as the second largest ships in most fleets, and the [[Bigger Is Better|stupendous]] Super Dreadnoughts, which carry enough firepower to depopulate a planet, and are at one point described as having enough energy weapons to shatter a small moon, though that may have been hyperbole.

** Except fighters. They are explicitly mentioned as completely unfeasible in their situation. There are some smaller ships taking their tactical niche, mostly missile defence and tying the lighter fleet units, but these aren't tiny single-seat tin cans, but warships in their own right, almost the size of a pre-war destroyer (incidentally, called "tin-cans" ''in-universe'') without the hyperdrive and crew count is closer to that of a WWII-era bomber than a traditional starfighter. Initially, they started out as some sort of gunboat/torpedo boat analogue: Too small to be used for anything other than patrol duties except in some very specific and unlikely circumstances. The one time they prove to be a serious threat (if not an effective one) to a modern warship, it is because they were some place they weren't expected to be, mistaken for a group of friendly patrol ships, ''and'' the warship in question nearly stumbled blithely right into their gunsights. Once propulsion and powerplant technology catches up a bit, and strategists allow for some changes in space combat doctrine for these small ships <ref> mainly, bow "walls" allow them to be shielded while attacking nose-on to the enemy with a capital-grade [[Fixed Forward-Facing Weapon]], rather than presenting them a broadside</ref>, they mature into the [[Goddamn Bats]] that we know and love from the later books.

** Except fighters. They are explicitly mentioned as completely unfeasible in their situation. There are some smaller ships taking their tactical niche, mostly missile defence and tying the lighter fleet units, but these aren't tiny single-seat tin cans, but warships in their own right, almost the size of a pre-war destroyer (incidentally, called "tin-cans" ''in-universe'') without the hyperdrive and crew count is closer to that of a WWII-era bomber than a traditional starfighter. Initially, they started out as some sort of gunboat/torpedo boat analogue: Too small to be used for anything other than patrol duties except in some very specific and unlikely circumstances. The one time they prove to be a serious threat (if not an effective one) to a modern warship, it is because they were some place they weren't expected to be, mistaken for a group of friendly patrol ships, ''and'' the warship in question nearly stumbled blithely right into their gunsights. Once propulsion and powerplant technology catches up a bit, and strategists allow for some changes in space combat doctrine for these small ships,<ref>mainly, bow "walls" allow them to be shielded while attacking nose-on to the enemy with a capital-grade [[Fixed Forward-Facing Weapon]], rather than presenting them a broadside</ref> they mature into the [[Goddamn Bats]] that we know and love from the later books.

* Another, stand alone book by David Weber, ''[[The Apocalypse Troll]]'', begins with two full [[Standard Sci-Fi Fleet]] battle groups. All of the cruisers and destroyers on both sides are either destroyed or go incoherent before the big ships make the [[Time Travel|Takashita Translation]] but after that there is still the Defender (a [[The Battlestar|Battlestar]]) and an enemy dreadnaught and a carrier surviving. They proceed to blast the crap out of each other across time and space until only the fighter wing commanders from both sides become the [[Sole Survivor~~|Sole Survivors~~]] and a [[Terminator Twosome]] since they find themselves a handful of centuries in (their) past.

* Another, stand alone book by David Weber, ''[[The Apocalypse Troll]]'', begins with two full Standard Sci-Fi Fleet battle groups. All of the cruisers and destroyers on both sides are either destroyed or go incoherent before the big ships make the [[Time Travel|Takashita Translation]] but after that there is still the Defender (a [[The Battlestar|Battlestar]]) and an enemy dreadnaught and a carrier surviving. They proceed to blast the crap out of each other across time and space until only the fighter wing commanders from both sides become the [[Sole Survivor]]s and a [[Terminator Twosome]] since they find themselves a handful of centuries in (their) past.

* ''[[The Lost Fleet]]'' is a fully formed armada based on real-life navies. The core fleet elements are battlecruisers, battleships, and heavy cruisers screened by light cruisers and destroyers. There are no dedicated carriers, and their Fast Attack Craft are rarely used and would be considered corvettes rather than fighters. Either way, they are woefully short-ranged, weak and easily destroyed; in practice, the smallest relevant ship class is the destroyer. The Syndicate Worlds "Hunter-Killer" ships straddle the line between heavy fighters and light corvettes. Also of note are the "fast fleet auxiliary" ships, which are basically mobile factories and repair shops. The only thing "fast" about them is their capacity to get in trouble.

* Averted in the prototypical [[Space Opera]]. In the Lensman Series virtually every warship mentioned is called a battleship as anything less has little or no chance of survival, though at one point the Galactic Patrol did introduce special ships and tactics to overcome a temporary technological deficit.

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* The [[CoDominium]]: Standard space navies tend to have capital ships and small auxiliaries. Pournelle was aware of the various roles different ship types played. In fact, he choose the type of the [[Cool Ship|INSS MacArthur]] based on its capabilities.

* Andrey Livadny's ''[[The History of the Galaxy]]'' series has several human powers fielding [[Standard Sci Fi Fleets]], most notably the [[The Empire|Earth Alliance]] and the [[The Federation|Confederacy of Suns]] (also its forerunner the [[La Résistance|Free Colonies]]). These include escape pods, a great number of [[Space Fighters]] (some capable of [[Faster-Than-Light Travel|FTL travel]]), assault shuttles (each has enough firepower to take out an average military base), corvettes, missile boats, gigantic repair stations, technical tugs, frigates, cruisers, and flagship cruisers (a [[The Battlestar|Battlestar]]). All ships (including fighters) are ridiculously oversized, with 500-meter corvettes and 7-kilometer flagship cruisers. Crew requirements are listed as much smaller than one would expect. Standard flagship cruiser crew complement is 150, although it can be crewed by up to 2000. This is due to the ubiquitous use of AI modules to run most systems.

** It should be noted that in one of the later novels, the powers-that-be have determined that a [[Standard Sci-Fi Fleet]] is incapable of dealing with the threats to the far-reaching Confederacy and has been relegated to protecting the core worlds. A new doctrine was developed for protecting the outlying colonies using patrolling carriers and a newly-developed type of modular [[Space Fighter]], which can be refitted to a completely different role (fighter, bomber, anti-capital ship) within an hour.

** It should be noted that in one of the later novels, the powers-that-be have determined that a Standard Sci-Fi Fleet is incapable of dealing with the threats to the far-reaching Confederacy and has been relegated to protecting the core worlds. A new doctrine was developed for protecting the outlying colonies using patrolling carriers and a newly-developed type of modular [[Space Fighter]], which can be refitted to a completely different role (fighter, bomber, anti-capital ship) within an hour.

* The smallest matrix capable ship of the The Republic of Cinnabar Navy is the Cutter, six of which are docked to a anti-pirate Tender. Cutters carry a cluster of twelve chemically-fueled rockets with explosive warheads.

* [[Iain Banks|Iain M Banks]] has written about a variety of spacefaring militaries in his scifi novels.

** [[The Culture]] fields many types of ship, most of which are pretty big and bad even if they're not actually warships. The General Systems Vessels are effectively Worldships, capable of housing hundreds of millions of people and building entire fleets. Medium and Limited Systems Vessels are older, smaller versions of such being merely 5 or ~~10km~~ long compared to the ~~80km~~+ length of the larger examples. General Contact Units are more versatile and significantly smaller vessels, usually carrying as many as hundreds of people in comfort but fulfilling Cruiser or Destroyer roles when required. Very Fast Pickets are demilitarised true warships, smaller and faster than [[GC Us]] and still capable of packing a nasty punch. They often carry around smaller groups, maybe dozens of people or fewer. Rapid Offensive Units and Offensive Units fill the Cruiser and Battleship roles. They're ranked as some of the most dangerous bits of military technology in the Galaxy. Notably, Culture vessels can effectively turn themselves into warships by fabricating weaponry, but the VFP, ROU and OU Minds are built solely for the purpose and are exceedingly skilled combatants, strategists and tacticians.

** [[The Culture]] fields many types of ship, most of which are pretty big and bad even if they're not actually warships. The General Systems Vessels are effectively Worldships, capable of housing hundreds of millions of people and building entire fleets. Medium and Limited Systems Vessels are older, smaller versions of such being merely 5 or 10 km long compared to the 80 km+ length of the larger examples. General Contact Units are more versatile and significantly smaller vessels, usually carrying as many as hundreds of people in comfort but fulfilling Cruiser or Destroyer roles when required. Very Fast Pickets are demilitarised true warships, smaller and faster than [[GC Us]] and still capable of packing a nasty punch. They often carry around smaller groups, maybe dozens of people or fewer. Rapid Offensive Units and Offensive Units fill the Cruiser and Battleship roles. They're ranked as some of the most dangerous bits of military technology in the Galaxy. Notably, Culture vessels can effectively turn themselves into warships by fabricating weaponry, but the VFP, ROU and OU Minds are built solely for the purpose and are exceedingly skilled combatants, strategists and tacticians.

*** Other races shown tend to name their warships more warship-like names. The Culture tends to feel a little embarrassed about its military side, other races such as the Homomda are rather more pragmatic and some such as the Affront positively glory in it with ships designed to look [[Badass]] first and foremost.

*** Its worth noting that no-one fields Space Fighters. Anything smaller than an ROU [[Curb Stomp Battle|offers about as much threat]] as a rowboat against the Yamato at full battlestations in open sea. It can't fit big enough engines, sensors, weapons or stealth equipment to be of any worth.

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** Fighters are football sized craft that are piloted by telepathic cats. They are armed with thimble-sized photonuclear bombs to fight [[Eldritch Abominations]] whose only weakness is intense light. Cats are the only beings fast enough to intercept the ''Rats'', who can move extremely fast.

** The Golden Ships are an example of a ''Super World Ship'', a sphere 90 Million miles in length (short of an AU by 2 million miles). Extremely fast, it could move in seconds. {{spoiler|However, the Golden Ship is really a decoy, being mostly hollow and consisting of foam and wires. It has no weapons of its own, and must rely on its speed to survive.}}

* [[Alan Dean Foster]]'s ''[[Humanx Commonwealth]]'' series borrows heavily from the standard sci-fi fleet, although due to the nature of the setting's [[FTL Travel]] physics, the larger a ship is, the faster it typically moves; the main reason that every military vessel is not a dreadnought is the expense. [[Space Fighter~~|Space Fighters~~]] do exist; they use the same drive systems but their role is more akin to a missile boat: their job is to get close enough to the target to accurately launch a single fire-and-forget missile that can kill just about any ship of any size. Most non-military interstellar trade and travel is conducted by Space Freighter-class ships.

* [[Alan Dean Foster]]'s ''[[Humanx Commonwealth]]'' series borrows heavily from the standard sci-fi fleet, although due to the nature of the setting's [[FTL Travel]] physics, the larger a ship is, the faster it typically moves; the main reason that every military vessel is not a dreadnought is the expense. [[Space Fighter]]s do exist; they use the same drive systems but their role is more akin to a missile boat: their job is to get close enough to the target to accurately launch a single fire-and-forget missile that can kill just about any ship of any size. Most non-military interstellar trade and travel is conducted by Space Freighter-class ships.

* ''[[Animorphs]]'' has pretty much the whole gambit. The small craft are the Bug Fighters, and the Andalite craft they were stolen from, differentiated by the placement of the 'tail' that holds the Dracon cannon. Bigger is Visser Three's Blade Ship, and the biggest are the Yeerks' Pool Ships and the Andalite Dome Ships, whose front halves seperate to double as medium-sized fighters. Possibly a Detachable Drive kind of thing.

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* ''[[Free Space]]'' had Cruisers as the smallest captial ship, with Destroyers actually being the "Battleship" class. In the second game, the "Corvette" class was added as an intermediate size between Cruiser and Destroyer.

** The ''[[Blue Planet]]'' mod adds the United Earth Federation's "frigates", which are a classic example of a Gundam-style Assault Carrier.

* The ''[[Halo (series)|Halo]]'' series is chock-full of these. The human and Covenant navies conform to the standard frigate/cruiser/etc. hierarchy, and all soldiers bear naval ranks (even the Master Chief is [[Captain Obvious|named after a real-life navy rank: Master Chief Petty Officer]]). Both sides make heavy uses of dropships, and there is an actual ship called the Dreadnought. Also includes examples of World Ships (High Charity) and Space Guns (the orbital "Super MAC" platforms). Though it bears mentioning that the UNSC ships called Cruisers and the Covenant ships called Assault Carriers, while having their eponymous function, also have the heavy muscle in ship-to-ship engagements to double as Battlestars. The Supercarriers for both sides take this [[Up to Eleven]]. To give you a good estimate of how big Covie Supercarriers are, they are roughly [http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100926180736/halo/images/8/8a/Assault_vs_Super_n_comp.jpg 5 times the size of the Assault Carrier] (shown on bottom left corner). Halo Wikia puts them at 27 km, bigger than even [[Star Wars]] 's Banner Ship example. There are giant repair and refit stations, too, on the human side: essentially giant squares of titanium a kilometer on a side. They were able to repair and refit six destroyers at a time, and even saw combat {{spoiler|used as giant sacrificial shields large enough to protect an entire human fleet.}} Even larger than those, the ''Hopeful'' was built by welding two of those together, sandwiching a couple fusion power cores, jump engines, and basic defenses... and also building a gigantic state-of-the-art-hospital the size of a small city inside. What happens when you build a Tender ship the size of a Battlestar? This.

* The ''[[Halo (series)|Halo]]'' series is chock-full of these. The human and Covenant navies conform to the standard frigate/cruiser/etc. hierarchy, and all soldiers bear naval ranks (even the Master Chief is [[Captain Obvious|named after a real-life navy rank: Master Chief Petty Officer]]). Both sides make heavy uses of dropships, and there is an actual ship called the Dreadnought. Also includes examples of World Ships (High Charity) and Space Guns (the orbital "Super MAC" platforms). Though it bears mentioning that the UNSC ships called Cruisers and the Covenant ships called Assault Carriers, while having their eponymous function, also have the heavy muscle in ship-to-ship engagements to double as Battlestars. The Supercarriers for both sides take this [[Up to Eleven]]. To give you a good estimate of how big Covie Supercarriers are, they are roughly [http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100926180736/halo/images/8/8a/Assault_vs_Super_n_comp.jpg 5 times the size of the Assault Carrier] (shown on bottom left corner). Halo Wikia puts them at 27 km, bigger than even [[Star Wars]] 's Banner Ship example. There are giant repair and refit stations, too, on the human side: essentially giant squares of titanium a kilometer on a side. They were able to repair and refit six destroyers at a time, and even saw combat {{spoiler|used as giant sacrificial shields large enough to protect an entire human fleet.}} Even larger than those, the ''Hopeful'' was built by welding two of those together, sandwiching a couple fusion power cores, jump engines, and basic defenses... and also building a gigantic state-of-the-art-hospital the size of a small city inside. What happens when you build a Tender ship the size of a Battlestar? This.

* ''[[Homeworld]]'', being a [[Real Time Strategy Game]] [[In Space]], is built around this, including pretty much every ship type above, using most of them verbatim: Fighter (including Bombers and Interceptors), Corvette, Frigate, Carrier, Cruiser, Destroyers, Dreadnoughts. The Mothership is a Battlestar and a Colony Ship, and there are examples of most other ship types.

** The Mothership isn't really a Battlestar as its weaponry is insignificant against anything except Small craft, it does tick the Colony ship and Aircraft carrier boxes though. Its also worth noting that there are major differences between Corvettes, Frigates and Destroyers. The frigate is pretty much exactly as described at the top of the page, while the Destroyer is large and powerful enough to qualify as a Capital ship in the classifications used here. The Corvette falls under the Small craft category, a well armed Shuttle is probably the closest match. Thus we're talking ships that can cut a swathe of destruction against most fighters and also, in reasonable numbers at least, threaten larger vessels. Unless said vessels have weapons that can track and hit Small craft, in which case the Corvette force is going to have casualties, possibly lots.

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** The ''Normandy'', for those interested, is a frigate.

*** The ''Normandy'' SR2 blurs the line between frigate and cruiser in terms of firepower due to its upgrades, which leave it armed, shielded and armoured enough to take down a cruiser. In terms of size, however, it appears the first ''Normandy'' is small for a frigate, likely passing for a corvette in other sci-fi universes, while the second ship is a more front-line size.

** The dreadnoughts in the ME universe overlap significantly with Space Gun; their defining feature among all races is that they have main weapons that are between 0.8 and 1 km in length. They're still well-armed outside of their main gun, however.

** The dreadnoughts in the ME universe overlap significantly with Space Gun; their defining feature among all races is that they have main weapons that are between 0.8 and 1 km in length. They're still well-armed outside of their main gun, however.

*** It's also mentioned that dreadnoughts are at their best as long-range artillery pieces. Which is why the best tactic against them is to close in to "knife range", thus avoiding their main gun. This requires the use of smaller ships to protect the dreadnoughts. This is why the ''Destiny Ascention'' is threatened in the first game. The geth ships appear way to close for it to use its main gun effectively.

** The Reapers' fleets consist of a mixture. The big, Sovereign-sized ships are simply referred to as "capital ships" while much smaller Reaper warships are referred to as "destroyers." They also include troop transports and "processor" ships which {{spoiler|turn organics into husks or raw material to be used to assemble more Reapers.}}

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** The sequel ups the ante by introducing the new leviathan-class ships, super-sized dreadnoughts. The destroyer meanwhile has been relegated to the role of escort ships without FTL drives and are deployed from larger-sized vessels when they arrive at battlefields.

*** The developers have stated why they have drones and destroyer-sized gunboats instead of fighters, they'd just get swatted by point defense (and drones often are).

** The humans also have the Node Missiles, destroyer-sized weapons equipped with FTL drives. They are faster and tougher than any other missile, and several of these can destroy most ships. Unfortunately, they have since been [[Nerf~~|Nerfed~~]] (damage significantly decreased, cost significantly increased) to the point where they're not worth even researching.

** The humans also have the Node Missiles, destroyer-sized weapons equipped with FTL drives. They are faster and tougher than any other missile, and several of these can destroy most ships. Unfortunately, they have since been [[Nerf]]ed (damage significantly decreased, cost significantly increased) to the point where they're not worth even researching.

** Several races also have specialized ships related to their form of [[FTL Travel]]. The [[Planet Looters|Zuul]] have giant space drills that punch temporary holes in space-time. The [[Bee People|Hivers]] have gateships, which deploy to form their [[Portal Network]]. The [[Precursors|Morrigi]] have gravboats, which speed up the fleet during FTL and slow down enemies in battle. Other ships added in the expansions include freighters, q-ships, patrol craft, starbase constructors, and propaganda ships.

** Also of note is that there are no troopships on account of there being ''no ground combat whatsoever''. Rather planets that refuse to surrender are bombarded from orbit, if you don't want to wreck the environment too badly you use assault shuttles or [[Synthetic Plague|biowar]] missiles.

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*** The cruisers have firepower distributed fairly equally around the ship, but turn slowest; the escorts are designed for frontal attacks, and have the fastest turn rates; the science vessels have fewer weapons than cruisers but are more maneuverable. There are some weapons that can only be mounted one one class or another, but the major diffences are the number of consoles each can equip (cruisers get engineering, escorts get tactical and science gets...umm...science) and the number of bridge officers that can be assigned to engineering, tactical or science stations, thus how many different "powers" can be used by each ship. Cruisers, being engineering heavy, have strong defense and power transfer capability. Escorts have more tactical flexibility in terms of weapon power and special movement and attacks. Science vessels are buff/debuff specialists.

* While not generally including a fleshed-out fleet, the ''[[Star Fox (series)|Star FOX]]'' series has a number of ships that fit into the classes: the player-controlled Arwings are typical space fighters, the Great Fox is an Assault Carrier being used as a mobile base, and the enemies and bosses have included [[Humongous Mecha]], Battlecruisers, repurposed Science Vessels and weirder things, including three ships that [[Combining Mecha|combine into one ship]] {{spoiler|and later a robot}}.

* The two main sides ([[Mega Corp|Galactic Spanning Corporation]] and [[La Résistance|Bora colonists]]) in ''[[Tachyon the Fringe|Tachyon: The Fringe]]'' are shown to have ~~[[Standard Sci-Fi Fleet|~~Standard Sci-Fi Fleets]], with GalSpan having the white-and-blue sleek-looking ships, and Bora using mining and cargo ships hastily refitted for combat. The [[All There in the Manual|ship list included with the game]] shows that both sides have a full complement of warships, including frigates, destroyers, cruisers, and carriers, not to mention 5 types of fighter craft for each. Based on the game and the ship list, it doesn't look like anyone else has anything coming close to a full-complement fleet. [[Space Police|Star Patrol]], yet another strong power, only has hyper-advanced ''[[Cool Ship|Enforcer]]''-class fighters and cruisers which seem to combine the best of each capital ship class (i.e. speed/maneuverability of a frigate, firepower of a cruiser, and fighter-carrying capability of a carrier), making them [[The Battlestar|Battlestars]].

* The two main sides ([[Mega Corp|Galactic Spanning Corporation]] and [[La Résistance|Bora colonists]]) in ''[[Tachyon the Fringe|Tachyon: The Fringe]]'' are shown to have Standard Sci-Fi Fleets, with GalSpan having the white-and-blue sleek-looking ships, and Bora using mining and cargo ships hastily refitted for combat. The [[All There in the Manual|ship list included with the game]] shows that both sides have a full complement of warships, including frigates, destroyers, cruisers, and carriers, not to mention 5 types of fighter craft for each. Based on the game and the ship list, it doesn't look like anyone else has anything coming close to a full-complement fleet. [[Space Police|Star Patrol]], yet another strong power, only has hyper-advanced ''[[Cool Ship|Enforcer]]''-class fighters and cruisers which seem to combine the best of each capital ship class (i.e. speed/maneuverability of a frigate, firepower of a cruiser, and fighter-carrying capability of a carrier), making them [[The Battlestar|Battlestars]].

* ''[[Conquest: Frontier Wars]]'', at least for the [[Humans by Any Other Name|Terrans]].

** The Celareons also qualify, except they don't have fighters and carriers, while the majority of the Mantis fleet is made up of carriers.

** The Terrans also have a space gun, capable of shooting halfway across a star system and can [[One-Hit Kill]] almost any ship.

* The [[X (video game)|X-Universe]] has M0 (Planet killers or battleships), M1 (Carriers), M2 (Destroyers), M3 (Heavy Fighters), M3+ (Enhanced Heavy Fighters), M4 (Interceptors), M4+ (heavy interceptors), M5 (Recon craft), M6 (Corvettes), M7 (Frigates), M7M (Missile Frigates), M8 (Bomber), and DO (Drone) ship classes. It also has GO, a special class of what amounts to unarmed cargo shuttles, used exclusively by the Goners.

** It also has four different freighter classes. TS Transports ([[Space Trucker~~|Space Truckers~~]]), TP Personnel Transports (luxury passenger ships), TM Military Transports (TS with much of the cargo bay converted to fighter docking), and TL Station Transports (capital ship-sized freighter for carrying space stations from shipyard to job site).

** It also has four different freighter classes. TS Transports ([[Space Trucker]]s), TP Personnel Transports (luxury passenger ships), TM Military Transports (TS with much of the cargo bay converted to fighter docking), and TL Station Transports (capital ship-sized freighter for carrying space stations from shipyard to job site).

* Naturally, as a space sim, ''[[Wing Commander (video game)|Wing Commander]]'' has most of the standard fleet loadout. The Frigate and Destroyer are reversed in size compared to their [[Real Life]] counterparts, though, if not in firepower. Carriers get broken down into several sub-categories, influenced by the series original focus of the Pacific campaign of [[World War 2]] [[In Space]], including the original escort carriers being first built off of modified transport hulls. Battleships, however, are relegated to being mostly target practice, only seen in the novel ''Action Stations'', set at the start of the Kilrathi war.

* While not the main focus of the ''[[Metroid]]'' games, in ''[[Metroid Prime]] 3'' Samus gets a closer look at the various ship types the Federation and the Space Pirates use. While both have the standard fighters, cruisers and carriers, the Space Pirates have boarding vessels that smash straight into enemy ships to deploy troops, while the Federation has recently introduced a new class of capital ship equipped with a [[Wetware CPU|organic supercomputer]] (and yes, it is [[Epileptic Trees|suspiciously similiar]] to Mother Brain) that replaces most of the usual crew requirements. They use the extra room for [[More Dakka|more weapon systems]].

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* ''[[Haegemonia]]: Legions of Iron'' has these for all three races. You start with just fighters, then can build corvettes, followed by cruisers and, finally, battleships. There are also unarmed support ships, which repair damaged warships in flight, although these are the last to be researched. There are freighters, colony ships, and spy ships. Space stations (asteroid mining stations and military starbases) can move before deploying (they can be undeployed in the expansion). Orbital guns can be built on colonized worlds to defend against attackers. The expansion adds troop transports and several other ship types armed with [[Precursors|Solon]] weaponry.

* In ''[[EV Nova]]'', the Federation and Auroran Empire each have an interceptor, a fighter-bomber, a gunship, a light cruiser, and a carrier. The Federation adds a scoutship, while the Aurorans later develop a fast battleship designed for close-range brawling. The Polaris use [[Living Ship|living ships]] equivalent to fighters, gunships, frigates, destroyers, and two types of [[The Battlestar|battleship/carrier hybrids]]. Meanwhile the Rebels have an interceptor, fighter-bomber, three different gunships, and two different cruisers.

* ''[[Battlestar Galactica Online]]'' has three main classes - Strikes, which are [[Space Fighter~~|Space Fighters~~]], Escorts and Lines. Each class is also subdivided into four different types - Interceptors, Assaults, Command and Multiroles. While the Basestar and ''Pegasus'' can be used, this is only through renting for up to an hour using the most valuable currency and they act as pure combatants without the option to launch fighters. There are Carriers that can carry player Strikes, but no true Battlestars as they can't really contribute to a direct fight. NPC-only classes include drones ranging from human-sized to Strike-sized, automated asteroid weapons platforms and Freighters.

* ''[[Battlestar Galactica Online]]'' has three main classes - Strikes, which are [[Space Fighter]]s, Escorts and Lines. Each class is also subdivided into four different types - Interceptors, Assaults, Command and Multiroles. While the Basestar and ''Pegasus'' can be used, this is only through renting for up to an hour using the most valuable currency and they act as pure combatants without the option to launch fighters. There are Carriers that can carry player Strikes, but no true Battlestars as they can't really contribute to a direct fight. NPC-only classes include drones ranging from human-sized to Strike-sized, automated asteroid weapons platforms and Freighters.

* ''[[Vega Strike]]'' has tactical roles assigned to all vessels, used by combat AI to choose priorities and actions for targets in [[Tactical Rock-Paper-Scissors]], encompassing variety of missiles, small craft, capships and turrets:

** '''Shuttle''' - cargo-hauling small craft, not meant to fight much; most have weak weapons and maneuverability, but good thrust to lug extra mass; top priority: Support, Shuttle.