History Main / StandardSciFiFleet

An AirborneAircraftCarrier several thousand feet (plus!) higher. Lightly armed, but carries Space Fighters of all kinds and is usually escorted by other Capital Ships. As such, much of the Carrier massive hull is dedicated to launching and supporting smaller combat craft. Carriers have no large ship-mounted weapons, sometimes using light anti-fighter weaponry and relies on defensive measures. Their primary means of offense is through it's fighters. Somewhat like the SquishyWizard of Capital Ships, especially when no Science Vessel is at hand. Occasionally has a [[MookMaker built-in factory]].

Analogous to [=PT=] boats and gunboats, this craft are usually very small, fragile, and are used as police ships and/or for harassment. Not often a Hero's current ship, but often was his/her first command. Blurs the line between Bombers and Cutters -- cheap enough to produce in numbers, and sometimes fast and agile enough to be be a threat.

* '''Destroyer''' originally came from "''torpedo boat'' destroyer" and for most of the 20th and 21st centuries destroyers have evolved to take on anti-submarine, -missile and -aircraft duties; as such, authors who have ShownTheirWork while adhering to classical naming conventions will portray destroyers as being point defense-heavy to defend capitals from small craft. However, settings that don't strictly adhere to such naming conventions will often refer to destroyers as purpose-built ships created to eliminate enemy ships, [[AccidentallyCorrectWriting which is a role they are starting to take on in the modern day]], and ship classifications being arbitrary and subject to change based on the whims of political factors is also in line with history.

* '''Destroyer''' originally came from "''torpedo boat'' destroyer" and for most of the 20th and 21st centuries destroyers have evolved to take on anti-submarine, -missile and -aircraft duties; as such, authors who have ShownTheirWork while adhering to classical naming conventions will portray destroyers as being point defense-heavy to defend capitals from small craft. However, settings that don't strictly adhere to such naming conventions will often refer to destroyers as purpose-built ships created to eliminate enemy ships, [[AccidentallyCorrectWriting which is a role they are starting to take on in the modern day]].

** Battlestar: Any capital ship worth its salt carries fighters, but the Imperial Star Destroyers (despite the name, are referred to as cruisers according to both Han and the script in ANH, and battleships from in the scripts from ESB and onwards, and Legends EU would establish that Star Destroyer is short for "Star System Destroyer" and should be capitalized to distinguish them from more conventional destroyers) and Mon Calamari Star Cruisers make big business out of it. ''Providence''-class, ''Venator''-class and ''Secutor''-class ships and Yuuzhan Vong Grand Cruisers (notably Shedao Shai's ''Legacy of Torment'') also fall here.

*** From the EU: The ''Eclipse''-class Star Destroyer, roughly the size of the ''Executor'' but armed with a scaled-down superlaser. The superlaser can crack the crust of a planet or instantly disintegrate a starship. Due to the incredible cost and scale of the ship and the chaos caused by Emperor Palpatine's death, only two were ever made; crime lord Tyber Zann stole one, but found that its incredible size and distinctiveness made it impossible for him to hide and abandoned it.

** Battlestar: Any capital ship worth its salt carries fighters, but the Imperial Star Destroyers (despite the name, they're referred to as cruisers by both Han and the script, and Legends EU would establish that Star Destroyer is short for "Star System Destroyer" and should be capitalized to distinguish them from more conventional destroyers) and Mon Calamari Star Cruisers make big business out of it. ''Providence''-class, ''Venator''-class and ''Secutor''-class ships and Yuuzhan Vong Grand Cruisers (notably Shedao Shai's ''Legacy of Torment'') also fall here.

* Multiplayer strategy space sim ''VideoGame/{{Allegiance}}'' has a wide variety of ships that a team can develop for its players, the better to crush the other team. Because the emphasis is on small ships, most of the classes would fit under "Space Fighter" in the standard sci-fi fleet. All factions start with Scouts, which are very light fighters with good sensors. Most also get either Fighters, which are JackOfAllStats of combat ships, or Interceptors, which are tougher and less flexible, designed for short-range combat. A team must protect its [[AsteroidMiners miners]] to get the resources to develop more ship types, and better versions of the ones it has. There are also Stealth Fighters, designed to take down the enemy's Mining Ships. And there are Bombers, Stealth Bombers, and [[DropShip Troop Transports]], which are used to capture enemy bases. Mining Ships and Constructors are basically specialized Cargo Ships. And rich teams can also get capital ships, which is risky, but can turn the game into a CurbStompBattle if successful. The largest are the Battleships, which can win a game single-handedly with a bit of luck, but are very expensive to get. There are also Assault Carriers, which are a toned-down variant of TheBattlestar with weak cannons, but the ability to teleport in smaller fighters and repair them. Lighter capital ship classes are also present.

*** 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.

In real life, this was a ship as fast as a cruiser but with reduced protection compared to a battleship and sometimes firepower, meant to seek and destroy enemy cruisers, where a battleship's extra armour wouldn't be a significant advantage and their inferior speed would mean enemy cruisers can outrun them. During [=WW1=], battlecruisers ended up serving with the main battle fleet because their firepower was too valuable to pass up, but their lack of armor [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Jutland became a liability]] for the Brits. In science fiction, usage of "battlecruiser" may vary. A lot of the time science fiction works just ditch the "battleship" name and instead call their biggest, most powerful ships "battlecruisers", probably because "battleship" sounds archaic (and battlecruiser ''does'' sound [[RuleOfCool cooler]]). If the fictional work has both battleships and battlecruisers, then expect the latter to be slightly smaller versions of the former, despite not being the case in real life (for decades, the largest capital ship was actually a battlescruiser, HMS Hood). A less commonly seen variant is the "War Cruiser". In science fiction, battlecruisers are often a fleet mainstay, serving not only in combat but also diplomatic, patrol, and just as the pride and joy of a fleet, the finest ship to serve on. War cruisers are an attempt to put the weapons of a battlecruiser on a smaller hull, thus being less expensive. This, of course means that there will be absolutely no non-combat related facilities(research labs, manufacturing, diplomatic facilities, cargo areas, recreational decks or lounges), very limited backup facilities, and much less spacious quarters.

Normally unarmed in case of prison revolts but also escorted to prevent break-outs from outside forces. Prison ships are rare in military settings but will normally occur in settings with CasualInterstellarTravel. This has some basis in RealLife, with the use of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison_ship prison ships]] as a cheap alternative to building additional prisons, especially during wartime. Such vessels were often {{Hellhole Prison}}s.

** There's also mention of the [[https://www.schlockmercenary.com/2018-06-24 Planet Mercenary Rating System]] which is used to provide a weay of comparing the combat effectiveness of ships between different species who might have different definitions for ship classes. The rating system uses a letter to define the size of the ship followed by a number that represents the threat it poses.

* ''VideoGame/FreeSpace'' 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 ''VideoGame/BluePlanet'' mod adds the United Earth Federation's "frigates", which are a classic example of a Gundam-style Assault Carrier.

Forms the backbone of a SpaceNavy. Compare/contrast StandardSciFiArmy, which may be on hand to fight boarding parties or conquer worlds.

* ''WebOriginal/OrionsArm'' uses [[http://www.orionsarm.com/eg-topic/486d32520b1cc pretty much the whole variety]]. There are small ships like Landers, Singleships, Gravity Tugs, and Miners, transports like the Grapeships, a variety of Explorers, Cargo Ships, {{Colony Ship}}s, Seedships, and GenerationShips, giant habitats like Cyclers, and Worldships, and detachable drives like Boostbeams and Solar Moths. Then there are oddities like Museum Ships, Civilization Ships, Arkships, Linelayers, and others. As far as warships are concerned, Corvettes, Cruisers, Carriers, Dreadnoughts, and massive Leviathans have all been used in the past, with the largest ever being the Juggernaut Class. Capital ships are also accompanied by self-replicating robotic escorts called Autowars. There are also some truly bizarre ships, like the Zoeific Bioships, the Muuh Iceships, and the Voidships.

More akin to fighters and interceptors due to their agility but at the expense of heavy attack and defense compared to their humongous counterparts, these would have been more useful for anti-mecha combat than anti-ship combat.

Small and specialized modules, pods are not craft in their own right. They are carried by larger ships as auxiliaries. Most can hold one to two people, others can hold about a platoon of personnel. Of course, the term “small” can be relative. A Pod for a single Mecha would be the size of a small house.

Instead of deploying infantry from a landed ship or transport, sometimes individual soldiers or HumongousMecha will be dropped onto a planet's surface from orbiting craft using armoured pods. Generally single-use.

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 MechaExpansionPack). Commonly used by {{Space Fighter}}s or HumongousMecha, although versions for larger ships are also seen from time to time. They're always ''way'' cooler than mere Space Tugboats.

* Franchise/{{Gundam}} is the (sub-) {{Trope Namer|s}} for the Assault Carrier, which often serves as the CoolStarship for the main cast, and otherwise features primarily Cruisers and Battleships with [[HumongousMecha Mobile Suits]] as their primary space fighter. As well as, naturally, Space Colonies and other stations. It should be noted that after the One Year War, nearly ''all'' ships in the Universal Century (and in most of the Alternate Universes for that matter) carried Mobile Suits, so the Battlestar and Carrier classifications were pretty redundant.

** The RX-78 [=GP03=] Gundam Dendrobium from ''Gundam 0083 Stardust Memory'' is an example of a HumongousMecha (the Stamen) with a Detatchable Drive (the Orchis). This also applies to the METEOR units for both the Freedom and Justice Gundams in ''Gundam SEED''

* ''Anime/{{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, HumongousMecha, 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.

* The Iron Tribe (Humans) and most other tribes in ''Anime/HeroicAge'' 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 Battlestar that carried HumongousMecha and small satellite-like drones instead of Fighters.

** No HumongousMecha in space, though the Imperials always use them on the ground. These are referred to as "walkers", and tend to be either giant quadrupeds or hexapods used as tank equivalents (such as the Imperial AT-AT, or the Republican AT-TE predecessors) or small, two-legged {{Chicken Walker}}s used as scouts and skirmishers (such as the AT-ST).

** The major powers operate just about the whole list except for HumongousMecha. Battlestars are exceedingly popular.

* In the ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' universe the only ships capable of interstellar travel are fragile [=JumpShips=] (basically detachable drives that ferry smaller ships and cargo pods) and heavily armored [=WarShips=], which are divided into the usual designations (frigates, cruisers, battleships, and such). The Succession Wars destroyed all known [=WarShips=] in the Inner Sphere, leaving [=JumpShips=] as the only means of interstellar travel. This forces [=DropShips=] filled with HumongousMecha into heavy use and limits space combat to fighters trying to kill said [=DropShips=] before they reach a planetary surface. The return of the Clan forces and their full armada of [=WarShips=] changes the equation a bit.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Lancer}}: Battlegroup'' covers basically the whole catalog of ship types between frigates, carriers, battleships, escorts, and (fighter) wings. Interestingly for a spin-off of a HumongousMecha game, mechs have only a minor role as an expensive type of wing that can perform boarding actions. Frigates and larger ships are classified as "capital ships" as they're capable of independent nearlight travel, while escorts and wings are treated as capital ship systems.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Rifts}}'' used shuttles of various types for the ''Mutants In Orbit'' {{Sourcebook}}, and also used PoweredArmor and HumongousMecha in space, just like on the ground. The ''Phase World/Three Galaxies'' setting had all that, and also ships of every kind mentioned above.
* ''TabletopGame/StarFleetBattles'' had almost all of these ship types *except* the HumongousMecha fighter.

* ''{{TabletopGame/Traveller}}'' Classic had all of these ship types except for the Bomber, HumongousMecha and Worldship. The smallest warships with spinal mounts could count as Space Gunships.

* ''Starfire'' has all of these classes except humongous mecha, surpassing the battleship in size with the Super Dreadnought and the even-larger Monitor. Not surprising, since David Weber (of ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' fame) was a major contributor to this game's development.

** Forerunners followed a similar mechanic as well. On the base level were War Sphinxes and Seekers, a manned or unmanned cross between a SpaceFighter and HumongousMecha. Then you'd have standard warships such as [[http://www.halopedia.org/images/d/de/H3-ForerunnerDreadnoughtKeyship.png dreadnoughts]] and [[http://www.halopedia.org/images/f/f3/HW17.png cruisers,]] a single one of which had enough power to smash through an entire fleet of opposition. Finally, there were the aptly-named Fortress-class vessels, massive vessels each 100 kilometers long, capable of holding massive fleets of their own within. Of course, all but the Halo and Shield Installations were dwarfed by the ridiculously massive ''[[http://www.halopedia.org/images/1/15/H4-MantlesApproach-ScanRender.png Mantle's Approach,]]'' a {{Battlestar}} among {{Battlestar}}s, sizing up to a height of ''371 kilometers''.

* The ''VideoGame/RType'' series has the player's R9 spacefighter, Bydo fighters, carriers, HumongousMecha, a modular cruiser, and a recurring mega-battleship boss that [[BattleshipRaid occupies an entire level]] in each game it appears in. Some levels take place inside worldships or supercarriers.

* While not generally including a fleshed-out fleet, the ''VideoGame/StarFox'' 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 HumongousMecha, Battlecruisers, repurposed Science Vessels and weirder things, including three ships that [[CombiningMecha combine into one ship]] [[spoiler: and later a robot]].

* ''VisualNovel/{{Sunrider}}'' has frigates, destroyers, cruisers, carriers, and extremely rare ([[MileLongShip and gigantic]]) super-dreadnoughts. Traditional space fighters are replaced by HumongousMecha called Ryders which fulfill many of the same roles. The Sunrider itself is TheBattlestar, an experimental assault carrier: it was unique at the time of its creation, but by the end of the first game PACT has begun mass-producing their own version. The sequel adds gunboats and fast cruisers to the mix.

More akin to fighters due to their lightweight but at the expense of heavy attack and defense compared to their humongous counterparts, these would have been more useful for anti-mecha combat than anti-ship combat.

!!HumongousMecha

* Played with in the ''LightNovel/CrestOfTheStars''. There are several superficially recognizable ship classes, all with the familiar names... But then you suddenly understand that these names are ''translations'' from the local ConLang and all these classes reflect completely different fleet organization and tactics. What about their battleships being completely PointDefenseless [[MacrossMissileMassacre missile platforms]] and shifting all point defence onto special ship class, and so on...

** Battlestar: Any capital ship worth its salt carries fighters, but the Imperial Star Destroyers and Mon Calamari Star Cruisers make big business out of it. ''Providence''-class, ''Venator''-class and ''Secutor''-class ships and Yuuzhan Vong Grand Cruisers (notably Shedao Shai's ''Legacy of Torment'') also fall here.

** In ''Nova'', the Federation and Auroran Empire each have an interceptor, a fighter-bomber, a gunship, a battlecruiser, and a carrier (in both cases, the carriers could be classified as [[TheBattlestar Type 2 battlestars]] as they possess moderate weapons and heavy armor). The Federation adds a scoutship and prototype a (larger) gunship during the game, while the Aurorans later develop a fast battleship designed for close-range brawling. The Polaris use {{living ship}}s equivalent to fighters, gunships, frigates, destroyers, and two different [[TheBattlestar Type 1 battlestars]] (one of which is massive and armed enough to serve double duty as a dreadnaught). Meanwhile the Rebels have an interceptor, fighter-bomber, three different gunships, and two different cruisers. While most pirate ships are fighters, Blockade Runners and Q-ships, they also have a carrier and a capital ship that can take different roles.

** In ''Nova'', the Federation and Auroran Empire each have an interceptor, a fighter-bomber, a gunship, a battlecruiser, and a carrier (in both cases, the carriers could be classified as [[TheBattlestar Type 2 battlestars]] as they possess moderate weapons and heavy armor). The Federation adds a scoutship and prototype a (larger) gunship during the game, while the Aurorans later develop a fast battleship designed for close-range brawling. The Polaris use {{living ship}}s equivalent to fighters, gunships, frigates, destroyers, and two different [[TheBattlestar Type 1 battlestars]]. Meanwhile the Rebels have an interceptor, fighter-bomber, three different gunships, and two different cruisers. While most pirate ships are fighters, Blockade Runners and Q-ships, they also have a carrier and a capital ship that can take different roles.