|
|
| (5 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown) |
| Line 1: |
Line 1: |
| '''This category lists the currently active cruiser classes.''' | | '''This category lists the currently active cruiser classes.''' |
| <br><br> | | <br><br> |
| ;Attack Cruiser: | | ==Guide Definition== |
| Variant of cruiser dedicated to offensive operations and planetary assault, often sacrificing endurance and research capacity for high cruise speed and heavy weaponry. Also called strike cruiser in late 23rd century. Applied e.g. to variants of Caracal and Mann classes. Designation not currently in use in Starfleet.
| | ;Cruiser: |
| ;Auxiliary cruiser:
| | #Medium multi-purpose starship. Sub-designations include battle cruiser, command cruiser, heavy cruiser, light cruiser, medium cruiser, attack/strike cruiser, and through-deck cruiser. The largest Earth or UFP exploration vessels until early 24th century. Later relegated to lesser duties with the introduction of large numbers of explorer starships. |
| Starship of typically commercial or otherwise limited-performance origin pressed to cruiserlike duty. Auxiliary cruisers are a low-cost way of boosting specific aspects of Starfleet cruiser strength, and have been used for survey, escort and patrol duty. Certain ship classes have also been constructed specifically with auxiliary cruiser duty in mind.
| | #Auxiliary cruiser. Conversion of an originally civilian type (transport, starliner) into an auxiliary vessel by the adding of mission gear such as weaponry. Subtypes include exploratory cruiser, escort cruiser, and patrol cruiser. Typically utilized in times of dire crisis, such as the Romulan and Dominion wars and the Klingon cold war era. |
| ;Battle Cruiser:
| | #Pleasure cruiser. Civilian starship type optimized for maximum comfort during interstellar voyages. Not to be confused with Starfleet-operated cruisers or auxiliary cruisers, although pleasure cruisers can be pressed to auxiliary duty in activation classes of 7 or lower.<br> |
| Variant of cruiser purely dedicated to offensive operations, carrying heavy armament more typical of larger ships and thus making significant sacrifices in other fields. Designation no longer used in Starfleet, but applied to a variety of foreign designs, especially Klingon vessels. Previous Starfleet classes include Advance, Apache, Menahga, Mitannic, S’Harien and Andernach, as well as some experimental designs.
| | :''Recognized line variants include: attack, battle, command, escort, exploratory, heavy, light, medium, patrol, strike, survey & through-deck.'' |
| ;Command Cruiser:
| | |
| Variant of cruiser dedicated to coordination of multi-ship operations or other large scale military maneuvers, often carrying reduced armament yet improved C3I systems and facilities in comparison with similarly sized cruisers of other types. Also considered a subtype of command ship. Command cruisers in Starfleet service include Unity and Balson classes, as well as variants of e.g. Caracal and Excelsior classes; in the 24th century, need for spaceframe modifications in the command role has been drastically reduced, and no dedicated command cruiser classes have been introduced since the 2290s.
| | ==Game Definition== |
| ;Escort:
| | Cruisers are the largest ships-of-the-line within Starfleet. They were generally two-hulled, with two nacelles on individual pylons and capable of long-duration, independent operations. Exceptions were sometimes seen for the single-hulled (notably in the large ''[[Constellation (Guide)|Constellation]]'' class), as well as the triple-nacelled dreadnoughts and (common vernacular) 'battleships' (such as the then-new ''[[Excelsior (Guide)|Excelsior]]s''). In peacetime, these vessels were the explorers, diplomats, trouble-shooters and all around jack-of-all-trades. In wartime, their mission was part of a designed fleet or as the lead vessel in a multi-ship (3-10) task formation. Their [[Tactical Systems (Build)|tactical systems]] tend to be the standard one for Starfleet (1.5 x Size in beam weapons and 0.5 x Size in missile weapons), with a healthy mix of both beam and torpedo weapons. |
| Defense starship used for convoy protection. Designation generally used only as a mission description of various starship types, not as a ship type, yet also including the dedicated Remora, Remora (II) and Chimera classes. Also applied in late 24th century on the experimental Defiant class for counter-intelligence reasons. Normally, deep space escort duties are handled by ships of light cruiser or frigate category, although destroyers and perimeter ships have at times been pressed to this duty as well.
| | |
| ;Exploratory cruiser:
| | * '''Role''': independent exploration & diplomacy, trouble-shooting; flagship in (small) formations and capital ships within fleet operations |
| #Dedicated exploration vessel typically converted from a civilian design; variant of auxiliary cruiser. Designation applied e.g. on Daedalus, Castor and Lng’we Chi classes. See survey cruiser.
| | * '''Size''': larger than [[:Category:ActiveDestroyerClasses|destroyers]] |
| #Large multi-purpose starship biased towards exploration operations. Designation applied e.g. on Enterprise class and Tikopai subclass of heavy cruisers, vessels significantly more capable than auxiliary cruisers. See individual ship entries for proper division between the two meanings of the designation, typically dictated by acquisition politics.
| | * '''Weapons''': standard phaser use and light-to-standard torpedo use |
| ;Heavy Cruiser:
| |
| Medium multi-purpose starship with heavy torpedo and phaser armament and shuttlecraft capacities. More capable overall than light cruiser, superior to scout in exploration capacity and to destroyer or frigate in offensive and defensive power. Classes include Triton, Enterprise, Horizon, Baton Rouge, Constitution, Excelsior, Apollo, Ambassador, Niagara, Akira. Standard heavy cruiser mission profile includes deep space exploration and power projection, although the ships are well equipped to handle lesser research and defense roles as well.
| |
| ;Light Cruiser:
| |
| Fast medium multi-purpose starship with medium torpedo and phaser armament and shuttlecraft capacities. Falls between heavy cruiser and scout in exploration capacities, and heavy cruiser and destroyer or frigate in defense capacities. Normally sacrifices defensive and/or research gear for higher speed, lower operating costs and smaller crew requirements. Typically single-hulled, usually carries integrated systems instead of frigate-style pods. Classes include Texas, Ranger, Amchitka, Kearsarge, Chesapeake, Wambundu, Cheyenne, Griffin and Intrepid, with subclasses, as well as ‘lightly equipped’ variants of large cruisers, e.g. Caracal class. <br>
| |
| Some light cruisers were in the late 23rd century called heavy frigates for reasons of acquisition politics. Certain parallels also exist between the capabilities of mid-24th century frigates and light cruisers. The current trend is to designate all medium multi-purpose starships as light cruisers and to give them as much modularity as possible. <br>
| |
| Standard light cruiser mission profile includes colonial support, convoy escort and border patrol duties, as well as some limited scouting and exploration operations and courier duties. Due to relative inflexibility of design, light cruisers often perform a narrower mission spectrum than their heavy counterparts, especially in times of crisis.
| |
| ;Medium Cruiser:
| |
| Multi-purpose starship with medium torpedo and phaser armament and shuttlecraft capacities. A complementary designation seldom applied, usually simply interchangeable with cruiser. Classes include Armstrong, Rochester, Taurus, Odysseus, Constellation, NCA, Hokule’a, Prometheus, with numerous subclasses.
| |
| ;Patrol Cruiser:
| |
| Dedicated anti-intrusion patrol vessel typically converted from a civilian design; variant of auxiliary cruiser. Designation applied e.g. on patrol variants of Independence and Sydney classes of transports.
| |
| ;Strike Cruiser:
| |
| Variant of cruiser dedicated to offensive operations including planetary assault, usually lacking in exploration capacity. Also called attack cruiser. Applied e.g. to Belknap, Impervious and Excel classes. Designation and mission abandoned in Starfleet in 24th century, but still applied to a wide variety of foreign designs.
| |
| ;Survey Cruiser:
| |
| Subtype of auxiliary cruiser, intended especially for long voyages of interstellar exploration. Also sometimes known as exploratory cruiser, but see this entry for alternate meanings. Designation applied to e.g. Cosmos, Daedalus, Libra and Castor classes but largely abandoned by the 24th century, as sufficient exploration capacity on all starships was made a priority in Starfleet.
| |
| ;Through-deck Cruiser:
| |
| A special designation for variants of late 23rd century cruiser designs with enlarged flight decks. Intended both to fight as cruisers and to support tactical craft operations in planetary assault missions. Classes include Coronado and Advance. Designation later abandoned, the role taken over by standard defense starships equipped with standard-size shuttlebays. See also strike carrier.
| |
This category lists the currently active cruiser classes.
Guide Definition
- Cruiser
- Medium multi-purpose starship. Sub-designations include battle cruiser, command cruiser, heavy cruiser, light cruiser, medium cruiser, attack/strike cruiser, and through-deck cruiser. The largest Earth or UFP exploration vessels until early 24th century. Later relegated to lesser duties with the introduction of large numbers of explorer starships.
- Auxiliary cruiser. Conversion of an originally civilian type (transport, starliner) into an auxiliary vessel by the adding of mission gear such as weaponry. Subtypes include exploratory cruiser, escort cruiser, and patrol cruiser. Typically utilized in times of dire crisis, such as the Romulan and Dominion wars and the Klingon cold war era.
- Pleasure cruiser. Civilian starship type optimized for maximum comfort during interstellar voyages. Not to be confused with Starfleet-operated cruisers or auxiliary cruisers, although pleasure cruisers can be pressed to auxiliary duty in activation classes of 7 or lower.
- Recognized line variants include: attack, battle, command, escort, exploratory, heavy, light, medium, patrol, strike, survey & through-deck.
Game Definition
Cruisers are the largest ships-of-the-line within Starfleet. They were generally two-hulled, with two nacelles on individual pylons and capable of long-duration, independent operations. Exceptions were sometimes seen for the single-hulled (notably in the large Constellation class), as well as the triple-nacelled dreadnoughts and (common vernacular) 'battleships' (such as the then-new Excelsiors). In peacetime, these vessels were the explorers, diplomats, trouble-shooters and all around jack-of-all-trades. In wartime, their mission was part of a designed fleet or as the lead vessel in a multi-ship (3-10) task formation. Their tactical systems tend to be the standard one for Starfleet (1.5 x Size in beam weapons and 0.5 x Size in missile weapons), with a healthy mix of both beam and torpedo weapons.
- Role: independent exploration & diplomacy, trouble-shooting; flagship in (small) formations and capital ships within fleet operations
- Size: larger than destroyers
- Weapons: standard phaser use and light-to-standard torpedo use