Security Vessel
H-class Security Vessels and Defensive Vessels covers a spectrum of defensive and security vessels covering many paramilitary and military taskings.
- They are generally considered secondary naval combatants even when they form the first line of defense against enemy fleets. Their inability to conduct primary naval offensive operations is the strategic reason why they are considered secondary naval combatants.
- The class includes the well known System Defense Boat, Monitor, law enforcement craft, police ships, customs vessels, and many more.
- The H-class also includes a range of Bounty Hunter Vessels and Q-ships with specialized police functions and defensive functions versus corsairs, pirates, and/or privateers.
- The Supraclass designation is also known as Ship Mission, Ship Mission Code, Mission, or Ship Hull Designation.
- It is a starship supraclass.
Library Data Referral Tree
Please refer to the following AAB Library Data for more information:
Starship:
- Advanced Ship Classifications
- Ship Mission Code / Supraclass
- Ship Type Code / Superclass
- Ship Class Code / Class
- Model (TL)
- Bloc (Lot)
- Astronomical Unit (AU)
- FTL
- Light Speed (c)
- Light-week (lw)
- Light-year (ly)
- NAFAL (STL)
- Parsec (pc)
Description (Specifications)
H-class Vessel's are not intended for offensive operations, they instead defend and secure fixed locations, almost always mainworlds and their associated star systems. These missions are considered paramilitary by the dominant thoughts of naval strategists within Charted Space.
Image Repository
- A Type T or Lurushaar Kilaalum in 3D B&W render.
- A Shivva class Patrol Frigate image from Deck Plans, one of the most common Zhodani Patrol Vessels.
- A heavily armored Arden class SDB.
- A Dragon class System Defense Boat in action safeguarding a gas giant from marauders wanting to perform wilderness refueling.
Strategy & Tactics (Doctrine)
H-class Vessels have two major taskings:
- Defensive Warfare
- System Security
They are generally considered secondary naval combatants even when they form the first line of defense against enemy fleets. Their inability to conduct primary naval offensive operations is the strategic reason why they are considered secondary naval combatants.
Supraclass Roles
Security & Defensive Vessels typically serve the following roles:
Bounty Hunter Vessels:
Largecraft & Bigcraft:
- Bodyguard Vessel (HH: Special VIP duties)
- Bounty Hunter Vessel (HH)
- Hunter Vessel (HH: Hunting down of criminals with bounties)
- Privateer (PR)
- Privateer Vessel (PR)
- Q-Ship (HQT)
- Ranger Vessel (HPR)
Law Enforcement Vessels:
Largecraft & Bigcraft:
- Constabulary Cruiser (HP)
- Customs Vessel (HP)
- Patrol Escort (HT)
- Patrol Ship (HT)
- Patrol Skiff (HT)
- Patrol Vessel (HTP)
- Police Cruiser (HP)
- Police Ship (HP)
- Quarantine Ship (HP)
- Security Vessel (H) (Namesake)
Defender Vessels:
Largecraft & Bigcraft:
- Defense Vessel (HD)
- Defender (HD)
- Defensive Ship (HD)
- Defensive Vessel (HD)
- Gunboat (HD)
- Heavy System Defense Boat (HSDB)
- Missile Boat (HD)
- Monitor (HM)
- Patrol Fighter (FP: Smallcraft)
- Picket Boat (HD)
- Planetoid Monitor (HMP)
- Sentinel (HD)
- System Defense Boat (HSB: Light)
- System Defense Boat (HSDB: Heavy)
Size-Class Roles for Security Vessels
- Utility Craft (U) (1 to 99 tons)
- Very Light Security Vessel (HV) (100 to 2,499 tons)
- Light Security Vessel (HL) (2,500 to 99,999 tons)
- Medium Security Vessel (HM) (100,000 to 199,999 tons)
- Heavy Security Vessel (HH) (250,000 to 499,999 tons)
- Superheavy Security Vessel (HS) (500,000 to 999,999 tons)
- Ultraheavy Security Vessel (HU) (1,000,000 or more tons)
Military Subcraft
Military subcraft (...both smallcraft and bigcraft) are carried by some of these vessels:
- Battle Rider (BR)
- Combat Barge (WBG)
- Combat Transport Smallcraft (UI)
- Fighters (F)
- Militarized Utility Craft (UQ)
Supraclass Archetypal Roles
These vessels typically serve the following archetypal roles:
H-class Defense / Security Vessel Supraclass Archetypes | |||
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Archetype | Type Code | Exemplar | Remarks |
Security Vessel | H (Namesake) | Fazachu class System Defense Boat | H-class security vessels cover a vast variety of vessels from paramilitary policing types, to bounty hunters, to dedicated military defensive types and more...
|
Defender | HD | Kaga class System Monitor | While most H-class vessels serve paramilitary functions, HD-Defenders are specifically military vessels with a dedicated defense mission. Most SDBs are considered paramilitary and are attached to planetary fleets, while most defenders are part of subsector or sector fleets and integrated into a larger strategic mission, often with better access to service facilities and jump shuttles for greater strategic mobility.
|
Bounty Hunter Vessel | HH | Huntress class Bounty Hunter | None
|
Monitor | HM | Empress Troyhune class Planetoid Monitor | None
|
Police Ship | HP | Stenka class Security Vessel | None |
Q-Ship | HQT | Fenris class Q-ship | None
|
System Defense Boat | HSB | Dragon class System Defense Boat | The first SDBs were of light to medium displacement, often retired hulls that were repurposed to form a plausible line of defense for star systems. They used a type code of SB or HSB.
|
System Defense Boat | HSDB | Zhodatl class System Defense Boat | HSDB defenders possess medium to heavy displacement and came after the HSB series as SDBs were increasingly fulfilling the hopes of naval strategists and successfully defending star systems. Many are specialized for gas giant and planetoid belt ambushes.
|
Patrol Ship | HT | Lurushaar Kilaalum class Corvette | Light to medium displacement.
|
Patrol Vessel | HTP | Shivva class Patrol Frigate | Medium to heavy displacement.
|
Privateer Vessel | PRP | Slade Mark I class Frontier Raider | Privateers are a polity-sanctioned vessel that raids opposing polity vessels with a legal sanction.
|
NOTES: There is semantic overlap between many of the classes and codes. Some codes organize by mission or capability, others by size and tonnage, and yet others by other characteristics. |
History & Background (Dossier)
Military engineering is a constant tug of war conducted over millennia as competing technologies are continually developed, each changing the nature of warfare. The battle rider / carrier concept is only one of many relatively contemporary concepts that has been experimented with.
And the balance of defensive to offensive combat allocation is another. H-class vessels represent efforts to bolster the demands of security and defensive needs. These vessels and craft specialize in defending the smallest possible unit of value in an interstellar age, the star system. They include all manner of defenders from the smallest police smallcraft to the ubiquitous system defense boat to the mightiest of monitors. They often form the first and last line of defense as well as everything inbetween.
Selected Variant Types & Classes
Paramilitary Ship - Security Vessel:
Ship Summary List
Some of the most commonly used vessels in this role include:
25 Representative Security Vessel (H) Classes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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0 Representative Defender (HD) Classes | |
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No results |
0 Representative Bounty Hunter Vessel (HH) Classes | |
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No results |
5 Representative Monitor (HM) Classes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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0 Representative Planetoid Monitor (HMP) Classes | |
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No results |
4 Representative Police Vessel (HP) Classes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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0 Representative Q-Ship (HQT) Classes | |
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No results |
11 Representative System Defense Boat (HS) Classes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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5 Representative Patrol Ship (HT) Classes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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References & Contributors (Sources)
This article is missing content for one or more detailed sections. Additional details are required to complete the article. You can help the Traveller Wiki by expanding it. |
- This article is an amalgamation of many different materials published since 1977.
- TBD
- Traveller Wiki Editorial Team
- Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science