Special Mission Ship

Line Combatants (Primary - Capital)				Escort Combatants (Secondary - Subcapital)				Military Auxiliary (Tertiary)
B- Battleship	C- Cruiser	O- Ortillery	V- Carrier	D- Destroyer	E- Escort	F- Fighter	H- Defense/Security	I- Combat Transport	Q- Combat Support	S- Scout	U- Utility	X- Commo	Z- Special

Mercantile Commercial Ships (Trade & Profit)				Non-Mercantile Commercial Ships (Industry & Profit)					Non-Commercial Ships (Nonprofit)			System Craft (Intrastellar)
A- Tramp	M- Freighter	R- Liner	T- Transport	G- Industrial	J- Prospector	K- Expedition	P- Corsair	U- Utility	L- Science	N- Medical	Y- Private	WB- Barge	WA- Satellite	WO- Space Station

Z-class Special Mission Ships are special research or test craft used for very specialized missions.

• This grouping includes prototypes, test ships, recovered enemy vessels, alien artifact ships, and other curiosities.
• 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:

• Starship User Types
  • Civilian Ship
  • Military Ship
  • Non-Commercial Vessel
  • Paramilitary Ship

• Advanced Ship Classifications
  • Ship Mission Code / Supraclass
  • Ship Type Code / Superclass
  • Ship Class Code / Class
  • Model (TL)
  • Bloc (Lot)

• Basic Ship Classifications
  • Adventure Class Ship
  • Battle Class Ship
  • Capital Ship
  • Fleet Class Ship
  • Size-Role Classification
  • Subcapital Ship
  • QSP
  • USP
  • World Class Ship

• Ships by Function
  • Bigcraft
  • Boat
  • Capital Ship
  • Largecraft
  • Non-starship
  • Smallcraft
  • Spaceplane
  • Spaceship
  • Starship
  • Subcapital Ship
  • Subcraft
  • System Craft
  • Warship

Speed of Travel

• Astronomical Unit (AU)
• FTL
• Light Speed (c)
• Light-week (lw)
• Light-year (ly)
• NAFAL (STL)
• Parsec (pc)

Description (Specifications)

This supraclass also includes unique ships (...such as one-off prototypes and ships from unknown or vanished civilizations), which consist of a "class" of just one, where there is not a better classification. For instance, the message pod found in Ognar system, containing the only record of their long lost civilization, qualifies as Z-class rather than a W-class station due to its uniqueness, its archaeological importance, and its utter lack of commercial, military, or (aside from the data it serves as an archive for) scientific capability.

Image Repository

No information yet available.

Strategy & Tactics (Doctrine)

It is almost impossible to state a common doctrine for this disparate class as a whole, beyond generalized notes that apply to all ships, as each Z class ship tends to be unique with very specialized mission profiles.

Supraclass Roles

Special Mission Ships typically serve the following roles:
Largecraft, Smallcraft & Bigcraft:

1. Alien Artifact Ship (ZA)
2. Carrier Prototype (ZP)
3. Decoy (ZD)
4. Decoy Vessel (ZD)
5. Drone (ZD)
6. Experimental Craft (ZE)
7. Experimental Far Trader (ZE)
8. Experimental Gunboat (ZE)
9. Experimental Vessel (ZE)
10. Experimental Transport (ZE)
11. Hybrid Experimental Craft (ZE)
12. Hybrid Test Ship (ZE)
13. Prototype (ZP)
14. Prototype Carrier (ZP)
15. Prototype Ship (ZP)
16. Prototype Vessel (ZP)
17. Special Mission Ship (Z) (Namesake)
18. Special Mission Smallcraft (UZ)
19. Test Ship (ZE)
20. Unclassified Ship (ZU)
21. Unique Ship (ZU)
22. Special Mission Ship (Z) (Namesake)

Military Subcraft

Military subcraft (...both smallcraft and bigcraft) are carried by some of these vessels:

1. Battle Rider (BR)
2. Combat Barge (WBG)
3. Combat Transport Smallcraft (UI)
4. Fighters (F)
5. Militarized Utility Craft (UQ)

Supraclass Archetypal Roles

These vessels typically serve the following archetypal roles:

Z-class Special Mission Ship Supraclass Archetypes
Archetype	Type Code	Exemplar	Remarks
Special Mission Ship	Z (Namesake)	Exatar class Ramscoop Jumpship	Special mission ships include a variety of very specialized and low manufacturing run vessels that don't fit well into the fleets of Charted Space. Z = Special (...last letter of Anglic alphabet, a catchall category)
Alien Artifact Ship	ZA	Annic Nova class Far Trader	Alien artifact ships are ships with recovered alien technology often that didn't prove reverse-engineerable, but is very useful to have in service, even if it isn't fully understood. These vessels are very useful and unique treasures and have often been reproduced with conventional technologies that lack the original technology's capabilities. Z = Special (...last letter of Anglic alphabet, a catchall category) A = Alien
Decoy Vessel	ZD	No recorded examples.	Decoy vessels are typically converted from retired or mothballed warship hulls and can be used for deception practices, as fireships, for live fire exercises, or for other unconventional tactics. They are expensive in relationship to their uses, but sometimes perform an irreplaceable function. Z = Special (...last letter of Anglic alphabet, a catchall category) D = Decoy, Drone Bigcraft, etc.
Experimental Vessel	ZE	Star Rider class Experimental Transport	Experimental vessels often function as testbeds for prototype technologies or tactics. Battle riders were originally classified as experimental vessels until they became widely accepted throughout several major navies. Z = Special (...last letter of Anglic alphabet, a catchall category) E = Experimental
Prototype Vessel	ZP	Grey Ghost class Fast Intruder	Experimental vessels lead to prototypes, a testbed evaluator for mature or maturing technology much further along in the development process than an earlier and often yet unproven experimental tech. They often use new ideas, techniques, or theories that have reached a point of pre-operational activity in which designs are probed for flaws and shortcomings. Z = Special (...last letter of Anglic alphabet, a catchall category) P = Prototype
Unclassified Ship or Unique Ship	ZU	The Green Hornet	Unclassified or unique ships are often specially converted as one-offs or are outright produced by a wealthy party as a unique vessel. They forego the cost savings of mass production and economies of scale so they must serve a demanding role that other mainstream vessels could not. Z = Special (...last letter of Anglic alphabet, a catchall category) U = Unique or Unclassified
Drone Smallcraft	UD	Mint class Mining Drone	Drone smallcraft are multi-ton drones that displace less than a 100 tons, and are often used in space where the distances are vast. Smaller vehicular drones simply wouldn't have the endurance and thrust to function efficiently considering the environment. U = Utility D = Drone Smallcraft
Special Mission Smallcraft	UZ	No recorded examples.	Special mission smallcraft perform a wide variety of very specialized smallcraft missions as alien technology demonstrators, prototypes, experimental craft, test ships, and a variety of very small run craft. U = Utility Z = Special (...last letter of Anglic alphabet, a catchall category)
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)

No information yet available.

Selected Variant Types & Classes

Military Ship - Special Mission Ship:

1. No exemplar yet available.

Ship Summary List

Some of the most commonly used vessels in this role include:

0 Representative Special Mission Ship (Z) Classes
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0 Representative Alien Artifact Ship (ZA) Classes
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0 Representative Decoy Vessel (ZD) Classes
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0 Representative Experimental Vessel (ZE) Classes
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0 Representative Prototype Vessel (ZP) Classes
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0 Representative Unique Ship (ZU) Classes
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0 Representative Drone Smallcraft (UD) Classes
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0 Representative Special Mission Smallcraft (UZ) Classes
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References & Contributors (Sources)

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This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Far Future Enterprises or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.

• This article is an amalgamation of many different materials published since 1977.
• Traveller Wiki Editorial Team
• Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science