Carrier
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V-class Carriers are designed to carry large numbers of combatant subcraft, which in turn attack the enemy’s combatant vessels or world surfaces.
- Tenders and Carriers form the mission category: Subcraft Carriers.
- The most common types are Carriers and Tenders. Carriers tend to carry both smallcraft (boats) and bigcraft (riders), whereas tenders typically carry or otherwise support bigcraft in various ways.
- Assault Carriers carry troops in Assault Landers and other ground assault craft in support of planetary invasion.
- Fighter Carriers carry fast attack smallcraft (fighters) and attack boats.
- Rider Carriers carry bigcraft (riders) of various sorts, line combat and otherwise.
- Fleet Carriers are Rider Carriers that meet fleet mobility standards.
- Battle Carriers are Fleet Carriers that carry Battleriders.
- Battle Tenders are both Fleet Tenders and Battlerider Carriers combined into one, carrying both their primary sub-vessels as well as all of their their logistical, resupply, and replenishment stores and associated auxiliary craft.
- Commercial or civilian tenders tend to be called Ship Transporters among other terms.
- The Supraclass designation is also known as Ship Mission, Ship Mission Code, Mission, or Ship Hull Designation.
- It is a starship supraclass.
Description (Specifications)[edit]
Carriers are starships designed to carry large numbers of smaller combat vessels, termed either fighters, attack boats, or gunships to screen the battle fleet or support a planetary invasion, or combat riders in the case of larger bigcraft. The smaller craft are arranged into groupings known as carried squadrons.
- Fighters and light gunboats are little more than an annoying distraction in a major fleet action, but they can be extremely effective against ships of cruiser class or less.
- Frequently large displacement hulls are used with an unstreamlined dispersed structure. Imperial navies prefer hulls which can carry some armor and often use large launch tubes for rapid fighter deployment and recovery, often in place of a spinal mounted weapon, and sometimes in addition to it. Screens, repulsors, and defensive batteries are a top priority for protection and numerous small beam batteries are used to shoot down enemy fighters.
Image Repository[edit]
This image repository contains a selection of carrier images:
- No image yet available.
- No image yet available.
- No image yet available.
Type ECV Escort Carrier / Type VFLS Very Light Carrier:
- A Hyperion class Escort Carrier in Nist military service cruising past a moon.
- No image yet available.
- Please see Tender article.
- No image yet available.
- No image yet available.
- No image yet available.
Type VFB/VRB Battle/Heavy Carrier:
- No image yet available.
Type VRS/VFS Superheavy Carrier:
- No image yet available.
Type VRU/VFU Ultraheavy Carrier:
- No image yet available.
Strategy & Tactics (Doctrine)[edit]
To understand carrier operations is to understand the utility and limitations of fleet fighters. Carriers are used to defend fleets from enemy fighters. They can maintain a combat space patrol. Fighters with sufficiently large and sophisticated computers can score hits on enemy minor combatants and degrade enemy escort strength. One squadron per escort is typical for massed volley fire. Fusion armed fighters rush in for close assaults to increase their chances of scoring penetrating hits against low agility lightly armored targets. Fighters can be used to finish weakened ships which have withdrawn from the line of battle for repairs. They can provide cover for boarding operations as well. They can provide close point defense by intercepting homing ordinance targeting friendly fleet assets. They are invaluable for planetary assaults and are critical for marines to survive. Close fighter support allows assault capsules to land, supplies to arrive and wounded to be evacuated. Fighter strikes are used to smash hard targets so that marine forces can bypass centers of resistance and maintain an accelerated offensive tempo vital for their style of assault. They leave protracted siege to follow on army units.
Supraclass Roles[edit]
Subcraft Carriers typically serve as Carriers or Tenders:
Carriers typically serve the following roles:
Largecraft & Bigcraft:
| V-class Carrier Supraclass Archetypes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Archetype | Type Code | ||
| Carrier | V (namesake) | ||
| Assault Carrier (Lander Carrier) | VL/VLA | ||
| Battle Carrier (Rider Carrier) | VB/VRB | ||
| Command Carrier | VC | ||
| Escort Carrier | EV | ||
| Fleet Carrier (Fleet-mobile Fighter/Attack-Boat Carrier) | VN | ||
| Heavy Carrier | VB/VRB/VFB | ||
| Light Carrier | VFL | ||
| Mercenary Carrier | EVL/EVM | ||
| Micro-Escort Carrier | EVLS | ||
| Pocket Carrier | VLS/VFLS | ||
| Provincial Combat Carrier | VF | ||
| Range Carrier | VF | ||
| Strike Carrier | VFK | ||
| System Defense Carrier | VD | ||
Tenders typically serve the following roles:
Largecraft & Bigcraft:
| VT-class Tender Supraclass Archetypes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Archetype | Type Code | ||
| Tender (Militarized) | VT (Namesake) | ||
| Commercial Tender | TV | ||
| Attack Boat Tender | VTF | ||
| Battle Tender | VTB | ||
| Battlerider Carrier | VTR | ||
| Command Tender | VTC | ||
| Communication Tender | XT | ||
| Cruiser Tender | VTR | ||
| Defense Tender | VTD | ||
| Destroyer Tender | VTR | ||
| Escort Tender | EVT | ||
| Fast Tender | VTRF | ||
| Fighter Tender | VTF | ||
| Fleet Tender | VTN | ||
| Frontier Tender | VTRF | ||
| Heavy Tender | VTRB | ||
| Interdiction Tender | VTD | ||
| Jump Carrier | TVM | ||
| Jump Shuttle | TVM | ||
| Light Tender | VTRL | ||
| Medium Tender | VTR | ||
| Repair Tender | VTQ | ||
| Ship Tender | VT | ||
| Ship Transporter | TVT | ||
| Strike Tender | VTK | ||
| Superheavy Tender | VTS | ||
| System Defense Boat Tender | VTD | ||
| Ultraheavy Tender | VTU | ||
| Very Light Tender | VTLS | ||
| Xboat Tender | XT | ||
Size-Class Roles for Carrier Vessels[edit]
- Utility Craft (U) (1 to 99 tons)
- Escort Carrier (EV/ECV) (100 to 2,499 tons)
- Pocket Carrier (VLS) (2,500 to 24,999 tons)
- Light Carrier (VFL) (25,000 to 99,999 tons)
- Medium Carrier (V) (100,000 to 249,999 tons)
- Heavy Carrier (VB) (250,000 to 499,999 tons)
- Superheavy Carrier (VS) (500,000 to 999,999 tons)
- Ultraheavy Carrier (VU) (1,000,000 or more tons)
Supraclass Archetypal Roles[edit]
These vessels typically serve the following archetypal roles:
| V-class Subcraft Carrier Supraclass Archetypes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Archetype | Type Code | Exemplar | Remarks |
| Subcraft Carrier | V (namesake) | Lurenti class Battle Carrier | V-class vessels represent a school of thought using larger vessels to deploy smaller ones, or subcraft. The Subcraft Carrier supraclass includes both Carriers (V) and Tenders (VT).
|
| Assault Carrier | VL/VLA | Assault Carriers specialize in planetary assault using their fighters to conduct round-the-clock surface bombardment missions and then shuttling down troop transports and armored fighting vehicles.
| |
| Defense Carrier | VD | No exemplar yet available. | Defense Carriers are a specialized form of carriers that forward deploy fighters in similar roles to SDBs. The use of defense carriers can strategically deny fleets access to gas giants or other fuel sources and thus deny enemy battle battle fleets strategic mobility and flexibility.
|
| Escort Carrier | EV/ECV | Hyperion class Escort Carrier | Escort Carriers or Very Light Carriers are small vessels that displace between 100 to 2,499 tons in size. While not very useful for larger fleet formations, they are great in an escort role, putting out a sensor picket, protecting against other fighters, or for strikes against lightly defended targets. They can also be built relatively quickly, staffed quickly, and quickly deployed into action. Many fleets operate escort carriers because of their usefulness within their identified roles.
|
| Fleet Carrier | VFN/VRB | Antiama class Fleet Carrier | Fleet Carriers are built to operate as part of a fleet, not independently. Their subcraft provide tactical and strategic support to a line a battlefleet a CruRon or a BatRon. Their fighters provide sensor pickets, an expanded sensor net, either in a tactical or strategic sense, provide missile shields intercepting enemy munitions, or provide strike assets damaging enemy capital ships. They are dependent on other capital ships and auxiliary elements such as tankers or combat support ships.
|
| Pocket Carrier | VFLS | A Pocket Carrier is a size-displacement category which includes vessels that weigh between 2,500 to 24,999 tons.
| |
| Light Carrier | VL | Skimkish class Light Carrier | A Light Carrier is a size-displacement category which includes vessels that weigh between 25,000 to 99,999 tons. Light vessels can be impressive craft, just under 100k in tonnage, which is more than large enough to threaten merchant vessels, smaller system defense fleets, and many lesser targets including smaller world-states.
|
| Medium Carrier | VF/VR | Antiama class Fleet Carrier | A Medium Carrier is a size-displacement category which includes vessels that weigh between 100,000 to 199,999 tons. Medium vessels are large vessels, cruiser-sized, and are general considered capital ships, serious combatants. They require serious resources, logistical support, and large crews, but they project power across interstellar distances when used correctly in ways that no escort or destroyer can match.
|
| Heavy Carrier | VH | Midway class Heavy Carrier | A Heavy Carrier is a size-displacement category which includes vessels that weigh between 250,000 to 499,999 tons. Heavies are very large craft, as big as many cruisers and battleships and capable of carrying a large, powerful load of subcraft, enough fighters to seriously threaten most battle fleets.
|
| Superheavy Carrier | VS | Mordax class Fleet Carrier | A Superheavy Carrier is a size-displacement category which includes vessels that weigh between 500,000 to 999,999 tons. Superheavies are incredibly large vessels, bigger than the resources of the typical pocket empire or world-state can construct. They take years to build, requiring huge costs, massive expenditures of resources, and massive crews. They are rarely available in other than very small runs, but they have massive combat power.
|
| Ultraheavy Carrier | VU | Kliqrv class Battle Carrier | A Ultraheavy Carrier is a size-displacement category which includes vessels that weigh 1,000,000 or more tons. Ultraheavies are not for the thrifty... Only the largest of supra-polities can afford them, and they are almost always specialized for very specific roles, typically as flag ships for the largest fleets.
|
| Battle Carrier | VFB/VRB | Battle Carrier: Interstellar ship transport intended to carry fighters into combat. Generally a dispersed structure (...of up to one million tons), it transports a squadron of a number of fighters ready for immediate launch upon entry into a system. While the fighters press the attack, the battle carrier stays in reserve for protection.
| |
| Battle Tender | VT (namesake) | World class Battle Tender | Tenders carry bigcraft, which is to say subcraft that are 100 tons or larger in displacement. These subcraft are significantly larger, more powerful, and longer-legged than the smallcraft fighters carried by traditional carriers. This gives significantly more strategic options than a fighter-equipped carrier, but not always better striking power within a fighter's range envelope. The Battle Rider is the prototypical bigcraft carried by Battle Tenders and entire schools of naval strategy have arisen concerning their usage and deployment. [1]
|
| Command Carrier | VC | War Child class Command Carrier | Command Carriers perform flagship roles, coordinating large numbers of fighters. courier vessels, scout vessels, and line combatants, as the center of a battle fleet. This role is ordinarily taken by a fleet's premier battleships.
|
| Commercial Tender & Ship Transporter | TV | Mariner class Frame Carrier | Ship Transporters or commercial tenders are similar to carriers and tenders, but instead of military subcraft, they carry civilian subcraft. The concept is similar to the battle rider concept, except in a civilian application. The class also includes various kinds of jump ships or jump trains, specialized to carry variable cargos, or as jump shuttles.
|
| 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)[edit]
Historically different navies have used fighters differently.
- Imperial fleets do not heavily emphasize carriers as the ships that decide battles. They carefully pair carriers with assault squadrons and battle squadrons with fleet tenders. Fighters can screen the launching and recovery of battle riders. Battle riders are used to destroy enemy ships of the line and the fighters make sure some survive recovery operations.
- Vargr fighter pilots are widely regarded as fierce and unpredictable opponents. Corsairs use fighters when available. Fighter pilot duty is seen as extremely charismatic among the Vargr.
- Zhodani fleets are more likely to place fighters on small patrol ships for intelligence gathering and recon. Some of this is thought to be supplemented by psionic crew members. They use the fighters as a force multiplier to give smaller ships more batteries to bring to bear against smaller combatants and are very helpful during commerce raiding deep behind enemy lines.
Selected Variant Types & Classes[edit]
Military Ship - Warship - Subcraft Carrier - Assault Carrier:
Military Ship - Warship - Subcraft Carrier - Battle/Heavy Carrier:
Military Ship - Warship - Subcraft Carrier - Command Carrier:
Military Ship - Warship - Subcraft Carrier - Defense Carrier:
Military Ship - Warship - Subcraft Carrier - Escort Carrier:
Military Ship - Warship - Subcraft Carrier - Fleet Carrier:
Military Ship - Warship - Subcraft Carrier - Strike Carrier:
Military Ship - Warship - Subcraft Carrier - Light Carrier:
- Type VL class Light Carrier
- Avenger class Escort Carrier
- Bullfrog class Fighter Tender
- Cluster class Light Fleet Carrier
- Collossal class Light Carrier
- Dauntless class Light Carrier
- De Gaulle class Light Carrier
- Fuchuan class Warship Carrier
- Garin class Light Carrier
- Heng-O class Light Carrier
- Hangar class Light Fleet Carrier
- Hybrid Zeno class Light Carrier
- Kosigar class Light Carrier
- Liaoning class Light Carrier
- Nova class Light Carrier
- Regal Ark class Light Fleet Carrier
- Skimkish class Light Carrier
- SLC8 Penetia class Light Carrier
- Vati class Support Carrier
Military Ship - Warship - Subcraft Carrier - Medium Carrier:
Military Ship - Warship - Subcraft Carrier - Pocket Carrier:
Military Ship - Warship - Subcraft Carrier - Superheavy Carrier:
Military Ship - Warship - Subcraft Carrier - Ultraheavy Carrier:
Ship Summary List[edit]
Some of the most commonly used vessels in this role or these roles include:
| 29 Representative Subcraft Carrier (V) Classes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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|
| 0 Representative Assault Carrier (VA) Classes | |
|---|---|
| No results |
| 1 Representative Battle Carrier (VB) Classes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| 0 Representative Command Carrier (VC) Classes | |
|---|---|
| No results |
| 1 Representative Defense / Interdiction Carrier (VD) Classes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| 4 Representative Escort Carrier (VE) Classes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| 0 Representative Fleet Carrier (VF) Classes | |
|---|---|
| No results |
| 0 Representative Heavy Carrier (VH) Classes | |
|---|---|
| No results |
| 6 Representative Light Carrier (VL) Classes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| 1 Representative Medium Carrier (VM) Classes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| 0 Representative Pocket Carrier (VP) Classes | |
|---|---|
| No results |
| 0 Representative Supraheavy Carrier (VS) Classes | |
|---|---|
| No results |
| 14 Representative Tenders (VT) Classes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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|
| 0 Representative Ultraheavy Carrier (VU) Classes | |
|---|---|
| No results |
| 0 Representative Commercial Carrier / Ship Transporter (TV) Classes | |
|---|---|
| No results |
Library Data Referral Tree[edit]
Please refer to the following AAB Library Data for more information: (Click "Expand" to reveal)
- 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 (Auxiliary Class Ship)
- Battle Class Ship (Bulk / Subcapital Class Ship)
- Capital Ship (Capital Class Ship)
- Fleet Class Ship (Capital Class Ship)
- Size-Role Classification
- Subcapital Ship (Small & Large Battle Class Ships)
- QSP
- USP
- World Class Ship
- NAFAL (STL) - (Not As Fast As Light) / (Slower Than Light)
- Light Speed (c)
- FTL - (Faster Than Light) - "Superluminal"
References & Contributors (Sources)[edit]
|
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 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 Mongoose Publishing or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.
- John Harshman, Marc Miller, Loren Wiseman. Library Data (A-M) (Game Designers Workshop, 1981), TBD.
- Timothy B. Brown. Fighting Ships (Game Designers Workshop, 1981), 34-36.
- Marc Miller. Fighting Ships of the Shattered Imperium (Game Designers Workshop, 1990), 54-64.
- Ben W. Bell, Martin Dougherty. Fighting Ships (QuikLink Interactive, 2003), 14-15.
- HIWG Papers
- Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science, Emeritus
- ↑ Information provided to the library by Maksim-Smelchak