Combat Support 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

Q-class Combat Support Ships, also known as Military Auxiliaries form a support or tertiary element of combatant naval fleet forces.

• They serve as combat multipliers enhancing the primary line combatants of battleships and cruisers and the secondary line of various escorts.
• Many call them auxiliaries or tertiary combatants. Despite the moniker "tertiary combatant," they are not meant to participate in any form of open combat, but only in self defense actions as their primary role is to support secondary and primary naval combatants.
• Almost any civilian hull can be redesignated as a Q-class if meant for dedicated military service as an auxiliary.
• Specific military transports meant to assault enemy planets, moons, and other installations under fire are designated I-class Combat Transports.
• 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 (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

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

Speed of Travel

• Light Speed (c)
• FTL
• NAFAL (STL)
• Astronomical Unit (AU)
• Light-second (ls)
• Light-minute (lm)
• Light-hour (lh)
• Light-day (ld)
• Light-week (lw)
• Light-year (ly)
• Parsec (pc)

Description (Specifications)

A Military Auxiliary or Auxiliaries are Combat Support Ships:

1. Capital Ships acting in a combat support role to warships.
2. Smallcraft of various types that primarily perform utility functions as Utility Craft.
3. A whole variety of other auxiliaries function in a combat support role as force multipliers.

Image Repository

No information yet available.

Type UY Combat Support Smallcraft:

1. An Aslan Yaeai class Recon Pinnace under spaceflight.
   

Strategy & Tactics (Doctrine)

These craft have a wide variety of uses from cargo, fuel and passenger transport; policing; customs enforcement; to search and rescue operations and support.

• This class of vessel includes a variety of smallcraft including militarized pinnaces, shuttles, cutters, ship's boats, and all other non-jump capable spacecraft of less than 100 tons. The exception to this are system defense boats whose role is system defense. Often the names are used interchangeable, but they are often classified by role and size.
• These craft are tertiary combatants at best and are not intended to operate near the battlefront for any length of time. They are armed for self defense at best, and typically must evade line combatants to survive. Their mission tasking is to support and enhance the missions of primary and secondary combatants.

Supraclass Roles

Combat Support Ships typically serve the following roles:
Auxiliary - Noncombatants:
Largecraft & Bigcraft:

1. Assault Tanker (QF)
2. Auxiliary Merchant (QC)
3. Bulk Ordnance Carrier (QT)
4. Cargo Transport (QC)
5. Combat Support Ship (Q) (Namesake)
6. Degaussing Vessel (QZ)
7. Electronic Warfare Ship (QZ)
8. Fleet Auxiliary (Q)
9. Fleet Logistics Ship (QR)
10. Fleet Repair Vessel (QV)
11. Fleet Replenishment Ship (QR)
12. Fleet Replenishment Vessel (QR)
13. Fleet Support Vessel (QR)
14. Fleet Tanker (QF)
15. Fleet Tender (QR)
16. Fuel Tanker (QF)
17. Light Transport (QT)
18. Logistics Transport (QR)
19. Logistics Vessel (QR)
20. Military Cargo Carrier (QC)
21. Military Replenishment Vessel (QR)
22. Military Ship Repair Vessel (QV)
23. Military Special Mission Ship (QZ)
24. Military Specialty Ship (QZ)
25. Military Tanker (QF)
26. Military Transport (QT)
27. Modular Light Fleet Auxiliary (Q)
28. Ordnance Carrier (QR)
29. Ordnance Vessel (QR)
30. Passenger Transport (QC)
31. Repair Ship (QS)
32. Repair/Salvage Ship (QV)
33. Replenishment Ship (QR)
34. Replenishment Vessel (QR)
35. Resupply Vessel (QR)
36. Resupply/Replenishment Vessel (QR)
37. Rift Tanker (QF)
38. Military Specialty Ship (QZ)
39. Salvage Ship (QV)
40. Store Ship (QR)
41. Stores Ship (QR)
42. Supply Ship (QR)
43. Tanker (QF)
44. Tanker/Replenishment Ship (QF)
45. Transport Tanker (QT)

Smallcraft - Militarized Utility Craft:

1. Armed Gig (UQG)
2. Combat Support Smallcraft (UQ)
3. Cutter (UQC)
4. Fuel Shuttle (UQF)
5. Gig (UQG)
6. Lifeboat (UE)
7. Lighter (UQ)
8. Militarized Smallcraft (UQ)
9. Militarized Utility Craft (UQ) (Namesake)
10. Military Boat (UQ)
11. Pathfinder (UQ)
12. Patrol Cutter (UQC)
13. Pinnace (UQP)
14. Refueling Lighter (UQ)
15. Runabout (UQC)
16. Shuttle (UQS)
17. Utility Craft (U)

Size-Class Roles for Combat Support Ship Vessels

1. Combat Support Smallcraft (UQ) (1 to 99 tons)
2. Military Cargo Carrier (QC) (100 to 2,499 tons)
3. Light Combat Support Ship (QL) (2,500 to 99,999 tons)
4. Medium Combat Support Ship (QM) (100,000 to 249,999 tons)
5. Heavy Combat Support Ship (QH) (250,000 to 499,999 tons)
6. Superheavy Combat Support Ship (QS) (500,000 to 999,999 tons)
7. Ultraheavy Combat Support Ship (QU)(1,000,000 or more tons)

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:

Q-class Combat Support Ship Supraclass Archetypes
Archetype	Type Code	Exemplar	Remarks
Combat Support Ship	Q (Namesake)	Hummock class Replenishment Ship	Combat Support Ships are the auxiliaries of interstellar fleets, the vessels that make sure there are enough beans and bullets to keep a fleet supplied, fueled, and combat ready. They range from supply ships, fuelers, tankers, replenishers, and a variety of other tertiaries that keep the combatants going. Q = Quartermaster, Combat Support, Logistics, etc.
Military Cargo Carrier	QC	AX-L class Modular Light Fleet Auxiliary	None Q = Quartermaster, Combat Support, Logistics, etc. C = Cargo, Supply Carrier, etc.
Military Tanker	QF	Dromedary class Tanker/Replenishment Ship	None Q = Quartermaster, Combat Support, Logistics, etc. F = Fuel, Gas, Tanker, etc.
Heavy Combat Support Ship	QH	Iadiadlsiz class Fleet Tanker	None Q = Quartermaster, Combat Support, Logistics, etc. H = Heavy
Light Combat Support Ship	QL	Entremis class Military Transport	None Q = Quartermaster, Combat Support, Logistics, etc. L = Light
Medium Combat Support Ship	QM	Champa class Fleet Replenishment Ship	None Q = Quartermaster, Combat Support, Logistics, etc. M = Medium
Military Replenishment Vessel	QR	Workhorse class Ordinance Carrier	None Q = Quartermaster, Combat Support, Logistics, etc. R = Replenishment, Logistics, etc.
Superheavy Combat Support Ship	QS	Giant class Tanker	None Q = Quartermaster, Combat Support, Logistics, etc. S = Superheavy
Military Transport	QT	Workhorse class Bulk Ordnance Carrier	None Q = Quartermaster, Combat Support, Logistics, etc. T = Transport
Ultraheavy Combat Support Ship	QU	Monstrosity class Fleet Tanker	No information yet available. Q = Quartermaster, Combat Support, Logistics, etc. U = Ultraheavy
Ship Tender / Mobile Spaceyard	QV	Panther class Repair Vessel	Military Ship Repair Vessel TBD Q = Quartermaster, Combat Support, Logistics, etc. V = Ship Repair, Ship Salvage, etc.
Military Special Mission Ship	QZ	Donskoy Kasak class Degaussing Vessel	None Q = Quartermaster, Combat Support, Logistics, etc. Z = Special (...last letter of Anglic alphabet, a catchall category)
Militarized Utility Craft	UQ	Yaeai class Recon Pinnace	Noncombatant militarized smallcraft are relatively rare, but often perform important combat support functions such as communication relay points, sensory reconnaissance, logistics management, and a number of other important roles. U = Utility, Multipurpose, etc. Q = Quartermaster, Combat Support, Logistics, etc.
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)

A timeless military strategem has been the concept of fighting forces as dragons, mythical monsters with very dangerous, fighting front end conceptualized as teeth and a support, logistics end conceptualized as a tail. The ratio of fighting forces to support forces is called the teeth-tail ratio. Many elite forces maximize the ratio, famously forcing cooks and clerks to employ the weapons of war when pressed for manpower.

However, most fighting forces are not elite and are optimized at the other end of the teeth-tail spectrum with many logistics and support forces for every front line combatant. For every first line naval capital ship, a very wide variety of secondary and tertiary combatants exist including I-class Combat Transports and Q-class Combat Support Ships, which include repair vessels, replenishment ships, recovery ships, intelligence vessels, scouts, couriers, assault transports, and all nature of other vessels that function as the "tail" to the spinal mount-carrying "teeth" of ship-killing capitals...

Selected Variant Types & Classes

Military Ship - Auxiliary - Combat Support Ship:

1. Type Q class Combat Support Ship
   1. No specific ship currently available.

Civilian Vessel - Smallcraft - Life Boat:

1. Type UE class Life Boat
   1. Deliverance class Lifeboat
   2. Interstellar Lifesaver class Lifeboat
   3. KSbA Model A-23 class Lifeboat
   4. Longevity class Lifeboat
   5. Marrel Veckor class Lifeboat
   6. Model 292 class Life Boat
   7. Reliant class Lifeboat
   8. Reprieve class Escape Pod
   9. SK-3 class Lifeboat
2. Type UF class Fuel Shuttle
   1. Bubble class Fuel Cutter
   2. Last Armada class Fuel Shuttle
   3. Louis & Clark class Fuel Pinnace
   4. Parthenopinnace Fuel Shuttle
   5. Sternplatz class Refueling Pinnace
   6. Tadpole class Fuel Shuttle
   7. Zheug class Fueling Shuttle
3. Type UQ class Militarized Utility Craft
   1. Yaeai class Recon Pinnace

Ship Summary List

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

1 Representative Combat Support Ship (Q) Classes
Class Mission Code TL Tons Jump G Origin Canon Quick ship profile Class Mission Code TL Tons Jump G Origin Canon Quick ship profile Yesta class Fleet Logistics Ship QR 15 50,000 5 5 Third Imperium No. Unpublished, non-canon fan design. TBD

0 Representative Military Cargo Carrier (QC) Classes
No results

0 Representative Military Tanker (QF) Classes
No results

0 Representative Heavy Combat Support Ship (QH) Classes
No results

0 Representative Light Combat Support Ship (QL) Classes
No results

0 Representative Medium Combat Support Ship (QM) Classes
No results

1 Representative Military Replenishment Vessel (QR) Classes
Class Mission Code TL Tons Jump G Origin Canon Quick ship profile Class Mission Code TL Tons Jump G Origin Canon Quick ship profile Yesta class Fleet Logistics Ship QR 15 50,000 5 5 Third Imperium No. Unpublished, non-canon fan design. TBD

0 Representative Superheavy Combat Support Ship (QS) Classes
No results

0 Representative Military Transport (QT) Classes
No results

0 Representative Ultraheavy Combat Support Ship (QU) Classes
No results

0 Representative Ship Tender / Mobile Spaceyard (QV) Classes
No results

0 Representative Military Special Mission Ship (QZ) Classes
No results

0 Representative Lifeboat / Escape Pod (UE) Classes
No results

0 Representative Fuel Shuttle (UF) Classes
No results

0 Representative Combat Support Smallcraft (UQ) Classes
No results

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 Mongoose Publishing 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.
• Fighting Ships of the Shattered Imperium
• Traveller Wiki Editorial Team
• Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science