Ship Class Code

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

A Ship Class Code or Starship Class usually represents one or more production runs of the same starship design. Ships within a class are usually given similar names.

• For a detail of the Classes of Starships see the description in the individual Military Starship Types and Civilian Starship Types.
• This hierarchical designation is also known as Ship Class, Ship Class Code, or simply Class.

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

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

Description (Specifications)

A class is usually named after the lead ship, the namesake; that is, the first ship of that class. This is usually the ship with the lowest hull number, but may also be the first ship in commission.

• A class should not be confused with a type (see Military Starship Types and Civilian Starship Types). A type of starship (e.g. Battleship) will have several different classes or designs made that fit that type. Some confusion in terminology is in common use, e.g. when referring to a "Battleship class" ship (…strictly speaking this is an error).

Imperial Ship Classification Synopsis

The basic system of ship classification and organization for ships within Charted Space and particularly within Imperial Space works on a simple hierarchy of mission (generalized use), type (specific use), class (very specific use), model (technological level), and lot or bloc (production run):

Imperial Ship Classification
#	Level	Designation	Synopsis	Example/s
1.	Ship Mission Codes	SUPRACLASS	MISSION	Free Trader AKA Merchant It is also known as Ship Mission, Ship Mission Code, Mission, Ship Hull Designation, or Supraclass.
2.	Ship Type Codes	SUPERCLASS	TYPE	Type A class Free Trader It is also known as Ship Type, Superclass, Ship Type Code, Craft Type Code, or simply Type.
3.	Ship Class Codes	CLASS	CLASS	Beowulf class Free Trader It designation is also known as Ship Class, Ship Class Code, or simply Class.
4.	Ship Model Codes	MODEL	TL & Model	TL-14 Beowulf Build Models aren’t always mentioned, but if they are, they are usually referred to by a TL designation.
5.	Ship Bloc Codes	LOT or BLOC	Named Ship	“The Lonesome Wolf” of ‘Bloc 312-1115d’ Ship Lots or Bloc Codes are rarely used except by naval shipyards, patrol craft, and the like. They are recorded in the ship’s computer as well as a number of places on the hull.

Overview of Imperial Ship Classification

Imperial Ship Classification
#	Level	Example	Remarks
1.	Supraclass (Function)	Dreadnought	It’s the largest organizational grouping by a generalized function or mission. For instance, battleships and cruisers have different generalized missions although they can perform many of the same jobs.
2.	Type (Superclass)	Type BB class Dreadnought	It’s a larger type grouping by a specific function or mission. Different kinds of battleships or types may perform different yet broadly similar missions.
3.	Class (Ship)	Tigress class Dreadnought	The ship itself is synonymous with a class. The first produced version becomes the class namesake under most practices. It has an even more specific mission that the craft type code (type) or superclass.
4.	Model (Version)	TL-15 Tigress Model 1105-Q3-9PR	This classification may include incremental improvements often as a result of TL advances. Some classes of ships can be built at several different TL’s. For instance, the ubiquitous Beowulf Free Trader has builds from TL-10 to TL-15.
5.	Lot (Block)	Block 365-1105 Reg-A-4702-4826-9931	This classification is also known as a Production Bloc. Blocs may have differences from lot to lot. Sometimes aftermarket or post-production modification (customization) may yield very different ships from the originally manufactured ship class.

History & Background (Dossier)

There are literally thousands upon thousands of Ship Class Codes in existence, from small single digit runs to ships that number in the tens of thousands. In a world where many, many [[Class A Starports exist, many fully capable Shipyards and certified Naval Architects, all it takes to design a new ship class is a lot of money, and patience. Larger polities and suprapolities regularly commission new designs as needed. However, the savings from using existing designs is considerable so only the adventurous commission new designs where and when needed.

Ship Class Standardization

Ship Classes: Once a ship is built, a certain familiarity with the requirements of construction is gained by the building crews, and a shipyard can then produce such ships more rapidly and with greater efficiency. Additional identical ships built following the initial ship in a class can be completed in 80% of the original time at 80% of the original construction cost.

Ship Class Namesakes

Namesakes: Ships of a class are named to show this relationship. For example, the first ship in a series of small, swift escort vessels might be called the Gazelle, prompting the formation of the Gazelle class of close escorts. Other ship names in the class could be Reindeer, Kudie (for Kudebeck's Gazelle), Antelope, Unicorn, Pinto, as well as any of the many other names for swift herbivores.

References

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.

• Marc Miller. Starships (Game Designers Workshop, 1977), 17-20.
• Marc Miller, Frank Chadwick, John Harshman. High Guard (Game Designers Workshop, 1980), 20.
• Marc Miller. Referee's Manual (Game Designers Workshop, 1987), TBD.
• Frank Chadwick, Dave Nilsen. Traveller: The New Era (Game Designers Workshop, 1993), TBD.
• Don Perrin. Starships (Imperium Games, 1996), TBD.
• Doug Stewart, Tony Lee. Naval Architect's Manual (Imperium Games, 1997), TBD.
• Martin Dougherty, Hunter Gordon. The Traveller's Handbook (QuikLink Interactive, 2002), TBD.
• Martin Dougherty, Hunter Gordon. Gateway to Destiny (QuikLink Interactive, 2004), TBD.
• Gareth Hanrahan. Core Rulebook (Mongoose Publishing, 2008), 105.
• Gareth Hanrahan, Dom Mooney. High Guard (Mongoose Publishing, 2008), TBD.
• Bryan Steele, Stuart Machin, Dom Mooney. Fighting Ships (Mongoose Publishing, 2009), TBD.
• Marc Miller. "A Brief History of the Universe." T5 Core Rules (2013): 330.
• Matthew Sprange. High Guard (Mongoose Publishing, 2016), .
• Matthew Sprange. High Guard: Aslan (Mongoose Publishing, 2016), TBD.
• Matthew Sprange. Starter Set (Mongoose Publishing, 2017), TBD.