Science Vessel

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

L-class Science Vessels serve a variety of non-commercial scientific missions.

• The best known of these ships is the well known Laboratory Ship.
• 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

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

Description (Specifications)

No information yet available.

Image Repository

This image repository contains a selection of science vessel images:
Type LS Laboratory Ship:

1. A Lavalier class Laboratory Ship under spaceflight.
   

Type LU Survey Ship . Survey Scout:

1. A Ulysses class Long-Range Scout.
   
2. A Donosev class Survey Scout heading past a sun getting ready to perform a month-long system survey.
   

Strategy & Tactics (Doctrine)

Like many civilian ships, science vessels are not designed for combat and their only viable strategy is to run when facing marauders or pirate vessels. Some science vessels are equipped with light defensive armament and defensive suites. Still, evasion is almost always the best plan of action.

Supraclass Roles

Science Vessels typically serve the following roles:
Largecraft, Smallcraft & Bigcraft:

L-class Science Vessel Supraclass Archetypes
Archetype	Type Code
Anomaly Chaser	(L)
Extended Duration Survey Vessel	(LU)
Heavy Science Ship	(LH)
Lab Ship	(LS)
Laboratory Ship	(LS)
Light Science Ship	(LL)
Nova Observation Ship	(L)
Medium Science Ship	(LM)
Observatory Ship	(LS)
Research Cruiser	(LS)
Research Pinnace	(UL)
Research Scout	(L)
Research Smallcraft	(UL)
Researcher Vessel	(LS)
Science Craft	(UL)
Science Lander	(UL)
Science Scout	(L)
Science Ship	(L)
Science Vessel	(L) (Namesake)
Survey Cruiser	(LU)
Scout Surveyor	(LU)
Small Survey Ship	(LU)
Superheavy Science Ship	(LP)
Survey Scout	(LU)
Survey Vessel	(LU)
Ultraheavy Science Ship	(LT)
Very Light Science Ship	(LVL)

Size-Class Roles for Science Vessels

1. Science Craft (UL) (1 to 99 tons)
2. Very Light Science Ship (LVL) (100 to 2,499 tons)
3. Light Science Ship (LL) (2,500 to 99,999 tons)
4. Medium Science Ship (LM) (100,000 to 249,999 tons)
5. Heavy Science Ship (LH) (250,000 to 499,999 tons)
6. Superheavy Science Ship (LP) (500,000 to 999,999 tons)
7. Ultraheavy Science Ship (LT) (1,000,000 or more tons)

Civilian Subcraft

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

1. Barge (WB)
2. Utility Craft (U)

Supraclass Archetypal Roles

These vessels typically serve the following archetypal roles:

L-class Science Vessel Supraclass Archetypes
Archetype	Type Code	Exemplar	Remarks
Science Vessel	L (Namesake)	Nostrii class Science Scout	Science vessels span a vast variety of roles and missions, often possessing overlap with other classes and archetypes. Most such vessels are equipped with advanced sensors, rotating residential habitats to not interrupt sensitive gravitic components, and often experimental devices. L = Laboratory
Laboratory Ship	LS	Lavalier class Laboratory Ship	Laboratory ships are perhaps the best known of this archetype and can literally be found throughout Charted Space, often coming and going from well known universities, private research institutions, megacorporate headquarters, and Research Stations. S = Science
Survey Vessel	LU	Donosev class Survey Scout	Survey vessels tend to serve scientific roles, performing star system surveillance, nebula monitoring, star data collection, and similar roles. A Survey Vessel is an exploration vessel that ordinarily follows scout vessels in system exploration. U = sUrvey
Research Smallcraft	UL	Boquist class Research Pinnace	Research smallcraft are specialized utility craft used to conduct scientific research, laboratory experiments, science lander missions, and a variety of missions designed to support science vessels. U = Utility
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

Civilian Ship - Science Ship - Lab Ship:

1. Type LS class Laboratory Ship
   1. Calipso class Laboratory Ship
   2. Ciri class Laboratory Ship
   3. Discovery class Lab Ship
   4. Fresnel Effect class Lab Ship
   5. Hkiyrerao class Researcher
   6. Inquiry class Lab Ship
   7. Kugashin class Laboratory Ship
   8. Lavalier class Laboratory Ship
   9. Magellan class Lab Ship
   10. Makisha Girra class Research Vessel
   11. Sci-Can class Laboratory Ship
   12. Sci-Eye class Observatory Ship
   13. Type HL class Research Cruiser
   14. Type L class Laboratory Ship

Civilian Ship - Science Ship - Survey Ship:

1. Type LU class Survey Ship
   1. Baso Rita class Small Survey Ship
   2. Donosev class Survey Scout
   3. Elson class Explorer Vessel
   4. Explorer class Survey Cruiser
   5. Lintula class Survey Vessel
   6. Louis & Clark class Scout Surveyor
   7. Nostrii class Science Scout
   8. Pytheas class Exploratory Cruiser
   9. Talon class Survey Cruiser
   10. Type C class Survey Cruiser
   11. Type EDSV class Extended Duration Survey Vessel
   12. Type HX class Explorer
   13. Ulysses class Long-Range Scout
   14. VCS 889 class Survey Ship

Civilian Ship - Research Smallcraft:

1. Type UL class Research Smallcraft
   1. Boquist class Research Pinnace
   2. Last Armada class Survey Shuttle

Ship Summary List

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

0 Representative Science Vessel (L) Classes
No results

0 Representative Laboratory Ship (LS) Classes
No results

0 Representative Survey Vessel (LU) Classes
No results

0 Representative Research Smallcraft (UL) 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.
• Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science