Carrier
V-class Carriers are designed to carry large numbers of combatant smallcraft (...under 100 tons), which in turn attack the enemy’s combatant vessels or world surfaces.
- The Supraclass designation is also known as Ship Mission, Ship Mission Code, Mission, or Ship Hull Designation.
- It is a starship supraclass.
Please refer to the following AAB Library Data for more information:
Starship:
- 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"
-
- Light-second (ls)
- Light-minute (lm)
- Light-hour (lh)
- Light-day (ld)
- Light-week (lw)
- Light-year (ly)
- Parsec (pc)
Description (Specifications)
Carriers are starships designed to carry large numbers of small combat vessels, termed either fighters or system defense boats, to screen the battle fleet or support a planetary invasion. The smaller craft are arranged into groupings known as carried squadrons.
- Fighters and light SDBs 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
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Strategy & Tactics (Doctrine)
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
Carriers typically serve the following roles:
- Assault Carrier
- Battle Carrier
- Carrier
- Command Carrier
- Fleet Carrier
- Heavy Carrier
- Light Carrier
- Pocket Carrier
- Range Carrier
- Strike Carrier
Tenders typically serve the following roles:
- Battle Tender
- Commercial Tender
- Communication Tender
- Cruiser Tender
- Escort Tender
- Fighter Tender
- Fleet Tender
- Interdiction Tender
- Jump Carrier
- Repair Tender
- Ship Tender
- Tender
- Xboat Tender
Supraclass Archtypes
Battle Tender: Interstellar ship transport intended to carry battle riders into combat. Generally a dispersed structure (of up to one million tons), it transports a Battle Squadron (BatRon) of two to ten battle riders ready for immediate launch upon entry into a system. While the riders press the attack, the tender stays in reserve for protection.
| V-class Subcraft Carrier Supraclass Archtypes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Archtype | Type Code | TL Range | Remarks |
| Heavy Carrier | V-TBD | TL:TBD-TBD | (VH): VH-13: Very large carrier designed to serve as a force flagship, carrying a large suite of defensive weaponry. Due to its size, cost, and complexity, they were not considered effective units. The smaller carriers are favored due to cost effectiveness and tactical flexibility. |
| Fleet Carrier (VF): | V-TBD | TL:TBD-TBD | VF-11: The massive VF-11 was produced to provide support for the vast numbers of fighters that fleet tactics required. The size and design of the VF-11 call for an independent refueling tanker, the TV-11.
|
| Strike Carrier (VS): | V-TBD | TL:TBD-TBD | VS-13/-15: The VS-13/-15 series is a new line of carriers designed independent of the VF-11/-12 series. |
| Light Carrier (VL) | V-TBD | TL:TBD-TBD | VL-15: The higher-tech trend is to smaller carriers. The VL-15 light carrier |
| Pocket Carrier (VP) | V-TBD | TL:TBD-TBD | VP-15: Even smaller than the light carriers is the VP-15 pocket carrier continuing the higher-tech trend to smaller, more inexpensive vessels. |
| Assault Carrier (VA) | V-TBD | TL:TBD-TBD | VA-14: These Carriers carry assault landers and other craft whose missions are focused on ground assault mission, rather then fighters. These vessels usually carry large numbers of troops. |
Fleet Tenders
Interstellar ship transport intended to carry battle riders into combat. Generally a dispersed structure (of up to one million tons), it transports a Battle Squadron (BatRon) of two to ten battle riders ready for immediate launch upon entry into a system. While the riders press the attack, the tender stays in reserve for protection.
Fleet tender is a generic term used for ships carrying combat oriented spaceships. There are two major type of tenders. The first type are those designed to carry large warships, such as battle riders. The other tender type carries SDBs and/or fighters, but lack the large weapon systems organic to carriers. While this makes them much cheaper to build, man, and operate, it also makes them much more vulnerable.
| Tender Supraclass Archtypes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Archtype | Type Code | TL Range | Remarks |
| Battle Tender | V-TBD | TL:TBD-TBD | (VB): Battle Tenders are used to transport Battle Rider platforms (200,000-1,000,000 Tons) |
| Cruiser Tender | V-TBD | TL:TBD-TBD | (VC): Cruiser Tenders are used to transport cruiser, and smaller size combatants. (30,000-750,000 Tons) |
| Escort Tender | V-TBD | TL:TBD-TBD | (VE): These tenders are small, escort-sized, vessels that carry non-starships, usually SDBs, to aid in defense of merchant vessels or squadrons of auxiliary vessels such as TankRons. |
| Interdiction Tender | V-TBD | TL:TBD-TBD | (VI): These tenders are also small, escort-sized, vessels that carry non-starships, such as SDBs, and, as their name implies, guard interdicted planets. Although the role may be filled with an escort tender, interdiction tenders tend to have larger storage, and more extensive repair facilities. They are expected to act somewhat independently for long durations and have a much wider mission footprint, involving policing, customs, search and rescue, and other non-combat tasks. |
History & Background (Dossier)
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
Ship Summary List
Some of the most commonly used vessels in these roles include:
| 29 Representative Subcraft Carrier (V) Classes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 0 Representative Heavy Carrier (VA) Classes | |
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| 4 Representative Escort Tender (VE) Classes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 6 Representative Light Carrier (VL) Classes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 0 Representative Strike Carrier (VS) Classes | |
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| 14 Representative Tenders (VT) Classes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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References & Contributors (Sources)
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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. |
- John Harshman, Marc Miller, Loren Wiseman. Library Data (A-M) (Game Designers Workshop, 1981), TBD. (Classic Traveller Supplement 8)
- Timothy B. Brown. Fighting Ships (Game Designers Workshop, 1981), 34-36. (Classic Traveller Supplement 9)
- Marc Miller. Fighting Ships of the Shattered Imperium (Game Designers Workshop, 1990), 54-64.
- HIWG Papers
- Ben W. Bell, Martin Dougherty. Fighting Ships (QuikLink Interactive, 2003), 14-15.
- Traveller Wiki Editorial Team
- Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science