[Unofficial] Ship Classification Guide

This short and simple guide aims to present you, my fellow space engineers, with a 'what's what' when it comes to vessel classification!

Many creators can't wait to show off their brand new, 'Cruiser 9000', but when it's only 30 feet long and powered by used matchsticks, we have to wonder, 'Just what is a cruiser, anyway?'. In fact, what's any of this classification stuff? Well fear not my intreped explorers of the unknown! Branching from years of amatuer experience, expert insight and shear trial and error through an arsenal of ship building games, comes the Ship Classification Guide. My attempt, to set the stage straight.

Overview

VERSION: 1.1.3 (14/04/2016 15:29)
Sizes depicted are expected generic size, to provide a reliable idea of relative scale

How this guide works
It's real simple. This guide is aimed at 'Born-for-Battle' vessels, but features some information for non-combat support ships. Use the contents list to browse the ship classes. Each section will provide you with nessecary information for identification of that class, in a thoughtout order:

• Role - What task is that class intended to preform?
  
• Armour - What level of defences can you expect?
  
• Armement - What degree of firepower might it possess?
  
• Movement - How far can it travel, how agile is it?

Ensure you understand necessary terminology, as explained in the next section. Many types of ships are actually sub-classes, or role-specific varients, and are not specifically mentioned in this guide. Talking about all those possibilites would get tiring fast. And remember, this can be easily and correctly applied outside Space Engineers aswell! It's based heavily on the real world.

Brief Overview
If you want an even simpler version of the classifications, see below:

• Strike Craft
  • Interceptors
    
  • Bombers
    
  • Gunships
• Frigates
  
• Destroyers
  
• Cruisers
  
• Battleships
  
• Carriers
  
• Other
  • Shuttles
    
  • Drones
    
  • Utility
    
  • 'The Lone Wolf'

See Terminology for detail on sub-class varients

Terminology/Notes on Varients

There is some of the essential terminology used, critical to understanding ship classes. Here:

• Craft vs Ship - A craft (as in Strike Craft) are small, normally one or two man vehicles (if manned at all) which are essentially the space equivelent of today's aircraft. Ships are the big things, like frigates and destroyers.
  
• Heavy/Light - A ship can be described as heavy or light, referring to the volume of firepower it posses. It may also consider armour, but generally, a heavy ship expects more combat action, while light varients lean on speed and agility. All ship classes can include heavy/light varients.
  
• Role Specific - A vessel which has been outfitted or repurposed to preform a new, niché role. As an example, Missile Cruiser, a crusier class ship modified to operate missile platforms. All ship classes can include Role Specific varients.
  
• Super - When you take a ship, and make it the biggest and baddest you can. A common example is a Super-Cruiser, a cruiser modified and built upon (and often significantly larger in scale) to preform extreme tasks. These are usually Capital Ships. All ship classes can include Super varients.
  
• Capital - Capital ships, are critical vessels, capable of stand-alone operation. A capital ship with no fleet is weakened, a fleet with no capital ship is crippled. Normally, capital ships are designated such due to their sheer size (although its good policy to not judge a ship by its size). Cruisers, battleships and carriers are normally capital ships, although there is no set rule.
  
• Assault - Refers to ships designed for invasion roles. These are usually carriers designed to deliver troops, and combat craft designed to provide Close Orbital Support /Close Air Support.
  
• Flagship - The designated command ship of a fleet. The head of the snake, so to speak. Can change as needed between vessels, and is often the biggest, meanest craft available. All ship classes can be a flagship.

Clarrification:

• Size matters: Its important to understand that size cannot be used to classify a vessel, as scale of construction is determined by the scale of needed components. However, one consistent component is the size of a person, and as such, a rough estimate of sizes (like the one in the picture) can be used for reference. However, this does not mean size should be discounted, shear volume of space and steel, can be a critical factor in effective ship construction!
  
• Other Classes: Its vital that the SCG use classification as effectively as possible. As such, some particular classes (such as 'dreadnaught' or 'battlecruiser') have been excluded, as they do not describe a discrete class not already covered by a more capable term. For example, a Dreadnaught, is simply an old heavy frigate. In fact, they are less a class, and more varients, and are often redundant.
  
• Hybrids: It must be said, that yes, should you have enough power, material and will-power, you could make one behemoth of a ship able to do absolutly every big ship thing. I guess that's the dream.
  
• Repurposed: Sometimes civilian, industrial or other non-combat vessels be reoutfitted to operate within a combat enviornment. For example, cargo transports refitted with defensive armements in order to further assure operational security. These would often fall into a logistical or support role, and as such, classify something like, 'Repurposed Combat Support', or 'Repurposed Logistical Support'. e.g. 'Harriot Transport (RLS)'

Strike Craft

Strike Craft are the wasps of a fleet, normally based in carrier craft and traditionally capable of both orbital and atmospheric operations.

Interceptor

• Intended to pursue and intercept other strike craft, and capable of harrasing light ships.
  
• Lightly armoured in regard to other strike craft. Insignificant in regard to ships.
  
• Single anti-strike craft fixed weapon. Commonly mounts for further ordinance/missiles.
  
• Highly manouevorable and speedy, short - medium range.

Bomber

• Designed to deliever a variety of explosive weaponary to targets, across significant range.
  
• Light armour. Weak to everything normally.
  
• Primarily a large volume of ordinance. Possibly with some small defencive weapons.
  
• Slow compared to Interceptors, but often long range as far as strike craft go.

Gunship

• A middle child, best at providing ground support. Useful for harrassment of light targets, and even patrol along side light frigates. Essentially the space version of an Apache/Spectre baby.
  
• Respectable armour, allowing greater safety while hovering.
  
• Primarily mounted weapons on turrets, allowing a wide range of static target aquisition. Can expect an exciting amount of propelled ordenace (missiles) as well.
  
• Medium range, extremely agile because they can normally hover. But as such, not that quick. Short - medium range.

Frigates

Frigates are popular ships, best known for their versitility and multi-role capabilities. While combat platforms of frigates exist, their weak armour and low armement make them vulnerable in large engagements. Being relatively small and agile though, they are ideal for patrol and small scale escort missions.

• Escort and low level combat in numbers. Ideal for Anti-Strike and patrol tasks, and preforming specialist operations (such as communications/drone carriers)
  
• Insignifcantly armoured, however combat orientated heavy variations exist
  
• Possess normally a single primary weapons deck, with Anti-Strike and Point Defence
  
• Fast and manouverable, oweing to their small size

Destroyers

Destroyers are the real killers of the fleet, and while they are primarily designed to destroy high value targets, they are considered versitile within combat roles. Historically designed to escort fleets and high importance vessels, and intended to destroy smaller, faster ships and submarines, the advent of the guided missile opened a whole new world for the Destroyer. Destroyers often are moderatly armoured, travel at reasonable speed, and operate at significant ranges. However, it is the array of precision weaponary carried by Destroyers which provide them the means to rapidly and reliably destroy almost any target. Effectively used as the killing impliment of a fleet, Destroyers use task specific weapons (Cruise Missiles, Smart Guns, MII Supreme-deathinator-3000 lasers etc.) to selectively remove the most serious enemy threats with surgical precision. However, they also use (normally, and often interchangable) logistical, communications, electronic warfare, counter-CBRN, fleet support (etc.) modules and equipment to massively widen their capabilities. Destroyers are then often used in pairs or small groups, to conduct small scale combat and non-combat missions, in all but the most suicidal of situations.

• Able to preform a multitude of roles, including high-priority escort, electronic warfare and high-risk patrols by default, their primary function is the efficient destruction of battleships and cruisers in fleet enagements
  
• Medium armour, repelling all but the most serious of punches
  
• Heavily armed, primarily with missile platforms, and oten the first to utilise 'Smart Guns'
  
• Fast for a larger ship; can out run a Cruiser, but not a Frigate.

Cruisers

Used primarily for specialist opertations such as electronic support and extremely long range combat support, Cruisers answer the need for a long-range, combat-capable platform, able to preform a number of specialist roles. Due to its need for fuel effecieny to allow very-far operational ranges, Cruisers do not use heavy armour, and only bear as many arms as are deamed needed. Cruisers are best used when a specialist role has been adopted, often deep-field electronic support. Missile Support Cruisers are prehaps the best use of Cruisers in fleet combat, providing long-range missile support while avoiding as much fire as possible. Crusiers which utilise their abundant deck space to provide anti-strike defences are useful assests to maintain within a fleet. However, historical attempts to bring Cruisers into the center of the fighting, the Battlecruiser, resulted in disappointment. Battlecruisers, originally designed to hunt down slow, weak pre-WWI ships were easily destroyed by newly built ships due to their weak armour. All Battlecruisers have been repurposed, scuttled or destroyed. Should attempts be made to upgrade the armour to a level suitable for direct confrontation, then you'd essentially have an improvised Battleship, and as costs tend to work out the same, you're better off just going straight for a Battleship. However, it is important to note, that if your design capabilities significantly outmatch anything your enemy can field, it may then be a sensible investment to construct a single, multirole, extremely powerful vessel, which would often take the form of a Super-Cruiser. But this would only be expected should even a dedicated enemy 'Super-Cruiser Killer' still be under-powered.

• Taking advantage of their size, cruisers are ideal for task-specific roles in fleet engagments, or when escorted by frigates, for long range patrols
  
• Can be anything from lightly to heavily armoured
  
• Combat orientated versions may be equipped with large caliber deck guns, or even fixeddeck guns. Normally they possess heavy Anti-Strike and point defence weapon placements
  
• Long operational range, but low manouverability. Decent speed, but easily outrun by frigates or destroyers

Battleships

When the need for a ship able to stand in the focus of fire, the 'Main Line', was called for, the Battleship was born. Designed for one job, to not only withstand the heaviest head-on fire of an enemy fleet, but to attract it, thereby directing fire away from the rest of the fleet. As such, Battleships must have very durable, heavy armour so as to survive long enough to allow the fleet to take action. In order to further assist the fleet, they possess an unrivavled numbe of deck guns, with which they deliever a high rate of debilitating fire in order to suppress and fix the enemy fleet. Unfortunatly, the heavy armour limits top speed and operational range, and its ability to respond to moving threats. Furthermore, the reliance on 'big-runs' used for halting an enemy fleet, provide little hope against long-range Destoryer or Cruiser precision attacks , or strikecraft operating from 'blind-zones'.

• Its one role is to take the brunt of enemy fire during fleet engagements, and provide suppressing fire in order to fix enemy fleet movements. Thus allowing other fleet components to move and take action.
  
• Heavily armoured, in order to withstand shear volume of incoming fire for long enough to carry out its role.
  
• A multitude of heavy guns in order to provide a high rate of suppressing fire, denying both peace and movement to the enemy.
  
• Weighed down by armour and weapons, rendering ships slow and fuel-hungry. As such, not agile.

Carriers

A Carrier is responsible for maintaining, fielding, co-ordinating and controling organic ('part of') Strike Craft. It's strengths lie in the Interceptors, Bombers, Gunships, Drones and other specialist craft it outfits itself in, and its capabilities are as versitile as these craft it launches. This can range from direct attacks by Strike Craft to providing protection for a fleet. Often, Carriers are ideal for the role of flagship, as their versitile capabilities and beefed-up command and control elements provide the perfect platfrom from which to monitor an entire fleet and its situation. This central position also suits the lack of direct and in-direct weapons platforms mounted on the Carrier itself, naturally placing the Carrier outside of the immediate battlesphere, only being brought into direct confrontation when attacked (normally by other Carrier-based craft) from range. As such, where weapons can be placed, Anti-strikecraft platforms are most often employeed.

• Maintain and operate strike craft and their missions, in order to provide multirole support to fleet assests, or conduct direct craft-based missions.
  
• Lightly armoured, normally
  
• Commonly carrariers have no primary deck guns, however employ volumes of defensive weaponary in order to protetc from enemy strike-craft
  
• Slow and cumbersome, but ideally with a long operation range

Other

There are other craft which must be considered. These are more difficult to class, and as such, are enclosed here under, 'Other'.

Drone
While it is possible that all ships of any class could be fully automated, and so technically become drones, normally people refer to drones as their own, unique category. Typical examples include Recon Drones and Survey Probes. Often praised for being nimble, small, cheap, easily constructed (even by automation) and ultimatly, don't require a pilot.

Shuttle
Shuttle craft are extremely useful small to large, multi-purpose transport craft. Commonly intened to ferry personnel and cargo between locations, and are invaluable in allowing crews of larger ships to access difficult areas. Usually only armed lightly in self-defence, they are not intended for direct combat, and most definitly cannot be considered strike craft. They are an absolute must in navigating any world at large.

Utility
This would include any craft or ships that are normally used to carry out some non-combat mission, like repairing damaged hulls, or gathering resources. A more combat orientated example would be mine-layers, or Refueling Ships. These are often repurposed vessels.

'The Lone Wolf'
Ideally, you could design and field a single, super vessel, capable of doing everything. It would be super nimble, not require fuel, be nearly indestructable and be capable of rendering anything into any state of destruction anywhere. While this, or something like it, may be achievable against enemy of low-capability, against an equally powerful adversary...not so much. The arguement goes that, they could build exactly the same thing you have (or there abouts) except, use the space you utilised for other multirole capabilities, and outfit it for the sole purpose of destroying your ship. It is expected then, that they would win any engagment, since they specialise in destroying you, while you do not. But they'd then need another ship to do another role, and soon we're back to using fleets again, and all this classification stuff becomes relevant again.

Typical Hull Classification

<<WORK IN PROGRESS>>
Modern navies, as well as those featured within sci-fi universes such as the UNSC or the Starfleet, assign a short set of letters and numbers to quickly identify any vessel. How this system works changes from place to place, and real world versions contain hundereds of individual hulls. As the SCG aims to adopt the simple but effective assignment of class, hull classification is kept equally simple, providing a standard starting point, while leaving room for designers to incorporate whatever sub-classification's that work best for them.

The table below presents the required class code assignment for SCG, and provides a number of suggetsed varient codes.

These are not abreviations, they are code assignments. However, attempts are made to keep each code as close to the class and varient name, for ease of use. Pro-tip, if you can't use the first letter, use the next...and the next if that's taken etc. Also, using uncommon letters is a great way to easily classify certain varients (for example, here a Super varient is encoded by an 'X').

Class		Varient
Frigate	F	Heavy	H
Destroyer	D	Light	L
Cruiser	C	Super	P
Battleship	B	Missile	M
Carrier	V	Comm&Sig	O
Strikecraft	S	Assault	A
Utility	U	Bomber	M
		Interceptor	I
		Gunship	G
		Shuttle	T
		Drone	D
		Minelayer	Y
		Repair	R

How to Use:
There is always one Class letter, and as many Varients as needed ("keep it simple stupid").
When there is no varient, double the Class to indicate the lack of variation.
Follow the Class and Varient code letters, with the individual service number of that particular vessel. Reuse old service numbers.

DD 107 = Standard destroyer number 107
CHA 3 = Heavy Assault Cruiser number 3
SMH 81 = Heavy Bomber number 81

NOTES:

• Strikecraft are often considered under a more areial code, and as such, which would make these naval codes more of a 'better than nothing' option. They can still be used to provide rapid identity of unknown strikecraft within a navy atmosphere.

[DirectorDelta]

@Trazyn Ah yes, everyone's *favorite* ship.

[A strange sphere]

The lone wolf sounds like a dreadnaught but a lot faster,

[Trazyn]

yeah but what about the super-duper-heavy-large-lethargic-mega-colossal-transport-omni-huge-power-strong-demon-long-transport-frigate-cruiser-warship??????

[The Commissar]

misspelled helpful whoops

[The Commissar]

weaponcore is so heapful when it come to telling me my own class I test my ships amour against another of the class

[HeyIt'sRaven]

huh, I'll stick to my corvettes. Sad to see it not included, but those of us that specialise in corvettes know what to do

[Extronaught]

@Feralcus
It was an off the cuff example to be honest, its not a watertight example. Thanks for the input though buddy :)

[Feralcus]

@bloodless39 In relation to your comment on the "Nuclear" designation being rather redundent, I would say that while the vast majority of ship use nuclear reactors it is possible to build a ship with just metric assloads of batteries and either recharge from a "Refueler" of some sort or solar panels.

So while difficult and infact not worth the trouble in most cases it is possible to forgoe nuclear... What that means for the ship designations I don't know...

(There was also a mod reactor that used, magnesium fuel cells I think... So there's that...)

[Albino Noodle]

Well looks like I'm building a Destroyer or a Battleship, Probably more of a Destroyer due to
a few hangars.

Feels about right.

[Luxocracy]

You missed lander/colinizer. Made for transporting a person/people down to a planet to colinize.
(sorry for spelling)