![]() As practically always, your go-to source is the Atomic Rockets site, specifically here.īut. A number of people have noted that some of these assumptions, such as cruisers being 'faster' than battleships, don't translate very well into space. I've used it myself, which didn't keep me from making snide comments about most of these classes here. Destroyers are also rather popular, including as major combatants, though they originated as a specialized type, 'torpedo-boat destroyers.' In space wargames there's also some popularity to using 'dreadnought' for a super battleship, rather than what dreadnoughts were historically, battleships of a later type and perhaps even bigger classes with colorful names like Annihilator. In SF some hybrid models are also popular – notoriously battlecruisers, cruiser types scaled up to battleship dimensions: dashing, powerful, and with a nasty reputation for blowing up. (Lesser patrol craft went by a wide variety of names, of which one, fregata, turned out to have a big future ahead of it.) The mission configurability of galleys by loadout is a hint that the three main types are not a universal law, but science fiction has drawn few analogies from the mere 2000+ years of galley warfare. Galleys could be assigned more rowers for cruiser missions, or more fighting men on deck for battlefleet service. ![]() Take another ride on the wayback machine, to around 1400 – or 400 BC – and the battleships and cruisers blur together. (Gunboats were then small vessels, often oared, with one or two heavy guns, used mainly for inshore defense.) Ships of the line are rarely seen in space, but the name 'frigate' has captured the popular imagination, and indeed is used by present-day navies. Corvettes are still corvettes, unless they are sloops of war, gun-brigs, or whatever have you. Turn the time-regress dial back from 1890 to 1790 and the first two classes become ships of the line and frigates. In the late 19th century these were called gunboats, hence 'gunboat diplomacy.' Corvettes, though to 'Murricans their name connotes a classic car, are lighter patrol craft and workhorses of the fleet, with the virtue of being cheap and therefore plentiful. Though no match for battleships they are formidable against anything else, and are tailored for speed and range: In the classic formulation the ideal cruiser can outrun anything it can't defeat. Cruisers patrol the seaways/spaceways, often operating independently. They carry the heaviest practical armament and protection, sacrificing some speed and range in order to do so. In this schema there are broadly three warship types, with familiar and evocative names: battleships, cruisers, and corvettes.īattleships fight other battleships, especially in fleet actions. In spite of Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica, there is some preference for drawing inspiration from the big-gun era, especially – and a bit steampunkishly – the Mahanian golden age a century ago, before the World Wars and the complications introduced by submarines and aircraft. The naval analogy also invites some ways of thinking about force deployments and space operations. Crews live aboard their vehicles, unlike aircrews or tank crews. Unlike aircraft missions, space missions take days or weeks, often months, not infrequently years. The analogy is traditional and 'natural,' and even in the rocketpunk era it easily turned back occasional efforts to model the Space Force after the Air Force. ![]() As long as there have been serious shoot-em-ups in science fiction there have been space navies.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |