Capital ship

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"Capital starships serve many functions: exploration, transportation, tourism, and – especially in recent times – war."

- Commander Elpfel, commanding officer of the Mon Calamari cruiser Wavesong. Capital ship was a general term that referred to any armed military starship that had a length greater than one hundred meters. Ships of this class ranged from small and nimble corvettes like the Corellian Engineering Corporation CR90 corvette to titanic Star Dreadnoughts, such as the Kuat Drive Yards Eclipse. ==History=="But these instruments of destruction have their weaknesses as well. High power consumption, low maneuverability; complex redundant system design, large crew requirements, tactical disadvantages against small starfighters - luckily for the galaxy, these ships are not unstoppable, though they come closer than any other weapon in recorded history&hellip;"

- Commander Elpfel. Ships of this class were typically designed for fleet warfare, often positioned in armadas stationed in high orbit around a strategic planet. They usually formed the primary attack groups in most fleets. There were, however, a few exceptions to the typical definition. For example, the Sienar Fleet Systems GAT-12 Skipray Blastboat was considered a capital ship because of its heavy armament, despite being a mere twenty five meters in length and operating primarily in the role of a heavy assault starfighter. These vessels were commonly fitted with ship-to-ship and anti-fighter defensive weaponry, ranging from heavy ion cannons to turbolaser turrets. Many capital ship classes also served as carriers and were able to deploy starfighters, landing craft, and other resources as required. Given their size, capital ships employed relatively numerous crews, employing in some instances thousands of beings. An example was the Imperial-class Star Destroyer, which was 1,600 meters long and required a crew of 37,000 to operate at full efficiency. There were also examples that utilized a much smaller number of active personnel, whether by means of advanced control systems or simply necessity, as in the cases of the Katana fleet and the Errant Venture, respectively. ==Classification== Following the Anaxes War College System capital ships were divided into seven main classifications. *Corvettes: Ships of roughly 100 - 200 meters length **CR70 corvette **CR90 corvette *Frigates: Ships of roughly 200 - 400 meters length **Vigil-class corvette**EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate **Lancer-class frigate **MC40a light cruiser *Cruisers: Ships of roughly 400 - 600 meters length **Dreadnaught-class heavy cruiser *Heavy Cruisers: Ships of roughly 600 - 1000 meters length **Acclamator-class assault ship **Victory-class Star Destroyer *Star Destroyers: Ships of roughly 1000 -2000 meters length **Venator-class Star Destroyer **Imperial-class Star Destroyer *Battlecruisers: Ships of roughly 2000 - 5000 meters length **Bulwark Mark III **Praetor II-class Star Battlecruiser *Dreadnaughts: All ships over 5000 meters length **Executor-class Star Dreadnought **Eclipse-class dreadnought  However ships could sometimes be moved up or down in classifaction, depending on their armament and intended role. As an example, the Carrack-class light cruiser would fall into Frigate classification with its length of just 350 meters, but due to its armament and role, it was sometimes moved up into the cruiser category. ==Appearances==*Strike Force: Shantipole* * ==Sources==*Shadows of the Empire Sourcebook*Shadows of the Empire Planets Guide*Starships of the Galaxy*The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels*The New Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels*The Essential Guide to Warfare*TCG The Empire Strikes Back (TCG) (The Empire Strikes Back)*TCG The Empire Strikes Back (TCG) (The Empire Strikes Back)*The Force Unleashed Campaign Guide*The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia*The Clone Wars Campaign Guide*****The Unknown Regions*The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force*Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side**The Essential Guide to Warfare*Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Core Rulebook*Suns of Fortune*🇸🇪 ==External links==* ==Notes and references==  ==Capital ship Star Wars Universe ==

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 Capital Ship Star Wars Universe =====

Real World
The capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; they generally possess the heaviest firepower and armor and are traditionally much larger than other naval vessels. A capital ship is generally a leading or a primary ship in a naval fleet. William S. Lind, in the book "America Can Win" (p. 90), defines a capital ship. He states that “These characteristics define a capital ship: if the capital ships are beaten, the navy is beaten. But if the rest of the navy is beaten, the capital ships can still operate. Another characteristic that defines capital ships is that their main opponent is each other. This appears to be true of submarines today.”  He has said elsewhere, "What makes them the current capital ships is that no one can operate surface ships, warships or merchantmen, in waters where an opponent's submarines are dominant.  The reverse is not true: submarines can easily operate where an enemy's surface ships are dominant." There is usually no formal criterion for the classification, but it is a useful concept in naval strategy; for example, it permits comparisons between relative naval strengths in a theatre of operations without the need for considering specific details of tonnage or gun diameters. A notable example of this is the Mahanian doctrine, which was applied in the planning of the defence of Singapore in World War II, where the Royal Navy had to decide the allocation of their battleships and battlecruisers between the Atlantic and Pacific theatres. The Mahanian doctrine was also applied by the Imperial Japanese Navy, leading to their preventive move to attack Pearl Harbor and the battleships of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. The naval nature of the Pacific Theater of Operations, more commonly referred to as the Pacific War, necessitated the United States Navy to deploy its battleships and aircraft carriers in the Pacific. The war in Europe was primarily a land war, consequently, Germany's surface fleet was small, and the escort ships used in the Second Battle of the Atlantic were mostly destroyers and destroyer escorts to counter the U-boat threat. == Era of sail ==Before the advent of the all-steel navy in the late 19th century, a capital ship was generally understood as a ship that conformed to the Royal Navy's rating system of a ship of the line as being of the first, second, third or fourth rates:* First rate: 100 or more guns, typically carried on three or four decks. Four-deckers suffered in rough seas, and the lowest deck could seldom fire except in calm conditions.* Second rate: 90–98 guns.* Third rate: 64 to 80 guns (although 64-gun third-raters were small and not very numerous in any era).* Fourth rate: 46 to 60 guns. By 1756, these ships were acknowledged to be too weak to stand in the line of battle and were relegated to ancillary duties, although they also served in the shallow North Sea and American littorals where larger ships of the line could not sail. Frigates were ships of the fifth rate; sixth rates comprised small frigates and corvettes. Towards the end of the Napoleonic Wars and into the late 19th century some larger and more powerful frigates were classified as fourth rates. == Battleship / Battlecruiser ==The definition of "capital ship" was formalized in the limitation treaties of the 1920s and 30s in the Washington Naval Treaty, London Naval Treaty, and Second London Naval Treaty. This applied mainly to ships resulting from the dreadnought revolution; dreadnought battleships (also known first as dreadnoughts and later as battleships) and battlecruisers. In the 20th century, especially in World Wars I and II, typical capital ships would be battleships and battlecruisers. All of the above ships were close to 20,000 tons displacement or heavier, with large caliber guns and heavy armor protection. Heavy cruisers, despite being important ships, were not considered capital ships. An exception to the above in World War II was the. Though this class was technically similar to a heavy cruiser, albeit with considerably heavier guns, they were regarded by some as capital ships (hence the British label "Pocket battleship") since they were one of the few heavy surface units of the Kriegsmarine. The s, despite being oversized heavy cruisers and not true battleships/battlecruisers, were also considered by some to be capital ships. During the Cold War, a Soviet large missile cruiser had a displacement great enough to rival WWII-era battleships and battlecruisers, perhaps defining a new capital ship for that era. In regard to technical design, however, the Kirov is simply a supersized guided-missile cruiser with nuclear propulsion. == Aircraft carrier ==It took until late 1942 before aircraft carriers were universally considered capital ships. The U.S. Navy was forced  to rely primarily on their aircraft carriers after the attack on Pearl Harbor sank or damaged eight of their Pacific Fleet battleships. In the 21st century, the aircraft carrier is the last remaining capital ship, with capability defined in decks available and aircraft per deck, rather than in guns and calibers. The United States possesses supremacy, in both categories of aircraft carriers, possessing not only 10 active duty supercarriers each capable of carrying and launching nearly 100 tactical aircraft, but an additional 12 amphibious assault ships as capable (in the "Sea Control Ship" configuration) as the light VSTOL carriers of other nations. Despite their significance to modern fleets, the US Navy has never named aircraft carriers after US states as was the practice when battleships (e.g. Iowa class) were considered capital ships. Instead US state names are today applied to nuclear submarines. ==Nuclear submarines==Ballistic missile submarines (or "boomers"), while important ships and similar in tonnage to early battleships, are usually counted as part of a nation's nuclear deterrent force and do not share the sea control mission of traditional capital ships. Nevertheless, many navies, including the Royal Navy and the United States Navy, consider these ships to be capital ships. Beginning with the first class of Trident equipped ballistic missile submarines (i.e. the Ohio class) state names have been applied to US nuclear submarines indicating their status as capital ships. Previous ballistic missile submarines (e.g. Poseidon missile equipped submarines) had not been named for states. After the completion of the last Ohio class ballistic missile submarine, state names were applied to attack submarines (e.g. Virginia class). Earlier attack submarines had been named for major cities (e.g. Los Angeles class) - as was previously the practice for cruisers (e.g. USS Indianapolis) == Naming ==Some navies reserve specific names for their capital ships. Names reserved for capital ships include chiefs of state (e.g. GERMAN BATTLESHIP Bismarck), important places, historically important naval officers or admiralty (e.g. HNLMS De Ruyter), historical events or objects (e.g. USS Constitution), traditional names (e.g. HMS Ark Royal). However there are some exceptions to the rule. Beginning with the USS Texas (the first US battleship), US capital ships have traditionally been named after US states. Lesser vessels are named after US territories (e.g. Alaska class battlecruisers), major US cities (e.g. cruisers), or US presidents (e.g. early attack submarines and late aircraft carriers). Prior to and during WWII the Imperial Japanese Navy also followed the practice of naming battleships after provinces (e.g. IJN Yamato). Beginning with the Ohio class, US state names were applied to ballistic missile submarines indicating their rising status as capital ships equipped with a complement of doomsday nuclear weapons. After the last delivery of Ohio class ballistic missile submarines, the US Navy began applying state names to attack submarines (e.g. the Virginia class). == In fiction ==The term has been adopted into science fiction literature and culture to describe large spaceships used in military contexts, particularly where other naval terms have also been adopted in similar fashion; for example, sci-fi capital spaceships are often "carriers", that carry small fighters analogous to the way the real world naval equivalent carries fighter aircraft, as well as functioning as "battleships". == See also ==*Ship of the line*Flagship*Dreadnought*Battleship*Battlecruiser*Aircraft carrier*Amphibious Assault Ship == References ==