Original Starship Design Thread

[Wraith Scientist]

Nice cruiser Wraith Scientist, but I said I wanted a battleship not a cruiser.

What's the difference?

I'm kinda new to this

Do battleships have to do something special or fulful a specific role?

[freyr's mother]

I thought that the Prometheus took 3 billion or so to be built (that includes constructing the site needed to build it). So I think that 6 billion would be reasonable for a DSC-304 but I have no idea about that other ship.

Nice cruiser Wraith Scientist, but I said I wanted a battleship not a cruiser.

Freyr's Mother all I have to ask is that you design your own ship hulls instead of copying ones from the show. But that is just my pet-peeve whether or not others care I don't know.

Hey, I like the ones from the show.

[Harekin]

What's the difference?

I'm kinda new to this

Do battleships have to do something special or fulful a specific role?

They consist of guns...guns and guns. No fighters, etc. VERY big with lots of guns.

[Wraith Scientist]

Found this further back - helpful:

Spoiler:

I have only one problem with all of it, but not a major one. Most of the ships have been either super ships, or all-purpose warships. Some have indeed set specific classifications to their ships, but I'm not so sure there is a clear consensus on what each type of ship is. It seems to me, that if we're talking about an Earth-based multi-purpose fleet of ships, then the different ships must be specifically typed, for its proposed specific roles (general purpose ships should be put to a minimum, if we're going to build a huge fleet). People have had no problem saying this is a "blah-blah-blah" class ship, which is less of an issue, but being acurate as to the type of ship being referred to, we need a mutual consensus on what exactly the different types of ships ARE, and what it is they are supposed to DO.

I'll try to make a list of ships types and the specific roles they're supposed to fill. Someone might have a better definition, but I think we should try and figure this part out first. The reason for having ships of similiar roles, but differing capability has much to do with economics. Like it or not, economics is a crucial part of ship building. You'd use your more powerful ships for more critical situations, and your lesser ships for more routine functions. Each of these types of ships can have multiple classes, but a 'class' of ship does not define the ships role, only its model.

Capital Ships

Supership- Any ship of such obvious advantages in size, armament, or capability as to be almost ridiculous. Such ships might usually be considered to fulfill a 'mobile base' (if it's really big) role, since it would be out of the question to produce more than one or two of these sort of ships. Such ships of this type that fit the bill because of weapons or defensive capability wouldn't be mobile bases, but it would be impracticle to build more than a few.

Carrier- Any ship designed primarily to carry smaller craft and/or personnel. Such ships are usually 'core' ships to any battle fleet, because of their massive size and role. They often carry smaller fighting craft such as fighters, light bombers, and small cargo/transport ships. They may also sometimes carry smaller specialty ships not already specified. (The current run of 'Deep Space Carrier' on stargate, is a carrier, but because of the limited size of the number of ships Earth can field, it must also serve as an all-purpose ship as well.)

Battleship- A heavily armored ship with a massive weapons array, these ships serve as the point of the spear in any fleet. These ships might carry a few small cargo/transport craft, but no more. They can be nearly as massive as Carrier's, but their entire structure is designed to fight, rather than carry. It is usually a battleship or carrier that serves as the flagship of any fleet.

Destroyer- These ships are similiar in role to Battleships, but they are not as heavily armored and do not have as powerful weapons. They are actually a cheaper version of the battleship, but on the other hand, more can be built at less costs thus accomplishing through numbers what cannot be done by a single ship.

Frigate- These ships are to Destroyers, what Destroyers are to Battleships. They are an even cheaper ship than the Destroyers, and even less powerful. These sort of ships might usually be used for escort duty along the shipping lanes, as they are strong enough to protect cargo ships from piratical assaults, but not powerful enough to go up against more powerful capital ship.

Cruiser- These ships are strong and fast, and are usually assigned to patrol and intercept duties. These ships are not as heavily armored as Battleships or Destroyers, but they do wield an impressive weapons array making them dangerous opponents. These ships can operate at various range levels, from short range to mid-range actions. They are also usually equipped with the most advanced sensors available, as their escort duties often make them the first word of warning about hostiles.

Patrol Ship- These are to Cruisers, what frigates are to destroyers. A smaller much less powerful ship, assigned to patrol pre-planned routes at short ranges from their bases, and if necessary to deviate and investigate potential problems. These ships have VERY routine duties, and might even be considered boring, until they actually see combat.

Battlecruiser- These ships generally follow a Cruiser's role, but are more heavily armed and capable of a more multi-role function. These ships also would not follow 'normal' patrol routes, as they would more likely be first responders to any reported trouble. These ships would have a greater variety of missions to fulfill than many ships.

Minelayer Ship- These ships are used to lay mines in areas where one wishes to keep ships and other craft from entering. These minefields are often used as 'buffers' to prevent 'real' space passage to critical locations.

Minesweeper Ship- These ships are designed to remove mine fields, by whatever means necessary. They are heavily armored, with structural integrity being the main concern of their design. They are designed to be able to survive incredible punishment, although minesweeping duties generally allow the ship to maintain some distance between the ships and the mines.

Amphibious Command Ship- These ships are massive troop carriers, with large numbers of Drop Ships on board. They are designed to facilitate planetary ground assaults, after initial space-based combat has been completed. You use these ships if you are planning to invade and conquer a planet, by means of ground forces.

Stealth/Assault Ship- These ships are designed for heavy combat, but are primarily used to 'seek-and-destroy'. They normally 'hide' until they are ready to attack, by whatever means necessary. In the world of stargate, they could 'cloak' themselves by either using a cloaking shield, or using phasing technology (like which the Sodan used). Their biggest advantage is 'suprise', using shock tactics to catch their opponents off-guard and unready for assault.

Smaller Craft

Fighter- Any 1 or 2 manned combat craft used in single or multiple combat operations. Fighters can also be unmanned, but fulfill the same role, none the less. These craft go up against a multitude of potential hostiles, but are usually severely limited in range and capability. They can be especially deadly in very large numbers.

Bomber- Larger craft, with a crew ranging from (est.) 2 to 12, used to target objects with much more powerful weapons. These craft are not as manueverable as fighters, but are usually more heavily armored, as they often enter into 'hot zones'. Fighters sometimes run interference for Bombers, to clear them for a strafing run against targets.

Drop Ship- Large (relative to a fighter) heavily armored ship with light weapons capability, used to transport ground troops, vehicles, and supplies. These ships have little offensive capabilities, but usually have impressive defensive capabilites.

Gunship- Large (relative to a fighter) lightly armored ship with an extremly massive weapons array. It is in essence a mobile weapons platform, that makes it a 'smaller' version of a battleship. In a fleet capacity they might be considered 'cannons', supplementing lesser armed vessels with greater offensive capability.

Support Ships

Ammunitions Ship- This is a fleet support ship, that is essentially a cargo ship. They are generally heavily armored (you don't want enemy fire to penetrate THIS hull), and are used to rearm other ships when ammunition is nearing depletion.

Tender Ship- This ship acts as a mobile repair facility. It has much greater fabrication capabilities than most ships have on their own, to replace parts and components. They also carry highly trained repair crews to repair damaged ships. In a crunch, these ships also have limited towing capability.

Hospital Ship- These ships are exactly what they sound like. They are equipped with the most advanced medical equipment and personnel available. If one of these ships are available, there is no need to rush anyone to a major planet-side medical facility. Very useful...

Cargo Ship- These ships are heavily armored, as they may have to enter hostile territory to bring non-military supplies to capital ships, such as food, etc. There isn't much difference between these ships and 'freighters', except that they have greater defensive capability.

High Speed Transport- These ships are lightly armored, with minimal offensive capability. They are used to bring special personnel and cargo to distant locations during dire situations, where speed is a great factor. They are not expected to enter 'hot zones', but they do travel near to them.

Salvage and Rescue Ship- These ships are specifically designed to tow large capital ships across great distances, either in 'real' space or hyperspace. They have no offensive capabilities, and if they go into 'hot zones' they require escort. They also have trained rescue personnel and equipment to retrieve survivors from damaged ships.

Space Tug- These small craft are used to manuever larger ships into desired positions, when a capital ship may not be able to make the manuevers on its own.

Non-combat/support Military Vessels

Deep Space Research/Survey Ship- These ships study phenomena that could be hazardous to ship travel, but do not function as fleet support craft. These ships have very little in the way of weaponry, but possess moderate defensive capability as they may be called upon to enter hazardous places in the line of duty. They may also drop 'warning buoys' to signal ships about potential dangers, as well as add useful new data to star maps.

Surveillance Ship- These ships function similiar to patrol ships, but they have no offensive capabilities, nor are they expected to. They simply observe, record, and inform. These ships also are not neccessarily expected to follow a specific patrol route. They may follow up any routes they feel are warranted. They essentially have the same function as a Goa'uld Tel'tak scout ship.

Training Ship- Essentially a 'mock-up' of a capital ship, but with little or no offensive capability. It is basically a simulation ship, but while making actual manuevers rather than a CGI simulation. It helps to give crews undergoing training, practical experiance to prepare them for more critical roles.

Training Fighter- Also a 'mock-up', but of a much smaller fighter. These craft allow pilots to train in zero-g combat situations, without using real weaponry. They serve the same purpose as Training ships, but for smaller space-capable craft.

*********

Tau-Class Battleship



Massive ammounts of ordanance

Incredibly powerful main cannon (electromagnetic accelerator) capable of ripping through all but the most durable vessels in a single shot, although very slow to reload

Missile pods capable of unleashing a lethal barrage of missiles

Capability to store thousands of missiles and an enourmous amount of ammunition

Unshielded, but very heavily armoured

Follows much the same specs as my cruiser, but scaled up

Cheap to produce. No unnecessary equipment. Not especially high-tech

Auxillary maneuvering thrusters for maneuverability and countering the recoil generated by the main cannon when it fires

Bridge buried deep in the structure of the ship for protection

[freyr's mother]

Found this further back - helpful:



*********

Tau-Class Battleship



Massive ammounts of ordanance

Incredibly powerful main cannon (electromagnetic accelerator) capable of ripping through all but the most durable vessels in a single shot, although very slow to reload

Missile pods capable of unleashing a lethal barrage of missiles

Capability to store thousands of missiles and an enourmous amount of ammunition

Unshielded, but very heavily armoured

Follows much the same specs as my cruiser, but scaled up

Cheap to produce. No unnecessary equipment. Not especially high-tech

Auxillary maneuvering thrusters for maneuverability and countering the recoil generated by the main cannon when it fires

Bridge buried deep in the structure of the ship for protection

Looks a lot like the Pillar of Autumn. Why no shield? The asgard give them to us, it's not like we have to buy them.

[immhotep]

i could see unmanned versions of this craft be the type of thing earth may want to employ as a planetary/solar defence system...a large fleet of cheap, powerfull and expendable "tau's" could easily be deployed around atlantis and Earth to provide massive suport firepower to our increasing fleet of conventional warships.

[Wraith Scientist]

Looks a lot like the Pillar of Autumn. Why no shield? The asgard give them to us, it's not like we have to buy them.

Yes, it does doesn't it

To be honest it came kind as an extension and scaling up of my origional cruiser, but since I'm a Halo fan I was probably influenced by that too

All my designs will be produced unshielded, BUT if you want to put a shield on go ahead

[freyr's mother]

I'm a Halo fan

Hell yeah!

BUT if you want to put a shield on go ahead

Yay. Shield on.

[immhotep]

put shield generate where the bridge was in my version

[freyr's mother]

put shield generate where the bridge was in my version

What do you mean?

[immhotep]

well look at my post, unmanned this craft would be a great planetary defence craft, akin to the lantian defence satalites but more numerous and smaller...however being unmanned there wold be no need for a bridge, so a shieid generator could be there in its place.

[freyr's mother]

What page # is the post you are talking about on?

[Wraith Scientist]

What page # is the post you are talking about on?

It's on the previous page

He said that the Tau-Class might work well unmanned

i could see unmanned versions of this craft be the type of thing earth may want to employ as a planetary/solar defence system...a large fleet of cheap, powerfull and expendable "tau's" could easily be deployed around atlantis and Earth to provide massive suport firepower to our increasing fleet of conventional warships.

So the bridge and life support could be stripped out to make space for shields and more weapons

[freyr's mother]

So the bridge and life support could be stripped out to make space for shields and more weapons

What's all of the extra space for then? There's only the weapon the shields, what else, extra ammo. How about an auto loading mechanism for MAC gun?

[immhotep]

Well for starters a powerfull long range subspace warning/detection system, to alert earth to pending attacks, maybe even an advanced computer program that links all the sensors in the defence network together and make them check for strange energy signitures...aka cloaked ships.