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This fanfiction article, Battlecruiser, was written by Sev40. Please do not edit this fiction without the writer's permission. |
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This article, Battlecruiser, was written by Sev40, but may be used freely by other users even without the author's explicit permission. |
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A battlecruiser or battle cruiser is a classification of heavy-weight capital ship recognised by the United Nations Space Command, represented via the hull classification symbol of CB. Exemplifying the gap that laid between cruisers and battleships in terms of performance and role, these were defined by their use of very heavy anti-shipping armaments on a platform capable of such great speed and agility that they could keep pace with cruiser formations. They achieve this through the sacrifice of protection, which frees up weight and the volume to support a powerful engine complex. Their armour coverage leaves far more of their hull exposed than a battleship of comparable size, their frame construction tends to be weaker and more spread out, and the thickness of their heaviest armour is usually (but not always) less than that of their battleship counterpart. In contrast, true fast battleships make none of these sacrifices, and tend to be larger and/or slower as a result.
In spite of their size, battlecruisers have proven to be far more flexible than their battleship counterparts. Although they can engage an enemy battlefleet if necessary - although this is a risky endeavour due to their more fragile construction - they are best used in cases where they can make the most of their great firepower and speed. Their ability to easily resist cruiser-grade weapons and run them down if necessary means they excel in cruising hunting missions, and are the preferred escorts for carriers. However, the space available in a battlecruiser hull and the distance they can cover without resupply makes them a very flexible class of vessels. Rapid-response battlecruiser squadrons organised to counter enemy breakthroughs are common in allied space, and they can be found leading raiding missions deep into enemy space in order to disrupt their logistics, reinforcements train, and commercial trade. Indeed, battlecruisers can often act as command ships for frontier armadas, with particularly venerable members often seen serving for decades in key Outer Colonial sectors.
Before the Human-Covenant War, battlecruisers were particularly rare in both the UNSC Navy and the Colonial Military Administration. This wasn't because of a lack of utility, far from it as battlecruisers proved to be excellent peacetime presence ships due to their endurance. It was the difficulty with justifying them to senators, who felt that cruisers were more than capable of dealing with the majority of perceived rebel attack craft. While their numbers slightly increased during the Insurrection, they only began to peak midway through the subsequent genocidal conflict, where a significant inadequacy of the UNSC's existing fleet prompted investigation into other forms of warships. Battlecruisers such as the Artemis-class quickly proved their worth as a force multiplier, where in groups they could even take down far larger CAS-class assault carriers. Their development continued into the Post-Covenant War period, where many designs tested the idea of using energy shields as their primary protection instead, and shed armour thicknesses down to allow for even higher speeds than previously imagined.
Large cruisers[]
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| The Valiant-class is the last line of large cruiser to be constructed. |
Large cruisers, dubbed "super-heavy cruisers" by the press, was once the classification given to battlecruisers that are built to a particular design theory. Popularised during the Domus Diaspora, when the stigma against battlecruisers caused prominent civilians to criticise their construction, they are so-named because they are simply larger, heavier versions of cruisers. They are intended to embark on the same missions as their smaller cousins, which often sees them conducting troop transportation, ship-to-ship combat, and light carrier operations simultaneously. They are supposed to do this without any of the speed and logistical issues exhibited by battleships. Because they are not recognised by the UNSC as a separate, independent entity, the term has generally fallen into disuse as battlecruisers of all kinds became more accepted by the human population.
Large cruisers could best be described as an even more formidable heavy cruiser, scaled up to allow them to easily overcome any light capital ship at once. In spite of their size, bulk, and weight, all large cruisers had a high cruising velocity, with a substantial drive section that can easily keep up with battle groups of smaller craft. Tough plating ensures they are more resilient to enemy fire in combat, with some examples of the class featuring an armour thickness that is competitive with that on full-fledged battleships. In comparison to later battlecruisers, most large cruisers had a conservative armament - a necessary sacrifice in order to allow their allied vessels to replenish their ammunition in the field. Weapons are normally restricted to munitions currently used by cruisers, just in larger numbers. Proposals for the installation of large-calibre naval coilguns were historically rejected by the UNSC, with only heavy guided missiles being permitted in their place.
Although large cruisers themselves can be considered a synonym for battlecruisers, a subclassification, "large command cruiser," is recognised by the UNSC. Given the hull symbol of CBC, they are distinguished by a permanent flag deck which can allow admirals to coordinate the efforts of an entire battle group.
List of Known Battlecruiser Classes[]
United Nation Space Command
Covenant Navy
Independent Human Navies
- Farragut-class battlecruiser
- Llamrei-class battlecruiser