SPG2 Battleships

## Introduction

*Main Article: Ships & Classes*

A Battleship, on present terms, and indeed since the Age of Sail, is a large, armored warship with a main battery consisting mainly of heavy caliber guns. The term "Battleship" was coined at the beginning of the 19th Century and it is an evolution of the phrase "Ship of the line of battle", or more colloquially, "line-of-battle-ship", usually used for the then dominant ironclad warships.

Battleships were, and are a symbol of naval dominance and national might, and for centuries the battleship was a major factor in both diplomacy and military strategy. The space arms race in battleship construction began on Earth, when a long forgotten, nearly 150 years old military research paper got leaked out to the wide public.

This paper speculated on the impact of a large battleship fleet on interstellar diplomacy if two powers are present in opposition, and how the situation would evolve if one side got an advantage on the arms race over the other. The implications of this projection reached far and wide, and created mass worry and hysteria, which prompted the opposing governments to counter the rising unrest and so both sides, the Empire and the Colonies started to build battleships in large numbers. The race eventually ended when both sides recognized the relatively low value of the battleships: despite the immense resources spent on building them, even with their enormous firepower and protection, battleships were increasingly vulnerable to much smaller, cheaper weapons like torpedo gunships and corvettes, stealth space mines, and later on, to carrier groups. The other factor ending the battleship arms race was the appearance of the dreadnoughts.

The Empire - in full possession of every blueprint and research study ever made on naval warfare - was able to analyse and compare of the two most successful World War II battleships; the Japanese Yamato-class and the American Iowa-class. Using the results, the engineers concluded that only a little modification was needed for a successful design. Indeed, the first ever built spacefaring battleship, the "**Dominion**", resembled both ship classes in appearance and construction technique.

The Dominion gave its name to the class and the Colonies started to copy the design. Since then, the Empire stopped building battleships and these days only major corporations and factions - greatly altering and improving on the Dominion class - commission them; the navies are focusing on the more capable dreadnought class.

Until the latest times, Battleships were the embodiment of space power. An old theory got to the rise again: Alfred Thayer Mahan's theory, proposed in "The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660–1783" of 1890, which said that the role of the battleship was to sweep the enemy from the seas - and was adopted for interplanetary space warfare. Lesser ships may be able to do raid, blockade, and escort work, but the factual existence of battleships means a potential threat to any convoy not protected by capital ships. This concept is known as a "fleet in being", and Mahan's work eventually became highly influential in space naval and political circles, calling for a large fleet of the most powerful battleships possible.

The "fleet in being" suggested that battleships could tie down superior enemy resources simply by existing. This in turn was believed to be able to tip the balance of a conflict even without a battle. This suggested that even for inferior naval powers, a battleship fleet could have an important strategic impact.

While the Mahanian Doctrine is reflected in the role of the battleship, deploying such forces is a lot more complex.The present day Battleships are relatively highly vulnerable to small, agile torpedo gunships and fighter crafts launched by carriers, so they must operate in battle groups and aided by ample escorts. Indeed, battleship formations are usually concentrated battlegroups and rarely deployed without a protective screen of destroyers.

In order for this concentrated force to be able to bring its power to bear on a reluctant opponent (or to avoid an encounter with a stronger enemy fleet), battlefleets need some means of avoiding enemy radar screens and to locate enemy ships beyond effective radar range. For these reasons, battlegroups are usually formed by cloak-capable capital ships and cloak-capable escorts, complemented by long-range scout vessels.

## Additional Information

Battleships are the backbone of any large fleet. They might be slow, but their hull and shield strength as well as their firepower accommodate for their lack of maneuverability. They posses a large number of battery turrets, meaning that you can combine different types of the light and heavy weapons, depending on the battles you might be the part of. With careful planning, your Battleship can easily take down smaller ships as well as take care of heavier opponents. This class was, for a long time, the biggest ship in the fleets of Emperors and Warlords. Their size can easily break the 1000 meter mark, which means only one thing - if you ever face a Battleship, you better have your own. Use equipment and items to boost their strength even further. With the well placed heals, skillful Captains will easily stand their ground against the overwhelming odds. Have a good range of weapon systems, Beams to melt down the shields and rail guns and/or rocket launchers to tear through the hull. They can take a lot of beating and will not easily go down, but this doesn't mean you can just unleash your Battleships and expect them to win without some basic team play if you're fighting overwhelming amounts of enemies.

## Basic Details

Only the basic stats are presented here. For full information, check out the specific page about each ship.

*Previous class: Cruisers* *Next class: Dreadnoughts*