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HungryKing
Captain (Junior Grade)
Posts: 369
Joined: Sat May 26, 2012 9:43 pm
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Warning, long post. I am posting this because I am tired, and have spent far too much time on it. I may or may not continue it.
Ok, there are subtypes, it is just that they are rarely seen. Such as Marine Support Cruisers, their 'type' is LCA, but Manticore does not maintain a different numbering series for its LCAs, so they are hull numbered as CAs.
As for LACs, their sub-types are a very new thing, when the existence of new LAC types is closely guarded even creating a distinguishing system, save for the class, does not make sense.
From here on I am going from memory:
Now for some Honorverse history: the various type classifications arouse out of the fact that a military vessel's intended usage, that is, its role, primarily in the form of cruising range and level of armament, mapped to a mass range, and said mass range, in turn, gave construction methodology parameters. These mass range giving type was still in the process of shaking out during the Manticore Ascendant series timeframe (LACs, in fact, don't yet exist as impeller ring spacing does not allow them), as the difference between frigates and light cruisers, as mass driver missile tubes are a new thing, and the sidewall gunport will cause swinging launcher equipped vessels to have new life, is not yet fully hashed out, though it is established that light cruisers are larger, it is where that line is drawn that is the issue. This is probably more or less resolved around 1600 pd. By Honor's time it is a well established custom and the ranges are adjusted by the League, though only destroyers and drednaughts seem to be types which will press the line.
Frigates are minimal armed vessels which, properly speaking, by the time of the main series are not actual men of war, they are escorts, and they possess extended cruising capacity. Construction details are foggy, but weapon systems (outside spinal energy weapons, perhaps) generally do not go deep in the hull. When missiles started being different sizes frigates frequently mounted an even smaller missile than same era destroyers and light cruisers (though some *cough*RMN*cough* destroyers and light cruisers also used that size appearently); but even then in the form of missile cells (single shot launchers that require external servicing), missile bays (single shot launchers that permit internal servicing), and rotary launchers (probably permitting internal servicing).
Destroyers are minimal true warships, but can see deployments as escorts, so they are classified as both escorts and light warships. Traditionally speaking, they do not possess extended cruising ability, though size creep mean that some classes do. In order to fit a proper warship's weaponry in a small hull they are 'tin cans' and frequently mount only token armor, internal armoring schemes are for individual compartments and, maybe, critical runs. Historically destroyers and frigates shared a mass bracket but as 'proper weaponry' required deeper magazines, mass driver tubes and more mounts, they started massing more, a process which, by Honor's time, meant that new destroyers might mass more than older light cruisers, and in some cases the only way to determine which was which was the one that mounted broadside grasers is the light cruiser. (Though, generally, in the same navy if a destroyer and light cruiser are close design consorts the light cruiser will mass more, even if it does not mount broadside grasers.)
Light cruisers as a type are the minimal generalist warship, and all possess extended cruising capability, and as noted above are traditionally the smallest vessel which are able to mount broadside grasers (before sidewall gunports this seems to have been any dedicated broadside weaponry). Weaponry wise, they use much the same weapons as destroyers. Construction wise, they were cruisers, which meant they had a true 'core hull' critical systems are congregated well away from the exposed sides of the vessel and the core hull is isolated during battle. As for the amount of armor it varied, some had minimal besides the hammerheads, others actually had some and still others went so far as to use token secondary belts over the most critical portions of the core hull. Traditionally, they have at most two tubes per chaser and a single weapons deck (once sidewall gunports were invented). There was a comfortable gap between the largest light cruiser and the smallest heavy cruiser in the same navy, even with a century of age difference.
Heavy Cruisers are medium combatants, which is too say they bigger than light cruisers, mount heavier weapons, missiles are shared with battle cruisers, but their energy weapons are merely larger than those of a light cruiser. Or, in other words, frigates die, destroyers and light cruisers count their lucky stars to be able to merely run away, and heavy cruisers can attempt to dissuade isolated BCs in missile duels. Heavy cruisers are the largest vessels (post ~1581 pd probably) which can be equipped with a reactor ejection system by anyone with any sense, though even then it was only the smaller ones that did so, and by Honor's birth new heavy cruisers were always too large. Heavy cruisers were traditionally restricted to a single full weapons deck, though some had additional broadside weapons as partial decks. Chasers seem to be always two tubes in terms of missiles. Heavy cruisers always mounted armor (CA stands for Cruiser, Armored), and had at least some secondary belts over critical portions of the core hull, some of them had even more, though full secondary belts were generally not done at more than token level.
Battle cruisers are traditionally classified as both heavy combatants and light capital ships. Which means they have a good chance of running down and killing anything smaller, can use the wall of battle formation, but frequently don't, and can fight those bigger, isolated superdrednaughts can be killed by them given approximately equal masses. Construction-wise they have full double layered armor schemes, and frequently some tertiary protection (damage redirection and internal ablation), two weapon decks, the hammerheads can have more than two tubes, and frequently do to significant extent. They also seem to be able to mount flank batteries on their hammerheads. Historically they seem to have evolved two mass ranges, light and heavy, of which the light went extinct. That or the heavy mass range evolved in the 18th century pd and then replaced the light range. We do not know much about the light mass range, only that heavy cruisers were apparently not completely incapable of truly fending them off during missile duels, and may have had energy batteries whose mounts were not much stronger than those of heavy cruisers.
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