The capital ships of a navy are its "important" warships; the ones with the heaviest firepower and armor. There is usually no formal criterion for the classification, but it is a useful concept when thinking about strategy, for instance to compare relative naval strengths in a theater of operations without having to get bogged down in the details of tonnage and gun diameters. A capital ship is generally a leading or a primary ship in a fleet. The multinational Combined Task Force One Five Zero (CTF-150) The British Grand Fleet, the supreme naval force of World War I A rare occurrence of a 5-country multinational fleet, during Operation Enduring Freedom in the Oman Sea. ... Firepower is a measure of the ability of weapons, specifically weapons which involve fire or explosion, to inflict harm, damage, or kill. ... Armor or armour (see spelling differences) is protective clothing intended to defend its wearer from intentional harm in combat and military engagements, typically associated with soldiers. ... A strategy is a long term plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal, as differentiated from tactics or immediate actions with resources at hand. ... In warfare, a theater or theatre is normally used to define a specific geographic area within which armed conflict occurs. ...

In the 20th century, especially in World Wars I and II, typical capital ships would be battleships, battlecruisers, and in WWII, aircraft carriers (though it took until late 1942 for carriers to be universally considered capital ships). All of the above ships were close to 20,000 tons displacement or heavier. Heavy cruisers, despite being important ships, were not considered capital ships. (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999... HMS Victory in 1884 Battleship was the name given to the most powerfully gun-armed and most heavily armored classes of warships built between the 15th and 20th centuries. ... HMS Hood (left) and the battleship HMS Barham (right), in Malta, 1937. ... Four aircraft carriers, Principe-de-Asturias, USS Wasp, USS Forrestal and HMS Invincible (front-to-back), showing the difference in size between a supercarrier, light V/STOL carriers, and an amphibious carrier. ... The term heavy cruiser is used to refer to large cruisers, a form of warship. ...

An exception to the above in World War II was the Deutschland class cruiser. Though it technically was similar to a heavy cruiser, albeit with considerably heavier guns, they were generally regarded as capital ships (hence the British label "pocket battleships"). The Lexington class and Alaska class cruisers, despite being "supersized" heavy cruisers and not battleships/battlecruisers, were also considered by some to be capital ships. The Deutschland class was a series of three panzerschiffs, a form of heavily armed cruiser, built by German Reichsmarine in accordance with restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. ... The Lexington class battlecruisers (assigned hull classification symbols CC-1 through CC-6), authorized under the 1917-1919 building programs, were the only ships of their type ever ordered by the United States Navy. ... Class Lead ship USS Alaska (CB-1) Builders New York Shipbuilding Corporation Number of ships 6 ordered, 3 laid down, 2 completed General characteristics Complement 2,251 officers and enlisted Armament Nine 12 inch (305 mm), twelve 5 inch (127 mm), 56 x 40 mm, 34 x 20 mm guns...

During the Cold War, a Soviet Kirov-class large missile cruiser had a displacement great enough to rival WWII-era capital ships, perhaps defining a new battlecruiser for that era. Radars: Voskhod MR-800 (Top Pair) 3D search radar on foremast Fregat MR-710 (Top Steer) 3D search radar on main mast 2 × Palm Frond navigation radar on foremast Sonar Horse Tail VDS (Variable Deep Sonar) Fire control: 2 × Top Dome for SA-N-6 fire control 4 × Bass Tilt...

In the 21st century, the aircraft carrier is the last remaining capital ship, with firepower defined in decks available and aircraft per deck, rather than in guns and calibres. The United States has undeniable supremacy in both categories of aircraft carriers, possessing not only 11 supercarriers each capable of carrying and launching nearly 100 tactical aircraft, but an additional 12 amphibious assault ships every bit as capable (in the "sea control ship" configuration) as the light VSTOL carriers of other nations. The 21st century is the present century of the Gregorian calendar. ... The word caliber (American English) or calibre (British English) comes from the Italian calibro, itself from the Arabic quâlib, meaning mould. ... USS , a typical supercarrier, and HMS Illustrious, a light V/STOL aircraft carrier on a joint patrol. ... Six of the U.S. Navys seven amphibious assault ships in formation The Italian MM San Giusto Amphibious assault ships, usually shortened to amphibs, phibs or popularly known as gator freighters, denotes a range of classes of warship employed to land and support ground forces on enemy territory by...

Ballistic missile submarines (or "boomers"), while important ships and in tonnage are similar 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. (Although in some navies (Royal Navy and US Navy), Ballistic submarines are given names typically formerly given to Battleships). SSBN is the United States Navy Hull classification symbol for a fleet ballistic missile submarine. ... Mutual assured destruction (MAD) is the doctrine of military strategy in which a full scale use of nuclear weapons by one of two opposing sides would result in the destruction of both the attacker and the defender. ...

The definition of "capital ship" was formalized in the limitation treaties of the 1920s and 30s; see Washington Naval Treaty, London Naval Treaty, and Second London Naval Treaty. The 1920s was a decade sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties, usually applied to America. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Washington Naval Treaty limited the naval armaments of its five signatories: the United States, the British Empire, the Empire of Japan, the French Third Republic, and Italy. ... The London Naval Treaty was an agreement between the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Italy and the United States, signed on April 22, 1930, which to regulate submarine warfare and limited military shipbuilding. ... The Second London Naval Disarmament Conference opened in England on December 9, 1935. ...

Before the advent of the all-steel navy in the late 19th century, a capital ship was a warship of the First, Second or Third rates: Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... This is one of six ratings (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th) in the rating system of the Royal Navy. ... In the British Royal Navy, a second-rate was a ship of the line mounting 90 to 98 guns, typically built with three gun decks. ... This is one of six ratings (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th) in the rating system of the Royal Navy. ...

• 1st Rate: 100 or more guns, typically carried on three or four decks. Four-deckers tended to have problems with the waterline and the lowest deck could seldom fire except on the calmest of seas.
• 2nd Rate: 90-98 guns
• 3rd Rate: 64 to 80 guns (although 64-gun third-raters were very small and not very numerous in any era).

Frigates were ships of the fourth or fifth rate; a corvette was a ship of the sixth rate. A deck is a permanent covering over a compartment or a hull[1] of a ship. ... For the bird, see Frigatebird. ... French steam corvette Dupleix (1856-1887) Canadian corvettes on antisubmarine convoy escort duty during World War II. A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, smaller than a frigate but larger than a coastal patrol craft. ...

See also Ship of the line The first-rate HMS Victory in 1884 In the age of sail, after the development of the line of battle tactic in the mid 17th century, and up to the mid 19th century, a ship of the line (of battle) was a warship powerful enough to take a place in...

Capital ships in fiction and popular culture

In most military science fiction universes, capital ships are considered to be warships of frigate-size or larger. Military science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction where interstellar or interplanetary conflict and its armed solution (war) make up the main or partial backdrop of the story. ...

In the Star Wars universe, "capital ship" refers to the larger starships in a fleet, such as the Imperial Star Destroyer or Mon Calamari Cruiser. Smaller craft such as the Nebulon-B Frigate, Corellian Corvette, and Dreadnaught Cruiser are also sometimes referred to be capital ships. In many Star Wars circles, a ship that is larger than 100 meters long is also popular defintion for classifying a capital-class craft. The cover of the 2004 DVD widescreen release of the revamped original Star Wars Trilogy. ...

In the Battlestar Galactica universe, Battlestars are large spacegoing capital ships that function similar to aircraft carriers. Title card from the original Battlestar Galactica series Battlestar Galactica is a franchise of American science fiction films and television series, the first of which was produced in 1978. ... Battlestars are capital ships from the science fiction universe of Battlestar Galactica, depicted in the original Battlestar Galactica movie and series, the Galactica 1980 spinoff, and the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series. ...

In the computer game StarCraft, capital ships are considered to be Terran Battlecruisers or Protoss Carriers. StarCraft is a real-time strategy computer game by Blizzard Entertainment. ... A crashing Terran Confederacy Behemoth-class battlecruiser in space. ... An armorless Protoss The Protoss are a race in Blizzard Entertainments real-time strategy computer game, StarCraft. ...

In the computer game Descent: FreeSpace and FreeSpace 2, a Capital ship loosely refers to any military ship classed Cruiser or above. A true capital ship, in the game, are almost always assulted with Bombers. A capital ship is any cruiser, corvette, destroyer, or juggernought on the field. However, cruisers are commonly disregarded when other, more powerful ships, such as destroyers, are on the field. Descent: Freespace Screenshot Freespace 2 Screenshot Descent: FreeSpace is a space simulation computer game series developed by Volition Inc. ...

In the computer game series Homeworld, capital ships are classified as producable ships (non-flagships) that are significantly more important and expensive than other, smaller ships, whether in combat or in ship production. Examples are the carrier (mobile base for frigate, fighter, and utility ship production), the shipyard (almost-immobile production facility that can manufacture even the largest ships), and the destroyer, the battlecruiser, and the juggernaught, all formidable anti-capital ship or anti-frigate warships. Homeworld is a revolutionary real-time strategy (RTS) computer game released in 1999 developed by Relic Entertainment and published by Sierra Entertainment. ...

In the MMOG EVE Online, a capital ship is any ship larger than a battleship which also requires special materials and skills for construction. See also the list of EVE-Online ships. A massive multiplayer online game (MMOG) is a type of computer game that enables hundreds or thousands of players to simultaneously interact in a game world they are connected to via the Internet. ... EVE Online is a persistent world multiplayer online game set in space. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

In the Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis universe, examples of tauri (earth) capital ships include the Prometheus(destroyed), daedalus class ships which include the daedalus, odyssey and korelev. Examples of other capital ships include the goaul'd mothership (hataks), asgard built O'Neill and Daniel Jackson, wraith hive ships, and ancient orion class warships.