The Colonial War Fleet



The Colonial War Fleet (CS: Koloniale Kriegsflotte), mostly known as the Kriegsflotte( literally, the War Fleet, or the Military Fleet), also known by various names like the Colonial Starfleet(CS: Koloniale Sternenflotte), or simply the Colonial Fleet(CS:Koloniale Flotte), is one of the main branches of the Colonial Armed Forces, tasked with fighting the battles and wars of the Federated Colonies in space, by using a wide array of spaceships, starships, space stations and bases. Using mainly heavy and versatile Ships of the Line, equipped with Colonial FTL Drives for faster-than-light travel, the Kriegsflotte is one of the strongest space fleets in the known universe, with a long and proud history, having been created during the fires of the First Secession War, and having fought for the Federation ever since. Ever since its creation, the Kriegsflotte has went through a lot of changes, but has remained an example of how strong the fleet of a federation of countless races can be.

The Colonial War Fleet is subordinated to the High Command of the War Fleet(CS: Oberkommando der Kriegsflotte), which is on its own subordinated to the Central High Command of the Armed Forces(CS: Zentraloberkommando der Streitkräfte)

Equipment and Classification
The Colonial War Fleet is using a wide variety of ships and ship classes, mostly trying to follow the principle of "quality over quantity". Throughout the countless battles and wars in which the Kriegsflotte was involved, the Colonial ships have proven themselves to be equal, and in many cases, superior to those of their opponents.

The Colonial War Fleet classifies its military spaceships through three categories. Generation. Type. Class. Although it might seem strange and complicated to foreigners, these three categories make sure that each ship has its own good classification.Colonial ships usually receive a name, in front of which the designation“Colonial Military Ship/CMS” is added.

Generation
The main category after which the Colonial military ships are classified is the Generation. Throughout their history, the Colonies have often had to massively modernize their military ships. Every time a huge technologically improved class has been reached, a new generation was born. Until now, four generations have been officially recognized by the War Fleet, with some variations, called the .5 Generations.Some ships and ship classes, although they were created in one of the generations, were successfully upgraded to new generations. The best example would be the Gen 1.5 CMS Terra Nova, which suffered extensive upgrades over the time, being currently in the middle of an upgrade process that will bring it to Gen4.

1st Generation/Gen1
The first generation of Colonial ships, created before and during the First Secession War. Huge, slow, and primitive by many points of view, the ships of the first generation have however successfully managed to win the First Secession War for the Colonies, pushing back the Terran force. Although really old, some of the Colonial 1st Generation ships still exist, mostly as museum ships.

1.5 Generation/Gen1.5
After the end of the First Secession War, important upgrades have been brought to many of the 1st Generation ships of the Colonies, resulting in what the Kriegsflotte usually calls the 1.5 Generation. Improved by advances such as a synchronized computer network, and automated systems, the 1.5 Generation proved to be nearly fatal for the Colonies, as the Terran  Armed Forces, using a backdoor, cyberattacked the 1.5 Generation ships, destroying most of them, and leading to catastrophes like the Massacre of Terra Nova. Examples: Nova Class( CMS Terra Nova, CMS Sol Nova)

2nd Generation/Gen2
The second generation of the Colonial military ships was created during the end of the Second Secession War, and especially during the period known as the Second Galactic Cold War, which was practically a huge arms race between the Federated Colonies and the United Republics of Earth. Unfortunately, even if many lessons had been learned from the SSW, the Colonies failed to apply many of them. The cybernetic failure of the 1.5 Generation ships led to a paranoia against computers between the higher ranked Colonial officers, leading to basic computer systems being used, which became quickly outdated, and were protected by many failsafes, reducing the battle capabilities of the ships. The armament race was also more directed at creating bigger and stronger ships, rather than the more technologically advanced ships the Colonies needed.The Gen2 Ships were still in use at the start of the First Intergalactic War, and were one of the main reason for the Colonial defeat in that war.

2.5 Generation/Gen2.5
During the First Intergalactic War, the clear technological inferiority of the Colonial ships to their enemies has led to many provisional changes and improvements to be done, like the restart of the Colonial Defense Network and the creation of better computer systems. All these improved ships are considered to be part of the Gen2.5.

3rd Generation/Gen3
The lessons learned in the First Intergalactic War have led to a major reorganization of the Kriegsflotte. The peace period was rather short, but with everyone preparing for another war, the  Colonies prioritized making their ships more technologically advanced. A giant leap was made, and the result of that leap were the Gen3 ships. Much more advanced than any of their predecessors The effort put up by the Colonies was huge, but this created some very good ship classes. Those classes proved themselves in the Second Intergalactic War, which unfortunately ended indecisively due to the disaster that struck during the final battle between the Colonial and Keltaken forces. Even so, many 3rd Generation ships have continued to fight until they were upgraded to Gen4 after the start of the Second Great War. Examples: Admiral Hipper Class(CMS Prinz Eugen, CMS Seydlitz)

3.5 Generation/Gen3.5
Due to the unexpected start of the Second Great War with the Abyssal Invasion of the Milky Way, the Kriegsflotte had to delay the work on the 4th Generation ships it had done, and sent many ships back to combat with only summary upgrades. This created the so called Gen3.5, with ships that had been upgraded over the level of a normal 3rd Generation ship, but didn’t spot the same technology level as that of a Gen4. The CMS Prinz Eugen, which was upgraded with the help of the Jupiterrans was considered a Gen3.5, and so were the CMS Bismark and CMS Tirptiz, Gen4 ships that were finished in a hurry, and fully upgraded to Gen4 later.

4th Generation/Gen4
Working to upgrade the previous 3rd Generation ships to even better and more powerful standards, the Kriegsflotte worked on the 4th Generation ever since the end of the Second Intergalactic War, starting to massively use the Gen4 ships after the beginning of the Second Great War. Greatly innovated, the 4th Generation ships are currently some of the most advanced and most powerful ships in the known universe, being able to take the fight back to the Invaders. The Kriegsflotte plans to upgrade all its existing ships at Gen4. Examples: H Class(CMS Alexander von Scheerling, CMS Julius von Vylkov)

Type
The second category used by the Kriegsflotte to classify its ships is the type. The Colonial War Fleet mainly divides its ships into three big categories, based on their purpose in battle.

Ships of the Line/Linienschiffe
The Ships of the Line are the main type of ships used by the Kriegsflotte. The pride and strength of the Federated Colonies, the ships of the line form the backbone of any Colonial fleet, well known throughout the known Universe as the symbols of the reach and power of the Federated Colonies. Resistant, powerful, and versatile,  the ships of the line are the height of the Colonial technological and military advancement.
 * Battlecarriers


 * Battleships
 * Battlecruisers

Support Ships/Unterstützungschiffe
The Support Ships of the Kriegsflotte are lighter, faster, and more agile ships used by the Colonials in combat, mainly designed for supporting the ships of the line in battle, but also for missions and battles which require faster and more agile ships. Built on the highest Colonial military and technologically standards, the Support Ships play a major role in every Colonial fleet.
 * Destroyers
 * Minelayers

Auxiliary Ships/Hilfsschiffe
While the Ships of the Line and the Support Ships are fighting and taking the battle to the enemy, they need to be helped during battles and campaigns by a myriad of other types of ships, like medical ships, supply ships, refinery ships, and transport ships. All those different ships enter the Auxiliary Ships Type, helping the Kriegsflotte fight its battles, for the Federated Colonies.

Class
A Ship Class is a group of military spaceships of a similar design, built in the near same time, belonging to the same type and generation. The ships which belong to a class are usually named similarly, and are considered to be sister ships. Colonial ship classes have varied names, but they also receive an alphanumeric recognition code.