Wet Navy

In the BattleTech universe with its star-spanning factions, naval terms such as "ship" or "navy" that originated with seagoing terran vessels now usually refer to spacecraft instead, where many of the same ideas and principles apply.

Where it is necessary to distinguish between these two naval concepts, the classical seagoing navy is referred to as the "wet" or "blue water" navy. By contrast, spacecraft are referred to as the "space-based," "spaceborn," or "black water" navy. (Note that the term "black water navy" is deprecated, as "blackwater" usually refers to wastewater or sewage contaminated with urine and/or feces.)

History

The blue water warships were as old as the navigation itself. Even after mankind expanded to the stars, they were still useful, specially in mostly aquatic planets, patrolling their waterways against aquatic pirates and providing artillery support along the coasts.

These vessels range from small, lightly armed patrol ships to hulking cruisers and aircraft carriers. Essentially a type of surface vehicle, they are much less expensive than the space WarShips and easier to maintain, even after the loss of advanced technology of the Succession Wars.

However, their disadvantages are also important: They cannot be easily moved from one planet to another, often having to be built on-planet, disassembled, and then reassembled at the destination, and are very vulnerable to space attacks.

Blue water combat was a key part in the defense of many planets, and there are mercenary units like Kraken Unleashed dedicated to the aquatic, amphibious and underwater warfare, with much success.

Construction Rules Wise

As noted, these vessels heavier than standard Combat Vehicles or rarer Super Heavy Combat Vehicle which range from 200 to 555 tons, use the Naval Support Vehicle rules. Which has uses templates to define their sizes. They also have very different movement than Combat Vehicles and their weapons placement.

Types of Bluewater Ships

Combat Ships

• Andryusha-class bombardment frigate
• Argo-class submersible carrier
• Jormungand-class cruiser
• Luftenburg-class supercarrier
• Lysander-class submarine carrier
• Mauna Kea-class Command Vessel
• Meabh-class heavy cruiser
• Monitor-class attack craft
• Neptune-class submarine
• Rapier-class Patrol Destroyer
• Sea Skimmer - Sea Skimmer Hydrofoil
• Silverback Coastal Cutters
• Silverfin-class coastal cutter
• Sovereign-class Cruiser
• Triton-class Missile Submarine
• Wyrm-SDS Submersible Fortress

Commercial Ships

• Ahab Whaler
• Anastaska Maro Seafreighter
• Atlantia Luxury Yacht
• Baleena Passenger Submarine
• Whitestreak JetSki
• Jonah JN-002 Submarine
• Kaleen Bay Tanker
• Seahorse Cargo Subs
• Verne Cargo Subs
• Whitestreak Speedboat

Bibliography

• Jihad Hot Spots: Terra
• Handbook: House Liao
• Handbook: House Marik
• Handbook: House Steiner
• Mercenaries Supplemental Update
• Technical Readout: Vehicle Annex