Star Control Ships, to scale. (click for larger image)
A Star Control Ship is designed to be able to move into an enemy star system, land an invasion force to secure habitable planets, and control the space around the entire system (hence the name). It is the largest class of ship ever built by humans. Ranging in size from five to seven miles long, they are only eclipsed in size by the Vin Shriak Worldships. To understand how truly massive these ships are, check out the Ship Silhouette Comparison Chart on the Earth Fleet Website.
There have been three classes of Star Control Ship in human history. The earliest were the Coral Sea class, built in the late 2100's in response to the greater spaceborne threat posed by the Drakat and Jurvain relative to the Bugs, whose starships have rarely proved much of a problem for Earth Fleet to defeat. Deciding that the Coral Sea ships were not a particularly cost-effective investment, Earth Fleet next brought out the Ares class, which were even larger but far more heavily armed. Finally, in response to the Vin Shriak Worldships and the loss of nearly all the existing fleet of Star Control Ships in fighting them, Chairman Arthur Clarke ordered into production the Poseidon class, although only one was completed before the Caal Invasion and collapse of the Federation interrupted the supply chain. The two hulls under construction in orbit around Avalon were both heavily damaged in the Caal attack, and construction on the EFS Anubis at Phoenix was halted due to inability to obtain major sub-assemblies and components being built on Minos and Avalon. Instead, it was used as a spare parts hulk to keep the EFS Poseidon, Admiral Joseph Smythe's flagship, in good repair and able to defend New Madrid, the new capital of his rump Federation. With the capture of the EFS Ares by the Caal, and it's destruction along with the EFS Hachiman in the Battle of Avalon, the EFS Poseidon is the sole operational Star Control Ship in human space.
Behind the Scenes[]
Nathan Bax designed the Coral Sea class in response to new Storyteller Penny Horwitz describing some ridiculously large starships, just to prove he could design one even bigger and more ridiculous. Martin Hohner took the concept and ran with it, creating the Ares and Poseidon classes. The term Star Control Ship is in homage to the Space Control Ship concept from the Star Fleet Battles table top game. In fact the EFS Napoleon, Pyramus Grey's personal flag ship, is also the name of a Federation SCS in SFB as well. Of course it's concept was based on the abortive Sea Control Ship concept proposed by the US Navy in the 1970's and finally rejected by Congress in the 1980's. The primary difference being the Space Control Ship from SFB was the powerfulest unit any race built (except for the Klingon B10) versuses a cheaper subsitute for larger super carriers.