I won't pretend to be an expert on the subject, but it came up on
a panel at a con I was at last weekend, and there were some interesting
remarks made.
Ship types are named after roles and cost primarily. Ships of the Line
(battleships) are made as big and tough and dangerous as possible, and
damn the expense. This means the only excuse to risk one is with the
aim of destroying equipment of similar value to the enemy...
At the other end of the spectrum are auxiliary and special-function
craft, like destroyers and corvettes and minesweepers. Typically
cheap and expendable.
In the middle are the interesting ships: the cruisers. Made as tough and
fast as practical, but cheap enough to be expendable, probably lightly
armoured. They go out on the exploratory missions, patrol; they show
the flag around the empire in peacetime. High command has no qualms
about risking them on daring strikes, and so on. Their captains tend
to be ambitious, audacious men keen to lead from the front. Troublemakers.
High command hopes they'll go get themselves a decently heroic demise.
Guess what? The original Enterprise was a cruiser...
- --
colin | the discworld--flat, circular, and carried through space on the back
roald | of four elephants who stand on the back of great a'tuin, the only
turtle ever to feature on the hertzsprung-russell diagram. (pratchett)