Trying to figure out ship sizes
So, I have an idea for three different categories of spaceship, with the middle category being divided into five size classes each twice the size than the previous. Would the largest of those sizes be ten times the size of the smallest class or eight times? The math is throwing me off.
EDIT: Doing the math made me realize how absurd the sizes were, thanks to IVVIVIVV1. Let me explain:
Each category is by means of space travel.
Cat1 are called Warp Ships, which use an Alcubierre Drive to move from system to system; theoretically, one could easily travel from one side of the Milky Way to another within a year's time, as long as you have the fuel, fuel efficiency, support network of repair stations in case something breaks, the works. Warp Ships work like many 4X games in terms of travel, requiring 'Warp Points' (Formerly 'Jump Points', but such terminology fell out of favor with the introduction of Cat3's but more on that later.) that are relatively clear of gravity wells and microscopic debris that might cause severe damage to the ship, as most shields aside from the final two layers of shielding (Plate Shielding, which are shields that flow through the ablative nano-laminate armor of the vessel, and Structural Shields, which reinforce the inner structure of the vessel.)
Despite the best efforts of many of the more developed kingdoms, research into developing a more efficient drive has failed, stalled by the development of better FTL and intergalactic travel. Thus, ships of this category have been divided into four rough categories, the smallest being 375 Feet/ 114.3 meters in length, while the longest in this Cat are 1,500 feet / 457.2 Meters. I chose this length mostly as a reference point; the largest aircraft carrier in service, the USS Gerald R. Ford, is 1,106 feet in length. I also picked absurdly big ship sizes primarily because 1.) I like big ships, 2.) The story is meant to be funny, so absurd ship sizes are funny.
"This ship is too big; if I walk the movie'll be over."
Speaking of big ships:
Cat2s are referred to as either Worm Ships, Gate Ships, Tunnel Ships, or Portal Ships due to their ability to create wormholes to travel from system to system. This is the Category this post was created for; Initially I was going for a system where each ship would double in size between each class. However, it was pointed out to me to how absurd this would make ships. For you see, the smallest Cat2 is three times the largest Cat1 in terms on length, being 4,500 Feet, or 1.37Km in length. But the system I went with would have the largest Cat2 be a whopping 72,000 feet/ 21.95 Km juggernaut, which is cool, but that would make Cat3 look stupidly big, but I'll elaborate on that in a bit.
The largest portal ships are now only five times the size of the smallest, being 22,500 Feet /6.86 km in length, depending on Kingdom, Species, Clade, or Race, or economy.
The reason that Portal Ships need to be so big is to contain the MicroDy, or Micro Dyson Sphere, which contains a tiny star used for weaponry, fuel, and fabrication. It also powers the Wormhole Drive that allows ships to not only travel from system to system, but from galaxy to galaxy. The Portals are not instantaneous; one must travel months at a time for the longer distances. Portal ships can create two types of portals; a longer lasting Portal that allows Cat1s and Cat0s to pass through, though this can wear the ship out the longer the Portal is open, and is generally for shorter distances. The second way is through Tunneling, which a ship 'tunnels' through wormhole space, without the need of an entrance or exit. There is no way of stopping a Wormhole from opening; however, when it opens, it doesn't mean that the ship's arrival from the Tunnel is instantaneous, only that it's 'soon'. This will allow defenders to setup defenses such as minefields, firing lines, and warp disruptors to pin the exiting ship down.
In fact, the risk of running into enemy fire and being obliterated while at full warp is why most ships slow to a crawl and fight at fairly close range; while most weapons can shoot at long range, there's utterly no way of guaranteeing meaningful hit at such ranges, especially with the myriad defenses most ships can deploy, such shielding, maneuvering, jamming, gravitic distortion from the propulsion systems, and active point defense.
Finally, we have gotten to Cat3: Jump Ships. As the name suggests, these goliaths Jump via superimposing their mass simultaneously between two points of space-time; in other words, teleporting. The main ships of this class are typically Jump Carriers, carrying up to six Cat1Class5 Portal Ships and, or many more smaller vessels. These beasts are typically 180,000 feet in length or diameter, or 54.86 km. In recent years, some Star Kingdoms and Tribes have begun fielding Jump Ships half the size, at 90,000 feet/27.43 km. These bad boys are often built as Super-Cruisers, designed to roam the Local Group ala Enterprise, or as Light Supercarriers, with half the carrying capacity for half the price.
The reason for their size is the massive computers needed calculate the jump, as well as the Matter-Antimatter Plant to power the Jump.
Another reason for the massive size of ships is the need for shield generators, weaponry, powerplants, FTL drives, heat sinks, heat banks, radiation sinks, radiation banks, static sinks, static banks, life support, and crew quarters.
Jump Ships require a Jump Beacon to travel truly long distances, however they can 'remember' previous Jump Locations, allowing the ship to travel rapidly from point to point.
'Rapid' is a relative term; the farther the distance, the more the ship has to sit idle and wait until the jump occurs, leaving the ship a sitting duck. Once, the Ship has jumped, it has to wait to until all the sinks have finished dissipating heat, radiation, and static to begin another jump, which may require more Antimatter fuel.
To stop a Jump Carrier- or worse, a Jump Destroyer from appearing right outside your system and Matrioshka-doll deploying thousands of ships determined to rip you a new one, one must deploy Jammers out key locations that are clear of gravity well, sources of intense radiation, or matter. Generally, one should not Jump at a Warp Point, as that is usually also heavily defended.