Imperial Navy Organization

bulletShip Command - Attaining the rank of ship's captain is considered the culmination of a naval career.  When a person earns command of a ship he has attained a position of honor regardless of the size of the ship.  In the case of the modern Imperial Navy, warships are abundant but there is a shortage of suitable personnel.  Therefore, captains are often fresh from the Academy and they are expected to perform in combat situations.  This is an ultimate test, those who pass are battle hardened very quickly and those who fail are seldom alive to be disciplined.
bulletLine - The line is the most amorphous level of organization in the Navy.  In theory, it should be composed of four ships, but only about seven percent of existing lines contain this exact number.  As Imperial supremacy grows, the lines will begin to conform more closely to the order of battle which is described in detail below.  A line is commanded by a line captain.
bulletAttack Line - An attack line consists of four medium cruisers.  Its purpose is to engage enemy combat starships of equivalent size.  If heavier vessels (i.e. Star Destroyers are present, the attack line should serve to ward off enemy attacks on these vessels.  If a Star Destroyer doesn't have to concentrate on its own defense, it can make short work of virtually any enemy.
bulletHeavy Attack Line - A heavy attack line is assigned four heavy cruisers or occasionally Victory Star Destroyers.  A heavy attack line is designed to come out even against any like number of enemy warships.
bulletPursuit Line - A pursuit line contains four light cruisers or similar fast combat ships.  Their mission is to maintain contact with a retreating enemy, either with the intention to destroy these craft or to calculate their hyperspace jump coordinates.  Sometimes a pursuit line contains an Interdictor cruiser to hold ships in realspace longer.
bulletRecon Line - A recon line contains four ships, which operate in pairs or individually.  These lines normally consist of starships that have been modified for greater speed and sensor sensitivity.  Recon lines are assigned to search out dark areas in a system and report the enemy location while retreating without engaging.
bulletSkirmish Line - A skirmish line contains four small warships, normally ranging between frigates and corvettes.  They are meant to harass larger starships or engage in coordinated attacks against enemy starfighters.  TIE Fighters often use skirmish lines as mobile cover and skirmish lines should try to cover these fighters whenever they can.
bulletTorpedo Line - Usually a torpedo line contains two Torpedo Spheres and two escort vessels of some type.  This force is designed to crack open planetary shields to either facilitate invasion or to allow other starships to bombard the planet.
bulletTroop Line - A troop line contains two troop transport vessels and two escort vessels, usually Strike Cruisers, and can carry up to a full Army corps.
bulletBattle Line - Battle lines contain an Imperial Star Destroyer and three other vessels, ranging from frigates to medium cruisers, for defense.  Battle Lines are multipurpose units and can fulfill any number of responsibilities.  Normally, a battle line is at the center of every major engagement, allowing the Star Destroyer to attack enemy targets from behind the safety of lighter screening vessels.
bulletHeavy Battle Line - Heavy Battle lines can contain four ships, with one or more being Imperial or Victory Star Destroyers and the remainder being heavy cruisers.  Heavy battle lines are also multipurpose units, they are responsible for space superiority within a system of space while deploying the smallest number of starships possible.  These lines have little support and are not intended to occupy a region of space for very long.
bulletTaskforce - A taskforce is the Imperial Navy's way of maintaining flexibility within the reforming rigid order of battle.  They contain any configuration of starships between line and squadron level.  They are temporary units formed as the situation requires.  A vice admiral is normally assigned to oversee taskforce operations, but virtually any rank above line captain can be temporarily assigned to these units.  Normally when a taskforce is formed, the commander's personal line is the center of that force.    The usage of the word "fleet" is still very common for any group of ships this size or above.
bulletSquadron - A squadron contains four lines and is usually the largest force assigned to a single system.  It is commanded by an admiral, and one of the lines is under his direct command.  He is assisted by a vice admiral, who also has direct control over one of the lines.
bulletRecon Squadron - A recon squadron contains two recon lines, a skirmish line, and a pursuit line.  Its function is strictly intelligence gathering.  If any opposition is even remotely possible, this squadron should either have support nearby or it should not be risked.
bulletLight Squadron - Two attack lines, a skirmish line, and a recon line make up a light squadron.  Its function is armed reconnaissance, and has a better chance of surviving if the situation turned hostile than the aforementioned recon squadron.
bulletMedium Squadron - Medium squadrons contain two heavy attack lines, an attack line, and a recon line.  This force is deployed to an area where the enemy is known to exist but the exact location is unknown.
bulletHeavy Squadron - A heavy squadron contains three heavy attack lines and a skirmish line.  This unit is deployed when enemy ships are defending an asset.  Victory Star Destroyers are often assigned to squadrons of such composition.
bulletBattle Squadron - Battle squadrons contain an Imperial Star Destroyer battle line, one heavy attack line, one attack line, and one pursuit line.  If there is some system in the Empire that must be repressed or some force that must be tracked down and eliminated, then the battle squadron is the force of choice.  Sending a battle squadron is the Navy's way of showing that the mission is of the utmost importance.
bulletHeavy Battle Squadron - Battle squadrons come in two configurations.  The first type, containing two heavy battle lines, a skirmish line, and a pursuit line, is intended for large scale engagements against a superior number of enemy ships.  It contains several Imperial Star Destroyers to quickly deal with medium and heavy vessels with coordinated turbolaser attacks.  The second type, consisting of a heavy battle line and three heavy attack lines, in designed to engage a hardened target, with many Victory Star Destroyers to bombard its target with multiple concussion missile barrages. 
bulletTroop Squadron - Troop squadrons have two troops lines, an attack line, and a skirmish line.  A troop squadron is most often used as a transfer point for Army units, reinforcing of reorganizing the Army complement of other squadrons.  These transfers usually occur in deep space where there is little chance of interference.  However, if a troop squadron shows up within a system, there is certainly something big happening.
bulletBombard Squadron - A bombard squadron has two torpedo lines, a skirmish line, and a pursuit line.  Bombard squadrons are assigned to worlds which have rebelled and have organized a large surface military which would take far to long to defeat.  The vessels escorting the bombard squadron are considered sufficient to deal with any starships that might resist.  Any force larger than what a bombard squadron can handle would have been dealt with by another squadron prior to the bombard squadron's arrival.
bulletArmada - An armada is a larger form of the taskforce.  It can contain any force larger than a squadron but smaller than a full systems force.  Like a taskforce, an armada is a temporary unit, however it has but one purpose, space superiority.  Almost always a battle squadron is at the heart of the armada, and often there other squadrons and lines to fulfill the mission detail.  An armada is commanded by a commodore, which is a temporary rank assigned to the senior officer in the unit.  It takes a direct order from High Command to form such a powerful force.
bulletSystems Force - Commanded by a systems admiral, a systems force is responsible for several systems.  The admiral must organize and coordinate all of his ships throughout a sphere of command spanning hundreds of light years and dozens of worlds.
bulletForce Superiority - Force superiority contains ships expected to perform space superiority missions, which the Navy still considers to be its primary objective.  Space superiority is defined as "the complete absence of hostile craft within the orbital space of controlled worlds, and no chronic enemy ship activity within the entire system."  The Navy has striven for that goal ever since the inception of the Empire.  The goal is even farther away now than it was at the beginning, but the gigantic increase in Naval resources is expected to reverse the trend.  Force superiority contains three battle squadrons and one light squadron.
bulletForce Escort - Force escort contains one heavy, one medium, one light, and one recon squadron.  It has the job of protecting commercially valuable orbital installations, as well as tracking down pirates or small bands of renegades.
bulletTransport Force - A transport force contains two troop squadrons, a heavy, and a light squadron.  Troops and ships are assigned to mission details as needed, the troop squadrons being used as a command center for coordinating ongoing surface operations.
bulletSystem Bombard - System bombard contains three bombard squadrons and a light squadron.  If an admiral feels that force superiority has done less than a thorough job of removing hostile craft from the system, a system bombard squadron may be linked with the light squadron.
bulletForce Technical Services - Force technical services (FTS) contains technical and mechanical specialists who are organized by single ships.  FTS has eight vessels devoted to getting the techs where they are needed the most.  Two frigates are assigned to each FTS ship.  While Naval vessels have a large number of competent specialists aboard, these are trained and equipped to maintain existing ships' systems.  If a system needs to be completely replaced, or a significant modification needs to be done, FTS is called in.  FTS cannot repair hulks which are dead in space, but they are equipped with tractor beams to return such vessels to deepdocks where they can be repaired.  If the techs believe the vessel to be a complete wreck, FTS has salvaging equipment to take care of such tasks.
bulletForce Support - Force support has over 100 vessels of all sizes and maintain depots on a handful of worlds.  Munitions, consumables, spare parts, equipment, medical ships, and droid services are all handled by force support.  Unlike FTS, force support has no escort vessels dedicated to it.  If the vessel is traveling into a combat zone it is given an escort, otherwise it usually must go it alone.  Force support vessels are often used as bait by the Navy to attempt to draw the enemy to an easy target.
bulletFleet - A fleet is designated as a "sector resource," which means it should be available for action anywhere within the sector.  A fleet is normally the smallest unit transferred between occupied sectors and it always has a force technical service and force support under their command.
bulletSuperiority Fleet - Comprised of two force superiority and two force escort groups, a superiority fleet is presumed to be a sufficient force to maintain space superiority in calm sectors.  Superiority fleets have six Star Destroyers at their disposal.
bulletAssault Fleet - An assault fleet contains two transport forces and two force escorts.  Assault fleets are built to sustain the "1/4/16/64 Plan."  The fleet is expected to be coordinating and sustaining four types of efforts: one corps-level continuous mission on a planet, four continuous operations at the battlegroup-level, sixteen missions at regiment-level, and sixty-four missions at battalion-level or lower.  The ability to sustain these missions is predicated upon absolute space superiority.  If superiority is contested, the number of missions an assault fleet can handle is reduced in direct proportion to the number of contested systems.
bulletBombard Fleet - Bombard fleets contain two system bombards and two force escorts.  These fleets are assigned to sectors where the Empire has determined the probability of repressing the rebellion would be less than even.  System bombards are used when the Empire would rather destroy a world than to see it fall into enemy hands.
bulletDeepdock Fleet - A deepdock fleet has an average of 280 support vessels, plus a force escort to protect the deepdock assets.  Deepdock contains two deepdock complexes, the engineering corps, plus two force technical services.  Deepdock facilities while not as efficient as the shipyards of the major starship manufacturers, have the advantage of being hyperspace capable.  This not only shortens repair time, but it makes the deepdock a more difficult target.  Engineering corps is the research and development arm of the fleet, as well as the branch containing the most esoteric technical specialists.  Engineering works on construction projects involving unproven technology, develops and refines new manufacturing processes, and works feverishly to keep Imperial technology ahead of the enemy.
bulletSupport Fleet - A support fleet has at least 500 vessels, a quarter of which are corvette class or smaller, while a quarter of them are the huge Loronar FSCVs (Field Secured Container Vessels).  FSCVs always travel in pairs, their main ion engines faced in opposite directions.  On the side opposite the ion engines are gargantuan Prexton doublefield generator; these create force fields which are then surrounded by a hyperspace field when the ships make the jump to lightspeed.  Each force field sphere is about 800 meters in diameter for over 250 million cubic meters of cargo space.  Cargo containers are held in place by the force fields.  The force fields may be chained together if enough power is available and it is not uncommon to see twenty or more spheres together.  These ships are extremely slow and can take 35 hours to come to a stop from normal sublight speed.  All of these vessels work together to provide the following functions.
bulletFleet Ordnance - Fleet ordnance is responsible for equipping all Navy and Army units with needed weapons and ammunitions.  Ordnance will use a ship as dangerously insecure as the FSCV only if a huge operation has been ordered suddenly by High Command, not giving ordnance sufficient time to resupply operations by using available cargo space on secure vessels.
bulletBiological - Medical research for the Imperial military is carried out by biological section.  Maintaining a presence on tens of thousands of different ecosystems exposes troops and crews to millions of microbes to which their body is not accustomed.  Biological tries to assess the danger, prevent the transmission, cure or remedy the symptoms of all of these.  In addition they experiment with new methods of wound treatment and rehabilitation.  They are directly responsible for the health of stormtrooper units.
bulletAstrogation - Astrogation is responsible for coordinating hyperspace jumps in as advantageous a way as possible, plotting arrival times in myriad systems for strategic advantage, and even plotting the arrival of mission details for tactical advantage.
bulletSector Group - A sector group is the sum total of Naval strength which the Empire expects to commit to a normal sector.  A sector group can be expected to contain four superiority fleets, containing 24 Star Destroyers, as well as an assault, a bombard, a support, and a deepdock fleet.  It is the largest unit in the Imperial Navy and although it is normally dispersed throughout a sector, an order from High Command is all it takes to remove the entire group from their normal duties and to bring their full might upon an enemy.