Ship types (The Culture)
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- See also: List of ships (The Culture)
The fictional universe of The Culture, created by Iain M Banks, contains a wide range of space vessels types, most of which contain sentient Minds and which play a key role in the society of the Culture and in the plots of the novels set within it. Most of the lengthy names of ship classifications are shortened to three-letter acronyms (e.g. GSV).
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[edit] Ship capabilities
- See also: The technology of the Culture
Beyond the capabilities of a full-scale Mind, Culture ships usually share a number of similar technological capabilities such as:
- Avatars - ships often, though not always, interact with their crews through avatars. These semi-sentient creatures or drones, 'slaved' to the ship's Mind, seem to provide a more 'human' interface for passengers. They are a combination of optical and tactile forcefields.
- Displacers - ships also possess short-range teleportation capabilities, capable of, for example, transferring loads and passengers to or from a planet - though this entails some risks of catastrophic accident (apparently mostly taken care of by the time of Look to Windward).
- Electromagnetic effectors - a very powerful, precise and versatile tool using forcefields at range, it is also the main weapon of non-militarized Culture ships.
- Matter manipulation - this ability apparently includes transmutation of one substance to another, and allows construction of structures and machines on a nanotechnology scale, though the exact processes are not described.
- Warp drives - ships run on engines which allow them to travel at faster-than-light speeds via a hyperspace dimension. Speeds vary widely due to the long timespan covered in the novels, but journeys through the galaxy can still take years at the best known speeds.
- Shipyards - larger ships can construct smaller ships inside their General Bays (general-purpose holds or storage areas). Note that given time, any ship can construct more or less anything - however, some ships specialise in such matters.
[edit] Systems Vehicles
A Systems Vehicle represents the full spectrum of the Culture's capabilities, since it can access all of the information known by the Culture and can make anything that the Culture can make. Systems Vehicles are enormously magnified von Neumann probes, as their essential components are engines, multi-purpose factories and Minds (advanced artificial intelligences). With these capabilities a Systems Vehicle can function as anything its Mind(s) and the Culture chooses. The most common and most visible functions are:
- the principal habitats of many members of the Culture, with populations in the millions or billions. Much of the Culture's organic population lives in Systems Vehicles. The inhabitants have limited say in the running of the Systems Vehicle but can easily transfer to another Systems Vehicle or to a rock or orbital whose Mind's preferences are more compatible with their own.
- shipyards and motherships for lesser space ships, including General Contact Units (see below).
- in crises groups of Systems Vehicles (assisted by some smaller ships, mainly General Contact Units) act as the nearest thing to a government that the anarchistic Culture ever has.
When the Culture got embroiled in its first major war (early in the series of Culture stories), it had no specialist warships and had to use Systems Vehicles (mainly General Systems Vehicles, the largest class) and General Contact Units for combat. This was a waste of the resources and capabilities invested in Systems Vehicles, though their size and manufacturing capacity made them formidable and sometimes devastating opponents.
[edit] General Systems Vehicle
General Systems Vehicles (GSVs) range between 25km and 200km in each dimension (including its 'fields') - the GSVs are the Culture's largest type of ship, and can be considered worlds of their own. GSVs which provide accommodation for biological members of the culture generally have populations in the millions or even billions. However, they are also, with some lead time, able to transform into massive factories. In one of the Culture novels a GSV unloads its organic population and transforms itself into a fast-moving shipyard / mothership, effectively determining the outcome of the main plot thread.
GSVs are so complex and so vital to the Culture that they have been described as being controlled by three Minds, but there are notable exceptions - and in the novels, they usually speak with one 'voice'. It is unknown if this is due to some sort of narrative reason, or simply an inconsistency. So far (2006) Banks generally assumes that a GSV's 3 Minds agree on major issues, but has also explored the possibility or consequences of major disagreements which can result in the losing Minds of a confrontation being forced off the ship, and the winning Mind taking full control.
Classes of GSV are usually named after the largest planetary geological/geographical features. Some of the known classes of GSV are (in decreasing order of size/capability):
- System Class
- Equator Class
- Ocean Class
- Plate Class
- Continent Class
[edit] Medium Systems Vehicle
Medium Systems Vehicles (MSVs) are similar to GSVs but smaller. As GSVs got larger over time, some ships which were previously designated as GSVs were "demoted" to MSVs. But a "demoted" ship with a good track record would retain its influence.
Some of the known classes of MSV are:
- Desert Class
[edit] Limited Systems Vehicle
Limited Systems Vehicles (LSVs) are similar to MSVs but smaller. As ship sizes increased over time, some ships which were previously designated as MSVs were "demoted" to LSVs - but a "demoted" ship with a good track record would retain its influence.
Some of the known classes of LSV are:
- Tundra Class
[edit] Contact Units
[edit] General Contact Vehicle
General Contact Vehicles (GCVs) are ambassador/scout ships, presumed to be larger versions of GCUs (see below), if one follows the usual naming conventions in the culture. However, there was only one very limited description in Excession. Known classes are:
- Plains Class
[edit] General Contact Unit
General Contact Units (GCUs) are fast, independent, general-purpose vessels which the Culture's Contact group uses for diplomacy, espionage, subversion and sabotage. The Culture has no equivalent of the Prime Directive from Star Trek and often tries to change the course of civilisations whose behaviour it disapproves of.
GCUs typically have a crew of Contact members. GCUs' Minds are sometimes somewhat eccentric (not to be confused with Eccentric - see below).
In the early stages of a conflict, GCUs are able to act as warships until GOU and ROU types become available. Because the Culture is more advanced than most other spacefaring civilisations, GCUs are usually very effective in combat. However during the Idiran-Culture War the Culture started to produce the above-named units which are optimised for combat.
Classes of GCU are usually named after geographical features, some of the known classes are:
- Mountain Class
- Ridge Class
- Escarpment Class
- River Class
- Troubadour Class (historical)
[edit] Limited Contact Unit
Limited Contact Units (LCUs) Mentioned only in passing in Excession, these are presumed to be smaller or earlier versions of GCUs. Known classes are:
- Scree Class
[edit] Offensive Units
The Culture started producing specialist combat ships during its only full-scale war, against the Idirans. After that war it continued producing increasingly advanced Offensive Units but at a much slower rate. In one novel a single Offensive Unit of the latest type successfully engages in combat against a fleet of Offensive Units left over from the Idiran-Culture war.
Offensive Units' Minds are usually pugnacious and macho, and most non-combat ships regard Offensive Units with a mixture of respect and unease verging on mild contempt.
[edit] General Offensive Unit
General Offensive Units (GOUs) are the main warships of the culture, the epitome of their (unwilling but highly efficient) capability to make war. The only type of vehicle comparable in firepower to a GOU would be a war-modified GSV (see for example GSV Lasting Damage).
[edit] Rapid Offensive Unit
Rapid Offensive Units' (ROUs) consist of little more than engines, weapons and the ship's Mind. While some ROUs are crewed, the crew complement on such vessels is much smaller than those of the more general purpose ships of the Culture, such as General Contact Units and General Systems Vehicles.
ROUs frequently store a copy of their Mind state with another ship before going into action, and these are frequently emplaced in new ships if the ROU does not survive. This is in part a reward for the self sacrifice of the ships, and a motivation for bravery in combat.
Some known classes are:
- Torturer Class
- Psychopath Class
- Gangster Class
- Thug Class
- Abominator Class (prototype)
- Inquisitor Class (prototype)
[edit] Limited Offensive Unit
Limited Offensive Units (LOUs) are a smaller type of warship along the line of GOU's.
Some known classes are:
- Killer Class
[edit] Other ship types
A few other types of ships appear in Banks' Culture stories:
[edit] Demilitarized ROU
During peaceful times some ROUs have most or all of their weapons systems removed, and are known as demilitarized Rapid Offensive Units ((d)ROUs). Some "surplus" ROUs are not demilitarized but are stored at various Culture-controlled locations, where they lie in a suspended state until they are needed again. Classes are the same as ROUs.
[edit] Very Fast Picket
A euphemism for a demilitarised ROU, which was in fashion at the time of Look to Windward. Classes are the same as ROUs/(d)ROUs.
[edit] Superlifter
Superlifters are relatively small Culture ships with large and powerful engines. Superlifters described as being 90% engine were mentioned in Excession, faster even than a Rapid Offensive Unit (or Very Fast Picket) over short distances. Superlifters were never militarised. They are mainly used as high-speed shuttles between Culture Systems Vehicles (when it is inconvenient for the larger ships to decelerate), as movers of raw materials for buildiing Orbitals or other space habitats, and for providing other Culture ships with a "boost" to aid in rapid deceleration or acceleration.
Known classes are:
- Cliff Class
[edit] Behaviour and relations
Since Culture ships are always commanded by a Mind, they are always beings of their own. In some Culture stories ships are the major characters, and their relationships are central to the plot. Ships or groups of ships may belong to differing factions within or without the culture, which compete for influence.
[edit] Eccentric
Some ships drop out of the Culture proper without joining any other civilisation or splinter group, either due to mental 'instability' (though only compared with the very reasoned rationality of the other Culture Minds) or disagreement with the Culture society as such. However, most of these ships maintain contact with the Culture and act as members of the Culture when they consider it appropriate.
Some of these ships may use their status as Eccentrics as a cover for Special Circumstances, or simply to conceal their political allegiances within the Culture.
[edit] Sabbaticaler
Sometimes a ship decides that it wishes to have a sabbatical from its duties in the Culture, especially after a particularly harrowing or ethically problematic situation (or maybe simply after being fed up with the Culture for a time). This sabbatical may be for some months, years, or longer.
Sabbaticalers are usually still considered Culture ships, and may or may not be Eccentric.
[edit] Ulterior
Occasionally ships conclude that the Culture is too cautious or conservative - or even too warlike, as in the Idiran-Culture War, and join groups like the Zetetic Elench or other offshoots of the Culture, or form their own group. These offshoots are collectively known as the Ulterior. There are no known cases where Culture ships joined a completely different civilization.
[edit] Convertcraft
There are instances of non-Culture ships joining the Culture, though few species have the technological capability to produce computers of Mind-like sentience which would qualify for Culture citizenship. Such vessels tend to defect due to the more advanced and liberal treatment of sentient (artificial) beings found within it.
A reference is made to convertcraft in Excession, with the Full Refund, an ex-Homomdan battle cruiser, which has become a member of the Culture's Special Circumstances.
