Size of Star Fleet

[IKV Avenger]

There is no strict canon on the actual number of vessels in Star Trek. And it greatly depends on the era in which you're researching. For example, in Kirk's day it is canon that there were only 13 Constitution class heavy cruisers. That of course is a ridiculously small number considering the Federation is 8000 light years across by most canon sources. SFB of course also has a ridiculously small number, but it's necessary to make game mechanics work.

In TNG/DS9/Voyager times, estimates range from 8000 to 70,000 ships depending on the source. In terms of SFB fiction, I have set the actual number of 'fleet ships' i.e. military ships (Frigate to Battleships) at 12,000. I arrived at that number by simply doing an OOB per fleet. Star Fleet would have 8 main (military) fleets (to border Klingon, Tholian, Romulan, Gorn, Coreward, Kzinti and two home fleets (East/West or North/South). The 9th and 10th fleets are support and logistics ships that serve the other 8 as well as Federation business. The 11th fleet is exploration. The 12th fleet is the mothball reserves. The 13th and 14th fleet is National Guard ships. And the 15th fleet is the police fleet.

Here is the breakdown. Note for example that if I mention Battleship (BB) this 'type' of ship might be a battleship, battleship carrier or space control ship depending on the fleet it serves in. The following is one complete Element of a numbered fleet and it's breakdown.

SDS x 1 Numbered Fleet, Fleet Admiral, 5 star
BB x 1 Element, Admiral, 4 star
DN/CVA/SCS x 3 Divsion, Vice Admiral, 3 star
DNM/DNL/DVL x 6 Wing, Rear Admiral, 2 star
BC/CC x 12 Group, Commodore, 1 star
CA/CF/CS/NCA x 24 Squadron, Captain
NCL/NLF x 48 Captain
DD/HDW/DW x 96 Captain/Commander
FF x 192 Commander/Lt. Commander

There are three Elements in a Numbered Fleet. So for example, the above numbers would be multiplied by 3 for the Numbered Fleet on the Klingon border. That gives a number of 382 ships. Round that up to 500 total ships to include escorts for the various Capitol ships and carriers in the fleet. Multiple that by the 8 main Numbered fleets and you arrive at 12K. The other fleets will bring the total number up to as many as 20k with support, logistics, tugs, monitors, National Guard, police ships etc.

Star Fleet is commanded by a Grand Fleet Admiral, 5 starts with a wreath.