A Federation fleet in 2374
Fleet is a word often used to describe a group of starships or other vessels working or traveling together. Though they are often used in war, fleets can be used for peace. Throughout history, fleets have been prevalent in space as well as on planets.
Fleets on planets
In the history of Earth, fleets have been used for many purposes, such as war. Since these conflicts took place on a planet, they involved naval ships as opposed to starships. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds")
The Federation still maintains some sort of navy, called the Federation Naval Patrol. (VOY: "Thirty Days")
Fleets in space
Voyager encounters a fleet of Borg cubes
Throughout the history of Starfleet and beforehand, fleets have existed in space. Some instances of these fleets are more striking than others. There are many times when the Federation has amassed large fleets for the defense of their territory, or other races. Federation fleets have been used in battles such as Battle of Wolf 359, the Battle of Sector 001, the Dominion War, and others. Other species use fleets as well, such as the Borg and Species 8472 who fought against each other using fleets in 2373. (VOY: "Scorpion", "Scorpion, Part II")
The Jem'Hadar, Cardassians and Breen utilized large fleets during the Dominion War. (DS9: "What You Leave Behind")
Other uses
Offense is not the only use for fleets, however. In 2368, Geordi La Forge derived a tachyon detection grid for the purpose of detecting cloaked Romulan ships during the Klingon Civil War. Multiple Federation starships were required to create the grid. (TNG: "Redemption II")
List of fleets
- Fifth Fleet
- Ninth Fleet
- Second Fleet
- Seventh Fleet
- Sixth Fleet
- Tenth Fleet
- Third Fleet
- Vulcan National Merchant Fleet