History Main / PrisonShip

* ''ComicBook/StarWarsDoctorAphra'': During the "Catastrophe Con" arc, Aphra is imprisoned by the Imperials on [[PenalColony Accresker Prison]], which is a unique spin on this trope. It's actually the hulks of several ships magnetically strapped together and tugged around by a Star Destroyer, whose prisoners are press-ganged to act as boarding parties whenever the Imperials raid a new ship.

* On ''Series/RedDwarf'', the ship itself serves a secondary purpose as a prison transport ship. Apparently only a few people are aware of that floor.

* A ''Series/StargateSG1'' episode centers on the team finding a crashed prison spaceship.

* The heroes of ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' truly get to know one another aboard the prison ship they happen to be locked up on.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/imperialdungeonship1.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A ''Lictor''-class dungeon ship]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Film]]
* The airplane in ''Film/ConAir'' was a prison transport.

[[folder:Machinima]]
* In [[Machinima/RedVsBlueTheChorusTrilogy the season 13 premiere]] of ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'', Locus and his partner [[spoiler:Felix]] hijack a UNSC prison ship to recruit followers.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Videogames]]

[[caption-width-right:350:A 'Lictor''-class dungeon ship]]

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "Doomsday". The Doctor discovers that the Genesis Ark was a Prison Ship built by the Time Lords during the Last Great Time War. Being of Time Lord origin, it's BiggerOnTheInside and contains a small army of Daleks.
* In ''Series/MiraiSentaiTimeranger'', the villains hijack a Prison Ship and name themselves after it.

* Both series of ''Franchise/BattlestarGalactica'' had a prison ship among the ragtag fleet.
** The [[Series/BattlestarGalactica1978 original series]] had the Prison Barge, a ship used to hold prisoners of various kinds, including prisoners of war. Baltar organizes an escape from the ship along with various characters arrested or captured in previous episodes.
** The [[Series/BattlestarGalactica2003 re-imagined series]] had a prison ship called the ''Astral Queen'' which held common criminals as well as noted terrorist Tom Zarek. It was a prison transport but after the attacks the prisoners were stuck in tiny cells for months before anybody even noticed/cared. When the fleet needed laborers for dangerous duties mining water ice on a frozen moon, Zarek negotiated the partial release of the prisoners as a condition of their being used as grunt labor. The prisoners were given their former prison ship as their new home among the fleet.
* On ''Series/RedDwarf'', the ship itself serves a secondary purpose as a prison transport ship. Apparently only a few people are aware of that floor.

* The premise of ''Series/SevenDays'' is the use of technology from the [[RoswellThatEndsWell crashed Roswell UFO]] to develop TimeTravel. In one episode, one of the inventors finally translates the markings on the ship and finds out that it is a prison transport. Unfortunately, the [[TheGreys Grey]] prisoner has just escaped and is hell-bent on paying the humans back for putting him in a coma.
* ''Series/LostInSpace'' episode "Condemned Of Space". The Robinsons encounter a computer-controlled prison ship with criminals kept in HarmlessFreezing cryogenic suspension.
* In both [[Series/{{Roots}} the original]] and [[Series/Roots2016 the remake]] of ''Roots,'' Mandinka warrior in training, Kunta Kinte, is brought aboard a slave ship where he has to endures three long months inside the cargo hold during the Middle Passage. Although he starts a revolt in an attempt to kill any unecessary crewmen, and keep the rest alive to sail them back to Africa, the uprising fails, and he and the rest of the Africans are brought to the Marryland coast, [[AuctionOfEvil where they bought by numerous plantation owners]] and [[MadeASlave Kunta ends up in John Weller's plantation.]]

* One appears as a plot point in ''Film/TheDarkKnight''. [[spoiler: It does not blow up.]]
* In ''Film/ManOfSteel'', General Zod and co. are stored in a prison ship.

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' has a sequence set on the prison ship ''[[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace Purgatory]]'', a privately-run jail holding the type of prisoners planetary governments don't want in ''their'' prisons. The warden also makes some extra cash by threatening to release the inmates in the systems it passes through unless the locals cough up free supplies. [[SarcasmMode Real nice guys, the Blue Suns.]] Unfortunately for them, their leader makes the [[WhatAnIdiot boneheaded]] decision to try and capture Shepard[[labelnote:*]]You know, the same Commander Shepard who shot their way across the galaxy, shot a Reaper in the face, was spaced and killed before burning up in orbit, ''woke up angry'' and proceeded to shoot their way out of the lab they woke up in, and were in the process of shooting their way across the Terminus systems to the Collectors.[[/labelnote]] and hold them for ransom...which results in Shepard shooting their way to the prison ship's resident TykeBomb...which results in said Tyke Bomb being release from cryo and going on a Biotics-and-rage-fueled rampage through the ship in a series of bad decisions and unfortunate events that ultimately ends with said prison ship being destroyed.

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' has a sequence set on the prison ship ''[[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace Purgatory]]'', a privately-run jail holding the type of prisoners planetary governments don't want in ''their'' prisons. The warden also makes some extra cash by threatening to release the inmates in the systems it passes through unless the locals cough up free supplies. [[SarcasmMode Real nice guys, the Blue Suns.]] Unfortunately for them, their leader makes the [[WhatAnIdiot boneheaded]] decision to try and capture Shepard and hold them for ransom...which results in Shepard shooting their way to the prison ship's resident TykeBomb...which results in said Tyke Bomb being release from cryo and going on a Biotics-and-rage-fueled rampage through the ship in a series of bad decisions and unfortunate events that ultimately ends with said prison ship being destroyed.

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' has a sequence set on the prison ship ''[[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace Purgatory]]'', a privately-run jail holding the type of prisoners planetary governments don't want in ''their'' prisons. The warden also makes some extra cash by threatening to release the inmates in the systems it passes through unless the locals cough up free supplies. [[SarcasmMode Real nice guys, the Blue Suns.]]

A Prison Ship is a penitentiary, correctional facility, or jail that moves under its own power. Often featured to highlight the questionable practices of villains, the heroics of protagonist, a setting in itself, or just to move the story along. It's also an easy way to set up TheAlcatraz; in the middle of the ocean or [[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE!]], there's nowhere to escape ''to''.

# The Prison Transport: often hijacked, this humble vessel is either designed or modified to transport prisoners, not hold them permanently. The transport in ''Film/PitchBlack'' is not an example as it had only one prisoner strapped in; the rest of the occupants were paying passengers. Conversely the prison transport in the ''Series/{{Lexx}}'' miniseries would count because his divine shadow is just that thorough.
# The Jail: often a setting in and of itself this vessel is usually purpose built to hold prisoners permanently (often for unscrupulous deeds outside of jurisdiction) needs things like guard stations, plumbing, cafeteria, life-support, or stasis pods to function.

* ''Film/{{Amistad}}''. The titular ship, a slaver, is a type 1.

* General Zod and co. are stored in a Type II version in ''Film/ManOfSteel''.

* The heroes of ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' truly get to know one another aboard the Type 2 PrisonShip they happen to be locked up on.
* ''Fortress 2''. In the first ''Film/{{Fortress|1992}}'', TheAlcatraz was built inside a mine in the desert. In the sequel, it's revealed to be a satellite orbiting the Earth.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'''s [[TheEmpire Imperium of Man]] has the dreaded Black Ships, each ferrying tens of thousands of [[PsychicPowers psykers]] [[SuperRegistrationAct conscripted as per government policy]]. They're all taken to Holy Terra for processing, with the strong being "sanctioned" to serve as communicators or warriors, and the rest [[PoweredByAForsakenChild fed to a giant psychic navigational beacon]].

* An early episode of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' has a Fire Nation prison ship''yard'', a massive oil-derrick-like construction built way out in deep water. It serves as a TailorMadePrison for Earthbenders, as there is nothing for them to manipulate, unlike in a traditional prison where they could work with the literal ground beneath their feet.

* The ''[[StarWarsExpandedUniverse Star Wars]]'' ExpandedUniverse had a "dungeon ship" which Luke found himself in in ''ComicBook/DarkEmpire'', specially-designed to hold Jedi.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' involved Jack and his friend Ashi exploring an alien prison spaceship that crashed on Earth. The only surviving prisoner is a [[StarfishAlien weird monster]] named [[TheWormThatWalks Lazarus-92]], which apparently killed all the other inmates, guards, and crew members of the ship.

# the Prison Transport: often hijacked, this humble vessel is either designed or modified to transport prisoners, not hold them permanently. The transport in ''Film/PitchBlack'' is not an example as it had only one prisoner strapped in; the rest of the occupants were paying passengers. Conversely the prison transport in the ''Series/{{Lexx}}'' miniseries would count because his divine shadow is just that thorough.

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{X-Men}}'' animated series featured a two-part episode with a "Spirit-drinker" that Lady Deathstrike accidentally released from an alien Prison Ship.

* During [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII WWII]], Allied POWs' were crammed into "Hell Ships," to be transported across Japan's new dominions to be held in [[HellHolePrison hellish prison camps,]] or as [[MadeASlave manual labor]]. Being unmarked, Allied naval forces would often attack and sink these "Hell Ships," thinking they were filled with supplies or combat troops.

* ''{{Traveller}} Adventure 1 The Kinunir''. The Kinunir class starship Gaesh was converted into a Prison Ship and used to hold Imperial political prisoners.

* ''StarcraftII'' has you mount a raid on one to rescue [[spoiler:Raynor.]] To highlight Mengsk's asshattery, he orders the ship to selfdestruct with Kerrigan on it... without informing the ship's crew.