[[SupremeCommander http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/uef_fatboy1--screenshot_large.jpg]]
[[caption-width:603:The UEF Fatboy. It's a Submersible Land Battleship Aircraft Carrier Mobile Factory AND Shield Generator.]]

-->''Napoloni: Where's the propellers? For going under the water!''
-->''Hynkel: Under water?''
-->''Napoloni: You never heard of tanks that go under the water and fly up-a stairs?''
-->''Garbitsh: What's that?''
-->''Hynkel: Under the water and in the air.''
-->''Garbitsh: Obsolete now! We're concentrating on flying dreadnoughts.''\\
-- ''TheGreatDictator''

-->''Wot's faster than a warbuggy, more killy than a warbike, and flies through da air like a bird? I got no bleedin' idea, but I'm gonna find out.''
-->--[[FunetikAksent Kog da Flymek]], inventor of the [[{{Warhammer40000}} Deth Kopta]].


In the military, innovation has driven military conquest as someone found new ways to do something that was better than what came before. However, in SpeculativeFiction, it seems that a lot of people have decided [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot combining previous concepts into one uber-machine]] is easier than [[CreativeSterility coming up with something original]].

Enter the MilitaryMashupMachine. In reality, some of these would be [[AwesomeButImpractical far more expensive than practical]], with other existing military technologies being much easier to get the same results from, but [[RuleOfCool if it looks cool]], why not present it as worthwhile?

While generally members of SpeculativeFiction or ScienceFiction, these can also show up in SteamPunk as well. See AirborneAircraftCarrier and TheBattlestar for specific {{Sub Trope}}s.

See [[http://www.amazon.com/My-Tank-Fight-Zack-Parsons/dp/0806527587/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205083504&sr=8-1 My Tank is Fight!]] before going on to any of the following examples. It's okay, we'll wait.

----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Land Battleship]]
The [[BaseOnWheels Land Battleship]] is a landgoing vehicle bristling with heavy artillery, generally the equivalent of a battleship's guns only on land, or rather, a ''really'' big tank. Often used in deserts.

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Anime & Manga ]]

* ''{{Gundam}}'' has a slight love affair with these, which have featured from the beginning to the more recent ''GundamSEEDDestiny''. Perhaps the most bizarre version was the Battleships of the Zanscare Empire's land forces, such as the [[http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gundam/v/adrastea.jpg ''Adrastea''-class]], which were essentially naval ships on enormous motorcycle wheels.
* ''TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' goes typically overboard, by making the [[http://www.gurren-lagann.net/mecha/images/daigurren.gif featured land battleship]] a literal ''battleship on legs'' and a HumongousMecha to boot (ironically, it requires special adjustments to cross water). General Guame's Dai-Gundo is more typical of this kind of thing. [[spoiler: Ignore the phallic connotations of its design.]]
** And when the "outer bridge" (the observation platform between its legs) is cut off by a torpedo attack, [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything all the male characters immediately grab their crotches with a pained expression.]]
** Those special modifications include (and apparently consist entirely of) a HumongousMecha-scaled ''kayak paddle''. It's even seen paddling its feet like a duck.
* The ''Rhinoceros''-class ships in ''SuperRobotWars: Original Generation''.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* The titular Land Leviathan from MichaelMoorcock's 1974 novel "The Land Leviathan".
* The ''original'' land battleship, from the story "The Land Ironclads," by H.G. Wells, is possibly the earliest example, predating actual tanks.
* Keith Laumer's ''Bolos'': automated (and eventually artificially intelligent) land battleships of the Dinochrome Brigade (called "continental seige units" in early stories) which grew to have more firepower than the space battleships that transported them. The largest models are capable of defending or conquering an entire planet, solo, and they, rather than their commanders, are the ''de facto'' protagonists of the stories where they appear.
* The [=SheVa=] and Tiger III class tanks from JohnRingo's ''PosleenWarSeries''. The [=SheVa=]'s are 170ft tall, 468ft long, 385ft wide tanks with a 200ft long 16" gun that are powered by four uranium/helium pebblebed nuclear reactors. They are so huge that their ''treads'' (all four of them, each) alone are bigger than most average houses. One of them, [=SheVa=] 9 "[[ShoutOut Bunbun]]" gets six MetalStorm turrets welded ontop with half a dozen claymore mines embedded under the front armor. The [=SheVas=] were actually created specifically because of an event in the first novel, [[spoiler: where a battleship is believed to have killed a Posleen lander by shooting it ''point-blank'' with a ''full broadside''.]] The specs for the Tiger III are never given, but judging by its crew size (8 plus commander) is probably about the same scale. The Tiger IIIB model is actually capable of shooting down spacecraft in low earth orbit.
* RobertAHeinlein's short novel ''If This Goes On—'' has the major land force of the USA be Land Battleships.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

* The Imperial Baneblade in ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' is a tank the size of a large house and mounts no fewer than 11 separate weapons ranging from high explosive cannon rounds, laser cannons and bolter (fully automatic armoured-piercing RPG) turrets. It should also be noted that, while still rare, the Baneblade chassis is the ''standard'' chassis which Imperial super-heavy tanks are usually based on: as well as a whole slew of variants on the Baneblade chassis, larger examples include the "Ordinatus" (tracked WaveMotionGun) "Leviathan" (mobile command centre, basically a castle on tracks) and "Capitol Imperialis" (APC ''for tanks''). And let's not get started on the Imperium's HumongousMecha, the Titans, which are often referred to as "walking battleships."
** Though, to a certain extent, anything built by Orks qualifies.
** Not to mention Chaos has daemonically possessed/traitorous versions of all the above, sporting screaming mouths the size of houses and bladed tentacles the size of trains.
** A SpaceMarine Land Raider is an armoured personnel carrier crossed with a main battle tank.
* The ''Ogre'', one of several classes of autonomous robotic moving fortresses from the game of the same name (and its successor, ''G.E.V.'') from Steve Jackson Games. The concept is partially derived from Keith Laumer's ''Bolos'' (see below), and partially from Steve Jackson's need to reduce the numbers of counters he had to put in each box. In the original game, a combined arms force consisting of powered armor infantry, tanks, artillery, and hovercraft, each of whom, in the game universe, fires ''nuclear weapons'', opposes ''one'' unit - the Ogre. In the original scenario, where all the defenders have to do is prevent the Ogre from reaching a specific point on the gameboard, the Ogre usually wins.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* The Landcarrier from the [=PS3=]-exclusive first-person shooter ''Haze'' is what its name suggests: rather than a Land Battleship, it is best described as a dedicated Land Aircraft Carrier (used to trudge through the jungles of South America, no less!). It is where the game begins [[spoiler: and ends]]. Additionally, the aircraft it primarily carries are also Military Mashup Machines: troop carriers with the firepower, silhouette, speed, and armor of attack gunships.
* The [[http://metalslug.wikia.com/wiki/Big_Shiee Big Shiee]], the boss of mission 4, from ''MetalSlug 2''.
** ''Metal Slug 5'' also has the boss of Mission 4, which is a Land ''Submarine'' that can submerge itself in the desert.
* The Fatboy from RTS game ''SupremeCommander'' actually mounts battleship calibre guns on rotating turrets. And it has a landing pad on top. Taking it even farther are the Salem Class destroyers of the Cybran Nation which are actual warships which sprout spider legs when they reach land in order to render them amphibious (this troper always thinks of them as the [-SHIPS ON LEGS-], capitals inclusive).
* ''CommandAndConquer's'' Global Defense Initiative is ''in love'' with Land Battleships, typically in the form of their Mammoth Tanks, which are so huge and durable they can run over ''other'' tanks. In the ''Kane's Wrath'' expansion, GDI also gains the MARV, which is an even ''bigger'' mobile treaded deathmobile with ''three'' railguns, garrissionable infantry bunkers, and the ability to consume entire Tiberium fields instantly.
** ''Red Alert 3'' does one better, with ''amphibious battleships.'' Not a battleship-sized tank on treads, but a literal [[http://www.ea.com/redalert/factions-allies.jsp?id=Assault_Destroyer battleship on treads.]]
*** See SupremeCommander's Salem-Class, above.
* The [[spoiler:Marmotah]] from ValkyriaChronicles fits this trope to a T.
* ''NoituLove 2'' has one as its [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK37gN7kCwQ very first boss]]. Humorously, when defeated, it sinks despite being fought ''on a city street''.
* Basically the entire concept of ''ArmoredCore 4'' sequel ''For Answer'' hinges on destroying incredibly gigantic HumongousMecha that are land battleships.
** It should be noted that the gigantic carrier-type beasts are, in fact, considered to be oversized and difficult to control ''in the game universe''. They are, however, valuable in that they project an obscene amount of power into an area, and can move to another area relatively easily. They are also ''extraordinarily frightening'' to fight: when the 10-meter tall mech that you're piloting isn't as big as the ''smallest gun'' on the carrier, you ''know'' you're in trouble.
*''TalesoftheAbyss'' gives us a literal land dreadnought, the Tartarus.
* In ''ChromeHounds'', there's the Tarakian Unidentified Weapon, "M-99 Super Patriot". It is literally a Modern-day Supertanker (you know, the giant, 5 mile long ocean going ship), loaded down with [[{{BFG}} giant (triple barreled) cannons]], [[KillItWithFire flamethrowers]], and [[GunsAkimbo lots]] [[MoreDakka and lots]] [[GatlingGood of gatling guns]]. It also is a mobile HQ for enemy forces- and launches a bottomless supply of enemy [[GoddamnBats ACVs]].
* Land carriers are used for a few bosses in [[{{Area88}} U.N. Squadron]]
* The Call to Power series has Leviathans, enormous, heavily armed with most weapons of that particular period in that game, but extremely slow moving. In game, the unit is more powerful in every combat statistic than every other unit, but can only move one square per turn, even on roads. Fusion tanks in the same series might also apply.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* ''GIJoe'' has had a number of these in toy form, although they rarely appeared in the cartoons.
* The Nazi wheel tank from ''JusticeLeague'' episode "The Savage Time". These were taken from the old ''Blackhawks'' comics during that time.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* TruthInTelevision, there was such a school of though in 1920-s to 1930-s.
** Both the British and Germans considered building these during WorldWarII. The Germans prototyped at least one, with several more designs in the works before the war's end prevented their construction. By contrast, the British eventually gave up on the concept due to it being more expensive than it would be worth.
** [[http://www.achtungpanzer.com/panzerkampfwagen-viii-maus-porsche-typ-205-tiger-iip.htm Panzerkampfwagen VIII Maus]]. "Mouse". The biggest tank of WWII, 188 tons. Yeah, they really built this monstrosity.
** One proposed German design featured ''a pair of battlecruiser cannon''. It's none other than the [[http://www.militaryfactory.com/armor/detail.asp?armor_id=293 Landkreuzer P. 1000 Ratte]] (Literally "Rat"). Wanna know what it would have looked like? [[http://strangevehicles.greyfalcon.us/mauspic/ratte100.jpg Have fun]].
*** Oh, it gets worse/better than that. Around the same time as the Ratte, they were also working on the Landkreuzer P. 1500 Monster, which would've been ''even bigger'', with a ''[[http://paradiselost522.250free.com/dora_color.jpg Dora gun]]'' mounted on it. Fortunately for the Axis (and to a ''much'' lesser extent, the Allies), Albert Speer realized how idiotic both projects were and canceled them.
** French [[http://www.militaryfactory.com/armor/detail.asp?armor_id=282 Char 2C]]. 69 metric tons.
** The Soviet [[http://www.chamtec.com/t35gal.htm T-35]] probably qualifies - a veritable Games Workshop Tank with five turrets, but about as much use as you might expect. This one got into series, though soon canceled as obsolete.
[[/folder]]


[[folder:Submersible Carrier]]
Submersible Carriers are essentially your standard aircraft carrier, only submersible.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* The [[{{Area88}} ''Area 88'']] manga features one of these, albeit on land: The land carrier moves on tracks, launches unmanned fighters, and hides itself by burrowing under the desert sand. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it is very difficult to cool.
* ''{{Gundam}}'' and its multiple continuities had several of these serving to launch both aerial and amphibious mobile suits.
* ''MacrossZero'' had the Auerstadt as the Anti-UN forces' home base, launching both variable fighters and transforming mini-sub OCTOS.
* The ''Tuatha de Danaan'' from ''FullMetalPanic''.
* The Dai-Gunkai of ''TengenToppaGurrenLagann''. Notable for being one of the few capable of creating ''its own ocean'' when it needs to travel over land.
* The ''Killer Whale''-class subs in ''SuperRobotWars Original Generation''.
* UNS ''Daedalus'' from ''SuperDimensionFortressMacross'' is a submersible HumongousMecha carrier.
* At one point, the team manager in ''{{Zoids}}: New Century'' brags that his already massive, snail-shaped Zoid carrier (overlapping somewhat with Land Battleship above) is capable of functioning underwater. Since it can launch flying Zoids, it pretty much counts.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* ''Nextwave'' had a cross between an AirborneAircraftCarrier...and a ''submarine''.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* Honorable mention to the S.S.R.N. Seaview of ''{{Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea}}'' which carried one flying submarine.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

* The USS ''Ticonderoga'' and NGR ''Poseidon'' in ''{{Rifts}}''.
** And a fan-made [[http://www.kitsune.addr.com/Rifts/Rifts-Earth-Vehicles/REEF_SSCR-1_Narwhal.htm thing]].
* The "arsenal subs" of ''TranshumanSpace'', though it helps that the aircraft are unmanned.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* ''SupremeCommander'' has the Atlantis-class submersible carrier for the UEF.
* ''AceCombat'' 5 had a pair of these on the Yuktobanian side, although they were actually ballistic missile platforms that happened to be able to launch their own fighters for air defense. The first one, ''Scinfaxi'', had a rear takeoff area for Harriers and F-35s, while the Hrimfaxi had unmanned aircraft in vertical launch tubes (it can even launch them while submerged!).
* ''MetalGearSolid 2'' gives us Arsenal Gear, a submersible HumongousMecha carrier.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Truth In Television ]]

* Truth in Television once again. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submarine_aircraft_carrier Everyone from the United States to Japan has toyed with making these]] at one point. Japan actually deployed at least two dozen such subs of three different designs by the end of World War II. Several were tasked with "doomsday" attacks on the American mainland using biological weapons, but these were never successfully developed and the subs were reassigned to attack the Panama Canal. Before they could actually act on these orders, the war ended and they were seized by the United States. Rather than allow the then-revolutionary technology to fall into Russian hands per war alliance treaties, the Navy chose to [[http://starbulletin.com/2005/03/20/news/story1.html scuttle the subs instead]]. One of these subs became part of the plot for the CliveCussler novel ''Black Wind'', in which it actually was carrying biological weapons.
[[/folder]]


[[folder:Amphibious Tanks]]
Aren't just tanks that can travel on water, but often are entirely submersible until they surface on the beach.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Anime ]]

* Perhaps taking the concept from the other direction, the aquatic {{Zoids}} known as War Sharks are shown in the third anime series as being capable of [[SandIsWater swimming through the ground]].

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* RobertAHeinlein's novel ''ThePuppetMasters'' had amphibious submersibles.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* The Fatboy from ''SupremeCommander'' is also this. Ditto the Cybran Monkeylord spiderbot (which is more of a HumongousMecha). Supreme Commander loves this trope, with many more amphibious tanks and mecha to choose from. The UEF Percival, the Cybran Wagner, Brick, and Megalith, the Seraphim Othuum and Ythotha, and the Aeon Galactic Colossus are all perfectly happy going scuba diving. And if you count amphibious hovertanks, you get to count the UEF Riptide, the Seraphim Fobo, and the Aeon Aurora, Ascendant, Asylum, and Blaze.
** Preceding the Fatboy were the "Crock" and "Triton" tanks of ''TotalAnnihilation'', which also had hovercraft of its own.
** The Cybrans even have a battleship that ''sprouts legs'' and walks onto land.
* MetalGear RAY. A giant, walking, swimming battletank, with an armor-piercing water cutter.

* The Empire Of The Rising Sun in [[CommandAndConquer Red Alert 3]] will have the [[MeaningfulName Tsunami Tank.]] The Stingray from the Soviets is a boat that sprouts legs. And there's the above amphibious cruiser from the Allies. The game makes extensive use of amphibious units, as a way to make the inclusion of sea combat less frustrating and complex.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* On ''GIJoe'', Cobra had a couple, the most notable being the [[http://www.yojoe.com/vehicles/90/hammerhead/hammerhead_title1.jpg Hammerhead]], which was not only a submersible tank, but also a submersible carrier for its own mini-fleet of smaller vehicles.
* The first SeasonFinale of ''SWATKats'' had the Kats use one of these against the alliance of Dark Kat, Dr. Viper, and the Metallikats.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

* See the ''[[{{Warhammer40000}} Warhammer 40,000]]'' entries above- at least half of those tanks are capable of functioning underwater. The Land Raider in particular has been used for devastating beach assaults.
** In the latest Codex: Space wolves there is mention of the Space Wolves batteling Tau under 5 miles of oceans, after having driven their Land Raiders there, on the bottom of the sea.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Truth In Television ]]

* TruthInTelevision yet again; several sorts of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DD_tank amphibious tanks]] were designed, built and deployed in World War II. Likewise, a number of modern armored vehicles include amphibious capability, and most tanks can ford rivers using snorkels.
** A more extreme example is the German "Tauchpanzer" variant of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzer_IV Panzer IV]]: a tank capable of driving under 15 meters of water.
*** More extreme still was the gargantuan proposal ''Midgardsschlange'' for a 60,000 ton armoured, articulated ''train'' that could run on land, the bottom of the sea or even drill underground. It was designed by Nazi Germany in the 1930s and got to the vital asking for funding stage before the engineers involved were forced to go work on something sensible.
** The German ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seeteufel Seeteufel]]'' design was an odd take on the "amphibious tank" concept, being practically a mini-submarine with tank threads. Proposed armament consisted of two torpedoes and a machine gun or a flamethrower. Not a practical design by any metric, but imagine the look on the Allied troops' faces when one of these would crawl up from a lake and start spouting flames at them.
** Don't forget that the Japanese also used them, although [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_2_Ka-Mi theirs]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_3_Ka-Chi floated]] rather than driving submerged.
** The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PT-76 PT-76]] is probably the most successful of modern amphibious tanks.
*** Arguably, its biggest success is in being cheap, lightweight, and armored enough to serve as an universal chassis for the whole lot of other Soviet vehicles, from self-propelled artillery to SAM launchers, adding more to its MilitaryMashupMachine status.
*** so, what you're saying is that In Soviet Russia, water full of Tank?
**** [[http://www.perekop.ru/history/nord-crimea-1941-172sd/attachment/perekop-1941-t37-tanks/ Sometimes]] [[http://www.cultinfo.ru/fulltext/1/001/010/001/252522462.jpg it]] [[http://www.panoramio.com/photo/7070048 is]]. Though [[http://www.diorama.ru/forum/files/thumbs/t_pantera_svastika.jpg not always]] the same [[http://mk-armour.narod.ru/2003/b_02/Photo_36.jpg way]].
[[/folder]]


[[folder:Amphibious Jet Fighter]]
These can fight equally well in the air or in the water.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* The VF-0s in ''MacrossZero'' can, apparently, fly underwater. For short periods, at least. Ironically, this is the early version that runs on jet engines, as they hadn't got the alien fusion reactors working yet. There is an explicit shot of the intakes closing before it hits the surf, and it appears to be coasting.
* The Hammer Head [[{{Zoids}} Zoid]] can do this.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* ''Series/GoldDigger'' gave the villainous Night Flight an entire wing of these.
* From [[http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=33&Itemid=52&limitstart=64 an old comic book]].
* Turned UpToEleven by the ''[[StarWars Clone Wars]]'' comic books, with ''starships'' that operate underwater, crewed by Mon Calamari, appearing during the battle of Kamino. As their commander said while piloting one of the damn things:
-->'''Commander Merai''': [[WhatWereYouThinking What are they]] ''[[WhatWereYouThinking thinking]]'', defending a water world with ships that can't submerge?

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* ''SkyCaptainAndTheWorldOfTomorrow'' (2004) did this with submersible propeller planes.
* Though not explicitly armed, the automated transports used by Syndrome in ''TheIncredibles'' get to Nomanisan Island by air... then go under water to dock.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* ''VoyageToTheBottomOfTheSea'' had a small flying sub (launched from a bigger submarine).
** The [=KingFisher=] in the ''DoctorWho'' novel ''The Indestructible Man'', a CaptainErsatz of everything Gerry Anderson ever did.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* The "[=SkyDiver=]" from ''{{UFO}}'' was a submarine whose entire front end was a JATO-boosted rocket plane called Sky One. At need, the [=SkyDiver=] would flood its rear ballast tanks until its bow pointed upward, and Sky One would launch...from ''under water''.
* The [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Flying Sub]] from ''Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea'' was the coolest thing on the show.
* The Puddle Jumpers from StargateAtlantis take this to it's illogical conclusion: submersible spacecraft.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

* A number of vehicles in the ''{{Rifts}}'' Underseas sourcebook.
* The system defence boats of ''{{Traveller}}'' are capable of flying in space and in atmosphere and can go underwater, at least in the ''{{GURPS}}'' version. It helps that the vehicle rules of ''{{GURPS}}'' practically ''invite'' people to design vehicles that fit this trope.
** And they were pure eeeeevil in 3rd edition. No RPG should have make the player draw a square root.
** In defence of ''GURPS Vehicles'', it doesn't expect people to be doing this in the middle of a session of regular play. The ongoing design example from the book, incidentally, is more than worthy of inclusion on this page - a FlyingCar (kept aloft by ImportedAlienPhlebotinum and propelled by a jet engine, which can also give it a bit of extra speed on land) that's also a submarine, has military-grade electronics and is armed with concealed machine guns. JamesBond, eat your heart out.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* Almost all scrolling shooters allow the player's air or spacecraft to fly underwater without consequence.
* Although ''StarFox 64'' had a separate submarine for the underwater mission, Arwings and other starfighters in ''Star Fox Command'' can do this.
* ''[[CommandAndConquer Red Alert 3]]'''s [[http://www.ea.com/redalert/factions-empire.jsp?id=SeaWing Sea-Wing]] is a submersible ambush jet fighter.
* ''[=XCOM=]: Terror from the Deep'', the second XCOM game, had the player fighting Unidentified Submersible Objects (ie, [=UFO=]s that could go underwater) with a small fleet of their own submarine-jets.
* ''{{Elite}}'' had the Moray Star Boat, because aquatic species need to get shot at by {{space pirates}} too.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* ''GIJoe'' had the S.H.A.R.K. aircraft.
* ''The New Adventures of He-Man'' had a vehicle capable of submersion, atomspheric flight and space flight called Astrosub.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* Truth in Television again (to a degree),
** The Soviet Union designed a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_submarine flying submarine]] in the 1930s, but it was never actually built.
** Two jet fighter prototypes were built and flown after World War II:
*** The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saunders-Roe_SR.A/1 Saunders-Roe SR.A/1]]
*** The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_Sea_Dart Convair F2Y Sea Dart]] became the only seaplane ever to exceed the speed of sound.
[[/folder]]


[[folder:Mobile Factory]]
The is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin exactly what it sounds like]]. A factory capable of pumping out mass-produced (often robotic drone) war machines, combat-ready right off the assembly line. This is usually its primary purpose, though it may have other weapons.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* The ''SuperDimensionFortressMacross'' was able to build new and replacement mecha (at least it could in ''{{Robotech}}''), not to mention the Zentraedi/Robotech Master factory sattelite. Each of the colony fleets shown in ''Macross7'' and ''MacrossFrontier'' included factory ships as well.
* The [[TengenToppaGurrenLagann Chouginga Dai-Gurren]] has the production facilities and raw materials to build several dozen city-sized [[HumongousMecha giant robots]] in a matter of days.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* The World Devastators from ''StarWars''' ExpandedUniverse not only did this, but ate the planets they were attacking to get the raw materials.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* The Cylon Resurrection Ship in the new ''BattlestarGalactica'' is a mobile ''people'' factory.
** More ''Galactica:'' Tyrol actually had his crew build a whole Viper out of spare parts onboard the ''Galactica,'' and a damn good one at that. In fact, due to the availability of pretty much any material ''but'' metal, it was also their only stealth ship.
** And again: It's AllThereInTheManual that the Battlestar ''Pegasus'' has Viper factories onboard, allowing both ships to shore up their numbers.
** The civilian ships also had sewage treatment ships and mining ships.
** Conversely, in the original Galactica series, there seemed to be a shortage of shuttlecraft. Every shuttle in the original series had the same markings (GAL 356) even when the shuttle came from the Pegasus.
* Voyager in ''StarTrek'' had to have this, incompetent writers, or both to have as many shuttle craft as it did.
** It does; in one episode the crew whip up a specialized shuttlecraft, the Delta Flyer, which goes on to feature in quite a few episodes before being destroyed, after which a new one is constructed. Makes sense, really: replicator techonology means all you need is a few handy asteroids for raw materials, and you can make just about any parts you need, as long as they're not too big.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* The restored monolith from ''Dawn of War''. The Necron race is badass enough, but really takes the cake when their headquarters building is brought completely back online. It changes from an ominous black pyramid of doom into an evil floating pyramid of doom and green lightning that can suddenly materialize right in the middle of your base. While it holds the award for the single slowest unit in the entire game, it can teleport, has a gigantic cannon, and regenerates. As if that wasn't enough, it still maintains the ability to produce units.
* ''SupremeCommander'''s Fatboy is able to construct military units as well. (For those keeping score, that makes the Fatboy a Submersible Land Battleship Carrier (it has a landing pad) that can construct its own support force. ''And'' it mounts heavy-duty shield generators. Though it's so enormous it occupies most of the shielded area, leaving little room for its support force.)
** As well as all of its carriers building aircraft, ''SupremeCommander'' also has: the Tempest, a Submersible Battleship that constructs smaller ships, although it can't travel on land; the Cybran Megalith, a carrier that can build select Cybran land units, and the Aeon Czar, which is a ''flying'' mobile factory and {{airborne aircraft carrier}} armed with a WaveMotionGun, flak cannons, AAM, and depth charges.
* The Protoss Carrier in ''{{StarCraft}}'' manufactures and launches its own robotic interceptors. The Reaver similarly builds Scarab drones that are used as self-guided bombs.
* The GDI and Brotherhood of Nod both possess mobile factory units in the ''Firestorm'' expansion for ''CommandAndConquer: Tiberian Sun''.
* Aircraft carriers in many RealTimeStrategy games usually operate like this.
* All capital ships (and the carrier-class non-capital ships) are capable of constructing their own fighter escorts in ''SinsOfASolarEmpire''. This is subverted (or averted?) for the Advent faction, as their fighters are merely psionic constructs.
* The mothership in ''{{Homeworld}}'' games can construct any other type of warship up to and including a destroyer. It can also construct a shipyard, which can then be used to manufacture even larger ships (cruisers and carriers). Carriers themselves are capable of constructing small and medium-sized craft (up to frigates). The downside is that the mothership has no maneuverability to speak of, and its own weaponry is in the peashooter range.
* The carrier Antaeus in HostileWaters has a large number of nanobots that can create a helicopter, tank, or a few similar things in about a second. You can only have a dozen or so tanks/helicopters/whatever active at a time but when you lose one you can replace it very quickly.
* One never-ending source of Mooks in Jak 3 is the KG War Factory, endlessly producing robots of the former Krimzon Guard. Granted, why they didn't use this machine in the previous game to put the whole city on lockdown while trying to take out the Underground when they were finally making a real impact, is completely unknown.
* The only way to employ Seaplanes in Advance Wars: Days of Ruin is to construct them in Carriers.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* While not a factory, real naval ships have machine tools on board to fix broken equipment. You can do quite a lot of work on a real aircraft carrier.
[[/folder]]


[[folder:TheBattlestar]]
Starships in most SpaceOpera series, including ''StarWars'', ''[[BabylonFive Babylon 5]]'', and ''BattlestarGalactica'', tend to be a [[RecycledInSpace space-borne]] hybrid of a modern naval battleship and a carrier, possessing heavy armor and lots of large guns as well as a sizable fighter compliment. This is probably more realistic than most of the examples in this article, as launching and landing fighters from a spaceborne platform would require much less "runway" space than a planet-based carrier, and a sufficiently large ship could handle both tasks. Besides, having two ships would violate {{The Law of Conservation of Detail}}.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Anime ]]

* ''UchuuSenkanYamato'' takes this to its logical conclusion, by taking the World War II battleship ''Yamato'', fixing it, adding a ([[TropeNamer the]]) WaveMotionGun, and putting it in space. It still works on water too.
* The ''Nautilus'' in ''NadiaTheSecretOfBlueWater'' turns out to be a spacecraft that just incidentally happens to make a dandy submarine as well.
* Similarly, many spaceships in anime, especially ones featuring HumongousMecha, are often capable of operating in the air as well as in space, effectively making them a combination of space ships (see above) plus an Airborne Aircraft Carrier.
** MobileSuitGundam, in particular, nearly invents an entire ship class: the Assault Carrier, which is a relatively small ship (usually around 300 meters in length) built to service, launch, and support a single squadron of small craft (usually mecha) on earth as well as in space. The ''Pegasus''-class ships of ''MobileSuitGundam and their associated decendants (like the ''Arghama'' in Zeta) and Alternate Universe cousins (The ''Archangel'' in {{Gundam SEED}}) are all of this type.
** The titular ship from ''MartianSuccessorNadesico'' is also an Assault Carrier-type.
** The ''Hagane'' and ''Hiryu Custom'' in ''SuperRobotWars Original Generation'', which were also ''submersible''. Also the ''Kurogane'', which was not only submersible, but could also travel ''underground''.
** The titular ''SuperDimensionFortressMacross'' also fits this trope, plus [[TransformingMecha transformations]], and an entire ''city'' within its hull.
** The Chouginga Dai-Gurren from TengenToppaGurrenLagann, while having some trouble with atmospheric flight ([[spoiler:you don't want something that used to be THE Moon in your atmosphere]]), fits this trope.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* Averted occasionally in the ''StarWars'' ExpandedUniverse, though such over-specialized ships usually don't do well - for example, the escort carrier, which can carry as many fighters as a Star Destroyer in a much smaller and less-expensive ship, is pitifully under-gunned. One could send an escort ship with it... or just send a ship that both carries fighters and can adequately defend itself. This has been a design philosophy that has been common throughout the galaxy for thousands of years, from the ships in the Old Republic to the modern Star Destroyers.
** While single-purpose cruisers and carriers are rare, different cultures do make different design emphasis. A Star Destroyer (and most Imperial vessels) is first and foremost a battleship whose fighters are primarily a defensive screen -- the main offensive component of the group is the big guns on the big ship. In contrast, Rebellion and Republic fleet groups favor heavier fighters with less powerful capital ships, or sometimes no capital ship at all.
* Large capital ships in ''{{Perry Rhodan}}'' are usually this, carrying not just fighters, but larger secondary craft (often smaller warships in their own right) as well. A particularly striking and unique example would be the (Terran-built) [=SOL=], which is basically three such ships (two spherical 'ultra-battleships' and a cylindrical central section) usually linked together but capable of [[DetachmentCombat splitting into its component parts]] if needed. That's right -- a [[TheBattlestar battle star]] ''made of'' [[TheBattlestar battle stars]]!

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* As mentioned, ''[[BabylonFive Babylon 5]]'' capital ships often carry fighter complements, as does the titular station.
* There were about two ships in ''StarTrek'' that fall under this sub-trope that we've seen--one of which was fictitious (even within the context of the series itself). They were the historically inaccurate recreation of ''[[StarTrekVoyager Voyager]]'' in the episode ''Living Witness'', and the ''Scimitar'' in ''[[StarTrekTheNextGeneration Star Trek: Nemesis]]''. Other ships don't really count for this, as they primarily carry shuttle craft, which are neither good at nor designed for combat, nor is the compliment in any way considered "considerable" (usually half a dozen at most on the largest ships).
* ''{{Stargate SG-1}}'' began introducing these with the ''Prometheus'', a small flying space carrier with eight fighters and a notable array of its own weapons, designed to be capable of challenging Goa'uld motherships. The larger ''Daedalus'' class ramps it all up further, particularly when the ''Odyssey'' gets state-of-the-art Asgard beam weapons, fully qualifying it as a battle-carrier.
* ''{{Battlestar Galactica}}''. Though the ''Galactica'' and other Battlestar-class ships seem to operate primarily as fighter carriers, the ''Galactica'' has demonstrated repeatedly that it is more than capable of taking on a Cylon Basestar in close combat.
** And, of course, there's the ''Pegasus'', shown to be positively ''bristling'' with {{BFG}}s.
*The Alliance cruisers in ''{{Firefly}}'' appear to be multipurpose combinations of warships and fighter carriers, equipped with "gunships" that are used to engage targets, as well as some type of large laser/torpedo weapons system.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* Largely averted, then later {{lampshaded}}, in ''WingCommander'', where the carrier is part of a small fleet of offensive, defensive, and support vessels. In ''Prophecy'', when the ''Midway'' (an all-purpose battle-carrier fitting the trope) is commissioned, several people complain about the risk of putting all the eggs in one basket.
** Played straight with the ''Concordia'' in the second game, however - which was even classified as a dreadnaught rather than a carrier. Phase-Transit Cannon, anyone? Further, cruisers and, on the other side, even Kilrathi ''destroyers'' had a "light fighter complement", although the actual strength of this complement is not defined. This troper's impression was that the problem with the Midway was more about its sheer size than its carrier-battleship hybrid status.
** The supercarriers introduced towards the end of ''WingCommander 4'' tend to fit the trope as well. They have a healthy complement of weapons, or rather ''should'', but the two introduced in the course of the game are conspicuously unfinished, and so are entirely reliant on their fighter wings.
* The Ur-Quan Dreadnaughts of the ''StarControl'' series are these (and they look suspiciously like villainous Battlestars).
* Many large capital ships in the ''{{Freespace}}'' series (for example the ''GTD Aquitaine'' in Freespace 2) carry dozens, if not hundreds of strikecraft. They're fully fledged warships that make mincemeat out of smaller capitals and have dozens of anti-fighter and anti-warship turrets to boot.
* In ''SinsOfASolarEmpire'', direct combat capital craft, whilst incapable of supporting strikecraft initially (unlike the specialized carrier capital craft), can gain strikecraft support slots as their combat experience increases.
* The Great Fox in ''StarFox'' is kind of a scaled-down version, being a capable battleship that also carries a small fighter squadron.
* The [[http://imgur.com/NGKH6.jpg Titans]] of {{EVEOnline}} (yes, that is to scale) don't just have their own wing of drones, don't just carry, rearm and refit player ships, but also the clones of the players themselves! Its not enough to have a jump drive but it can also jump bridge entire fleets making it a logistical wet dream. Top it all off with enough defenses to shrug off anything but a major fleet attack. Oh, and a [[WaveMotionGun Doomsday Device]] that's enough to make [[SuperDimensionFortressMacross Captain Gloval]] eat his enormous hat.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

* Most ships in ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' of heavy cruiser size and upwards are either battleships with a fighter complement, or carriers with potent weaponry of their own, but some dedicated assault carriers exist, mostly in the Imperial Navy.
[[/folder]]


[[folder:Others]]
* At some point, most silly works will include efforts to make a flying tank. Sometimes this will be to just slap wings on that ever-so-aerodynamic thing, the main battle tank.
** That would include the A-Gears in AirRivals, which are not so much an aircraft but a ''flying hovercraft tank'' that's capable to not only traverse land and aquatic terrains, but also ''latch itself onto edges of ravines and cliffs''. To hammer the point home, one of the equippable armors had wings on it. Predictably though, its survivability drops down once it actually does take to the air, especially when pitted against other, more fighter-oriented Gears...
** RealLife: again, see the [[http://www.amazon.com/My-Tank-Fight-Zack-Parsons/dp/0806527587/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205083504&sr=8-1 My Tank is Fight!]] link.
** Several countries [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winged_tank experimented]] with this in ''WorldWarII''. Some are doubtless included in the book above.
** If any practical real-world aircraft could get away with calling itself a flying tank, the [[CoolPlane A-10]] is it. The AC-130, whose weapons load includes a ''105mm howitzer'', also deserves an honourable mention.
*** The AC-130 (and it's variants, there are many) is informally classified as a flying artillery platform. A single AC-130 can make a ground attack disturbingly close to large-scale murder. A ''flight'' of AC-130s can destroy cities in ''minutes''.
*** The A-10 is cool indeed, but the B-17 Flying Fortress lives up to it's name. Unable to manuever effectively, the designers decided the plane still needed to be well protected, and so added ridiculous amounts of armor, ''six'' .50 caliber machine gun turrets, and a bomb bay with a capacity that would make a mad bomber faint with delight. It wasn't designed to shoot down enemy fighters, ''but it sure as hell did!''
*** The B-29 Superfortress, deployed in the World War II Pacific theater after Germany was defeated, was basically the B-17 on steroids.
** Behold the [[http://www.theonion.com/content/video/obama_axes_pentagon_plan_to_build?utm_source=a-section Dragon Tank]].
** The Landmaster in ''StarFox'' is a tank with boosters which allow it to roll, hover and generally be much more maneuverable than a regular tank.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Anime ]]

* HumongousMecha in most Real Robot settings seem to be mashups of your average infantry soldier and an armored tank or jet fighter.
* The Mobile Armors of ''MobileSuitGundam'' are often even straighter examples: Large non-humanoid units, built with the same technology as Mobile Suits, that acted as submarines, flying tanks, land battleships, and more.
** Zoids are the animal versions of the same principle.
* The Grandia Tank in ''Nadia'' is a triple threat: a tank on land, an airship, and a paddle-wheeled boat. It runs off [[SteamPunk steam with punch card controls!]]
* ''CodeGeass'' has airships that are submersible, a HumongousMecha that turns into a fighter jet-thingie, and another that turns into a ''submarine''.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* ''Blackhawk'' comics were in love with this trope. Along with the link to the flying submarine (above), there was an [[http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=33&Itemid=52&limitstart=60 underground fighter plane]],[[http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=33&Itemid=52&limitstart=48 tornado-generating helicopter fortresses]], [[http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=33&Itemid=52&limitstart=39 combat kites]], the obligatory [[http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=33&Itemid=52&limitstart=25 flying aircraft carrier]] , [[http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=33&Itemid=52&limitstart=19 helicopter pogo-sticks]], [[http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=33&Itemid=52&limitstart=12 flying tanks]], and some sort of [[http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=33&Itemid=52&limitstart=12 flying on-fire-spinny-thing]]. And these weren't even all of them! ''Blackhawk'' comics had more fuzzy-science-derived plot devices than ''Star Trek''.
* Marvel has the [[http://www.marvel.com/universe3zx/images/thumb/3/3c/Helicarrier_Head2.jpg/440px-Helicarrier_Head2.jpg S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier]], which is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. Spoofed by Warren Ellis in Nextwave with the[[http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n11/impbianco/09Aeromarine.jpg H.A.T.E. Aeromarine]], which is a bunch of submarines welded together and equipped with oversized rocket thrusters.
* ''G.I.Joe'' has the mashup machines; they tended to make a small appereance or two, then explode.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* This was the central plot point of ''TheThreeStooges In Orbit'': a professor builds a vehicle that's a submarine with tank treads and rotor blades. When it's stolen, the military has problems figuring out who should stop it. It lands: 'Call the Army!' It takes off: 'Call the Air Force!' Eventually, it goes over the ocean, to the relief of the commander: 'Call the Navy!'

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* DaleBrown's EB-52 Megafortress and other machines that fall into the CoolPlane category are essentially mash-ups of heavy bombers and fighters. Since in real-life the most difficult changes would involve changing some programming lines in a radar's software and adapting the bomb bay to carry an ''obscene'' amount air-to-air missiles, this concept [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-1_Lancer#B-1R just might]] become TruthInTelevision as well.
* From the E.E. Doc Smith SpaceOpera ''[[{{Lensman}} First Lensman]]''
-->The vehicle, while slow, could go--literally--anywhere. It had a cigar-shaped body of magnalloy; it had big, soft, tough tires; it had cleated tracks; it had air- and water- propellers; it had folding wings; it had driving, braking, and steering jets. It could traverse the deserts of Mars, the oceans and swamps of Venus, the crevassed glaciers of Earth, the jagged, frigid surface of an iron asteroid, and the cratered, fluffy topography of the moon; if not with equal speed, at least with equal safety.
* Similar to the ''Lensman'' example above, the ''{{Perry Rhodan}}'' universe gives us the so-called 'Shift' -- an amphibious, flight-capable, yet still tracked tank usually equipped with DeflectorShields and energy weapons that can operate and fight in pretty much any environment, including some of the more extreme alien ones.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* Federation ships in ''StarTrek'' tend to be science-vessel/warship hybrids. The sole exception is the ''Defiant'', which despite officially being classified as a "heavy escort vessel", is unofficially admitted to be a warship (though the ''Prometheus'', briefly seen in {{Voyager}}, may have been another step in this direction).
* The ''[[{{Andromeda}} Andromeda Ascendant]]'' takes large parts of TheBattlestar, and adds troop transport, science vessel, mobile factory, diplomatic vessel, planet killer and ''star destroyer'' to boot. All such ''Glorious Heritage''-class heavy cruisers have such capabilities.


[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* Some {{Transformers}} have multiple forms, resulting in things like this. Perhaps most well-known is the Decepticon Triple-Changer Blitzwing, whose alternate modes are a [=MiG-25=] and a Type-74 tank. The most over-the-top, though, would have to be Sixshot, a Decepticon with ''six'' alternate modes who can take on entire teams of enemies single-handedly.
** Anything with TransformingMecha really, when you basically have tanks that turn into mechs. Literally when you bring CombiningMecha into the equation.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* In the ''{{Homeworld}}'' games, your mothership is a space factory/carrier, able to manufacture everything else in your fleet and house all of its smaller craft, while also able to maneuver(or even make hyperspace jumps) to any part of the battle area like any other ship. However in the original game, on its own, it's still fairly vulnerable.
** The Carrier-class ships from the first game also functioned as factory/carriers, but weren't able to build the larger ships (like Carriers) and were much faster and more maneuverable than the Mothership.
** In the ''Cataclysm'' expansion, it's possible to add "battleship" to the number of roles it fills. While still fairly vulnerable, it was much more capable of fending off fighters and small capital ships on its own. With a particular upgrade, they could even wipe out enemy fleets.
** In ''Homeworld 2'', though, the Mothership went back to being vulnerable to pretty much anything, and ''another'' factory/carrier ship, the Shipyard, was added. It could build the largest ships in the game, which the regular Mothership couldn't, but was even slower and less maneuverable.
* ''FinalFantasyVIII'' features the main protagonists and antagonists using a mash-up of guns and [[KatanasAreJustBetter swords]]. The user would load a cartridge into the "gun" part and "fire," which would cause the blade to vibrate and [[RuleofCool magnify damage]].
** RealLife: There were real examples of Sword-Guns, though they weren't very popular. Commonly, they involved a knife/revolver combination.
** Of course, the rifle bayonet is a somewhat more successful example of a gun/edged weapon hybrid.
** While not edged, the powerhead (aka "shark stick" or "bang stick") uses a similar principle in a "jab with a stick" fashion.
*** Parisian hoodlums who called themselves the "Apaches" had weapons that could be used as a dagger, a revolver, or a set of brass knuckles.
*** Some [[UpperClassTwit upstanding gentlemen]] in the seventeenth century created cutlery pistols - as in a knife-pistol and a ''fork'' pistol.
** The 'gunblade' of Final Fantasy VIII is actually more akin to the [[{{Vibroweapon}} vibroblade]] concept, which is quite popular.
* Starcraft's Terran siege tank, which switches from main battle tank to artillery platform.
* ''CommandAndConquer Red Alert 3'' is pretty much in love with this trope, especially the gadget-heavy Empire. Between the examples listed and others, there are very few units that don't qualify. Even most buildings can be planted in the water, so long as the unit they produce can exist on water. The Empire don't even have an air factory, since every single flier they field transforms from a vehicle, ship, or infantry.
* To a lesser extent, the Sonic the Hedgehog titles. The easiest example being the Egg Carrier, having a runway on the front of it, robot construction rooms in the interior (complete with "training" areas), as well as a couple entire stages within it.
* ''ChromeHounds''. Yes, the titular [[AMechByAnyOtherName Hounds]] are supposedly HumongousMecha, they're more like ''tanks''. And by that I mean, a hound is probably a wall of Artillery cannons, Battleship guns, hulking armor, [[MoreDakka machine guns that turn M1-Abrams into swiss cheese]], on anything from humanoid bipeds to tanks. ([[RealRobot Oh, and tanks/wheels tend to be a bit faster.]]) and the cockpits range from bridges of ships to jet-fighter cockpits.
* ''MetalGearSolid 3'''s ''Shagohod'' was a tank/stealth ICBM station hybrid.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* The Russian Topol and Topol M [[MnogoNukes nuclear missiles]] are Mobile Missile Silos, at least in functionality.
** Nah, it's just mobile launcher -- nothing really mashup here.
* Arguably, the original aircraft carrier was a working real-life example of this, attempting to combine an airbase with a ship.
** ...and while we're at it: the AirborneAircraftCarrier in all its many incarnations.
** British carriers of WorldWarOne, many of which were conversions of warships already in service, tended towards a different hybrid status. HMS Vindictive, converted from a cruiser, carried five 7.5in guns; the former battleship HMS Furious, meanwhile, witnessed the first successful landing of an aircraft on a moving ship while still mounting a single 18in gun aft. The concept was revived (albeit briefly) in 1940, when lack of carriers and need for airborne protection led to suggestions that battleships under construction should be redesigned to carry ten fighters.
*** Also worthy of mention are the M-class submarines, which began as a project to fit a 12in battleship gun on a submarine, and which ended up in one case as a submarine aircraft carrier.
*** Partly to get round the Second London Naval Treaty and partly because they just did things differently, the Soviet Union built four "aviation cruisers", essentially VTOL aircraft carriers with anti-shipping missiles built in. The VTOL aircraft, the Yak-38 "Forger" was spectacularly poor. The current sole Russian carrier, the ''Admiral Kuznetsov'' is also an example, albeit a full-length one with Su-33 fighters on.
** An Amphibious Assault Ship is probably as close as practical towards several mash-ups into a single ship, taking on the functions of aircraft carrier, troop transport/beach assault ship, command ship, and - when some earlier designs still had decent-sized guns - bombardment ship.
** Many battleships carried seaplanes; today, many destroyers and cruisers carry helicopters, as did the ''Iowa'' class battleships when they were brought back into service in TheEighties.
** Let's not forget the unlucky French submarine [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surcouf_(N_N_3) ''Surcouf'']]. Touted as an "underwater cruiser" is was capable of launching a small seaplane, which was housed in a hangar below decks, and was armed with ''two'' 203mm guns in a forward turret. It was also armed with a significant number of AA canons and machine guns. However it never saw action: it was accidentally rammed by a US freighter off the coast of Cuba and sank with all hands.
[[/folder]]

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