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Author: Nomic

Nov 22nd 2012 at 2:30:50 AM

I think that for the most examples, the defining factor here isn't the vessel being unnecessarily large, but the crew being very small compared to the size. For example, if a spacecraft is a kilometer in lenght but only has 100 crew members, it isn't unnecessarily large if most of the size is taken by the engines, reactor, FTL-drive etc. Same with the Akula-class submarine in real life; it is as large as necessary to carry the huge ICBMs, leaving it with a lot of internal space compared to the crew size. 
 
Further examples of this:
*While all Eldar vessels in [[{{Warhammer40000}}]] have smaller crews than the Imperial ones (which have comparable crew densities to modern warships), the ones that would fit this trope is are the Hemlock-class destroyers (which are escort ships carrying a capital ship pulse laser, leaving precious little room for crew other than the gunners and steersmen) and wraithships (several kilometers long capital ships that might only have a single living soul on board. Emphasis on the living, as the wraithships are piloted by the souls of the dead Eldar within the ship's Infinity Circuit, with the only living beings on board being the spiritseers that help guide the souls).