Fleet numbers usually have much more to do with operational area. Or simply that the fleet has been continuously organized longer, like the US' 1st Division.Thorin wrote:It's quite possible that the excelsiors and mirandas are so overwhelming in numbers in comparison to everything else - each fleet may have a different purpose and number and type of ships. The 1st fleet, by it's very name, you would suspect of having the best ships - perhaps filled up new(er) generations of ships - Akiras, Galaxys, Nebulas, Ambassadors. The only ones we've seen are things like the 9th and 3rd, which for whatever reason may have older ships.
At the moment, for instance, the US Navy is organized into 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 7th fleets. They operate over the Atlantic, Pacific, Middle East, Mediterranean, and the West Pacific and Indian Ocean respectively. Ships are designated as parts of fleets depending on where they are at the time. So at the moment, 5th Fleet is the largest.
What fleets are and aren't active is really a crap shoot, and tends to depend on the politics of which admiral commands which fleet when it comes time to dissolve some fleets and consolidate.
Fleets are going to get new ships depending on what their duties are. The first fleet, for instance, being organized the longest, may by now be more of a training fleet, or a reserve fleet. Or maybe it's the defense force for Sector 001. Or maybe it was originally organized as an expeditionary fleet and doesn't exist at all anymore.
