Navy/Legends

"Since the ancient seas of Coruscant lapped arcadian shores, navies have provided transportation, security, and firepower."

―Admiral Conan Antonio Motti, Imperial Handbook: A Commander's Guide^[1]

A navy or space force, sometime also known as a starfleet, was a military service that operated in outer space. Navies typically consisted of fleets of spacecraft and some incorporated starfighter corps and marine forces. Although most were space forces, some worlds still used the term "navy" to describe their maritime forces.

Space forces

Some spaceships were shaped like ancient traditional maritime vessels, such as the Fairwind.^[2]

A space task force would normally include:

Flagship – this ship was the formal head of a space task force, and usually the seat of power for the senior officer in command of the fleet. This was usually the most powerful ship in the fleet it commanded (Ex: Eclipse, the reborn Palpatine's flagship).
Capital ships – the designation of "capital ship" referred to the size of a vessel. Capital ships measured 100m or longer. There was no upper limit on capital ship size. (Ex: a Corellian Gunship measured a mere 120m and was considered a capital ship, while an Executor-class Star Dreadnought measured 19,000m and was also classified as a capital ship).
Support Ships – These vessels were usually smaller capital ships such as frigates and light cruisers used to compensate for the tactical weaknesses of larger vessels (Ex: the Lancer-class frigate was covered in anti-starfighter weaponry to protect larger warships with little anti-fighter capabilities) and/or to augment the firepower of larger vessels (Ex: in the Imperial Navy, two Strike-class cruisers were considered the equivalent of one Victory-class Star Destroyer and were used as such). These ships also encompassed other support roles such as medical vessels (Ex: The Rebel Alliance Fleet's primary hospital ship during the Galactic Civil War was a EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate called the Redemption).
Transports – these were used primarily as cargo or personnel carriers (Ex: The Bulk transport saw heavy use with the Rebel Alliance Fleet as a troop transport during the Galactic Civil War).
Starfighters – Fighters were small one- or two-man (sometimes three as in the case of the ARC-170) vessels used for the protection of the fleet, reconnaissance, and anti capital ship actions.

Maritime forces

Prior to the creation of space forces and space warfare, navies began as maritime forces, with the earliest known use of navies being for the ancient seas of Coruscant lapped arcadian shores. Like with space forces, maritime forces provided transportation, security, and firepower.^[1]

Although maritime navies of this sort were generally obsolete among space-faring planets, maritime forces were incorporated into armies for the purpose of ground warfare, and as such were incorporated into the Imperial Army.^[1]

The Gungans^[3] and the Selkath were among the most notable species to utilize maritime forces. Both major combatants during the Galactic Civil War, Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire, had their own maritime forces: the Rebel Navy and the Imperial Maritime Division, although the latter was technically part of the Imperial Army.^[3] The Trade Federation, Galactic Republic, Confederacy of Independent Systems, Royal Naboo Security Forces, and Wookiees also maintained maritime forces.^[3]