Title Page of the in-game fleet menu
A fleet in Star Trek Online is a group of up to 500 players that have banded together. Fleets have a standard command structure and management tools commonly found in other MMORPGs for guilds, e.g., a rank system, a fleet bank, a fleet specific chat channel, a calendar, and - most importantly - a Fleet Advancement System with different fleet holdings. Up to 13 fleets of the same faction can also band together to form an Armada to share resources and earn passive bonuses.
Fleet Advancement System
With Season Six: Under Siege, a dedicated advancement system for fleets was introduced. It allows the fleet to build and develop various fleet holdings:
Increasing the tier of holdings is achieved by completing projects within their respective departments. As all fleet members can contribute, these projects require large amounts of various resources, first and foremost fleet marks 
and refined dilithium 
.
Fleet level
As a fleet develops its holdings, it gains "Fleet XP", thereby increasing its "Fleet level". This is advanced one level for each tier a fleet holding or one of its departments being upgraded. For reference, having reached the maximum tier of the starbase, the embassy, the dilithium mine, the spire, and the research lab (including all their respective departments), a fleet will have achieved level 56. The fleet level is a purely cosmetic parameter, solely intended to indicate a fleet's maturity and progression.
Fleet Armadas
The Fleet Armada menu
Since Season 10.5, fleets of the same faction (i.e., Klingon or Federation) can also band together to form a "Fleet Armada". Armadas are composed of up to 13 fleets arranged in an hierarchical system. The top level fleet will be called the "Alpha Fleet", which can invite (and kick) up to 3 "Beta Fleets", which, in turn, can each invite (and kick) up to 3 "Gamma Fleets".
Fleets in an Armada (which will always be named after its Alpha fleet) can view each others member rosters, contribute resources to each others Fleet Advancement System (member fleets can toggle to block individual resources from being contributed), and will receive two passive buffs:
- Dilithium Discount (every 35 Armada levels an additional 0.25% for Alpha, 0.5% for Beta, 1% for Gamma)
Skill Point bonus (every 35 Armada levels an additional 1% for Alpha, 0.5% for Beta, 0.25% for Gamma)
Note that the strength of the buffs (maximum 20% at Armada level 700) is inverted for Alpha and Gamma fleets, respectively, but balanced for Beta fleets. The Armada level is the sum of the Fleet Levels of all the member fleets. The maximum available bonus is obtained at Armada Level 700 (though Armadas can go up to 13 x 65 = 845 if they have the maximum number of fleets with all holdings at maximum level).
Other fleet-specific functions
Roster
Every member of a fleet can view the roster(s), containing various information on all online as well as offline members (of the entire armada, if the fleet is member of one). Fleet information can also be downloaded by typing "/ExportGuildMemberList filename.csv" (where you can put in any filename you wish), which is then saved to the game's Live folder. The spreadsheet contains data on the following: Character Name, Account Handle, Level, Class, Guild Rank, Contribution Total, Join Date, Rank Change Date, Last Active Date, Status, Public Comment, Public Comment Last Edit Date, Officer Comment, Officer Comment Author, Officer Comment Last Edit Date.
Fleet Bank
- See also: Banks in Star Trek Online
The fleet bank is a universal storage facility for inventory items and credits that is accessible by all members of your fleet who have the proper permissions. Fleet banks are universal; items and Energy Credits placed into any fleet bank will appear in all fleet banks throughout the galaxy and are available for retrieval no matter which fleet bank is visited.
Fleet banks are a part of the normal bank terminal and can have up to 8 tabs of storage space. The first tab is available to the fleet automatically; additional tabs must be purchased for a cost of 1,233,000 
each.
The maximum amount a fleet bank can hold is 1,000,000,000 .
Fleet emblem and uniform
In Star Trek Online, fleets can also create their own specific emblems and uniforms. These can be previewed and edited (if a member has sufficient permission) in the "Uniform" section of the main fleet window. Members can then visit a tailor and activate their "Fleet uniform" slot. The uniform may then be chosen as a pre-made costume option, whereas the emblem can be displayed as a shoulder patch on a member's character and as a painting on his or her ship.
Fleet requirements
Basic Requirements
There are a few simple requirements to be met to create a fleet (pre-Season 6 update):
- You must have 5 players to form a fleet.
- The 5 players must be joined together in a team.
- All the team members must either be Gold members or Silver members that have fulfilled certain requirements (see below).
- Visit the Fleet Ambassador (for Federation fleets, the Fleet Ambassador can be found at Earth Spacedock down the steps to the right of Admiral Quinns office on the Operations Side ( go around the wall where the waterfall is as you come out of the transporter), and for Klingon fleets the Fleet Ambassador can be found in First City on Qo'Nos just to the left as you enter the Barracks) to create your fleet.
Requirement Exceptions
A number of people have posted on the forums about the exact make-up of the team members required to create a fleet. Here are some of the things that they have found:
- The fleet founder and forming members don't have to be Gold members.[1] A Silver member that meets any of the following requirements can also be a fleet founder or forming member: 20 hours of aggregate play across all characters, account has ever had a subscription, account carries a ZEN balance, account has made a C-Store purchase.[2] [3]
Fleet Size Limitations
While a team of five is required to form a fleet, once formed it can go down to a single member. The maximum limit is 500 members, after which invitations would give the error "[Fleet] Error inviting to fleet: <Fleet Name> has reached full capacity. You must remove members to add new ones."
Other Notes
Some other tidbits about fleet creation:
- You can get around the 20 hour trial period on an account by getting enough dilithium to trade in for at least 1
- that will give you a ZEN balance without having to purchase ZEN. [4] - Once a Silver member gets any ZEN (by any means), they need to log off and log back in in order to qualify for creating a fleet.
- Once the fleet is created, you can drop below the 5 member requirement.
- All players in the Team must be present on the same map instance as the Team Leader.
References
See Also
- Fleet actions, a form of group-instances which, despite their name, do not require the participants to be in a fleet.