ship sizes , the bigger, the greater ?

[Erax]

In standard SE, larger ships are always better in combat. But there are other roles for ships besides combat : troop transport, population transport, satellite layer, minelayer, minesweeper, repair ship, supply ship, etc.

Many of these roles can be filled by destroyer-sized ships even in the late game.

I am currently trying out a multipurpose 'factory ship' design, but so far it looks like it works best as support for the specialized designs.