Originally, the Mandalorian fleet was led by Lady Bo-Katan Kryze, and momentarily by Captain Axe Woves. The fleet was composed of several types of starships. The fleet's flagship was the Class 546 Arquitens-class command cruiser that belonged to Moff Gideon, of a remnant of the Galactic Empire. Accompanying the light cruiser were five Gozanti-class Assault Carriers, one of which was stolen from Gideon's remnant by Kryze and her team on Trask. The fleet also included eight Mandalorian Kom'rk-class fighter/transports and around thirty Fang-class fighters. When deployed on Plazir-15, the fleet formed the basis of the Mandalorian garrison, acting as the planet's defense force.
The fleet led by Kryze was built up during the New Republic Era, using both Imperial and Mandalorian warships. Around 9 ABY, Kryze, her team, and Din Djarin undertook an assault on the water moon Trask against the remnant led by Moff Gideon, seeking to steal weapons from a Gozanti-class Assault Carrier, but instead stole the entire Imperial vessel after eliminating the crew. Once the ship was secured, Kryze added it to her forces. After some time, Kryze, Djarin, Koska Reeves, and others participated in a rescue of the Mandalorian foundling Grogu after he was kidnapped and imprisoned aboard a Class 546 Arquitens-class cruiser, which they secured after defeating the Moff and added it to their forces as well.
Despite these successes, Kryze failed to secure the coveted Darksaber, which instead was gained by Djarin after Gideon lost it in combat to him. Because of this, Kryze's forces quickly melted away, turning into mercenaries and privateers for hire under the leadership of Woves.
The light cruiser, now repainted with a mythosaur skull signet on the underbelly, was used some months later by the Mandalorian privateers to track down and capture a Quarren freighter helmed by Captain Shuggoth in order to bring back a wanted Mon Calamari viceroy's son. Afterwards, the fleet assembled on the planet Plazir-15 as they were hired to serve as its standing army, and became a garrison. Eventually, Kryze traveled to Plazir-15 to reclaim her fleet after she had joined the Tribe and relocated them to a permanent base in Nevarro. After tracking down her former crew, she challenged Woves to single combat and emerged victorious. With Djarin forfeiting the Darksaber due to his defeat at the hands of a cyborg on Mandalore which Kryze subsequently eliminated, Kryze was able to reclaim her fleet.
With the fleet finally in her possession, Kryze took it and the privateers back to Nevarro to join the Tribe's forces, uniting the two factions into one with the goal of finally resettling and claiming Mandalore itself. Despite initial tensions, after a feast organized by "the Armorer" to ease the nerves of both groups, warriors from both sides agreed to assemble into a task force to retake their homeworld; a scouting party was to land on the planet and prepare a perimeter for the fleet to land and establish a new settlement. With preparations complete, the fleet departed from Nevarro and arrived in orbit above Mandalore. Once there, Kryze's Gauntlet startfighter along with the scouting party descended to the surface, while the rest of the fleet stayed in orbit until the all-clear was given. The scouting party encountered survivors still alive on the surface. After the decision was made to travel to the Great Forge, the Armorer took Kryze's Gauntlet starfighter along with wounded survivors back to the fleet. However, the scouting party was ambushed by Imperial commandos at the Great Forge.
Following the ground ambush, Gideon sent TIE interceptors and bombers to destroy the Mandalorian fleet. However, due to Woves arriving in time to warn the fleet, all but Woves left the light cruiser to board the Kom'rk transports, which then entered the atmosphere along with the Fang fighters, to reinforce the ground assault. This left the flagship vulnerable, and it inevitably was sent crashing down to the surface of Mandalore, with Woves directing the descent into Gideon's base, before abandoning it at the last minute.