Aye. But a salty sea dog from a Japanese anime cartoon from the 80s.

I had this one vhs of some 80s anime as a kid, they flew like... space F14s that I think transformed or something. It was super cool and there were space aircraft carriers or something. I have no clue what it was but top gun was the coolest thing ever and that show came close second for a while there. I want to say it was something like gundam wing but I dont think thats right

Holy crap I did not mean to reply to some huge thread. I think it notified like 6 people Hahaha oops

This one was Star Blazers. And it fits some of what you describe and might have even been it, but I feel like what you're talking about is something else I remember, but I'm not quite sure.

It was robotech