Canon

Hangar bay

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"Hangar" redirects here. For the Halo Online multiplayer map named "Hangar", see The Pit.
A closeup screenshot of Shadow of Intent in the skies of The Covenant.
The enormous hangar bay of the Kerel-pattern assault carrier Shadow of Intent, capable of carrying an entire UNSC frigate.[1]

A hangar bay is a large room built to store strikecraft and transports on board a ship or space station. Almost every Covenant, UNSC, or Banished ship has at least one hangar bay.

A hangar bay used specifically to store shuttles or dropships is sometimes referred to as a shuttle bay or launch bay.[2] Despite this nomenclature, a wide variety of spacecraft can land in these hangar bays when necessary.[3] Some hangar bays are also referred as matérial deployment bays.[4]

UNSC hangars[edit]

Ventral view of the Charon-class light frigate UNSC Forward Unto Dawn, showing the cargo elevators (central rectangles) linked to her hangar bays.

Due to their smaller size, hangar space on most UNSC vessels is limited. A UNSC corvette's hangar can only barely store a small ship such as a SKT-13 shuttlecraft;[5] larger vessels like the Stalwart-class light frigate and Charon-class light frigate can carry multiple D77 Pelicans,[6][1] but only capital ships such as the Halcyon-class light cruiser have enough capacity to transport the massive C709 Longsword.[7] However, many UNSC ships possess the capability to carry Longswords or other vessels on their exterior via clamps and docking umbilicals[8] – the UNSC Spirit of Fire, a refitted Phoenix-class colonial support vessel, notably uses this method to transport its complement of 10 D20 Herons.[9] The Marathon-class heavy cruiser can reconfigure its hangar bays to sacrifice armament-carrying capacity and instead serve as a light carrier when needed.[10]

On larger UNSC warships such as the Valiant-class super-heavy cruiser, the hangar bay serves as "Zero Deck", by which all other decks are measured. All decks above the hangar are named as a "level" starting at Level One and going as high as needed, while all decks below the hangar are considered "belowdecks" and labelled First Deck, Second Deck, Third Deck and so on.[11]

Hangars on some lighter UNSC warships such as the Charon-class double as cargo bays, being able to lower ground vehicles or cargo directly to the ground through elevators in the hangar floor.[1] By 2557, even larger ships such as the UNSC Infinity had external cargo elevators connected to their hangar bays to allow for easy lifting of supplies and armaments onto a planetary surface.[12]

Many UNSC vessels also possess drop pods. These are carried in drop bays, which are specialized small hangars which open on their underside to launch the drop pods.[13][14]

Sometimes, instead of taking flight from a hangar itself, UNSC strikecraft and transports deploy or land via a tunnel that connects to the ship's exterior.[15][4][16] In the case of the Halberd-class light destroyer, its hangar tunnel is equipped with gravitic technology to accelerate or decelerate spacecraft.[17] By 2552, some UNSC ships and stations had began to use vacuum-sealing energy barriers in their hangar bays to allow the takeoff or landing of spacecraft without depressurizing the hangar bay;[18] this would become a common feature in the post-war era.[19][20]

Covenant hangars[edit]

Hangars on many Covenant warships are expansive; a wide variety of arrangements have been observed. The Ceudar-pattern heavy corvette possesses a central hangar bay, which is circular in shape with an entrance leading towards each side of the ship.[21] The Ket-pattern battlecruiser, on the other hand, has two-tiered hangar bays on both its port and starboard; this arrangement presumably allows its complement to board dropships with much greater efficiency.[2] Nevertheless, at least some Ket-pattern vessels such as the Sanctity of Purification also had large circular deployment bays.[22] The A'uzr-pattern sword frigate has two small hangar bays on each side.[23] As befits its function as a carrier, the Kerel-pattern assault carrier has eight massive hangar bays located on its underside that can accomodate an entire UNSC frigate,[1] or hundreds of Banshee attack flyers.[24]

A hangar on board the Triumph of Tolerance, with Seraphs docked via gravitic technology, in Halo: Campaign Evolved.
Seraphs hanging in the Triumph of Tolerance's hangar.

In 2551, Libra Team infiltrated the Covenant agricultural vessel Triumph of Tolerance via a captured Spirit, landing in one of its hangar bays, and later departed from another hangar in stolen Seraphs.[25][15] The hangars of this ship were cavernous and had a highly complex layout, with many different sections separated by low walls and joined by elevated walkways. Spirits landed either at the floor of the hangar, or on raised platforms; Banshees were docked around a circular exit which led out of the ship's underside; and Seraphs were suspended from the ceiling.[25]

Covenant hangar bays universally use energy barriers that serve the purpose of separating the pressurized interior of the ship from the vacuum of space, and can also be configured to function as energy shields that can prevent ships from entering.[21] Some ships such as the Ceudar-pattern also possess physical hangar doors in addition to the energy field.[21]

A feature of at least some Covenant hangars is the presence of docking points that utilize gravitic technology to keep fighters and dropships fixed in place during transport. These can attach spacecraft from either their dorsal or ventral surfaces;[26][25][15] Banshees and Seraphs in particular can also be suspended vertically from the ceilings of hangars using these docks, or even on the exterior of a ship for rapid deployment.[21][25]

Banished hangars[edit]

Banished dreadnoughts make use of vast deployment bays in which drop bases are stacked together, ready to be deployed as needed.[20] These are separate from the hangars used for strikecraft and transports. Furthermore, at least some dreadnoughts – such as the Ghost of Gbraakon – possess hangar bays that, instead of being used to deploy spacecraft, are used for salvage operations in combination with a stasis cannon.[20]

Gallery[edit]

UNSC[edit]

Covenant[edit]

Banished[edit]

  • Concept art of a Banished drop base deployment bay.
    Concept art of a Banished drop base deployment bay.
  • A hologram of the Ghost of Gbraakon's drop bay.
    A hologram of the Ghost of Gbraakon's drop bay.
  • An energy barrier at the entrance to a hangar on the Ghost of Gbraakon.
    An energy barrier at the entrance to a hangar on the Ghost of Gbraakon.

List of appearances[edit]

Sources[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Halo 3, campaign level The Ark
  2. ^ a b Halo: Combat Evolved, campaign level The Truth and Reconciliation
  3. ^ Halo: Campaign Evolved, campaign level Keyes
  4. ^ a b Halo 4, campaign level Shutdown
  5. ^ Halo: Contact Harvest, chapter 4
  6. ^ Halo 2, campaign level Metropolis
  7. ^ Halo: Combat Evolved, campaign level The Maw
  8. ^ Halo: Warfleet, page 40
  9. ^ Halo Wars, campaign level Alpha Base
  10. ^ Halo: Fleet Battles core rulebook, page 125
  11. ^ Halo: Silent Storm, chapter 4
  12. ^ Halo 4, campaign level Infinity
  13. ^ Halo 2, campaign level Delta Halo
  14. ^ Halo 3: ODST, campaign level Prepare to Drop
  15. ^ a b c Halo: Campaign Evolved, campaign level Heavy Burden
  16. ^ Halo Wars 2, campaign level A New Enemy
  17. ^ Halo: Warfleet, page 66
  18. ^ Halo: Reach, multiplayer map Anchor 9
  19. ^ Halo 4, campaign level Composer
  20. ^ a b c Halo Infinite, campaign level Warship Gbraakon
  21. ^ a b c d Halo: Reach, campaign level Long Night of Solace
  22. ^ Halo: Reach marketing, Remember Reach campaign, Deliver Hope
  23. ^ Halo Waypoint, Canon Fodder - Concert of Worlds (Retrieved on Sep 25, 2023) [archive]
  24. ^ Halo 4, campaign level Prologue
  25. ^ a b c d Halo: Campaign Evolved, campaign level Boarding Action
  26. ^ Halo: Campaign Evolved, campaign level The Truth and Reconciliation
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