Marathon-class heavy cruiser

The Marathon-class heavy cruiser is a cruiser classification used by the UNSC Navy. Built as a replacement for the aging, the Marathon class is 1192 meters in length, making it one of the largest warships used by the UNSC. Due to their limited numbers, Marathon-class cruisers are typically commanded by officers of the Rear Admiral rate or higher and are commonly used as flagships. The class is named for the historical Battle of Marathon.

Design
At 1192 meters long, Marathon-class heavy cruisers are approximately three times the length of a typical frigate. Marathons have 191cm-thick layers of Titanium-A armor, allowing them to sustain far greater damage than any frigate or destroyer. Marathon-class cruisers sport two Magnetic Accelerator Cannons and an unknown number of point defense guns. In addition to their integrated armament, the cruisers have dozens of oversized M58 Archer missile pods containing dozens of missiles each, as well as five fusion rockets.

Marathon-class vessels have a similar profile to their predecessors, the Halcyons, though their ventral surfaces are concave rather than flat. A large deployment bay containing Single Occupant Exoatmospheric Insertion Vehicles, known by Orbital Drop Shock Troopers as "Hell's waiting room", is located amidships. Marathons can carry two dozen GA-TL1 Longswords in addition to numerous D77-TC Pelicans and other ground and air vehicles. Vessels of the class can also carry large Marine complements, likely of battalion strength.

Service history
The Marathon-class heavy cruiser was in service as early as 2503 during the Insurrection. Several Marathon-class heavy cruisers served in Battle Group X-Ray under Vice Admiral Preston Cole during the Second Battle of Harvest. Throughout the early years of the Human-Covenant War, Cole continued to command Marathons as part of his Third Fleet. Several Marathons from the fleet, including the, participated in the Harvest Campaign.

As their numbers were diminished by the onslaught of the Covenant, many Marathons were reassigned to the defense of the Inner Colonies during the later years of the Human-Covenant War. Marathons were present at the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV in July 2552, including Vice Admiral Hieronymus Michael Stanforth's flagship Leviathan, which was severely damaged during the battle. Numerous Marathon-class cruisers participated in the Fall of Reach.

Eight Marathon-class cruisers assigned to the UNSC Home Fleet were present at the onset of the Battle of Earth. Led by Fleet Admiral Harper and supported by sixty-seven frigates, these ships formed a defensive perimeter around the orbital defense platform cluster over the Mediterranean. Admiral Carl Patterson's battle group, drawn from the Home Fleet, was led by the during the Battle of Onyx. It seems that most or all of the Marathon-class cruisers in the Home Fleet were eventually destroyed.

Ships of the line

 * - Destroyed over Biko in 2525 or 2526. Carried a saddle box drive.
 * - Destroyed during the Harvest Campaign in February 2531.
 * - Vice Admiral H. M. Stanforth's flagship. Severely damaged during the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV in July 2552.
 * - Destroyed during the Fall of Reach on August 30, 2552.
 * - Deployed ODSTs to board Solemn Penance during the Battle of Mombasa on October 20, 2552. Presumably destroyed.

Behind the scenes
Though in-universe the class is named for the Battle of Marathon, in reality its name is a reference to Bungie's Marathon trilogy and its titular ship the UESC Marathon.

List of appearances

 * Halo: The Fall of Reach
 * Halo: First Strike
 * Tug o' War
 * Halo 2
 * Halo Graphic Novel
 * Second Sunrise Over New Mombasa
 * Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
 * Halo Wars: Genesis
 * Halo Wars
 * Halo 3: ODST
 * Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe
 * The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole
 * Halo: Fall of Reach
 * Halo: Fall of Reach - Boot Camp
 * Halo: Fall of Reach - Covenant
 * Halo: Fall of Reach - Invasion