UNSC Forward Unto Dawn

The UNSC Forward Unto Dawn (FFG-201) was a United Nations Space Command Frigate.

It was also more commonly known by UNSC personnel as the "Dawn".

First Battle of Earth
While nothing is known about the Dawn's active role in the First Battle of Earth, since she was the flagship of Admiral Hood it can be accurately assumed that she was present to escort him from Orbital Defense Platform Cairo, his previous command. It is also presumed that the ship, along with the few remaining warships of the Home Fleet, hid on the continent of Africa until the Battle of Voi.

Second Battle of Earth
During the Second Battle of Earth, the Forward Unto Dawn was part of a formation of three UNSC frigates over the African Savannah of the Home Fleet. Combined with several squadrons of Longsword Fighters, they assaulted Truth's position.

It fired its Magnetic Accelerator Cannon (MAC for short) at the Forerunner Dreadnought containing the Prophet of Truth in attempts to stop him from activating the Portal to the Ark. This attempt failed, and it appeared the Dreadnought survived unscathed, escaping through the Portal to the Ark. .

Battle of Installation 00
"Is the Dawn rated for atmosphere," Marine on the Ark.

The Forward Unto Dawn went through the slipspace portal along with several Covenant Separatist vessels including the Shadow of Intent of the Sangheilian Fleet.

It dropped five D77H-TCI Pelican Dropships in a zero-G drop for a landing on the Ark. Later, John-117 and a few Marines destroyed a group of Anti-Air Wraiths opening up a landing site for the Dawn. It became the Flagship for the Humans on the Ark, despite the fact that it was a mere Frigate. After Cortana was recovered from the infected remains of High Charity, Johnson took the ship and landed it as close as he could to the Control Room of Replacement Installation 04, leaving it and using a Warthog to traverse the remaining distance and aid the Master Chief and the Arbiter. After the ring's activation, it was used to help John-117 and the Arbiter escape into the Portal. .

After crash-landing in the Hanger Bay of the ship, the Arbiter traveled to the bridge of the ship while the Spartan stayed to implant Cortana into the ship to allow them to escape from the ring's activation. SPARTAN-117 was nearly crushed by a M808 Scorpion MBT that was falling out of the Dawn ' s hangar, but managed to hang on. With Cortana's encouragement, he survived the travel into the portal, but unfortunately the ship was cut in half as the portal collapsed, leaving John stranded in slip-space until the half of the ship could decelerate enough to drop into normal space. After the credits, the hulk is seen drifting towards an uncharted object, possibly Onyx although this is unconfirmed.

Current Status
The forward half of the vessel, including the Arbiter, was able to transition to Earth and land in an unknown ocean (possibly the Indian Ocean given the Portal's location). The Arbiter was rescued successfully from this impact. The latter half of the vessel finally fell out of slipspace, but in a currently unknown location. While jumping through the portal, the stern half of the Dawn was separated from the forward half by the firing of Installation 04 (II). While the front half successfully reached Earth, the stern was lost and winds up at some unknown location in space. Whether the vessel was left relatively close to the Ark, or the back half of the frigate managed to fit into the portal and get thrown out at a random destination is unknown. The latter theory brings to question how Cortana knew that the firing "did a number on the Ark", while the first theory brings with it the question of how the Master Chief survived the Halo's firing sequence.

Cortana dropped a distress beacon while SPARTAN-117 sealed himself in one of the Dawn ' s cryogenic chambers. After an undetermined amount of time, the Dawn ' s aft section was seen drifting towards an unknown planet.

Trivia

 * It was first seen during the Halo 3 Trailer during E3 2007.
 * The second chapter of the level The Ark is called 'Forward Unto Dawn'.
 * On the lower part of the bow there is a black 7 inside a yellow star with a yellow chevron under it, this being one of Bungie's 7 references.
 * If you look at the designations of the UNSC frigates firing on the Forerunner Dreadnought on the level The Storm, they all say Forward Unto Dawn and the ships numbers are the same as well.
 * The Forward Unto Dawn was originally the flagship of Fleet Admiral Hood. However, he left it in the capable hands of Miranda Keyes as she fought her way to the Ark.
 * In the modded Sandtrap level "Boarding Action", two copies of the Dawn are present, facing off on top of, and occasionally in the original structures.
 * It is interesting to note that in the level, The Ark, Marines ask if the Dawn was rated for atmosphere. This is an odd question to ask seeing as it was in Earth's atmosphere when attacking the Dreadnought, and In Amber Clad was in Earth's atmosphere as well during the First Battle of Earth.  This shows that frigates, at the very least, are capable of operating within atmosphere.  But it does lead to the question that asks whether or not The Ark's atmosphere is the same as Earth's.
 * In all 3 Halo games, the main UNSC ship becomes severely damaged (In Amber Clad, Forward unto Dawn) or blown up (Pillar of Autumn).

Related Articles

 * United Nations Space Command
 * UNSC Navy