UNSC destroyer

UNSC Destroyer

The UNSC Destroyer is a warship classification in the UNSC Navy. Fast, maneuverable, and designed for long-endurance, Destroyer were intended to escort larger vessels, such as the Marathon- and Halcyon-class Cruisers. A UNSC Destroyer's role is to provide vital cover for its fleet. Destroyers are used to single out smaller classes of ships that may conduct dangerous hit and role tactics with its fleet. In addition, UNSC Destroyers also play as a look out role for its fleet.

Specifications
Although vessels of this classification are only seven meters longer than a UNSC Frigate, they are almost double the mass. Unlike most ships in the fleet, Destroyers carry no single-ship (Longsword or Shortsword) fighters, their large mass comes rather from the one and a half to two meters of Titanium A armor battle plate covering the ship. Dr. Catherine Halsey once stated that Destroyers are essentially the same as Frigates except for this additional armor.

The Destroyer's armament comes in the form of two Magnetic Accelerator Cannons, twenty-six oversized Archer Missile pods, and three Shiva-class Nuclear Missiles. For defence against starfighters, the Destroyer carries eight point-defence autocannons.

Class History
These warships were used to put down the Eridanus Rebels during Operation: TREBUCHET, with the loss of several vessels. The destroyer Heracles was the command ship of Battlegroup D during the disastrous first contact with the Covenant.

During the Human-Covenant War these warships were looked down upon by many in the Navy. The Destroyer class was initially considered too weak against the superior Covenant ships, but in reality, it could receive and dish out a considerable amount of damage for its size, and in groups could prove a match for the larger CCS-class Battlecruisers used by the Covenant. However, their numbers often made it easier to out number the Covenant fleet in earlier and smaller engagements as seen the in graphix novel Halo Wars: Genesis. Senior Naval Commanders estimated that, on average, seven UNSC Destroyers were generally a match for four Covenant Frigates. As a result, many were destroyed in the war.

Jacob Keyes commanded a destroyer, the UNSC Iroquois during a short skirmish over Sigma Octanus IV, where he devised the Keyes Loop as an act of desperation. The Iroquois managed to single-handedly destroy two Covenant Frigates and a Covenant Destroyer.

Trivia

 * In the graphic novel Halo Wars: Genesis on page 2 and 3, a picture of a UNSC Destroyer leaving slipspace is shown, this being the first canon appearance of a UNSC destroyer. It was previously only described in the novels.