Template:Ship Class Infobox The Charon-class light frigate is a type of escort ship in service with the UNSC Navy.[1] Ships of this class are used primarily in fleet escort duties and planetary defense.[1] The class is named after either Charon, a minor god who ferried the souls of the dead to the underworld in Greek mythology, or after a natural satellite of Pluto.
Design details
Hull and complement
At 490 meters in length, the Charon is a rather small vessel. Owing to its enlarged hangar bay, the Charon-class frigate is better suited to landing forces groundside than other frigate classes.[1] The ship's sublight power plant is a Naoto Technologies: V4/L deuterium fusion reactor. Translight power is provided by a Series IV CODEN Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine.[2] The Charon has a maximum crew and complement of 782.[3] It can carry several Pelican dropships as well as around two dozen ground and air vehicles.
Armament
The Charon-class frigate's primary armament is a Mark II, Light Coil – 83B6R3 Magnetic Accelerator Cannon.[2] It also boasts fifty M58 Archer missile pods,[2][note 1], and four dual-mount M870 Rampart point defense guns are mounted on the port and starboard hangar bays, one on the dorsal surface and one below.[4][2] Additionally, the Charon sports three M4093 Hyperion nuclear delivery system silos.[2]
Ships of the line
- UNSC Aegis Fate (FFG-307)
- CMA Arabia
- Bellicose
- UNSC Charon
- UNSC Chioglossa (FFG-127)
- UNSC Forward Unto Dawn (FFG-201)
- Iliad
- CMA Vostok
- Algolis-based frigate
Trivia
- The Charon class' distinctive, oversized cargo bay resembles that of the eponymous Firefly class from the television series Firefly.
- The Forward Unto Dawn was drastically redesigned in Halo 4, including a restructured hull and the addition of several point defense guns. Though 343 Industries writer Jeff Easterling has clarified that the Charon's original design is canon,[5] the redesign served as the basis of the Strident-class heavy frigate.[6]
Gallery
A trio of Charons assaults the Forerunner Dreadnought near Voi.
Concept art of the redesigned Forward Unto Dawn in Halo 4.
Size comparison of the UNSC Infinity against a Charon-class light frigate.
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List of appearances
- Halo: First Strike (2010) (Mentioned only)
- Halo 3 (First appearance)
- Halo Wars: Genesis
- Halo: Helljumper
- Halo 3: ODST
- Halo Legends
- Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn
- Halo 4
- Halo: Escalation
- Halo: Hunters in the Dark (Mentioned only)
- Halo: The Fall of Reach - The Animated Series
- Halo Mythos
- Halo: Silent Storm
Notes
- ^ By the standards of UNSC frigates, this number (given in reference to the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn by Halo Bulletin 10.10.12) is unusually high. For comparison, the UNSC In Amber Clad, a Stalwart-class light frigate, is stated to have possessed 16 M58 Archer pods, and the UNSC Commonwealth, a Paris-class heavy frigate, is stated to have possessed 26. It is possible that the 50 pods figure for the Charon-class is an error, or that the individual pods are much smaller than those of other UNSC ships for an unknown reason.
Sources
- ^ a b c Halo: The Essential Visual Guide, page 76
- ^ a b c d e Cite error: Invalid
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- ^ Cite error: Invalid
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- ^ Halo 3, campaign level The Storm, closing cutscene
- ^ Halo Waypoint: Canon Fodder - Have S'moa
- ^ Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide, page 192
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