Era-human.png
HaloArray.png

User:CMDR RileySV/Sandbox

From Halopedia, the Halo wiki

< User:CMDR RileySV
Revision as of 20:36, September 18, 2019 by CMDR RileySV (talk | contribs) (Added in more information and did some changes to the list of starships.)

UNSC starships were Human starships operated by the United Nations Space Command. The UNSC operated these starships through several different branches.

History

Insurrection

Main article: Insurrection

The time of the Insurrection saw a number of class additions and developments to the UNSC's fleet. In 2493, the Valiant-class super-heavy cruiser entered service. Though serious cost problems over five years cast doubt in the class' future.[1] At some point in the Insurrection, a new carrier, the Orion-class assault carrier, was built to help with ground operations.[2] One of the last known class additions during the Insurrection was the Halcyon-class light cruiser. In 2510, the class first entered service.[3]

Human-Covenant war

A few UNSC starship classes during the Human-Covenant war.
Main article: Human-Covenant war

CAA and CMA Absorption

In 2525, the UNSC would strip away the CMA's naval resources and give them to NAVCOM.[4] As well, the UNSC would begin to take over the Colonial Administration Authority in the midst of the Human-Covenant war. With these additions, the UNSC received several different types of ships. This included the CAA's Springhill-class mining ship[5][6] and the Diligence-class from the CMA.[7] Both of which would be brought back to service or continued service such as with the UNSC Kronstadt and the CAA Heavy Burden.

Final year of the war

Main articles: Fall of Reach, Battle of Earth

With 152 ships present at the of Battle of Reach,[8] a large number of these ships were destroyed. This included many capital ships such as the UNSC Trafalgar, the flagship of the Epsilon Eridani Fleet and pride of the Navy.[9]

Starting September 5, 2552 all remaining UNSC starships and their fleets were consolidated under a single command grouping under the UNSC Home Fleet.[10] By the end of the war, the plethora of UNSC starships had been reduced to only a few hundred.[11]

Post-war

The UNSC Infinity-class supercarrier, the largest UNSC vessel, and the Autumn-class heavy cruiser.

Following the Human-Covenant war, the surviving UNSC starships were brought back to Sol to be repaired, refitted and counted.[11]

A variety of starship classes and several ship improvements that were created during the war finally became commonplace. The Autumn-class heavy cruiser, the Strident-class heavy frigate and the Infinity-class supercarrier were all added to the fleet. All three have shielding,[12][13] an unprecedented addition to UNSC ships.

As part of ongoing offenses, UNSC Strident-class frigates and Anlace-class frigates were being deployed to the Outer Colonies to route out Covenant remnant occupiers.[14]

Conflict with the Created

Main article: Created conflict

During Cortana's Reclamation, many UNSC starships were disabled by Guardian Custodes under the control of the Created.[15] Some ships, were ripped out of Slipstream Space with the activation of the Guardians, like the UNSC Nereid.[16] Shipboard AIs from numerous starships also defected to the Created.[15]

Organization

Management

In the UNSC, ships can also be operated by different departments and branches. Warships like the UNSC In Amber Clad were often operated by the UNSC Navy.[17] In the case of the UNSC Swift Justice, it was operated by the Incident Response and Investigation division of the UNSC.[18]

Smaller craft were often operated by other branches or were overlapped with another branch. The F-41 Exoatmospheric Multirole Strike Fighter, for example, was most often operated by the UNSC Air Force.[19] The UNSC Department of Commercial Shipping also operated a number of Freighters.

Tactical Groupings

UNSC ships were organized into fleets and further down into Battlegroups. Often, naval groupings had a flagship

Identification

There were a few known ways of identifying UNSC ships. There was the Hull classification symbol, which gives each ship a letter classification and a number. There was the ship emblem, which was a unique image that was special to each ship.

Some warships also used the UNSC REG system, which was also a special serial number.[20] There was also the UNc system, which had an unknown meaning.[21]

The UNSC Department of Commercial Shipping operated its own identification codes for freighters that were primarily used in COM transmissions.[22]

Personnel

It is expected of all navy ship personnel to participate in working parties. The working parties help with routine maintenance and replenishment.[23]

Leadership

The leader of a UNSC starship, like other human starships, is referred to as a Captain regardless of actual rank.[24] The actual military rank of the leader is dependent on the size of the ship. Those of the rank Lieutenant often are in charge of small support vessels, Commanders are in charge of small warships, and Captains are in charge of line warships.[25]

UNSC Starships were often given a Ship Director, an AI who could manage much of the ship's tasks with the Captain's authority. Generally, these AI were "Smart".[26]

Traditions

Navy personnel UNSC ships often follow old naval tradition. Boarding a UNSC warship is considered a ceremony, not a formality. When boarding a ship, the boarder requests permission from the officer on deck. The officer on deck will reply with a curt "Very well".[23]

Design

An Autumn-class heavy cruiser and UNSC Infinity above Earth being tended to by several Bustler-class freighters.
The Infinity being repaired over Earth while an Autumn-class is completing a float out.

A number of corporations helped construct UNSC ships including Sinoviet Heavy Machinery, Aerofabrique SA, TanSec AB, and Reyes-McLees Shipyards. Reach, Tribute, and Mars had ship building yards.

Facilities

Design guidelines for ships emphasize that the command crew should have visibility of the surrounding exterior area of the ship. This is usually achieved through windows on the bridge.[27]

UNSC ships have an internal deck naming structure. On most ships, the Hangar deck is considered Zero Deck. Decks below that are "belowdeck" and are numbered in descending order starting at First Deck. Everything above the hangar deck is a "level", starting at Level One and going in an ascending order.[28]

War Games simulated training facilities could be found on several ships. Though they were mostly on post-war vessels and most prominently on the UNSC Infinity.[29]

From the Phoenix-class carrier UNSC Spirit of Fire[30][31] to the Marathon-class heavy cruiser UNSC Say My Name,[32] numerous ships featured holotables for battlefield situational displays.

Cryo chambers were an important feature that allowed the crews to travel large distances without aging as much. Cryo facilities were often large and individual chambers displayed crew member names.[33]

UNSC starships also featured mess halls,[34][35] hangar bays,[34][36] and armories.[37][38]

Crew quarters on UNSC navy ships vary by ship type. Halberd-class destroyers crew quarters were cramped[39] with members being allocated a single sleeping pod that would sometimes need to be shared when the ship has additional crew.[27]

Engines

Main articles: Fusion drive, Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine

UNSC ships were equipped with fusion drive engines to help them move and maneuver in real-space while Shaw-Fujikawa drives help ships reach supraluminal speeds.

Armament

A number of UNSC vessels, particularly those under the control UNSC Navy are equipped with weaponry.

MACs

Main article: Magnetic Accelerator Cannon
The MAC of a Stalwart-class frigate.

MACs are massive coil guns that are used to accelerate multi-ton projectiles at extremely high velocities. These projectiles are composed of Titanium-A, depleted Uranium, and/or Tungsten with a ferrous (iron) core.

As an example, frigate based MACs are capable of firing 600-ton slugs at roughly 30/kms.[40] UNSC Infinity has miniature MAC guns along its hull, to compliment its built in, larger MAC guns.

Missile batteries

UNSC ships generally carry an array of missile batteries. Most UNSC ships carry Archer Missiles in one of many pods. These include the M58 Archer Missile Delivery System and the M42 Archer Missile Delivery System. These were complemented with Fusion rockets.

A common tactic among UNSC ships was to disable the target's shields with MAC rounds and then pummel it with Archer missiles.

Point defense batteries

Main article: Point-defense gun
The UNSC Savannah firing its M910 Rampart guns.

Point defense batteries were common on UNSC warships. Some of these batteries include the M910 Rampart, the M870 Rampart, the M710 Bulwark, and the Mark 57 Arena.

Nuclear weapons

Main article: Nuclear weapon

UNSC warships usually contain nuclear weapons of some sort. Generally they were the Shiva-class nuclear missile.[41] Though, in the post-war era, UNSC ships generally use the M4093 Hyperion nuclear delivery system.


Types

Starfighter

The UNSC operates several types of starfighters. The most common being the GA-TL1 Longsword-class Interceptor. The YSS-1000 Sabre was a secretive starfighter that was mostly used in the Inner colonies. The F-41 Broadsword XMSF was a mainline starfighter that lacked the technology of the Sabre. The S-14 Baselard was also another type of starfighter used by the UNSC.

Dropship

Main article: Dropship
D77H-TCI, a model of the ever present Pelican Dropship.

The most common dropships in the UNSC were the Pelicans. This included the D77-TC Pelican, D78-TC Pelican and the D79H-TC Pelican. Heavier dropships were also used such as the D81-LRT Condor, the D82-EST Darter, and the D96-TCE Albatross. The largest of which was the D20 Heron. The UNSC also had dropship escape pods, the Class-3 Bumblebee.

Colony ship

Main article: Colony ship

The UNSC also operated a colony ship class, the Phoenix-class colony ship.

Support starships

Main article: Support starship

Several types of support ships that were used include the stealthy Prowler and its subtypes. Other stealth ship classes existed including the Chiroptera-class stealth vessel. There was also the incredibly small sloop. Another type of ship that was used by the UNSC was the Calypso-class exfiltration craft. Following the UNSC's take over of the CAA, the Springhill-class mining ship helped build materiel for UNSC forces.

Warships

Main article: Warship
A scale comparison of multiple UNSC warship classes.
A few UNSC warships and their sizes compared to one another.

The UNSC employs a number of warships including frigates, destroyers and cruisers. The Vindication-class was unique as it was a Battleship, an uncommon warship in UNSC ship design and classification. UNSC carriers were among the largest, most heavily armed ships the UNSC possesed. Two carrier classes were so large that frigates could dock with them; the Punic-class supercarrier and the Infinity-class supercarrier.[42]

Other

ONI's Reverse Engineering and Prototyping–Xenotechnology department have recovered, refit and begun testing on multiple Covenant starships.[43]

List of UNSC starships

The following is a list of the starships that belong to and are used by the United Nations Space Command.

Colony ships

Colony Ships

Class Ship Name Notes
Phoenix-class colony ship UNSC Phoenix
UNSC Skidbladnir Scrapped in colonization of Harvest
Cargo/Transportation

Cargo and Transportation Ships

Class Ship Name Notes
Ammunition Ship UNSC Diadochi Crashed on what became Partition
UNSC Taulanti
Cargo ship UNSC Dartmouth
Cargo Freighter UNSC Onan
Mona Lisa Converted to a prison transport, Destroyed
Diplomatic Shuttle Han
UNSC passenger schooner UNSC Donoma
UNSC Santori
Unknown UNSC Jamaica
UNSC Nereid

Apocrypha

A few UNSC craft have appeared in officially created, but non-canon materials. The UNSC Andraste was a ship that appeared in a piece of concept art for Halo 3.[44] The UNSC Frontend, an M-class carrier was the center piece of a cancelled idea for Halo Wars 3.

In Halo 4, the Charon-class UNSC Forward Unto Dawn is depicted as a modified Strident-class. This depiction is non-canon.[45] The Strident-class itself is also depicted differently between the campaign mission Midnight and Spartan Ops/Daybreak.

Gallery

Concept art

Overview

Sources

  1. ^ Halo Waypoint: Canon Fodder - Bulkhead Banter
  2. ^ Halo Waypoint: Canon Fodder - Armory Amore
  3. ^ Halo: Combat Evolved: Sybex Official Strategies & Secrets, p. 60
  4. ^ Halo Wars, collectible, Halo Wars Timeline Events
  5. ^ Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide, Locations, p. 208
  6. ^ Halo 4, multiplayer map, Adrift
  7. ^ Halo Waypoint: Canon Fodder - Clarity & Grace
  8. ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach, p. 295-297
  9. ^ Halo: First Strike, p. 168
  10. ^ Halo Legendary Crate, Naval Records Archives
  11. ^ a b Halo Mythos: A Guide to the Story of Halo, p. 132
  12. ^ Spartan Ops, Episode 1: Departure
  13. ^ Halo Waypoint: Canon Fodder - En Voyage
  14. ^ Halo: Warfleet – An Illustrated Guide to the Spacecraft of Halo, p. 38 & 39
  15. ^ a b Halo 5: Guardians, campaign level, Guardians
  16. ^ Halo: Tales from Slipspace, Undefeated
  17. ^ Halo: Warfleet – An Illustrated Guide to the Spacecraft of Halo, p. 36 & 37
  18. ^ Halo: Retribution, Chapter 2
  19. ^ Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide, Vehicles, p. 114
  20. ^ Halo 4, campaign level, Dawn
  21. ^ Halo 2: Anniversary, campaign level Cairo Station
  22. ^ Halo: Contact Harvest, p. 34
  23. ^ a b Halo: Official Spartan Field Manual, PART 1: INTRODUCTIONS, Welcome Aboard the UNSC Infinity! (p. 10)
  24. ^ Halo: Warfleet – An Illustrated Guide to the Spacecraft of Halo, p. 90-92
  25. ^ Halo: Official Spartan Field Manual, PART 8: UNSC ORGANISATION, NAVCOM Ranks (p. 140-141)
  26. ^ Halo: Warfleet – An Illustrated Guide to the Spacecraft of Halo, p. 90-92
  27. ^ a b Halo: Warfleet – An Illustrated Guide to the Spacecraft of Halo, p. 32-33
  28. ^ Halo: Silent Storm, Chapter 4
  29. ^ Halo Waypoint: Canon Fodder - Needle Me This
  30. ^ Halo Wars, campaign level, Dome of Light
  31. ^ Halo Wars 2, campaign level A New Enemy
  32. ^ Halo 3: ODST, campaign level, Prepare To Drop
  33. ^ Halo Wars, campaign level, Escape
  34. ^ a b Halo: Combat Evolved, campaign level, The Pillar of Autumn
  35. ^ Halo Legends, Babysitter
  36. ^ Halo 5: Guardians, campaign level, Blue Team
  37. ^ Halo: Combat Evolved, campaign level, The Maw
  38. ^ Halo: Evolutions, "Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian", p. 86
  39. ^ Halo Mythos, p. 82-83
  40. ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach, p. 108 (2001 edition); p. 130 (2010 edition)
  41. ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach, p. 147
  42. ^ Halo Waypoint: Canon Fodder - Infinity & Beyond
  43. ^ Halo Waypoint: Catalog Interaction - Page 23
  44. ^ The Art of Halo 3
  45. ^ Halo Waypoint: Canon Fodder - Have S'moa