Hangar bay: Difference between revisions

A '''hangar bay''' is a large room built to store fighters, troop transports, and other equipment that are on board a ship or space station. A hangar bay used to store shuttles or [[dropship]]s is sometimes referred to as a '''shuttle bay''' or '''launch bay'''.<ref>'''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]''', campaign level, ''[[The Truth and Reconciliation]]''</ref> Almost every [[Covenant Empire|Covenant]] or [[United Nations Space Command|UNSC]] ship has a hangar bay. Ships that have the largest hangar bays are usually identified as [[carrier]]s; such as the [[Covenant assault carrier]],  ''[[Shadow of Intent]]''. Usually, the hangar bay of a ship is located in the middle or the back of a ship.<ref>''[[Halo 3]]'', campaign level[[Floodgate]]</ref><ref name="ark">''Halo 3'', campaign level[[The Ark (level)|The Ark]]</ref><ref>''[[Halo 3: ODST]]'', campaign level [[Prepare To Drop]]'</ref>

How many fighters and troop transports that fit in the hangar bay depends on the size of the bay and the size of the ship or station; for example, a Covenant assault carrier's hangar bay is large enough to fit an entire [[UNSC frigate]],<ref name="ark"/> while a [[UNSC corvette]]'s hangar can only store a small ship such as a [[SKT-13 Shuttlecraft]].<ref>''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]'', p. 64</ref> The shuttle bays on Covenant {{Class|CCS|battlecruiser}}s are large, with multiple levels and enough space to park two [[Type-28 Troop Carrier]]s, two [[Type-31 Seraph|Type-31 "Seraph" fighters]], or eight [[Type-26 Ground Support Aircraft|Type-26 "Banshee" Ground Support Aircraft]].

On larger UNSC warships such as the {{Class|Valiant|super-heavy cruiser}}, the hangar bay serves as "Zero Deck", by which all other decks are measured. All decks above the hangar are named as a "level" starting at Level One and going as high as needed, while all decks below the hangar are considered "belowdecks" and labelled First Deck, Second Deck, Third Deck etc.<ref>''[[Halo: Silent Storm]]'', Chapter 4</ref> The {{Class|Marathon|heavy cruiser}} can reconfigure its hangar bays to sacrifice armament-carrying capacity and instead serve as a light [[UNSC carrier|carrier]] when needed.<ref name="fb125">''[[Halo: Fleet Battles]]'', Core Rulebook - p. 125</ref> Hangars on some lighter UNSC warships such as {{Class|Charon|light frigate}} double as cargo bays, being able to lower vehicles or cargo directly to the ground through [[elevator]]s in the hangar floor.<ref name="ark"/> By [[2557]], even larger ships such as the {{UNSCShip|Infinity}} had external cargo elevators connected to their hangar bays to allow for lifting of supplies and armaments onto a planetary surface.<ref>''[[Halo 4]]'', campaign level [[Infinity (Halo 4 level)|Infinity]]</ref> By [[2552]], some UNSC ships and stations also use vacuum-sealing energy fields in their hangar bays.<ref>''Halo: Reach'', multiplayer map [[Anchor 9 (level)|Anchor 9]]</ref>  

 

Covenant hangar bays use [[energy barrier]]s that serve the purpose of separating the pressurized interior of the ship from the vacuum of space, also doubling as [[energy shielding|energy shields]] that can prevent ships from entering. Some ships such as [[Covenant corvette]]s also possess physical hangar doors in addition to the energy field.<ref>'''[Halo: Reach]]'', campaign level [[Long Night of Solace (level)|Long Night of Solace]]</ref>