Editing Colony ship

{{Era|Human|UNSC|HCW|Post}}
[[File:UNSC Spirit of Fire (CFV-88).png|thumb|250px|A {{Class|Phoenix|colony ship}}.]]

A '''colony ship''' is a vessel designed to transport colonists and equipment required for planetary colonization, including [[terraforming]] equipment to alter a planet's original atmosphere and/or biosphere to become compatible with [[human]] habitation. Colony ships also carry prefabricated [[colony starter unit]]s to serve as early settlements until more permanent habitats can be built.<ref>[http://www.halowars.com/GameInfo/firebase.aspx '''Official Halo Wars Community Site''': ''UNSC Firebase'']</ref> After the colonization process is fully underway, the vessel itself may also be dismantled and repurposed to serve as the groundwork for a colony, with the power reactor used to power the settlement, and the ship's [[Artificial intelligence|AI construct]] repurposed to function as the colony's [[Planetary Security Intelligence]], as was the case with the {{UNSCShip|Skidbladnir}} when [[Harvest]] was colonized.<ref>'''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]''', ''page 183''</ref>

Some colony ships, namely the {{UNSCShip|Spirit of Fire}}, have also been converted for military use, with their colony starter units [[Firebase|repurposed]] to serve as [[military base]]s.

==History==
The first human colony ships transported colonists to other worlds in the [[Sol system]], including [[Luna]], [[Mars]] and the [[Jovian Moons]]. The construction of the first line of interstellar colony ships began in [[2310]], soon after the discovery of [[Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine|slipspace travel]]. In [[2362]], the ''[[Odyssey]]'' led the first wave of extrasolar human colonization, to colonize worlds in nearby systems; these would later be known as the [[Inner Colonies]]. A military presence was often attached to colony ships and the worlds they colonized, to serve as security and to complement the UNSC's fleets and other military forces.<ref>''Xbox.com'': The Halo Timeline (defunct, [[Archive:Xbox.com/Halo/Timeline|Archived]])</ref>

The "golden age" of human expansion continued for over a hundred years, with colony ships used to settle hundreds of worlds beyond the Inner Colonies. These worlds would be known as the [[Outer Colonies]].<ref>'''[[Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe]]''', ""[[The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole]]"", ''page 428''</ref>

During the [[Human-Covenant War]], {{Class|Phoenix|colony ship}}s, particularly the {{UNSCShip|Spirit of Fire}}, were refitted to act as support ships for the war effort.<ref>'''[[Halo Wars]]'''</ref>

After the [[Human-Covenant War]], humanity had begun to resettle its former colony worlds [[Glassing|glassed]] by [[Covenant Empire|the Covenant]], including [[Reach]], using terraforming equipment carried by colony ships to return them to a habitable state.<ref>'''[[Halo: Reach]]''', ''[[Lone Wolf|Epilogue]]''</ref>

==Known types==
*{{Class|Phoenix|colony ship}}
*[[Unidentified colony ship]]
*[[Star Charter-class colony support ship]]

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Arcadia Colonized.jpg|Three Phoenix-class colony ships colonizing [[Arcadia]].
File:HR Screenshot ColonyShip1.png|A post-Human-Covenant War colony ship re-colonizing Reach.
File:Shipyard.png|A Phoenix-class colony ship being constructed at an orbital shipyard.
File:Halo Waypoint - Meridian 5-Alpha.jpg|''[[Meridian 5-Alpha]]'', a Star Charter-class colony support ship recolonizing [[Meridian]]. 
</gallery>

==List of appearances== 
*''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Halo Wars: Genesis]]''
*''[[Halo Wars]]''
*''[[Halo Legends]]''
**''[[Origins]]''
*''[[Halo: Reach]]''
*''[[Halo: Fall of Reach]]''
**''[[Halo: Fall of Reach - Boot Camp|Boot Camp]]''
*''[[Halo: Escalation]]''
*''[[Halo: Fleet Battles]]''
*''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]''
*''[[Halo: Ground Command]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo Mythos: A Guide to the Story of Halo|Halo Mythos]]
*''[[Halo Wars 2]]''
*''[[Halo: Renegades]]''

==Sources==
{{Ref/Sources}}
{{Ship types}}
[[Category:Ship classifications]]