UNSC Navy

Template:Ratings Template:Infobox Military Unit The UNSC Navy is the branch of the United Nations Space Command Defense Force responsible for naval operations. Its roles include ship-to-ship combat, orbital bombardment, the deployment of Longsword atmospheric and space fighters, and the delivery of UNSC Marines,or other military force, which are part of the Navy. ODST troops are a vital asset to the Navy also, as they are versatile and can be deployed from orbit and from any UNSC Navy vessel.

Background

The UNSC Navy was created in the wake of the Interplanetary War of the 2160's - precisely during the Argyre Planitia Campaign of 2163 - as a result of the UN's need to oversee and monitor Marine deployments from space, thus forming the United Nations Space Command. The UNSC Navy is a direct descendant of the UN Navy.

The UNSC has a great fleet force, along with many Longsword fighters, though many valuable assets of the UNSC Navy were destroyed during the Battle of Reach and a good majority of ships were lost when Truth occupied Earth; the only combat capable warships seen were the three UNSC Frigates. UNSC ship production is handled by the Reyes-McLees Martian Shipyards (but that might not be true because of the Covenant presence in the Sol System), and numerous other shipyards.

Technology

File:Frigate.jpg

The UNSC Frigate, the most common of UNSC Navy ships.

The primary offensive armament of UNSC spacecraft are Magnetic Accelerator Cannons (MACs). These are high velocity coilguns that are used to accelerate projectiles ranging in mass from 600 metric tons in the case of smaller warships, and 3,000 tons in the case of Super MAC platforms. These projectiles are composed of Titanium-A, depleted Uranium, and/or Tungsten with a ferrous (iron) core. In Super MAC platforms, they are accelerated to over 40% of the speed of light by twenty-three linear accelerator coils. Ship-based MACs have a lower velocity.

The UNSC Frigate Gettysburg is quoted as firing a 600 ton shell at 30 kilometers per second. Before Reach fell, the Pillar of Autumn was equipped with a modified MAC that could fire three lighter projectiles instead of just one heavier projectile. It was originally intended to allow the Pillar of Autumn a better chance of disabling a Covenant ship, which was a feature required for a mission that was later scrubbed in Halo: The Fall of Reach.

UNSC warships are equipped Archer missile pods for ship-to-ship engagements, which prove themselves most effective against unshielded targets. A common tactic among groups of UNSC ships is to hammer the target's shields with MAC weapons and then pummel it with Archer missiles. UNSC ships also carry "Shiva" nuclear warheads. In addition, the UNSC mounts 50mm MLA CIWS for defense against enemy fighters and boarding craft, controlled by shipboard AIs.

UNSC warships are also equipped with significant Marine detachments for security, boarding actions, and planetary assault, and carry all the armor and firearms that could be needed by ground forces. It is implied that a significant portion of the interior of UNSC warships are devoted to this purpose, as there are barracks that hold these supplies.

Ships of the UNSC navy also carry a number of C-709 Longsword Interceptors. These are armed with 110mm Gatling Cannons and ASGM-10 Missiles, and heavy payload bombs and even a single Shiva. Alternatively they can be radio controlled and used to carry a Shiva nuclear warhead that will be detonated by the starship, effectively destroying both the Longsword and its selected target.

Despite all of this firepower, however, UNSC warships can seldom defeat Covenant ships even with a numerical advantage. It typically takes multiple hits from a ship-based MAC weapon to disable a Covenant ship's shields, although it was quoted in Halo 2 that an orbital MAC weapon from Cairo Station can "put a round clean through a Covenant capital ship". In Halo: The Fall of Reach, Super MAC rounds literally shattered Covenant capital ships , and Archer missiles must be used in tremendous amounts to breach Covenant shield systems. Even with their shields down, Covenant ships have been noted to withstand direct hits from normal MAC rounds. This advantage in firepower and shielding gives the Covenant an effective 1:3 ratio and better against UNSC ships.

Identified UNSC Vessels and Stations

Vessels

Carriers UNSC All Under Heaven UNSC Atlas UNSC Magellan UNSC Musashi - Destroyed UNSC Stalingrad - Destroyed UNSC Trafalgar - Supercarrier, Destroyed

Cruisers UNSC Basra - Destroyed UNSC Dawn Under Heaven - Halcyon-class, Unknown UNSC Hannibal - Destroyed UNSC Leviathan - Marathon-class- unknown, presumably in active service UNSC Pillar of Autumn - Halcyon-class, Destroyed

Destroyers UNSC Brasidas - Destroyed UNSC Iroquois -Unknown, probably destroyed UNSC Glasgow Kiss - Destroyed UNSC Heracles - Destroyed UNSC Herodotus - Destroyed UNSC Iwo Jima - Destroyed UNSC Lancelot - Unknown UNSC Minotaur - Destroyed UNSC Pioneer UNSC Resolute UNSC Tharsis - Destroyed

Frigates UNSC Adriatic - in active service UNSC Aegis Fate - in active service UNSC Alliance - Destroyed UNSC Allegiance - Destroyed UNSC Arabia - Destroyed UNSC Commonwealth - Unknown UNSC Euphrates - Unknown, possibly destroyed UNSC Fair Weather - Destroyed UNSC Forward Unto Dawn - Destroyed, rear section lost in space UNSC Gettysburg - Unknown, possibly undergoing repairs or decommissioned UNSC Gorgon UNSC In Amber Clad - Destroyed, or at least consumed by the Flood when they overtook High Charity. UNSC Meriwether Lewis - Destroyed UNSC Midsummer Night UNSC Paris- Unknown, probably Destroyed UNSC Redoubtable- Unknown, probably Destroyed UNSC Tannenberg UNSC Vostok - Destroyed

Prowlers UNSC Apocalypso - Destroyed UNSC Applebee UNSC Athens UNSC Circumference - Destroyed UNSC Dusk UNSC Lark UNSC Point of No Return UNSC Razor's Edge

Corvettes UNSC Chalons UNSC Coral Sea- Unknown UNSC Pony Express UNSC Two for Flinching UNSC Bunker Hill UNSC Bum Rush

Colony Ships

• UNSC Spirit of Fire - Modified Phoenix-class Colony Ship

• UNSC Skidbladnir - Phoenix-class Colony Ship, scrapped

• Odyssey - Colony Ship

Other Ships

• UNSC Agincourt - Supply ship, Destroyed

• UNSC Argo - Scout Ship, Destroyed

• UNSC Walk of Shame - ONI sloop

• Beatrice - Chiroptera-class, Destroyed

• Coda - Shuttle Pod, Destroyed

• Han - Diplomatic Shuttle

• Hermes II

• UNSC Laden - Parabola-class

• UNSC Onan - Cargo Freighter

• UNSC Point of No Return - Stealth Destroyer, UNSC wartime command center

• UNSC Witch Bucket

UNSC Magnallon.

Stations

Orbital Defense Platforms Cairo Station Athens Station - Destroyed Malta Station - Destroyed Nassau Station (Fell through temporal anomaly, orbiting Earth in 2004)

Mobile Stations UNSC Cradle - Refit/Repair Facility, Destroyed Station Delphi - Shipyard, Decommissioned UNSC Hopeful - Hospital Ship

Remote Scanning Outposts Fermion - Destroyed Democritus Archimedes Tripoli

Medical Stations ONI Medical Facility M25L Recovery Station

UNSC Navy Personnel

See Characters for a list of UNSC naval personnel.

Trivia

• Many UNSC Navy traditions currently in use were also UN Navy traditions. Preceding the UN Navy, they were various Earth navy traditions.

• This seems to have been a palpable reference to the United States Navy, save that the ships were used in sea-only combat whilst the UNSC Navy serves in space-only combat.