Springhill-class mining ship

Springhill-class
	CAA Heavy Burden, as depicted in a War Games simulation.
Class attributes
Identification:	Hull classification symbol: CFM
Operators:	Colonial Administration Authority
In service:	Human-Covenant War
General characteristics
Type:	Mining ship
Maneuver drive:	Fusion drives (2 primary, 2 secondary)

The Springhill-class mining ship (hull classification symbol: CFM)^[1] is a type of human civilian starship, predominantly used for mining and transporting resources between worlds.^[2]^[3] Select vessels of the class are utilised by military forces like the United Nations Space Command and refit as wartime ordnance transports; these ships may be referred to instead as Springhill-class transports, ^[4] though it is unclear whether this is simply an alternate nomenclature or a deliberate subclassification of ship.

Overview

Design details

The Springhill-class of vessel has an overall broadly flat structure, with two rows of seven cylindrical pods lining the central axis of the ship. The aft has a large bridge tower which rises up and over the vessel, with a domineering view of the dorsal surface. The vessel has four fusion drives mounted on the aft of the vessel; two primary and two secondary.^[1]

On select vessels of the class chosen by the UNSC for refit as ordnance transport ships, two towering docking rigs are installed with one on both the port and starboard sides.^[2] The docking rigs are large enough to house a HRUNTING/YGGDRASIL Mark II (D) Geyrion in a UNSC retrofit of the class.^[1]

Ships of the line

CAA Heavy Burden (CFM-88) - Repurposed by the UNSC as an ordnance transport during the Human-Covenant War.

Service history

Springhills are an older classification of vessel, and retain a strong presence across human space even despite the emergence of newer and more vessels such as the Aestuum-class.^[3] They are operated by various mining corporations^[3] alongside the Colonial Administration Authority (CAA); these display a CAA ship prefix.^[2]

During the Human-Covenant War, Springhills were commandeered by the UNSC and retrofit as ordnance transport ships. One such example, CAA Heavy Burden, would retain its CAA prefix even despite its conversion to a wartime logistics ship. The Springhill-class mining ships saw extensive use during the early Human-Covenant War, though the Heavy Burden served until the Battle of Kholo in 2539. The ship was later the subject of a War Games map simulation.^[2]