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 for refit by the United Nations Space Command 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]