Ruma-pattern light carrier
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
| Ruma-pattern light carrier | |
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| Production information | |
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Class: |
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Role: |
Troop deployment, occupation support,[1] fighter transport, firing support[2] |
| Technical specifications | |
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Length: |
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Width: |
1,186 meters (3,891 ft)[1] |
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Mass: |
272 million tonnes[3] |
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Power plant: |
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Engine(s): |
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Slipspace drive: |
Equipped |
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Navigation system(s): |
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Hull: |
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Shielding: |
Equipped |
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Armament: |
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Complement: |
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Crew: |
3,000–4,000 personnel[2] |
| Chronological and affiliation | |
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Era: |
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The Ruma-pattern light carrier[3] (UNSC three-letter classification: DDS-class carrier)[1], is a heavy warship within the now-defunct Covenant fleet that served as a force deployment and occupation warship.[1]
Design details
Superstructure and hull
The DDS-class carrier, unlike the larger and more powerful CAS-class assault carrier, is a less frequently encountered, but powerful, warship within the Covenant fleet. The primary role of the DDS-class carrier is to support fleet actions in space, or as an infantry deployment platform. The DDS-class carrier has three bulbous sections; its swollen center boasts a total of thirteen launch bays on both sides of the ship.[6] It is used for command and control of large numbers of deployment waves of space fighters, dropships, and interceptors.[1] Like all warships, these ships come in a variety of classes and sizes, though military observers note there are variance of weaponry, length, and estimated tonnage.[7]
The carrier's hull is reinforced with over thirty meters of nanolaminate hull plating and equipped with energy shielding.[8] A single plasma torpedo is capable of causing several layers of the hull to boil away. The shieldless hull of a DDS-class carrier is capable of withstanding heat of up to three hundred degrees Celsius, with no actual damage done to the carrier's structure.[9] Only at extreme temperatures of over seventeen hundred degrees Celsius does minor hull tearing and conduit melting occur.[10] However, at such high temperatures, the superstructure of the vessel becomes considerably softened.[11]
Complement and crew
The DDS-class carrier boasts three hundred Type-31 Seraph starfighters,[2] divided into three different squadrons,[12] two hundred Type-26 Banshees, and thirty-four dropships—either Dextro Xur-pattern Spirits or Ru'swum-pattern Phantoms—that can be launched at any given moment from the thirteen launch bays located along the center sides of the ship.[2][13]
The DDS-class carrier holds a crew of three to four thousand Covenant infantry,[13] most of which were Huragok in the case of Ascendant Justice, with a light company of Unggoy and only a hundred Sangheili.[14] The crew was available for deployment on a moments notice via the ship's gravity lift when close to a world's surface.
Armaments
Like other ships within the Covenant fleet, the DDS-class carrier boasts a vast array of energy weapons. The DDS-class carrier is armed with seven plasma torpedo launchers, numerous pulse laser turrets, and anterior plasma cannons.[13][1] The "S", or Salvation, in the carrier's three-letter classification code, "DDS", indicates that the DDS-class carrier is a dedicated warship.[15]
Service history
DDS-class carriers participated in the invasion of Reach and subsequent destruction of the planet.[citation needed] At least one, Ascendant Justice, was assigned to the Fleet of Particular Justice and pursued UNSC Pillar of Autumn to Installation 04 after the battle.[16][15] Following the Battle of Installation 04, Ascendant Justice was captured by UNSC forces and captained by Vice Admiral Danforth Whitcomb,[17] until its destruction during Operation: FIRST STRIKE.[18]
Ships of the line
- Ascendant Justice – Participated in the Battle of Installation 04, captured by UNSC, and was destroyed during Operation: FIRST STRIKE[18]
List of appearances
- Halo: The Flood
- Adjunct (Mentioned only)
- Halo: First Strike (First appearance)
Sources
- ^ a b c d e f g Halo: The Essential Visual Guide, p. 28
- ^ a b c d e f g Halo Encyclopedia (2009 edition), p. 277 (2011)
- ^ a b c d e f g Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition), page 263
- ^ Halo: First Strike, p. 233 (2010)
- ^ Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, p. 305
- ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach, page 146, page 171 (2010 edition)
- ^ Sybex Halo: Combat Evolved PC Strategy Guide, page 73
- ^ Halo: First Strike, page 266 (2010 edition)
- ^ Halo: First Strike, pages 76-79 (2010 edition)
- ^ Halo: First Strike, page 84
- ^ Halo: First Strike, page 223
- ^ Halo: First Strike, page 155, page 191 (2010 edition)
- ^ a b c Halo: Encyclopedia, page 265
- ^ Halo: First Strike, page 63
- ^ a b Halo Waypoint: Canon Fodder: Have S'moa
- ^ Halo: The Flood, Adjunct (2010 edition)
- ^ Halo: First Strike, page 79
- ^ a b Halo: First Strike, page 396 (2010 edition)
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