User:07 Contrite Witness/Sandbox

Random bits and pieces I have conceived of.

UNSC Hull Classification Codes

 * CBC is a refit Valiant with a flag bridge and other command-and-control upgrades. (Ken behind Warfleet confirmed it)

Naval Coilgun Designations

 * "A" - Designed to fire multiple shots per charge.
 * Examples:, , , , 11A2R1 naval coilgun
 * "B" - Unsure of the significance.
 * Examples:, , ,
 * "D" - Unsure of the significance. Suspect it refers to a denser concentration of magnetic coils.
 * Examples:, , ,
 * "E" - Unsure of the significance.
 * Examples:
 * "F" - This system has been adapted from a smaller-sized model, modified for higher rate-of-fire and velocity.
 * Examples:
 * "J" - Unsure of the significance.
 * Examples:
 * "R" - Currently assuming it means 'Revision', but could mean a number of different things.
 * Examples:, , , 11A2R1 naval coilgun

Fleet Sizes

 * According to a conversion based on the numbers Halo: Reach 's Data Pad 10 gives us, the Covenant will need no less than 2033.955492 needed to glass the entirety of Earth's surface, assuming the rate at which they glass never changes (assuming they continue glassing 1 hectare per second indefinitely, with no cycling) and the surface is all the same. This was calculated at the beginning of the HCW in 2526, so I'll be using this number as a base to calculate the rest of their fleet. I may or may not include support ships.

UEG Fleet size and composition by 2526
NOTE: Number in brackets indicate that these ships are not assigned to a permanent fleet.

Patrol ships

 * Gunboats - Typically the smallest, most ill-equipped vehicle that can be classified as a spacefaring starship. No slipspace drive (so they are reliant on a mothership), lightly armed, designed only for colonial security tasks. Small crew, but small consumable storage as well.
 * Fast attack craft - Gunboats armed with heavy anti-ship weapons. Suffers against fighters, structurally weak, but quick.
 * Corvettes - Designed for extended patrol missions. Typically larger and better-equipped than gunboats, but the most significant change is the addition of a slipspace drive. Also.
 * Prowlers - Stealth ships. A subclass of corvette.

Escorts

 * Frigates - Lightest combat ship generally assigned to standard naval squadrons, although due to their adaptable design, they can outsize destroyers. They are typically designed for support missions, such as scouting, troop-carrying, and air defence.
 * Stealth cruisers - Supersized prowlers.
 * Destroyers - Specialised towards spatial combat. Slower than frigates but better armed, armoured, and able to conduct missions for longer. Complement typically suffers.
 * Destroyer leaders - Command destroyers, essentially. They have facilities necessary to coordinate naval engagements, and may be larger and better-protected than destroyers. However, because they are still too weak to independently complete their own objectives during a battle without reinforcements.

Capital ships

 * Cruisers - Smallest capital ship, and generally the most versatile.
 * Battlecruisers - Cruiser-killers and cruiser-leaders, typically fast and armed with battleship-scale weapons, but they are generally outmatched by battleships. Still light enough to be versatile, however. Also the heaviest spatial combatant that can be allocated to general naval units.
 * Large cruisers - Battlecruisers built to the same design theory as cruisers. Not identified as their own distinct classification by the UNSC.
 * Carriers - Self-explanatory: they carry fighters and troops.
 * Battleships - The largest, heaviest spatial combatants at the UNSC's disposal. They are slow, but carry the heaviest weapons and armour afforded to them. Typically used only in protracted engagements or defensive efforts, where they are used as fleet flagships or fire support vessels.

Auxiliary support ships

 * Translight carrier - They are designed to allow a group of naval vessels to enter and exit slipspace as a group. Obsolete as of 2552, as new SFTEs can allow multiple ships to hold formation while travelling.
 * Tender - Logistics ships designed to transport supplies, excess crew, and spare parts for their units, usually only for short-ranged or short-duration assignments.
 * Repair ship - Self-explanatory.
 * Replenishment ship - Carry excess food, fuel, and ammunition for their units.
 * Hospital ship - Giant medical ships designed to treat various aliments suffered by personnel.
 * Mobile dockyard - Designed to conduct all shipboard maintenance and repairs, right down to stripping them down and rebuilding them if necessary. Tend to be massive, equivalent to space stations, but light for their size.

Ship manufacturing terminology

 * Blocks: Name given to each order of a given ship class. May include improvements over succeeding blocks, although they could also be repeats with no changes of note. Typically named in Block I, Block II, etc.
 * Flights: Denotes hull changes irrespective of their order. Roman numerals denote major hull changes, followed by a number that denotes minor changes in specifications or capabilities. E.g. Flight I is the original hull, Flight IA has extra missile pods, Flight II has a greatly streamlined hull.
 * Subgroups: Unique configurations of a given class, similar to flights, except they are named after the first ship to sport the changes. Usually these are major changes that are not so drastic as to be reclassified as new ship lines. Extensively used by the UNSC during the HCW because of lax standardisation and cataloguing in favour of bringing ships into service as fast as possible. E.g. Warspite-subgroup of Marathon-class.

Dual-purpose
Earliest system developed, and easily the most widespread. Practically the heaviest option of its class available during the late Pax Humana. Pax Humana
 * M17 Qiang - 127mm/30 cal, 2440-2470, single-shot coilgun, Weapon Systems Technologies. First naval coilgun accepted into service. Light, slow-firing, and had limited range. Mainly effective against spacefighters and corvettes, though their effectiveness against frigates was arguable even before titanium-A1 was introduced. Used in single, twin, and quadruple mounts.
 * Mark 6 Armstrong - 180mm/45cal, 2464-2502, single-shot coilgun, Armstrong Munitions Inc. One of the earliest, and amongst the most successful. Overbuilt and powerful for its size, it was originally developed as a counter-frigate weapon. Although advances in protection made it ineffective in this role against warships, it was still effective during the Insurrection against fighters and unarmored freighters. Available in a wide range of turret options: singles to triples were the most common, but even sextuple mounts could be found.
 * M244 Hailstorm - 135mm/24 cal, 2472-2492, multi-shot autocannon, Rancor Defense Technologies. First practical naval autocannon design, leaned very heavily against the anti-fighter role. Available in single and twin mounts.
 * Mark IX Toyotomi 225mm/43 cal, 2482-2504, single-shot coilgun, Natsugama Military Systems. Last of the successful single-shot DP coilguns. Only available in single mounts, and only really seen in CMA service: attempts at making larger mounts proved slow and cumbersome, as the tech simply wasn't there.

Insurrection
 * M621 Castle - 180mm/28 cal, 2498-2520, multi-shot autocannon, Emerson Tactical Systems. First large-caliber naval autocannon that's also effective against light warships. On the larger side but still able to be accommodated.
 * M66 Sentry - 279mm/36 cal, 2514-2552, multi-shot autocannon, Weapon Systems Technologies. Large for a naval autocannon, though made up for this with very powerful shells and a very high rate of fire. Although single mounts were initially available, twin mounts quickly became the standard.

Human-Covenant War
 * M74 Sentry - 330mm/36 cal, 2532-2552, multi-shot autocannon, Weapon Systems Technologies. Updated model of the M66 Sentry to adapt to Covenant energy shielding. Uses same mounts developed for the M66, though a later triple turret version was developed.
 * Mark 41 Suppressor - 250mm/25 cal, 2547-2558, multi-shot autocannon, Emerson Tactical Systems. A late-war model, dropping everything down to maximise rate of fire and size.

Post-Covenant War
 * M78 Sentry

Light anti-ship
Introduced during the UNSC-CMA Cold War. Primarily designed for anti-escort work. Mix of single-shot coilguns and autocannons, though by the early post-war era autocannons overtook the coilguns in preference.

Heavy anti-ship
Introduced towards the later period of the UNSC-CMA Cold War, though tech limitations meant that they were only introduced on massed ship classes during the war. Due to their need to defeat thick firepower, no quick-firing autocannons were developed.

Rough ship costs at launch
Organised by order of escalating mass:
 * Eclipse-class prowler: 13.3 billion cR
 * Mako-class light corvette: 4.17 billion cR*
 * Stalwart-class frigate: 174 billion cR*
 * Charon-class frigate: 192 billion cR
 * Paris-class heavy frigate: 218 billion cR
 * Halberd-class destroyer: 576 billion cR
 * Marathon-class heavy cruiser: 1.68 trillion cR*
 * Halcyon-class cruiser: 2.13 trillion cR
 * Artemis-class battlecruiser: 51.7 trillion cR
 * Orion-class assault carrier: 5.24 trillion cR
 * Epoch-class heavy carrier: 6.94 trillion cR*
 * Titan-class supercarrier: 15.6 trillion cR
 * Thermopylae-class supercarrier: 69.8 trillion cR
 * Punic-class supercarrier: 94.8 trillion cR*

* = control values based on sheer mass alone.

Prefixes

 * Ika - Held public office
 * Pro - An ascetic
 * Vo - An honor guard

Suffixes

 * Zo - a weaponsmith by trade
 * Ee - Participant of the military (dropped in November 2552)
 * Ai - a swordsmen or swordswoman

Covenant ship class names

 * ORS: Reverence-class ordained examiner
 * SDV: Sacred Visionary-class bellator
 * ORA: Retribution-class ordained executor
 * CCS: Apostle's Song-class contrite bellator
 * CAS: Steadfast Defender-class anointed examiner
 * RCS: Honesty's Guardsmen-class contrite bellator
 * ADP: Yearning Grace-class sentinel

UNSC
Corvettes Frigates Destroyers Cruisers Battlecruisers Battleships Escort/Light Carriers Heavy Carriers Supercarriers
 * Standard frigates
 * Standard frigates
 * Standard frigates
 * - Last units enter service in 2554/2555
 * - Last units enter service in 2554/2555
 * - Last units enter service in 2554/2555

CMA
Corvettes Frigates Destroyers Cruisers Battlecruisers Battleships Carriers Supercarriers
 * Standard frigates
 * Standard frigates

Blamite Ship-of-the-Line (working name: Song of Victory)

 * Pre-industrial maritime ship, basically built for a ruler with a huge ego. Think British Sovereign of the Seas.
 * Designed during the time of cannon, but still outfitted to board and ram enemy ships up close.
 * Has big-as forecastles and aftercastles. Each of these have raised elevated positions that allow gunners and grenadiers to run over the main deck and fire/shell it from above. Has spots for two small cannons on each side.
 * Has a blamite ram bow. Doesn't work so well in hindsight, too impure to explode on contact.
 * Has a reinforced armory for holding blamite ammunition. These were never stocked, so toxic gas ammunition was carried instead.
 * Has forward fixed guns? These would be absolutely colossal in size for the time, ideal for smashing through wooden hulls.
 * Sangheili would transverse masts by connecting a harness and using a counterweight to carefully pull themselves up.
 * Has a three mast, triple-sail configuration. Two extra sails extend outwards on the middle when needed to attain extra speed.
 * No ladders, uses stairs only.
 * Tumblehome design, uses even more organic, almost fish-like shape to better cruise through the water.
 * Has an achilles heel in that it's horribly vulnerable to raking.
 * Probably Sanghelios' first 120-gun warship?
 * History:
 * Constructed as part of a grand naval ambition from some Arch-Kaidon, in response to a naval posturing match. Basically, build something as big, mean, and expensive as you can to show that there's no point in challenging you.
 * Took something like 10, 15 years to build.
 * Nation goes broke while building it - gets sold to Vadam? Wattinr? Zufam?
 * Actually, what if it constantly gets captured and passed on to each navy?

UNSC Relentless

 * Needed to fulfil a niche that brings about the prominence of large spatial combatants during the CMA-UNSC Cold War.
 * First ship armed with a MAC, and introduces the modern cruiser layout.
 * Possibly classified as a large command cruiser, or even a short-term carrier escort?
 * Nicknames: Thunderer (due to the MAC), Showboat (for its numerous early-career tours and show-the-flag ops with the CMA), Penniless (due to a lack of late-career modernisation), toothless
 * Commissioned at some point in the 2460s and 2470s. Had a working date of 2478.
 * Main role is to destroy large carriers, arsenal ships, and orbital defenses. Secondary roles are to act as flagship for deep-space squadrons, heavy fleet scout.
 * Maybe it has a substantial science suite for deep-space exploration?
 * Intended to be fast and very well-armed. Armour is used in an all-or-nothing scheme, due to the weight of Markov Reinforced Armour. This was later replaced with Titanium-A1, which was even stronger while still remaining lighter.
 * Has a specialised slipspace navigation suite for much more accurate travel - quickly incorporated into CODEN-IV SFTEs, and not really seen on a lot of other ship classes.
 * Armament is 1 Mark I MAC, 38 M360 Javelin missile silos (later replaced with M280 Ares), 16 M31 Loki EMP missile pods (replaced with M58 Archers later in life), 8 M6 Aegis 25mm/40 cal PDGs.
 * Motto is "''Nobis non deficient.'" (Latin for "We will never fail.")
 * Not sure about size - either it's smaller than most cruisers, or much bigger but proved far too expensive to mass produce. Definitely smaller than a Valiant-class.
 * Embarked force has 2 docked cutters or corvettes, maybe a company of UNSC Marines, and a single squadron of fighters.
 * May be big to make it more suitable for long-term travel.
 * Was possibly more lightly-built when compared to later designs. Required stronger shock-absorption mountings for its armaments.
 * Need to figure out some more archaic/failed traits it tried to introduce or continue.
 * Winglets to complement engines?
 * Conformed to an old regulation where all missile pods - even those that are already armoured - must be covered by armoured doors when not in use?
 * No engine cowling?
 * External sensor/electronics/communications cables not run under armor. They are contained within a splinter-protection pipe, but that won't stop missiles.
 * Turned into a barracks ship, had some sort of role in the early HCW before it was destroyed.