Devana-class battlecruiser

The Devana-class battlecruiser (hull classification symbol: CB) were a class of early MAC-armed capital ships employed by the UNSC Navy in the Cold War, Insurrection, and early Great War. Designed to destroy the new generation of cruisers, the Devana-class was a counter to what would become the Hades-class heavy cruiser of the CMA. Fast enough to catch cruisers, and with a MAC that was one of the most advanced of the time, the gun had the power and range to deal with all but the heaviest of spatial combatants. The Devana-class would first enter service in 2484 with the UNSC planning on build 48 ships of the class. It's first decade of service would be marred by technical issues leading to the UNSC only commissioning half of the initially planned ships. The class would undergo numerous refits to solve these technical issues, with the 2505 refit finally ending them.

The class would not see much action during the Insurrection despite heavy deployments throughout the Outer Colonies. As a dedicated spatial combatant, it lacked a large troop complement, although it did proved effective in the rare space battle. However, by the late 2510s the ship was an aging platform, combined with little need for a ship of its type, the decision was made to decommission the class rather than having it undergo a lengthy and costly modernization program. The ships would begin to be decommissioned and transferred to the Reserve Fleet. The outbreak of the Great War would halt these plans, and the class would be reactivated.

A few of the ships had remained in active and were fought Second Battle of Harvest where they provided valuable combat date and a modernization project based on this data along with a previously proposed plan was approved. After the refit they would fight extensively in the latter half of the Harvest Campaign and throughout Vela-Scorpius Quadrant. The high operational tempo however would wear down the ships, and despite successes in hunting logistics vessels and lone capital ships, the class would be relegated to more defensive deployments. With last stand at Chi Rho seeing all but three of the class destroyed, and the last three were decommissioned and later scrapped

Specifications
The 2470s saw the rapid creation and production many new technologies from MACs to mass production of Titanium-A1 battleplate, causing cruisers to take on a new role as capital ships. Leading to a paradigm shift of large and heavily armed cruisers being the mainstay capital ships rather than carriers or arsenal ships. The Devana was envisioned as a direct counter to this new generation of cruisers, in which it would have the speed to hunt and catch enemy cruisers, with a main gun that would outrange them.

Armament
The Mark II Heavy Coil 80AK4A/MAC was an impressive piece of hardware for its time, able to fire faster and with a heavier slug than contemporary MACs. The ship was able to do this though the innovative use of secondary reactor, initially meant to power secondary fusion drives, it was also able to provide extra charge to the MAC's capacitors in combat. Decreasing charge times significantly. However, gave the gun its real power and range was the density of its coils. One of the ways to increase the exit velocity of a coilgun is to increase the number of coils turns per coil length. The Devana would not be matched regarding coil density until the Mark III series of heavy MACs that the Marathon-class was built with. The increased density caused the coils to generate a lot of heat, more than the system could compensate for under combat conditions. This strain degraded could degrade the coils quickly, necessitating constant maintenance and checks to ensure they could properly conduct charge and discharge when firing. The problems would be mitigated as experience and technology improved before finally being fixed in the 2505 refit that saw the gun redesigned coils that were better able to handle the heat generation, along with cooling systems that increased overall endurance.

The ship’s missile complement was weak compared to some contemporary capital ships, with thirty-six Archer missile pods and twenty-four Streak missile pods. The class was fitted with six single-mount Mark 6 Armstrong coilguns for defense against frigates and destroyers, considered sufficient for its time, it would be deemed woefully inadequate during the Insurrection. Especially as they were mounted broadside along the hull with all but the fore mounts being able to fire forward. The idea was that MAC was primarily to be used against capital ships, and the secondaries and missiles should deal with any escorts that got close. As such the MAC could remain trained on enemy capital ships while the secondaries would be free to deal with any escorting ships that got too close. The 2505 refit would see the secondary mounts totally reworked to be able to use the M621 Castle naval autocannon which was more effective against light warships.

The point defense network, like it's secondaries, was small, the expected advantage the MAC gave made it so that all but the longest ranged anti-ship missiles could hope to outrange the Devana. As such the initial configuration contained only sixteen M810 Helix defense guns and six M800 Ramparts for anti-fighter duties. Experience would show that this setup was insufficient, and refits during the Insurrection would both update and expand the point defense network. With the final configuration containing twenty-four M710 Bulwarks and twelve M870 Ramparts.

Development
The idea of a long-range sniper was a fairly natural development as MAC technology proliferated, along with the up-armoring of ships with Ti-A1 battleplate, having a ship that could outrange and destroy others became an attractive option. Although the UNSC would not pursue the design of a battlecruiser until word of a new CMA capital ship class became known to them. This new class was expected to be both heavily armed and armored, outgunning most other ships on the field at the time. With early UNSC reports classifying this ship as a battlecruiser. What would become known as the Hades class cruiser spurred the UNSC into the development of cruiser-killer design that would become the Devana class.

The centerpiece of the Devana would be its gun. Based on experimental designs for a high-velocity cruiser MAC, the cannon would be lengthened to take advantage of a larger frame and expected power output. Although this would cause significant problems the heat generated would degrade coils and the charging capacitors would struggle with the strain.

Because of the perceived severity of the CMA threat, the UNSC would push for 3 ships to be laid at the same time these ships would suffer the most from the classes’ issues, although would also be vital in solving them for future ships even if they gained a reputation for unreliability and be maintenance hogs. The rushed nature also meant that ships were forced to undergone exceptionally long trials and designs were often changed as experience with the class grew and issues ironed out. This caused costs to continually rise, eventually seeing the planned 48 Devanas be cut down to only 24. Especially as the unrest grew in the Outer Colonies the UNSC shifted to counterinsurgency over large fleet engagements.

Ships of the Line
UNSC Devana (CB-31) - Lead ship of class, scrapped 2524