UNSC Navy

The UNSC Navy (UNSCN) is a human naval force, and one of four military branches of the UNSC. It is responsible for all naval operations in space, including but not limited to: interstellar transportation, ship-to-ship combat, deep-space law enforcement and expeditionary operations. Along with the UNSC Marine Corps and elements of the Air Force, its field units fall under the authority of the unified Naval Command.

The Navy was birthed in response to the widespread violence that predated the Interplanetary Wars, and quickly grew due to the influx of assets and personnel belonging to the defunct United Nations Colonial Peacekeeping Force and various international armed forces. At first, riots and unrest in the Sol system meant that they remained largely confined to the region for the first two centuries of existence. Throughout the twenty-fifth century, they expanded rapidly to become the largest human-dominated naval force in history, thanks to successful attempts at usurping the existing Colonial Navy. They played a major role in both the Inner Colony Wars and the Insurrection, where they enforced sanctions on rebelling colonies, transported counter-insurgency units to trouble-spots, and delegated ships to protecting and searching civilian vessels. The UNSC Navy was authorized to take control of all naval assets and personnel at the beginning of the Human-Covenant War. In spite of this, they took horrendous losses at the hands of the Covenant; even with replacements, their fleet dropped from 2,034 ships to only 489 slipspace-capable warships at the conflict's conclusion.

Field formations
The UNSC Navy's organization for its starships has evolved and changed several times over the course of its lifespan, with the most modern iteration prioritizing easy reassignment of units and autonomy among its local headquarters spread throughout human space. Their naval forces are broadly divided into two main groups of formations, colloquially known as 'temporary' and 'permanent' forces. Temporary forces are custom-built for the needs of a single goal, and are immediately disbanded upon its completion. Permanent units are more general-purpose assignments whose duties are often locked within operational regions. They are only 'deactivated' when either their spacecraft are unavailable for assignment, moved to new commands, or are deemed impossible to practically support them in the foreseeable future. This does not always correspond to when moving ships are placed into temporary formations; squadrons assigned to task forces still retain their individual name and setup.