UNSC Southern Cross

"Magnitudo animi constantiam spirat."

- Ship motto

The UNSC Endeavour (hull code: DD-347) is a venerable Beagle-class assault destroyer, and one of two ships to have participated in the Harvest Campaign and the Siege of Sol. The latest in a lineage that hailed back to the seventeenth century, the Endeavour is one of thirty-five destroyers built to trial the installation of state-of-the-art hangar facilities on light-tonnage warships. While still possessing two full-sized fusion reactors, a relatively-high acceleration and as thick a hull as the baseline class, its armaments were lacking thanks to the removal of several Archer missile pods and the downscaling of its Magnetic Accelerator Cannons. Despite these significant drawbacks, it remained a solid vessel which outlived the sisters it was built alongside.

Design
During the Insurrection, the wildfire of conflicts arising in the Outer Colonies meant that troop transports of all sizes were in high demand. To meet this need, the UNSC's initially purchased older civilian ships to act as such, arming them and providing them with an escort to ensure this protection. While this was adequate for larger assault ships, the UNSC Navy was unable to adequately protect the smaller repurposed freighters. Because they were too slow to flee, and too poorly-armed to protect themselves, and they were frequently attacked and pilfered by rebel boarders. In response, the UNSC Navy issued a contract for a light-tonnage warship that could double as a transport and act as a fleet ship armed with a MAC. SinoViet Heavy Machinery submitted two designs to the UNSC committee; an updated version of the Charon-class light frigate, and the Beagle-class assault destroyer. While the former would win the contract, the latter intrigued the UNSC enough for a preliminary flight to be constructed for testing purposes. A block of 13 destroyers was constructed by Diadel Systems above Chi Rho, the third of which would become the UNSC Endeavour. A further 23 ships would succeed them.

Like all Beagle-class destroyers, the UNSC Endeavour shares most of its hull and superstructure design with the Halberd-class destroyer. At 480 metres in length, it was only five metres than the design it was based on. Past its arrowhead bow, the differences are minimal, with the few changes made to increase its atmospheric performance. This mainly involved replacing certain areas of the hull with 0.4 metres of durasteel armour, which sacrificed protection for speed. The bow is slightly different, with a larger hangar bay that is half-again as large as on its more common counterparts, and a smaller upper hull. The hangar is divided into two sections; a long flight deck that is located on the upper floor, and a general-purpose bay that accommodated both dropships and ground vehicles on the lower one. Both decks use different airlocks, so they can launch and receive different squadrons at the same time. However, only aircraft entering the front hangar door can benefit from the advanced gravitic breaking system. The upper plate on the bow that ran between the raised plates of titanium-A battleplate is unusual in that had a series of automated elevators and armatures that could rearm and refuel up to three space fighters in the middle of battle. Intended as a forward-thinking feature, it was hoped that the UNSC would introduce a smaller interceptor model to take advantage of it. No such aircraft would ever reach the light of day, so the system lies unused.

In terms of armament, the UNSC Endeavour 's original ship-to-ship armament consisted of two Series-2, light coil MACs. The Series-2 MACs were intended for use on corvettes, and fired far smaller slugs in exchange for higher speed and quicker recharge times. Backing this up were 18 M58 Archer missile pods, each with five silos. These were general-purpose missile pods that are effective against other ships, but could also be used against larger gunships and space fighters if necessary. They could also carry a vast assortment of warheads, with armour-piercing and counter-shielding being the most popular. It lacks the M870 Rampart emplacements, and in their place are eight M37 Suppressor turrets, each with twin-linked 279mm naval autocannons. They could be used for defeating missiles, but they were more intended for use against other ships and space fighters. Instead, 19 M710 20mm turrets were installed for this purpose. For use against far slower and heavier opponents, two M81273 fusion rockets were embarked, each with a variable payload. Like on regular Halberd-class destroyers, a Mark 45 fire director was used to vastly increase its accuracy at extended ranges of 50 kilometres or more.

Over the course of the war, the Endeavour would be refitted to carry a total of 26 Archer missile pods, and its Suppressors were replaced with more powerful M40 turrets. In addition, it would often replace its fusion missiles with Shiva-class nuclear missiles armed with a 50MT Californium warhead.