Eridani Class Dreadnought

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"The only war time ship the covenant actually went out of their way to destroy was the Eradani class dreadnought. I think that means the covies were scared shitless by those things, almost as much as the punics did. If only we had more during the war... if only." Unammed UNSC Naval Officer

The Eradni Class dreadnought was a unique vessel within the UNSC navy having gone through 3 generations of the class rather than being replaced by subsequent classes. It was one of, if not, the most advanced ships within the UNSC during the Human Covenant war. Its power and importance was second only to the Punic class super carriers.

Overview
In the late 25th and early 26th century, the UEG limited the number of Punic Class super carriers that the UNSC could wield. In an effort to circumvent this, the Dreadnought type was redefined and reactivated within the navy. The redefinition defined a dreadnought as a battleship like vessel with limited carrier role capabilities. In 2499, the first 16 Eradani class dreadnoughts, named after the Epsilon Erindani system, began construction and were launched in 2512. Another 6 were made in 2523. These were considered the first generation of Eridani class dreadnoughts. They carried several hundred drop ships, support craft, and fighters as well as a large compliment of marines, armor, and other ground vehicles. They carried three Super MAC guns, two pointing forward and one aft. They also contained a near impenetrable point defense and flak wall, thousands of Archer missiles, mini-MACs and other high powered ship to ship cannons. They also had 24 nuclear missile launch tubes. The ship also had modular hard points to mount extra weapons and equipment as well as mutiple guns that could be used either as anti-vessel or for orbital bombardment. The vessel made use of powerful dedicated port, starboard, top and bottom, thrusters for maneuvering making the ship surprisingly agile. To support all of this, the ship had a total of 3 nuclear fusion reactors. The ships also had deployable solar panels for use as an emergency energy source out of combat. Then the Human covenant war broke out. During the outer colony campaigns, these Dreadnoughts were sent into battle the covenant. They performed wonderfully and were able to almost hold there own in an even fight against covenant cruisers, but still struggled against groups of them, or anything larger. During these engagements, the covenant quickly realized the value and danger these ships posed and went out of their way to destroy these capital ships whenever possible, even at the cost of massive unnecessary losses. These efforts began to dwindle the dreadnoughts numbers until only a few remained. In 2530 and 2532, another 18 total were commissioned and built, with the remaining 6 generation ones being updated and refit, to replenish losses. These were the second generation of the class, which brought the total number up to 24 total ships of the class. These new ships were made with updated technology and materials as well as slightly modified frames. Lack of time, and an already existing tried and true space frame lead the class to be continued in a newer generation of these ships. The war progressed and these ships were used whenever possible. But overwhelming firepower and numbers of the covenant navy began to destroy these ships as well. By 2552, of the first generation, only one remained. Of the second, only 3. In 2548, another 10 vessels were planned, but only 6 were built due to shortages in materials with a seventh being rapidly converted into a super carrier part way through construction. These third generation Eridani class dreadnoughts represented the most advanced UNSC ships built during wartime. The March 2552 refits for all the ships equipped them with a small area of energy shielding around the bridge only, and 5 of these ships received an ion slurry cooling system similar to that used by the Pillar of Autumn. Of these ships, two were assigned to the UNSC Trafalgar's battle group, with another being assigned as part of the Sol Defense fleet. In 2552 during the battle of Reach, all Eridani Class dreadnoughts were recalled to defend Reach save for the UNSC Valiant which was in the Solar system. 10 of the 11 dreadnoughts that fought at reach were destroyed, with the last one, a second genertion Eridani Class dreadnought named UNSC Pride of Tribute, being severely damaged but managing to flee to the solar system with remainders of the Trafalgar's battle group. During the battle of Earth, the UNSC Valiant served as one of the command ships for the UNSC home fleet, but was destroyed during the fighting. The UNSC Pride of Tribute did not participate in the battle as it was undergoing hefty repairs at the time the covenant arrived and was destroyed in drydock. The legacy left behind by this ship, including its frame and capabilities heavily inspired the larger and more powerful Infinity Class super carrier.

SHIPS PRODUCED AND STATUS AS OF 2559
Gen-1 UNSC Eridani DDN-1180 | KIA UNSC Reach DDN-1181 | MIA UNSC Tribute DDN-1182 | KIA UNSC Titanic DDN-1183 | KIA UNSC New Alexandria DDN-1184 | KIA UNSC Solar Pride DDN-1185 UNSC Guardian of Earth DDN-1186 UNSC Peacekeeper DDN-1187 UNSC Galileo DDN-1188 UNSC Harvest's Pride DDN-1189 UNSC Orion's Blade DDN-1190 UNSC Scorpio DDN-1191 UNSC Oxford DDN-1192 UNSC Yamato DDN-1193 UNSC Bismarck DDN-1194 UNSC New Harmony DDN-1195 UNSC Edwards DDN-1244 UNSC Harlem DDN-1246 UNSC Edison DDN-1247 UNSC Son Wukong DDN-1250 UNSC Tom Sawyer DDN-1258 UNSC Huck Finn DDN-1260 Gen-2 UNSC Pride of Reach DDN-1506 | KIA UNSC Pride of Tribute DDN-1509 | KIA UNSC Durandal DDN-1510 | KIA UNSC Hades DDN-1511 | KIA UNSC Gabriel's Light DDN-1512 | KIA UNSC Fire of War DDN-1530 | KIA UNSC Romania DDN-1531 | KIA UNSC Lance of God DDN-1532 | MIA UNSC Heavens Fury DDN-1533 | KIA UNSC Spartan DDN-1534 | KIA UNSC Leonidus DDN-1535 | KIA UNSC Magellan DDN-1543 | KIA UNSC Lucifer DDN-1545 | KIA UNSC Eridani II DDN-1548 | KIA UNSC Reach II DDN-1556 | KIA UNSC Unbound Fate DDN-1557 | KIA UNSC Victorious DDN-1560 | KIA UNSC Memory of Harvest DDN-1566 | KIA Gen-3 UNSC Eye of Jupiter DDN-2020 | KIA UNSC Eridani III DDN-2026 | KIA UNSC Pride of Earth DDN-2030 | MIA UNSC Humanity DDN-2045 | KIA UNSC Pride of Reach II DDN-2047 | KIA UNSC Spartan II DDN-2049 | KIA