User:TK3397/New Dawn Class Destroyer

New Dawn ClassThe New Dawn became the standard UNSC light warship following the end of the war with the Covenant. Built in large numbers it effectively displaced earlier frigates and with upgrades remained the primary vessel of it's type for decades.

Background
Following the war with the Covenant the UNSC was blessed with a windfall of new technology and systems. Within weeks of the peace treaty engineers at surviving shipyards were already racing to integrate these systems into new vessels. One of the first tasks before them was the rapid production of a new standard warship in the 500 meter class to serve as the rebuilding navy’s mainstay.

Early on the most pressing need was for straight warship so the first thing to go was any real pretense of a multi-purpose role. The cargo bays and troop quarters installed on many late war model frigates were quickly dispensed with. This made way for larger generators and heavier weapons. The next change was the addition of new armor and later shields that provided viable defenses against capital grade weapons unlike the old frigate’s armor. Due to all this these new ships were better defended and heavier then old destroyers and in recognition of this fact they were reclassified as such.

The New Dawn was the first of this new batch of destroyers to launch with the first vessels leaving the slips about two years after the end of the war (the R&D taking much longer then the actual construction). With the bugs worked out many more followed and it began to grow into the backbone of the new fleet.

Block II
Though a solid design the first model was not without its faults. It carried no onboard fighters as a concession for heavier weapons and armor. Its speed was also good, but not outstanding making it ill suited too many scouting tasks. As the design began to proliferate, technology improved, and more yard space became available new variants and models began to appear to address this. The most common is the Block II, sometimes called the Iwo Jima sub-class. The Block II is more or less the same as the basic model aside from a modified bow that inserts a small hanger and maintenance area under the MAC gun foward. The hanger is cramped, but can house a composite squadron of about 18 to 20 combat drones.

This modification produces a larger more squared off nose and considerable extra weight. The engines were uprated to compensate but still could not entirely offset this and the ship is a bit slower. The vessel is also considerably more expensive and requires a much larger crew (mostly operaters and support crew for the drones). This has resulted in a decision not to switch entirely to the Block II and both it and the basic model remain in production at about a 1 to 1.5 ratio in favor of the Block I.

Characteristics
The Dawn type destroyers are fairly small warships, but this compact size should not be confused with weakness. The UNSC choice to stick with smaller vessels after the war despite advancing technology was a choice made for a reason. The warships are compactly designed to cram as much combat power into there hulls as possible. Crew accommodations are fairly sparse, but the design is very efficient and punches above its weight class when compared to many covenant remnant vessels. The vessels reactors in particular are quite oversized for its mass which gives it unusually strong shielding. The fact these shields must cover a smaller area around the ship means that more power is available per unit of area resulting in a studier defense. The same principle largely applies to armor; the ships compact size allows thicker armor to be mounted without massive weight increases due to large surface area.

They’re still not a match for truly large warships alone, but the UNSC doctrine is that a few massive warships is a poor investment. One stroke of bad luck or “lucky” hit on some monstrous super vessel could deprive a fleet of a huge chunk of offensive power rapidly. With many smaller ships risk is distributed and a single catastrophic loss affecting a battles course becomes much less likely.

Service
As the most common large warship in the UNSC Dawn type destroyers are tasked with undertaking all types of operation from routine patrol to fleet actions. These vessels are the most common ships used for standard patrols and showing the flag and are seen often in all areas of UNSC space. They often operate alone while patrolling like this, but for large battles they form up into wolf packs to tackle larger ship or screen their own heavies. They've proved rugged and economical vessels in service with a reputation as dependable workhorses with few quirks or foibles. They’re produced widely across the UNSC at numerous shipyards and debating which yard produces the best examples is a common pastime among their crews. Though now nearly 30 years old the vast numbers built and still active more or less assure that they'll remain in service for decades to come.