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Annual Award Best Canon Expansion This article, Marathon-class heavy cruiser, written by Falkeno and Sev40, was voted as the Best Canon Expansion of 2022 in the Fifteenth Annual Halo Fanon Wikia Awards.


Terminal This fanfiction article, Marathon-class heavy cruiser, was written by Falkeno and Sev40. Please do not edit this fiction without the writers' permission.
Writer share This article, Marathon-class heavy cruiser, was written by Falkeno and Sev40, but may be used freely by other users even without the authors' explicit permission.
Halopediaicon-gradient This is a fanon expansion of a canon element. To see the original canon article, follow the link to Halopedia: Marathon-class heavy cruiser.
Super optimal The author, Sev40 urges and gives permission for any user who references this unit or vessel, Marathon-class heavy cruiser, to add their article to the "Known" list below.
Marathon-class cruiser
Marathon
Class Overview

BUILDERS

SinoViet Heavy Machinery

OPERATORS

UNSC Navy

CLASS BEFORE

Vulcan-class heavy cruiser

CLASS AFTER

Autumn-class cruiser

SUBCLASSES

  • Perseus-class battlecruiser
  • Aegis-class cruiser-carrier

COST

  • Programme cost: 678 billion cR
  • Unit cost: 600 billion cR

IN SERVICE

2520-

PLANNED

200

COMPLETED

159

CANCELLED

19 cancelled due to loss of facilities.

  • 4 Block-III's
  • 11 Block-IV's

4 Block-III ships converted into Aegis-class carriers

LOST

22 destroyed during construction.

  • 6 Block-II's
  • 9 Block-III's
  • 7 Block-IV's
Technical Specifications

TYPE

Cruiser

LENGTH

1,192 meters (3,910 ft)

WIDTH

293 meters (960 ft)

HEIGHT

375 meters (1,230 ft)

MASS

12 million metric tons

PROPULSION DRIVES

SLIPSPACE DRIVE

Starwerx FTL-276 SFTE (CODEN-IV series)

SLIPSPACE VELOCITY

2.05 lightyears/day

POWER PLANT

HAM-8193 deuterium fusion reactor

HULL

191 centimetres of Titanium-A1 battleplate

NAVIGATION SYSTEMS

UNA-uplinked navigation computer

ARMAMENT

EMBARKED

As designed

COMPLEMENT

  • 1,000 sailors
  • 1,120 (Flagship)

CONSUMABLES

  • Fully stocked: 1 year
  • Emergency supplies: 1 week
Additional Information

ERA

ROLE

  • Ship-to-ship combat
  • Transportation
  • Command
  • Light carrier
[Source]
"She's a workhorse, packs a hell of a punch too - too bad the Covvies liked to swing much harder."
―Captain Gabriele Kiki.[credit 1]

The Marathon-class heavy cruiser (hull classification symbol: CA) was the primary model of capital ship used by the UNSC Navy before and during the Human-Covenant War. First commissioned in 2520, the Marathon was introduced to combat the threat of the ever-worsening Insurrection. While not the largest or strongest warship created by humanity at that point, the Marathon was widely believed to be the most balanced.

Immediately after beginning production, the Marathon quickly became a desirable position among UNSC captains. It quickly proved its worth, outgunning every ship smaller than itself with ease and became instrumental in nearly every major conflict during the Insurrection. When the Covenant attacked humanity, it just as quickly displayed its vulnerability to Covenant weaponry. This weakness led to production slowing down as alternative designs were tested, but the sheer number of cruisers constructed meant that they served at nearly every major engagement of the War. Even after being pulled back to command the defensive fleets of the Inner Colonies, nearly every member of the class was lost to enemy fire, ensuring the Autumn-class cruiser could easily replace the Marathon as the UNSC's newest mainline cruiser.

Layout[]

Roles and Tactics[]

In contrast to all previous cruisers the UNSC Navy had employed, the Marathon-class was envisioned as a great unifying design, one that could be called upon to perform every role that needed to be employed. The UNSC desperately needed a ship that had the firepower and armour to stand up to not replace their heavy cruisers in their battle line, but it was quick enough to take over from their light cruisers in order to form the back-stop to their frigate and destroyer screen. More importantly - a requirement that potentially could've crippled the ship - the Marathon needed to be a safe bet that was easily massable. Not only was it to replace their older, more reliable cruisers, but it also had to replace the newer, less capable vessels of the Halcyon- and Paladin-classes.

In practice, the Marathon-class didn't fail in this ambition. One of the reasons why they were so often configured as command ships of small task forces was because they synergised so well with the UNSC Navy. One of the problems was that older (and newer) cruisers often couldn't deter the coordinated fighter-corvette-frigate raids so preferred by Insurgents, forcing them to break off and deprive the UNSC's fleet screen an anvil to rally around, and carriers a decent escort. The Marathon's much larger, missile-dominated arsenal and modernised electronics effectively resolved this problem and as a result were routinely deployed to conduct counter-piracy and counter-insurgency operations in high-risk areas. They were even being designated the overall flagship of entire secondary theaters in lieu of larger, more vulnerable and expensive Valiant-class large cruisers and Epoch-class heavy carriers.

Weaknesses[]

Specifications[]

Propulsion and Powerplant[]

Armament[]

MAC round
A close-up of the dual MAC rounds fired by the Marathon.

Armour and Superstructure[]

Countermeasures[]

Variants[]

Aegis-class cruiser-carrier[]

Aegis-class cruiser-carrier
Salamis
Class Overview

CLASS BEFORE

Pegasus-class battlecarrier

CLASS AFTER

Eion-class carrier

IN SERVICE

2539-

PLANNED

26

Technical Specifications

ARMAMENT

EMBARKED

COMPLEMENT

  • 1,240 sailors
  • 1,360 (Flagship)
Additional Information

ERA

ROLE

  • Light carrier
  • Transportation
  • Command
  • Ship-to-ship combat
[Source]

A light carrier conversion of the base Marathon, the Aegis-class cruiser-carrier was created in response to the perceived loss of carrier support that would result if the Covenant War dragged on for too long. To achieve this, most of the base cruiser's superstructure was redesigned to allow it to carry a larger complement, while smaller hangars capable of accommodating a single Longsword replaced many of the ship's armaments. This allowed the Aegis to carry four squadrons of F-41C Broadswords (48 spacecraft) or equivalent. The bridge was also expanded to better coordinate the strikecraft, with multiple stations for officers to coordinate multiple squadrons simultaneously. Unfortunately, the resulting ship only had twenty M58 Archer missile pods, no Longbow missile pods, and only four M66 Sentry autocannons.

The Aegis configuration saw the most use during the mid-war period when the UNSC's next-generation carriers had yet to come online while their Insurrection carrier power was almost depleted. The majority of conversions were carried out on badly damaged hull's, with a small minority of the conversions being performed on either operational ships, or on hulls still under construction due to a lack of carrier support in the region in question. In order to highlight the ships new roles within the Navy, the converted hulls would have their prefixes amended from CA to CVL and were assigned new prefix number's that had been intended for the planned Block-II of the Pegasus-class battlecarrier.

The new subtype was named after the first ship to be converted, UNSC Aegis (CA-956), which had been badly mauled during the Battle of Jericho VII. Despite the work taking two years to complete, the performance of the converted Aegis was considered satisfactory enough for approval to be given to begin the conversion of additional hulls. Due to the conversion being considered as only a stopgap until the introduction of wartime production carriers into service, only a handful of converted hulls would be produced prior to further conversions being curtailed in 2545, with the existing Aegis's becoming a rare sight during the final months of the war.

Perseus-class battlecruiser[]

Drawn up as a hypothetical concept shortly after the original class was introduced, but only entering service after 2541, the Perseus-class was a dedicated anti-ship configuration of the Marathon. Bringing to bear much larger 33DAR3/MAC cannons and two Mark 15 "Breakwater" heavy naval coilguns, as well as a vastly expanded missile complement, the Perseus traded this for almost no ability to carry ground troops or fighters. Unlike other ship-to-ship combat-focused designs, these cruisers did not have upgraded armour to help them take heavier fire in combat. Instead, they were intended to fire from range, where its heavy weaponry could be used effectively whilst protecting them from return fire.

Command cruiser refit[]

Due to the lack of command cruisers and other fleet control flagships during the latter stages of the war, the UNSC began employing Marathon's to act as the flagships ranging from large battlegroups to commanding full UNSC fleets. In response to this the UNSC authorised the refitting of multiple Marathon's into Heavy Command Cruisers by incorporating dedicated command facilities requiring of the replacement of the ships troop and smaller craft capacity with specialized and command equipment such as slipspace communication probe launchers and umbilical docking ports to permit the unloading of couriers. In reflection of the ships status as command vessels, the hulls that underwent the Command cruiser refit had their prefix codes amended from CA to CAC.

One of the most famous Marathon's to undergo the Command cruiser refit was the UNSC Leviathan, flagship of Battle Group Leviathan under the command of Vice Admiral Michael Stanforth. Despite being considered a stop-gap solution, and the addition of an Epoch-class carrier to his forces, Stanforth would retain his flag aboard the Leviathan until he fell in action during the fall of Reach alongside his beloved 'Levi', as he called his flagship.

Operational History[]

Development[]

Insurrection[]

The first Marathons were deployed in the core worlds of Earth and Reach, taking over from the obsolete cruisers that previously filled the UNSC's ranks. On paper, the new cruisers were already making a difference - the speed of the Marathon brought about a decrease in pirate raids within it's operational area, forcing rogues to utilise more restraint in what they could attack to avoid attracting the attention of the new cruisers.

300px-Punic orbit
The Jupiter being escorted by a battlegroup above Ffyniannus.

The Marathon's first chance to prove itself in combat came during the Falkirian War for Independence. For almost nine years, the UNSC had struggled to pacify the well-developed colonies in the Gaelic System, as their sophisticated ground-based defences and sudden attacks from a rather large navy stunted the UNSC's efforts to reclaim the system. As a result, a new force had been created, led by Admiral Erik Magnus on the Punic-class supercarrier UNSC Jupiter, who replaced Rear Admiral Sebastien Bourke due to his incompetence during the earlier campaigns.

In mid 2520 four of the new Marathon-class cruisers, including the original UNSC Marathon, were sent to join the fleet where they would prove instrumental to its future success: they had enough firepower to inflict severe damage before they jumped to slipspace, and had the agility to follow them even if they emerged hundreds of thousands of kilometres away. This put the pressure on the defenders, and would lead to their first major success when two Marathons assisted the Jupiter in hunting down and destroy the FCNS Blenheim, an Insurrectionist battleship.

With their prowess proven, the Marathon became a major part of the UNSC Navy and a highly desirable spot to command as the Navy's most modern capital ship. Their numbers increased significantly, not just because of their relatively-cheap construction and high crew requirements, but also because future support ships such as the Asclepius-class mobile dockyard were only designed to be compatible with the new cruiser. For these reasons, every cruiser-weight vessel starting with the lacklustre Halcyon-class were slowly replaced with a Marathon in their squadrons and fleets. They were first added to rapid-response and hunter-killer fleets, smacking down swarms of armed freighters and applying pressure to the limited resources the rebels had. So successful were they that they became the most common cruiser in history, with over nine hundred individual ships constructed across human space.

Human-Covenant War[]

"They were some of the most effective vessels we had in the Navy. Too bad after the Covenant showed up we went through them like copy paper..."
―Rear Admiral Marcus Streep.[credit 2]

Unfortunately, the Marathon's best days were left behind with the beginning of the Covenant's invasion in 2525. Few actual Marathon cruisers were actually located in the region at the beginning of the war, with most being part of the preciding Elysium class. These cruisers were among the only ships in the region that could reliably engage the CPV-class destroyer, which made up the bulk of the alien attack fleets. However, whereas the CPV were deployed in groups of three or more, the UNSC could not afford to keep them together; standing orders forced battlegroups to flee upon detection of massing Covenant armadas and only fighting above human colonies. The Marathon's formal introduction into the war was with Battle Group X-Ray led by Vice Admiral Preston Cole, whose preference on cruiser-weight vessels with support from a relatively-small amount of frigates and destroyers allowed him to score many crucial early victories.

Defiance by KillaBC
Despite being horrifically outclassed by even smaller Covenant vessels, the crews of aboard each Marathon still fought valiantly for humanity.

Unfortunately, as the Covenant's invasion fleets pushed deeper into the Outer Colonies, it became more and more apparent that the Marathon was woefully insufficient to fight the technologically-advanced warships. It was particularly easily countered by their plasma torpedoes, as not only were they guided and thus eliminated the Marathon's ability to evade them, but only certain types could be shot down. In addition, as the UNSC Dresden discovered during the Battle of Biko, only two torpedoes were needed to completely disable a heavy cruiser if they impacted the right areas. To add further salt to the wound, only the twin MACs had any visible impact on the war; Archer missiles were easily stopped by pulse laser turrets and those that survive were rarely enough to overwhelm the shields. Because of these deficiencies, hundreds of Marathons were lost between 2525 and 2531, compared to only a few dozen Covenant ships brought down by them during the same period. After this period, the UNSC High Command ordered all cruiser- and carrier-weight vessels to fall back behind the Mid-Rim Colonies for reassignment, which included the Marathon-class.

Ships of the Line[]

Marathon-class heavy cruiser[]

Marathon-class heavy cruiser
Name Hull Classification Symbol Commissioned Destroyed Notes
Block I
The original prewar production batch of Marathon-class cruisers commissioned between 2520 and 2526. Assigned Hull code's CA-911/CA-960.
UNSC Marathon CA-911 2520 Unknown Lead ship of the class.
UNSC Matador CA-913 2520 February 13, 2526 Destroyed during the Massacre of Bliss.
UNSC Verdun [credit 2] CA-916 2520 Unknown Participated in the Battle of New Tyre.
UNSC Dresden CA-917 2520 2526 Outfitted with a saddle box drive, destroyed during the Battle of Biko. Later salvaged by fetcher Oliver Birch.
UNSC Illustrious [credit 2] CA-918 2520 May 2526 Captured by the United Independence Front on New Tyre and renamed the UIF Spartacus. Destroyed during the Battle of New Tyre by ramming the CAS-class assault carrier.
UNSC Spring Bloom [credit 3] CA-920 2521 2532 Serving as the flagship for Battlegroup Morocco during the First Battle of Drawn, it self-destructed as per the Cole Protocol when the Covenant boarded it.
UNSC Falkland [credit 2] CA-921 2521 May 2526 Destroyed during the Battle of New Tyre.
UNSC Weeping Willows CA-922 2521 February 13, 2526 Destroyed during the Massacre of Bliss.
UNSC Prophecy CA-924 2521 February 3, 2531 Recovered the black box from the UNSC Accra, destroyed during the Harvest Campaign.
UNSC Erebus CA-925 April 22, 2521 January, 2526 Captained by Meera Reddy, destroyed.
UNSC Marduk [credit 4] CA-928 November 19, 2522 Unknown Assisted in destroying the ORA-class interdictor cruiser Unending Testament in 2547.
UNSC Neptune [credit 2] CA-930 2522 May 2526 Destroyed during the Battle of New Tyre.
UNSC Pride CA-931 March 13, 2522 2552 Former flagship of Rear Admiral Logan J. Borden, destroyed during the Battle for Earth.
UNSC Sedan [credit 2] CA-932 2522 May 2526 Destroyed during the Battle of New Tyre.
UNSC Haskell CA-933 December 12, 2522 N/A Assigned to Battle Group Pride, participated in the Battle of Draco III and Battle of Skopje. Survived the Battle for Earth. Currently under the command of Admiral Tausten Aida Parker.
UNSC Blue Moon CA-938 2523 November, 2552 Captained by Edgar J. Wright, formerly apart of Preston Cole's Battle Group X-Ray and the UNSC Home Fleet. Destroyed by a joint Sangheili-human taskforce after the Moon was infected by the Flood.
UNSC Hannibal CA-939 2523 August 30, 2552 Destroyed during the Fall of Reach.
UNSC Say My Name CA-942 2524 2552 One of two ships still in service from the Harvest Campaign by the Battle of Earth, destroyed during the Onyx Conflict.
UNSC Argon [credit 4] CA-944 August 9, 2524 Unknown Assisted in destroying the ORA-class interdictor cruiser Unending Testament in 2547.
UNSC Enola Gay CA-948 2525 2552 Commanded by Captain Richard Pellera, served as the garrison for Sapphire Team during the Human-Covenant War.
UNSC Royal Oak CA-950 2525 2537 Part of Battlegroup Churchill, destroyed during the Battle of NX-583.
UNSC Determination [credit 5] CA-951 2525 N/A Survived the Human-Covenant War, sold to the Commonwealth of New South Wales as CNFS Determination.
Block II
The first wartime production batch of Marathon-class cruisers commissioned between 2530 and 2538. Block-II Marathon's would be built using armour treated with a heat refractive coating to better resist Covenant plasma weaponry and were assigned Hull code's CA-21/CA-70.
UNSC Scharnhorst CA-22 2530 Unknown Part of Battlegroup Churchill.
UNSC Leviathan CA/CAC-31 2532 August 30, 2552 Flagship of Battlegroup Leviathan, destroyed during the engagement.
UNSC Chares CA-34 2532 2552 Participated in Battle of Skopje and Raid on Mount Haven, later destroyed during the Battle for Earth.
UNSC Canberra CA-70 2538 N/A Flagship of the Fifth Fleet, participated in the Battle for Earth.
Block III
The second wartime production batch of Marathon-class cruisers commissioned between 2539 and 2548. Block-III Marathon's would incorporate strengthened internal bulkheads in an effort to dissipate the impacts of plasma weaponry and were assigned Hull code's CA-191/CA-250.
UNSC Io CA-192 2539 2543 Led the Battlegroup Sierra-3 during the Battle of 18 Scorpii, later destroyed during the Battle of Psi Serpentis.
UNSC Vulture Street CA-195 2539 2561 Survived the Human-Covenant War, sold to the Commonwealth of New South Wales as the CNFS Vulture Street.
UNSC Feeling Lucky CA-218 2543 October 20, 2552 Destroyed by the Day of Jubilation during the Battle for Earth.
UNSC Swiftsure CA-219 2543 August, 2552 Commanded by Vice Admiral Berlin M. Tursk, participated in the Battle of Miridem, later destroyed during the Siege of Tribute.
UNSC Roma CA-225 2544 Unknown
UNSC Head Start [credit 6] CA-231 2545 Unknown Engaged the CAS-class assault carrier Resplendent Prayer over Imber in December 2548.
UNSC Don't Be Clever CA-245 2548 2552 Refitted for Operation: BLUE SPIRIT, destroyed during the invasion of Crest.
UNSC Damocles [credit 2] CA-247 2548 Unknown Survived three encounters with the CCS-class battlecruiser High Harbinger.
UNSC Euphrates CA-248 2548 August 30, 2552 Commanded by Vice Admiral Arjun Krishnan, briefly served as the garrison for the ONI Edge of Life and by extension Gauntlet, Echo and Noble teams. Participated in the First Battle of Deston before being disabled during the Fall of Reach.
UNSC Hammer of Dawn CA-249 2542 Unknown Commanded by Maxwell Hendricks and Martin Long, became the flagship of the Spartan Joint Operations Units in 2561. Served as the garrison for Orange Team.
UNSC Ides of March CA-250 2548 2552 Refitted for Operation: BLUE SPIRIT, destroyed by the ORS-class heavy cruiser Spirit of Endurance.
Block IV
The final wartime production batch of Marathon-class cruisers commissioned between 2549 and 2556. Block-IV Marathon's would be the built to accept, but were not fitted with shielding systems until after the Human-Covenant war. Assigned Hull code's CA-311/CA-350.
UNSC Snow Angel [credit 7] CA-317 2550 2552 Refitted for Operation: BLUE SPIRIT, destroyed during the invasion of Crest.
UNSC ??? CA-322 2551 Unknown Participated in the Defense of Concord in December 2551.
UNSC Keyes [credit 8] CA-328 2552 N/A Fought and destroyed the URF Origami II in 2553.

Aegis-class cruiser-carrier[]

Aegis-class cruiser-carrier
A cruiser-carrier hybrid subvariant of the Marathon-class hull commissioned between 2539 and 2547. Assigned Hull code's CVL-243/CVL-268.
Name Hull Classification Symbol Commissioned Destroyed Notes
UNSC Aegis CVL-243 2539 Unknown Lead ship of the class. Converted from UNSC Aegis CA-956 between 2537-2539.

Perseus-class battlecruiser[]

Perseus-class battlecruiser
A battlecruiser subvariant of the Marathon-class hull commissioned between 2541 and 2556. Assigned Hull code's CB-115/CB-178.
Name Hull Classification Symbol Commissioned Destroyed Notes
UNSC Perseus CB-115 2541 Unknown Lead ship of the class.
UNSC Spear of Triam CB-117 2541 Unknown Destroyed CCS-class battlecruiser designated Falling Star during the battle of Saint-Denis, 2545.


UNSC Remarks[]

Gallery[]

Ship pictures[]

Ship Badges[]

Credits[]

  1. Courtesy of Slower Than Most.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Submitted by DirgeOfCerberus111.
  3. Submitted by UnggoyZealot.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Submitted by Ajax 013.
  5. Submitted by TheAussie1417.
  6. Submitted by ZaperatorYnossPro44.
  7. Submitted by KingOfYou115.
  8. Submitted by Minuteman 2492.

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