Hillsborough-class light destroyer

The Hillsborough-class light destroyer (: DDG/DDAll Hillsborough-class warships were designated as "guided missile destroyers" when they were launched. However, upon the installation of a new spinal Magnetic Accelerator Cannon and naval coilguns as part of their 2507 refit, all qualifying ships were granted the "DD" hull code to signify them as a heavy destroyer armed with a MAC.) was a line of heavy escort ships pressed into a command role. The largest, most advanced and above all most powerful ship of fielded by the Colonial Military Administration at the time of its introduction, the durable Hillsborough-class represented the pinnacle of their military might. It was envisioned as the perfect assault ship, working in groups to use their combined weapons to overpower any single opponent to obtain orbit. Once secured, it can act as an resupply barge for ground troops, and use its remaining armaments to lay waste to cities and even small continents. Their only failing at the time laid with their low troop complement and inefficient reactors, which culminated in a restricted range and limited their use only to surgical strikes.
Forged during the fires of the , the Hillsborough-class heavy destroyer was originally restricted to missions of utmost importance, wiping out the interstellar power of the rebels and in groups locking down their worlds. Poorly-suited to the role of workhorse frigate, the CMA instead modified them into destroyer leaders, using them to coordinate the efforts of entire patrol groups. Eventually losing their prestigious state to younger and younger ships, the Hillsborough-class would be pressed into more and more mundane roles, such as trade line patrol, frontier investigations, and even ammunition ships in some cases. Indeed, by the turn of the twenty-sixth century, the ship that was once crowned a cruiser-killer and stalled the encroachment into their domain was being left in mothyards and at risk of being scrapped altogether. Undergoing a major refit in to meet modern threats, these destroyers would fight on both sides of the , either being stolen, salvaged, or even donated to separatist sympathisers.
It was a Hillsborough-class heavy destroyer that would lead an investigation into the loss of communications with , and became one of the first human ships to engage the . Quickly discovered as being horrendously ineffective against the new , they were slaughtered in the early months of the . Outside of isolated incidents such as being used as fireships, by all Hillsborough-class destroyers were in the process of being sold off or scrapped. The UNSC ceased to use any more of these ships after , although many examples would survive in cells planetary defence fleets. Even by , there were still sightings of the class, albeit in fewer and fewer numbers.
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== Ships of the Line ==
Name 	Hull Classification Symbol	Commissioned	Destroyed	Notes
CMA Hillsborough	DDG-01 	2420 	 	Lead ship of its class, captured by Insurrectionists.
 	DDG- 	 	 	Sole surviving member of , later involved in retaking .
Hammurabi 	DDG- 	 	 	Formerly christened the UNSC Confucius, stolen and renamed by Jerrold Campbell. Now the flagship of Campbell's Marauders.
VDF Helsinki 	DDG- 	 	 	Formerly served in the UNSC Navy, later sold to the Valhallan Defence Forces.
VDF Oslo 	DDG- 	 	 	Formerly served in the UNSC Navy, later utilised by the UNSC as part of offensive combat groups. Would be rediscovered and repaired by the Valhallans.
VDF Stockholm 	DDG- 	 	 	Formerly served in the UNSC Navy, transferred into the UNSC Navy, later sold to the Ryazan Defence Forces to become their flagship. Would become a founding vessel of the Valhallan Navy.
== Gallery ==
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== Notes ==
Category:Destroyer classes
Category:CC Ships