Noryang-class carrier

The Noryang-class carrier was a heavy warship in service with the , and previously the . Brought into service in the mid-2400s as the standard carrier, it saw heavy service in the early stages of the , even as newer warships came into service with both the CMA and . By the early 2500s, its impressive armaments yet superfluous doctrinal role would see them stripped from the CMA, and given to the UNSC Navy - which then subsequently pushed them into reserve, until the outbreak of the . Necessitating a need for further carriers in the fleet, the Noryangs would be rapidly reintroduced into the fleet and dispatched to disparate campaigns across . None of the class would survive past the conflict's first ten years.
==Layout==
The Noryang-class carrier was a design born out of necessity. Its origins stemmed from the CMA's ambitious Walthmann Naval Plan, which had the rather ambitious aim to modernise the entire CMA fleet by 2480. The Walthmann Naval Plan's main purpose was to facilitate the continued construction of newer capital ships to keep pace with the UNSC's modern designs of cruisers and carriers. This plan led to the creation of the Noryang-class carrier, which would enter service as the CMA's standard carrier - a role it would keep for over fifty years. During the late 25th Century, the Noryang was challenged by the UNSC's Epoch-class design as humanity's most capable carrier. Despite being designed by wholly separate teams and the separation of their designs by several decades, the lower hull portfolios of each ship are strikingly similar - this led to accusations from CMA officials that the Epoch design had stolen the overall foundations of by the Noryang. Documents declassified after the Human-Covenant War would see this assertion proven wrong. 
The Noryang has a single mounted on the prow of the ship. Much like other human carriers, her other armaments line the ship from stem to stern, with hangars consolidated on a select few decks with large maintenance corridors, transport lifts and a flight deck command center interlinking all hangars. The reactor and engines are positioned to the rear of the vessel, although the Noryang does not feature any manoeuvring thrusters, like the Punic-class supercarriers and other capital ships. The Noryang's armor scheme is also different comparative to other capital ships, with an outer hull thickness comparable to the Hermes-class surveillance cruiser, yet with considerably thick secondary hull plate, and a series of honeycomb armour structuring and interlaced bulkheads. 
==Roles and Tactics==
The Noryang is the older brother to humanity's carrier fleet. Most of the CMA's (and UNSC's) design doctrine and standard specifications of all their carriers can be attributed to the Noryang's composition - due to its standardised and adaptable design. The , , , and even the Eion all take inspiration at a base level from the Noryang, as it was the first of humanity's standard carriers - that is, a heavily-armoured capital ship with a potent offensive weapons set, ample space for spacecraft and ground forces, and spacious command-and-control facilities. The ideology behind the Noryang-class was credited to Project Design Lead Vice Admiral Mal Coen, who envisioned a 'shoot-and-scoot' approach to the Noryang: a heavily-armed yet manoeuvrable carrier able to fight most battles, and escape the ones it could not win.
During the Insurrection the Noryang-class saw heavy use, due to their vast numbers and overall design adaptability. Thus, Noryangs would be spotted across the Outer Colonies, on missions ranging from leading small squadrons in search-and-destroy missions, to acting as command centers for large-scale planetary invasions. Despite their successes, however, the Noryangs would increasingly be isolated and misused, as the UNSC gradually took over the process of fighting rebel groups during the Insurrection. This, along with the fallout from in 2496, led to the UNSC gradually begin to seize control of the Noryangs. By 2510, all Noryangs remaining in service were either operating with the UNSC, or in mothball. 
In the , the Noryangs would suffer heavy casualties in the early stages of the conflict. As old, versatile vessels, they were seen as a perfect stopgap measure to augment the UNSC's current carrier forces, as newer warships were being manufactured. The carrier capability of the Noryang would see them become common sights in the fleets of admirals such as , and Sebastian Shelby, as they could effectively provide fighter cover for a fleet - provided they were supported adequately. Despite this, their misuse during the early stages as battleline carriers and close-quarters brawlers would see a great many destroyed during the first few years. 
==Specifications==
===Propulsion and Powerplant===
The power of the Noryang-class is provided by a single Hanley-Messer HAM-7960 deuterium , positioned towards the rear of the vessel. The majority of ship's crew chambers and weapons stations are positioned towards the powerplant, which is located almost directly next to the engines, under the large hump towards the Noryang's stern. Originally designed in 2470, the HAM-7960 would receive multiple improvements throughout its service life as the requirements of the Noryang's electrical and weapons systems necessitated improvements in power output. By the 2520s, the HAM-7960 was in essence an entirely different reactor to its original design, with an upgraded magnetic confinement, improved magnetic mirrors and an altered fuel injection system.
The propulsion is provided by three Gorgon Mark 5 fusion drives, the same engines as used on its UNSC cousin, the Epoch-class heavy carrier. The Noryang also has two secondary Boglin Fields' Monmouth Mark 4 drives, which provide the Noryang with increased manoeuvrability over the Epochs. Despite the impressive statistics on paper, in testing, it was found that these powerplants were deficient in power output and acceleration - leading to an impromptu redesign of the stern section of the Noryang to accommodate four tertiary drives. Direxion Propellants was contracted to design and produce tertiary drives for the Noryang after Boglin Fields was unable to provide a sufficient design, and as such the Militant-10 tertiary drives were chosen for the carrier. 
===Armament===
The main armament of the Noryang-class carrier varies depending on the block. The Insurrection-era variants use the 58J2V3 Mark-II Light-Coil , developed solely for the Noryang. A reliable weapon, its slow reload did leave it vulnerable to counter-battery fire from other enemy capital vessels, a point which would prove deadly in the early stages of the Human-Covenant War. As such, when reactivated for the Human-Covenant War, several vessels would receive an upgrade in the form of the 39A8F4 Series-4 LMAC, with a faster reload speed and heavier slug. This proved plenty capable of punching through heavy Covenant energy shields, such as those on the Ruma-pattern light carrier and Varric-pattern heavy cruiser. Its secondary armament was quite varied, consisting of thirty-two silos for , ten and twelve during the Insurrection. In the Human-Covenant War, the Noryangs would receive an overhaul in the form of the Helixes being replaced with twenty , and certain vessels receiving eight . Certain vessels, such as those requisitioned for operations involving the , would receive additional weaponry.
There was quite a fair amount of customisation during the war, with many captains requesting additions whenever they saw fit. Often this took the form of and point defence guns, however when missions required it, overhauls of even the missiles and coilguns would take place. One Noryang-class, the UNSC Aristotle, would refit their vessel to acquiesce to ONI requirements before Operation: PALE SHADOW in 2533. Several were installed, the 39A8F4 MAC would be upgraded severely with the enhancement of the coils with newly-developed technology from ONI's , and the point defence network would be heavily enhanced, to a total of eighty-four point defence guns.
===Armour and Superstructure===
The Noryang's armour scheme is quite different from its other UNSC carrier counterparts. The Noryang, much like other vessels, sports a coated-hull system of two armour layers in an inner and outer hull. The outer hull, comparative to the Epoch, Punic and other UNSC warships, is rather thin, with a maximum thickness of ninety centimetres of around the bridge and entrances to the carrier's hangars. The inner hull layer is where much of the protection can be found, with a maximum of one-hundred and seventy centimetres concentrated around the ship's fusion reactor, Bident missile silos, and the command-and-control center. The basic frame of the armour scheme - two layers of Titanium-A plating, with the thickest protection around the warship's vitals - was later repeated upon in all other UNSC and CMA carriers, due to the ease of construction and simple, yet effective layout.
===Ground and Space Complement===
The complement of the Noryang-class carriers is similar to other ships of its displacement. Its combat space wing was originally intended to consist of six , of the C709 variety, with its main striking power coming from four squadrons of . However, when the carriers were inducted into UNSC service, new single shipcraft entered into production, and the Human-Covenant War strained logistics chains and forced flexibility upon human formations. As such, wartime Noryangs could have anything from and , to and even . Noryangs could also carry up to twenty-four dropships on board in specialised ground combat assembly hangars, depending on the dropships size - usually , , or . Additionally, when the need arises, the Noryang is capable of housing up to six .
The Noryang's six separate ground assembly areas are plenty capable of carrying large amounts of equipment and soldiers, with a standard complement consisting of a single independent battalion of either or , and their related heavy weapons and vehicles. During the Insurrection, Noryangs, when not in use as conventional carriers, were heavily favoured as heavy blockade runners - able to strip out their single ship complement in exchange for further space for equipment, ground troops and heavy vehicles. The fast yet dangerous journeys to loyalist fortress worlds, active warzones and outposts deep in rebel territory, and the common use of Noryangs for these missions, led to the blockade runner operations being colloquially known as 'Yang Runs'. 
==Blocks and Variants==
===Block I===
The first and only block of Noryangs were purpose-built for the CMA's burgeoning navy. Sporting a singular Light-MAC designed specifically for the Noryang, and the venerable M810 Helix point defence batteries, Block I Noryangs were built around the CMA shipyard worlds of Steinhold, Kingston and Kashmir, and whilst there was an abundance of funds and materials in the 2450s to allow for twenty-three ships to be manufactured, the remaining seven would be cancelled, with the funds redirected to the CMA's secretive Project: SAURON. The CMA would use their heavy carriers in multiple roles, from naval supremacy campaigns and orbital support operations to troop transport missions across the . 
The Noryangs would be incrementally upgraded throughout the 2490s and 2500s, receiving improvements to their sensors, weapons systems, electronics and reactors. One carrier, the Lepidus, was almost destroyed by an IED planted by operatives, which led to the warship spending twenty-nine months in drydock. Despite the ships' impressive specifications, they were rarely utilised in major frontline operations when in CMA service, with all ships in the class being impounded by the UNSC by 2514. The carriers themselves would later be adopted into UNSC service, seeing combat in the long, grueling campaigns of , and . None of these carriers would survive the early stages of the , being used up quickly in the early stages of the war in hopeless, desperate holding actions above doomed human colony worlds. The last remaining vessel, the UNSC Lepidus, was lost with all hands in 2534, following Operation: BLOODIED DAGGER. 
==Operational History==
=== Design & Development ===
In 2445, the fleet of the Colonial Military Administration Navy was in a state of flux, lacking a set direction or doctrine. Emerging from the with a newfound understanding of both their capabilities and doctrinal shortfalls, the poor performance of the CMA's current carrier and escort force led to the belief in CMA high command that a serious overhaul of naval capability was required. The CMA's solution to this was twofold - firstly, a design group would be set up to create a standard carrier for the CMA Navy, that would see service until at least the end of the 25th Century. Secondly, a doctrinal committee would be set up to examine the CMA's past failings, successes, and the future of the burgeoning colonial organisation's fleet, armaments and strategy. The latter would eventually result in the publishing of the 2447 Dwardin Report, displaying major shortfalls in the CMA's equipment, officers, training, and doctrine. The publishing of the Dwardin Report would have a severe effect on the design group's goal in designing the new carrier, as then-Project Lead Vice Admiral Jacoby Shelf stepped away from the project to implement the report's suggestions in the larger CMA Naval Design Bureau. His replacement, Vice Admiral Mal Coen, would take a far more hands-on approach to designing and formulating the structure, role and overall statistics of the vessel. 
The first 3D render and specifications sheet of the new carrier, designated as GP-Design 51B, was presented for evaluation in early-2451 to the CMA High Command, which promptly accepted the committee's suggestions and moved to secure tenders from the CMA's preferred shipbuilders. The CMA's 'Usual Suspects' - that being , Great White Spacewerx, and - would all submit designs for consideration, in what was an extremely expedited process, due to the significance of the project to the future of the CMA Navy. At this time, the CMA Navy were beginning to lay the groundwork for the next level of naval expansion in order to regain lost capability, and expand and modernise the entire fleet, to protect -governed colonies from rebel groups and pirates - and the ever-increasing threat of the . This expansion would be announced as the contracted companies were still submitting tenders for the standard carrier design, as the Walthmann Naval Plan established the CMA's need to completely overhaul its entire fleet with refitted vessels, new designs, and upgraded construction facilities to facilitate this rapid growth. 
With a timeframe placed upon the standard carrier competition, as the Walthmann Naval Plan called for a new carrier to begin construction by 2455, the Usual Suspects found themselves in a rush to submit designs - yet they dutifully did so anyway in the hopes that they would be chosen for the contract, which looked to be one of the largest the CMA had ever issued for warship construction. Designs were submitted in June of 2454, whereupon after three days deliberation the Great White Spacewerx tender was chosen. In the remarks submitted to CMA High Command by the project group, Admiral Coen added: 
Vice Admiral Coen's remarks seemed to have had an effect on the speed at which the CMA approached the standard carrier project. By the end of the year, the contract had been issued to Great White Spacewerx for the order of thirty of the new 'Noryang'-class carriers, to be constructed at shipyards across the Outer Colonies at major CMA industrial worlds, such as Kingston, Steinhold, Kashmir and Noribor. Despite the urgency, the construction of these carriers would be staggered, as shipyards were under considerable pressure to manufacture as many escort vessels as possible, as per the Walthmann Naval Plan. Nevertheless, the first keel would be laid on the 6th of July 2454, for what would become the CMA Noryang.
=== Construction ===
<tabber>
The Record=
The first three ships were laid down at the same time around the Henriette Orbital Shipyard above Kingston, with the Montreux Naval Concern - a subsidiary of Great White Spacewerx. Despite the rapid authorisation of those first three vessels, when laying the plate for the third vessel, it was found that Montreux's slipways had structural issues relating to their central slipway sprues, whereupon if the Noryangs had continued construction, the slipway would have collapsed under the strain of the Noryang's weight. Construction was delayed for four months as GWS technicians worked to strengthen the frame and allow for progress to continue - by which point CMA admirals had decided to redirect funds from the project elsewhere. Despite being the standard carrier that most CMA battlegroups and fleets would coalesce around, the price per unit would see total numbers cut down from thirty hulls to twenty-three.
Despite the CMA's lack of funds, they were proactive in furnishing all the required equipment, materials and weapons needed for the Noryangs. However, shortages of available merchant vessels to transfer the matériel to the shipyards led to a further delay in construction, an issue only solved by the intervention of now-Admiral Coen. Coen, the head of the Procurement & Construction Bureau, would secure additional funding for which to pay independent shipping contractors - funding that would lead to several cut corners in what would become the . Nevertheless, the Noryangs would push forward with most of the hurdles in construction dealt with, as more keels were laid at GWS yards orbiting Steinhold and Murrumbridgee.
Between 2456 and 2463, all Noryang hulls would be laid down - as soon as a Noryang was launched from the orbital slipway, work would commence on the next carrier scheduled almost instantaneously. The fitting out process, however, was possibly the most tedious and complicated process of the class' production. The UNSC was unnerved by the possibility of the CMA having a large slew of modern capital ships that could hypothetically go toe-to-toe with the UNSC's battleline. The was especially interested in the possible delayal of the delivery of the carriers to the CMA's roster, and as such planned operations interfering with the fitting out process of at least twelve of the Noryangs - whether it be espionage, sabotage or outright terror attacks.
The GWS shipyards above Kingston was the target of eight ONI operations to delay the commissioning of the fleet carriers, two of them involving - which set back the commissioning of the CMA Lepidus by four months, and caused the deaths of eighteen dock workers.
Despite ONI interference, the Noryangs would enter into service with relative ease, as the CMA Noryang herself was commissioned to much fanfare above Kingston, on the 5th of April 2464. The rest of the class would follow in increments of several months, for the next six years. By 2470, all twenty-three warships would be in service with the CMA - prompting a series of escalations in the UNSC-CMA Naval Arms Race. This race would continue all the way up until the 26th Century, culminating in the creation of the and the Vanguard-class battleship.
==Ships of the Line ==
Name 	Hull Classification Symbol	Commissioned	Destroyed 	Notes
Block I
The first block of the Noryang-class carriers, commissioned between 2464-2472. Assigned hull codes CV-111-CV-133.	Block I
The first block of the Noryang-class carriers, commissioned between 2464-2472. Assigned hull codes CV-111-CV-133.	Block I
The first block of the Noryang-class carriers, commissioned between 2464-2472. Assigned hull codes CV-111-CV-133.	Block I
The first block of the Noryang-class carriers, commissioned between 2464-2472. Assigned hull codes CV-111-CV-133.	Block I
The first block of the Noryang-class carriers, commissioned between 2464-2472. Assigned hull codes CV-111-CV-133.
Noryang 	CV-111 	2464 	 	
Lepidus 	CV-122 	2469 	2534 	Facilitated Project: SAURON, 2474.
HasdrubalClaimed by	CV-132 	2470 	February 2533	Destroyed during the .
== Remarks==
==Notes==
The Noryang-class carrier is based off of the ship of the same name originating from the mod Sins of the Prophets, a mod developed by Chokepoint Games for the game Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion. As such, the author of this article makes no attempt to claim the concept of the ship as his, and all photos and images used are content created either by Chokepoint Games or 343 Industries, captured by the author and utilised in the article for informative purposes.