Enzmann Starship

----
Enzmann Starships were a popular type of Pre-Slipspace colony vessel utilized by humanity in the 22nd and early 23rd centuries. The so-called "Starships" were based heavily on the 20th century concepts by of the . The concept, widely utilized in Human media throughout the 20th-22nd centuries, eventually inspired several shipbuilding corporations to utilize the concepts as inspiration for actual production model vessels. Due to the broad nature of the concepts, there were several dozen variations of Enzmann-types in production by the time of the introduction in 2291. 
Experts in the 26th century estimate that as many as a few dozen interstellar Enzmann-types might still be undiscovered, and may still pose threats to navigation as well as being a potential target for human traffickers.
== History ==
=== Conceptualization (20th Century) ===
The concept of the Enzmann Starship was first brought to public attention in the 20th century paper media , a magazine dedicated to science fiction and science speculation. These concepts would change only slightly in the decades after this initial publication, but due to the technology of the era, the Enzmann concepts were simply unattainable during their time. Dr. Duncan-Enzmann's proposals, however, had captured the imagination of many other scientists and authors in forms of different concepts, designs, and depictions in popular media throughout the 20th to 22nd centuries.
=== Real World Inception (22nd Century) ===
During the early stages of Interplanetary Colonization, many aerospace corporations had already manufactured inter-planet craft of several different styles. However, the first ever proper Enzmann Starship—aptly named "The Enzmann"—was commissioned by the Daimler-Raytheon Aktiengesellschaft, and launched in 2109. In the following decades, several corporations would build copy cat vessels, but these sort of ships would generally be referred to as "Enzmann-type" regardless.
The first recorded instance of an Enzmann class ship being used for interstellar travel was in 2152, and was a privately funded Generation Ship commissioned and christened by the Neo-Mormon Church. Several other private expeditions would launch throughout the following decades—it is estimated that as many as 125 Enzmann style ships had launched for interstellar destinations during this time. 
=== Obsolescence (23rd Century) ===
After the creation of the and it's unveiling in 2291, several hundred orders of Enzmann-types were put on an indefinite hold, and production then slowed to a crawl. Over the course of the next decade, many more partially completed ships in queue were cancelled in the hundreds. With the advent of travel, Enzmann-types were made somewhat obsolete. What was ultimately more detrimental to Enzmann-type sales was the loss of desirability by consumers. Enzmann-types were generally marketed as colony vessels, and the idea that there would soon be quicker ships available for purchase stalled their marketability. This crash in consumer demand came at the very height of Enzmann production, and was an entirely unforeseen crisis by Enzmann shipbuilders and their investors.
=== The Shipbuilding Crisis (23rd - 24th Century) ===
Due to the high demand of Enzmann-types prior to it's unveiling, it was common for these shipyards to construct ship frames before orders were made, and fuel bought before the funds for fuel was procured. With orders for ships being cancelled, and consumers unwilling to pay the price for such costly upgrades, the jump in cancellations spurred the closing of several orbital Shipyards that specialized in Enzmann construction. The bankruptcy of several large Enzmann-type Shipbuilding Corporations, including Daimler-Raytheon, soon followed. 
During this era, several investment banks would also close due to shipbuilding businesses defaulting on loans, and plummeting market value. These investment banks often gave high-risk loans to these corporations to buy raw metal and fuel. When shipbuilders began to claim bankruptcy, many of these sorts of banks folded or were bought by larger institutions. Bank closures caused a wider spread financial panic and subsequent market crash on Tuesday, November 18th 2303, known as "Grey Tuesday". An on again-off again market recession followed for the next two decades. 
Due to the crisis, popular design and opinion moved away from Enzmann-types. With the Translight Engine came new concepts and emphases for vessel design. The UEG created several mandates to regulate ship frames for those that intended to utilize slipspace travel. These mandates also had the effect of making existing retrofitted Enzmanns unfit to code, another blow to their already crippled market. Consumers, in response to these new codes, called for Shipbuilders to put more versatility in their designs to avoid such a crisis again. The culmination of regulation and consumer demand spurred the creation of several different vessel prototypes and designs, some of which continued into the 26th century. This was the final deathknell for the stuggling Enzmann ship classes, and they were phased out entirely by the mid 24th century. 
=== Operation: SLOW BURN (2370 - 2412) ===
After the first major UNSC colony ship, Odyssey, arrived at present day Reach in 2362, the newly formed and , backed by the UNSC and UEG, made an effort to locate Enzmann ships. 
The UEG had made evident it's fears of the possibility that, several hundred years in the future, Enzmann ships may arrive at established colonies after the ship's life-support systems failed in en route. The fear then being that these ships could become an uncontrolled nuclear bomb. If an Enzmann crash landed on a human settlement, it had the chance to spread radiation fallout across a large swath of area that could take several decades to clean or, possibly, result in a colony being completely abandoned. The likelihood, also, that radiation released by an destroyed Enzmann-type's engines or reactor could drastically effect satellite and ship instrumentation for hundreds of years if in orbit around a settlement. It was decided that intercepting the ships before they arrived was the safest way to ensure that they could not cause unforeseen disasters later.
The initiative, called Operation: SLOW BURN, launched in 2370 and formally ended in 2412. During this time, several ships were found by the UNSC Navy and were either offered to return to UEG space, retrofitted with Translight Engines, or "towed" to the nearest planet. A large percentage of these ships inhabitants would go on to colonize other planets with help from the Colonial Administration Authority.
Even with the early effort to locate Enzmann-types in interstellar space, some would continue to be found in the 26th century, hundreds of years after their initial launch. In rare cases, these ships have even been preyed upon by Insurrection-backed human traffickers. These traffickers have since been dubbed "Body Snatchers". By 2558, professional estimates assume that there could be upwards of thirty ships still waiting to be rediscovered and integrated back into society. These same experts believe these remaining ships are more than likely smaller ships without distress beacons, which has directed away from current human settlements and stars. This has increased the likelihood that not all remaining Interstellar Enzmann Starships will be found.
== Characteristics ==
centre|thumb|640x640px|A 1500 meter long Dailmer-Raytheon "Enzmann Sternboot" leaves a Martian drydock in 2186. This ship, the Ambrosia Infinata, was one of the few dozen never located by the UNSC.
The standard Enzmann Starship is most often defined by it's large frozen deuterium fuel tank at it's forward portion, often sized to either third of it's total length, or slightly smaller. The rest of the ship is comprised of a series of long, cylindrical hulls which make up a majority of the ship's length. These cylindrical hulls were usually lined with "redundant hulls" and access causeways. It was somewhat standard in the 20th-22nd centuries to have redundant wiring and piping along these sorts of causeways but, in the case of Enzmann-types, these also served as a sort of faux-exterior that doubled as micrometeorite protection, as the interior plating was relatively thin.. The final section of an Enzmann is it's engine section, where it's pulsing nuclear engines, and main fusion reactor reside. This section also features a series of coolant radiator masts.
Daimler-Raytheon Enzmann's often did not exceed 1500 meters in length, and rarely shied away from their initial designs. Other corporations, however, including Walsh Micah Applications, supplied ships as long as 2000-2500 meters, though this was a rarity and UEG documentation indicates these ships were sold as Water-Ice freighters during the Shipbuilding Crisis, and not marketed as Enzmann-types though, visually, the resemblance would have been obvious to buyers. 
There were other so-called Enzmann's that corporations experimented with such as the "Echo Lance" or "Hyperion Lance" design proposed in the 20th century by Robert Enzmann. The Lance design was a slight bit more complex than the popular standard Enzmann design, introducing a speculative and yet-built propulsion system. Due to this, it was decidedly less adaptable beyond it's long-term itinerant design. This design never saw production beyond prototypes.
Category:Colony ship classes