Covenant Ship Classification System

{|style="width:100%; color:#FFF;"
|
The Covenant Ship Classification System is an organisational methodology which is used by the , and it's remnants, to categorise their warships. The Covenant's spacecraft classifications do not follow the standards in use by Humanity. These hull codes, of Covenant reckoning, are designed around identifying a ship by it's primary, secondary, and then tertiary tasks/roles and features within their fleets.
Humanity's system for identifying and categorising warships can be found by following the aforementioned link. These hull codes, as used by the UNSC, are derived from human military antiquity, harkoning back to the 20th and 21st centuries of the United States Navy.
__NOTOC__
Table of Contents
#Major Classifications
##Advocates
##Attack Ships
##Coadjutators
##Conservators
##Examiners
##Exarchs
##Executioners
##Procurators
##Vestiges
#Role Designators
##Three-letter Classification Codes
== Major Classifications ==
The major classifications in use by the Covenant armadas can be considered analogous to the 's formalised starship classifications. The Covenant's fleets are divided into several key groupings. Each of these groupings fulfill a particular niche required within their greater navy. These terms can on occasion be used to refer to a particular class. In example: a Varric-pattern Heavy Cruiser, can sometimes be referred to as an Examiner-class Cruiser, though it's more likely that patterns will be identified by their three letter codes, though not always, as certain three letter codes are shared by numerous patterns.
The ultimate goal is to make it as easy to identify ships between the various classifications and patterns.
=== Advocates ===
Advocates serve as the core of the Covenant armada. They consist of dedicated frontline warships, with crews which are eager for honour and victory. They dutifully carried out the orders from their superiors without any question, or delay. They are workhorse ships-of-the-line. They are larger than Attack Ships, but rarely exceeded the size and power of the Examiner-type vessels. Despite this, they're considered highly reliable, with potent weapons and shields, however, they lack the destructive power of Executioners. Advocates were designed to be suitable for a wide range of roles. They could be used for scouting, and occupation duties, but also the unearthing of Forerunner artifacts, and widely considered well-rounded.
*Ships of the Line:
**
**
**
=== Attack Ships ===
Attack ships are the most common warships used by the Covenant armada. However, they were considered beneath the notice of many Fleetmasters, other than to serve as a diversion to distract their enemies from more valuable targets. Attack Ships were often pawned off to the Kig-Yar, or Jiralhanae. Typically assigned to patrolling Covenant space, inspecting outposts, and escorting the shipping lanes, which were used by the Covenant's tithe ships, and pilgrims to High Charity. Sangheili who found themselves assigned to such vessels tended to regard such assignments as inglorious, and beneath them. Often eager to prove themselves worthy of transfer to a more prestigious assignment. Such as an Advocate, or even an Examiner. Sangheili crews were found to be rather unenthusiastic about protecting Executioner type warships, when they were assigned as their escorts.
*Ships of the Line:
**
**
**
=== Coadjutators ===
Coadjutators serve as special-purpose vessels of the Covenant armada. They were originally built for the Covenant's ecclesiarchy, as such, their initial roles are obscured in redacted records. Many have wound up serving as escorts, or occupational security roles.
*Ships of the Line:
=== Conservators ===
Conservators serve as conventional warships of the Covenant armada. They are elevated with a greater purpose and prestige than those of Advocates. Often, they can be found operating as the squires for pilgrim ships, as well as missionaries, and emissaries from High Charity.
*Ships of the Line:
**
=== Examiners ===
Examiners serve as valuable, and often rare, vessels in the Covenant armada. They were crewed by the most experienced personnel, whom were considered the most judicious and bold of the Covenant. Examiners frequently employed Forerunner technologies in their design and construction, and Ministries which wished to crew and deploy these vessels required direct approval from one of the Hierarchs. However, Examiners could be easily reassigned, and were generally commissioned during times of great need. Despite this, they can only be allocated by those who had proven themselves to the Covenant's holy mission.
*Ships of the Line:
**
**Onura-pattern Supercruiser
**
**
=== Exarchs ===
Exarchs are the largest and most powerful of the Covenant's warships, regardless of domain. No other vessels in the Covenant are larger, and their crews see the opportunity, and privilege, to serve on one of these vessels to be an unimpeachable honour, beyond any reproach.
*Ships of the Line:
**
=== Executioners ===
Executioners are unique by Covenant ship design standards, as they represented vessels built with no other goal in mind, except for eternal warfare. Due to this fact, they were regarded as a regrettable, and distasteful, but ultimately necessary reminder by the Prophets, that the Great Journey, sometimes required, and even depended upon the use of violence. However, given their nature, they were often assigned far from High Charity during the Covenant's times of peace, across the empire's vast and expansive borders. Due to this, during the Human-Covenant war, this convention made them difficult to bring to bear when the Covenant waged destruction against Humanity. The vast distances that they had to cross to reach the frontlines, delayed their assignment by years. However, their sheer destructive potential meant their presence was seldom missed. Additionally, their construction was rationed, and only produced during times of great need.
*Ships of the Line:
**
**
**
**
**
**
=== Procurators ===
Procurators are the most common type of ship in Covenant service, but were independent of any military chains of command, or system governors. However, they usually complied to military requests, but required a Hierarch's approval to attach to a fleet, in order to curb the power of the Sangheili. Often, they were commanded by San'Shyuum Shipmasters, rather than Sangheili, further enforcing upon the Sangheili to rely upon the prophets for their supply lines. When High Charity fell to the Flood, and the Hierarchs were killed, many of these vessels departed Covenant space with their commanders and loyal escorts. Often joining the rest of the San'Shyuum, in their flight from Sangheili retribution, which made them a rare sight in the post-war era. Procurators often housed the valuable Assembly Forges, food reserves, and the Huragok personnel which were needed to maintain the Forerunner equipment which numerous Covenant ships had used.
*Ships of the Line:
**
=== Vestiges ===
Vestiges are old warships, which served during the . When the Sangheili were united in purpose against the San'Shyuum and the overwhelming power of their Keyship. Fleets of Vestiges were ultimately sent off to drift in space, or buried in caverns on airless worlds. Virtually all records of their history and battle-honours were deleted from Covenant data archives, by the Sangheili clans which wished to overturn the Covenant's . As such, these ships were forgotten by all but a few dedicated lineages of clans. These vessels would be reclaimed by the Sangheili after the , where they would be pitted against the various factions, as the Sangheili fell into disarray, and were used to burn what they had originally been built to safeguard. Most Vestiges reclaimed by the Sangheili ultimately found their way into Swords of Sanghelios service.
Vestige ships, which predated the Covenant, are interestingly named after human sailing ships from the Age of Sail.
*Ships of the Line:
**
**
**
**
The , which was first constructed during the first two years of the Covenant Empire's existence, could also be considered a Vestige warship, though not technically predating the Covenant.
== Role Designators ==
In addition to the classification types which the vessels of the Covenant armada is categorised, each individual type of pattern can be identified by role designations in a system which outlines the primary, secondary, and tertiary tasks in which they are designed fulfill. Each of these roles are identified by a corresponding letter, distinguishing them. Widely considered a form of bureaucracy, the Covenant remnant factions do not use this three letter designation system. The only patterns which never received a three letter designation, were the Vestige types, which were designed before the system was incorporated.
Doubling of letters, signifies that a ship is particularly specialised towards that specific role and capability, indicating a capability above and beyond other vessels in that respective role. An example of this is the CCS-class Battlecruiser, or DDS-class Carrier.
The known letters used in the classification system include A, C, D, O, P, R, S, and V. It should be noted that these letter classification codes have no correspondence to the class designations which are used by the Covenant (as detailed throughout this article). Some of the human-ascribed three-letter codes have been known to correspond to multiple individually-recognised design pattern variations. For example, both the and s of Assault Carrier maintain the CAS hull code.
*A - Anointed: Anointed mission codes refer to a warship capable of pursuing its objectives without the aid of a supporting fleet.
*C - Consecrated: This letter does not indicate a mission type, but rather denotes that the ship has more weaponry than other contemporary vessels.
*D - Divinity: Divinity mission codes refer to a warship with support functionality, carrying additional fighters into battle, and the ability to disrupt their opponents with electronic warfare.
*O - Ordained: This letter does not indicate a mission type, but rather denotes that the ship has been enhanced with Forerunner technology.
*P - Presence: Presence mission codes refer to a warship used for patrolling the Covenant Empire, or escorting larger warships, or independently protecting the trade lanes.
*R - Reverence: Reverence mission codes mean that the vessel is capable of conducting reconnaissance missions, and excavating Forerunner artefacts.
*S - Salvation: Salvation mission codes refer to a dedicated warship capable of cleansing their enemies with "holy fire".
*V - Valiance: Valiance mission codes refer to a warship which has been designed to support Covenant ground forces, either directly with aerial artillery, or by providing other support functions.
These three-letter codes are transliterations of the given vessel's classification codes as used by the Covenant armada. These letters, and their ordering determined by importance of the feature, role, or the abilities given the vessel's mission parameters. For example, the ORS-class Heavy Cruiser's primary characteristic is that it has been enhanced with Forerunner technology. It's primary role is reconnaissance, and excavation missions. Pure combat is only a tertiary quality, being it's secondary focus.
=== Three-letter Classification Codes ===
During the Human-Covenant war, the United Nations Space Command and Office of Naval Intelligence attempted to clarify the Covenant ships based on their observations and limited intelligence gathered about the Covenant's own ship codes. These analyses allowed the UNSC's analysts to generate a schema for identifying various Covenant vessel types, roughly synonymous for the UNSC's naval registries - however, these classifications do not perfectly mirror with human standards. These codes often formed the basis for a Covenant vessel's "class" name. Examples include the CCS-class, or ORS-class. These letter codes were derived from the Covenant's internal mission codes. Following the end of the war, the UNSC with cooperation with the Swords of Sanghelios were able to understand the true scope and complex extent of the Covenant's naval organisation.
Further, the Covenant's remnants elected to move away from the system, merely identifying the vessels by their pattern, rather than class, or mission parameters.
=== List of Three-letter Classifications ===
;Carriers
*CSO-class Supercarrier
*CAS-class Assault Carrier
*DDS-class Carrier
;Cruisers
*ORS-class Heavy Cruiser
*RCS-class Armored Cruiser
*CCS-class Battlecruiser
*CRS-class Light Cruiser
;Destroyers
*CPV-class Heavy Destroyer
*RPV-class light destroyer
;Frigates
*CAR-class Frigate
*SCC-class Sword Frigate
;Corvettes and Light Warships
*SDV-class Heavy Corvette
*DAV-class Light Corvette
*DAS-class Storm Cutter
;Support ships
*ADP-class Escort
*DSC-class Support Ship
== See also ==
* UNSC Hull Classification System
Category:Covenant ships