Boarding (attack)

Boarding, in its simplest form, refers to the insertion onto a ship's deck of people. However, when it is classified as an attack, in most contexts, it refers to the insertion of personnel that are not members of the crew by another party. Boarding may be carried out during wartime by naval infantry in an attempt to seize and possibly destroy the vessel, or it may occur in peacetime by pirates and other criminals, or as a means of inspection by a nation's coast guard (or navy) to prevent piracy and smuggling. A "boarding party" is a combat element assigned to capture an enemy ship or station by killing or capturing its crew.
==Peacetime==
In peacetime, boarding allows authorized inspectors of one nation or group, such as a Coast Guard or an international policing fleet to examine a ship's cargo in a search for drugs, weapons, passengers which are unrecorded on the ship's manifest, or any other type of contraband that could possibly have been carried aboard. A nation's Coast Guard could also board any suspicious ships that have been overfishing in such a nation's territorial waters or space.
==Purpose==
Boarding is used in wartime as a way to seize a vessel without destroying it, or to remove its cargo (people or goods) before it is destroyed. It can also be used to aid in the collection of naval intelligence, as troops boarding a sinking, crippled, or surrendered vessel could possibly recover enemy plans, cipher codebooks or machines. For a boarding to be successful, it must occur without the knowledge of the crew of the defending ship, or the ship's defenses must be suppressed.
==Background==
===Covenant===
Covenant Naval commanders utilize this tactic, to attempt to capture enemy vessels and their technology whole, or to avoid a space battle that could damage both their ships and their enemy's vessel, the destruction of which would deprive the Covenant of valuable intelligence on the United Nations Space Command.
Up until the Great Schism of November 2552, Covenant Naval boarding parties were only composed of Sangheili, Unggoy,The Pillar of Autumn (Halo: Combat Evolved level) and sometimes Yanme'e, and Kig-Yar Halo 2, level Cairo Station infantrymen. Though, because of the Covenant civil war, the High Prophets replaced the Sangheili officers with the Jiralhanae. The Covenant Boarding Craft is a vessel designed for this purpose.
===United Nations Space Command===
Currently, little is known about Human boarding tactics during the Human-Covenant war. In some cases, they are known to use D77-TC and D77H-TCI Pelican dropships to ferry Marine forces from ship-to-ship. This insertion method was used when UNSC Marines boarded the during the Harvest Campaign. During the Battle of Earth, a large ODST unit was intending to board the Prophet of Regret's Flagship using SOEIV pods, but failed when the carrier jumped into Slipspace.Halo 3: ODST, level Prepare To Drop
Another possibility is using "Bumblebee"-class lifepods with landing gear to land in the hangar of an enemy vessel. These vehicles are extremely fast and can carry two fully-equipped Marine fire teams (8 men total).Halo: Combat Evolved - Halo
The Open Frame 92/Extra-Vehicular Activity is a UNSC vehicle designed for boarding Covenant vessels. With specialized weapon systems, it is able to rip small holes in a ship's energy shields and then pierce the hull with a gauss cannon. These vehicles have no sealed cockpit, and a pressurized suit must be worn.Halo Waypoint - Booster Frame article
==List of appearances==
*Halo: Combat Evolved 
*Halo 2
*Halo 3
*Halo 3: ODST
*Halo: Reach
*Halo: The Fall of Reach
*Halo: The Flood
*Halo: First Strike
*Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
*Halo: Contact Harvest
*Halo: The Cole Protocol
*Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe
**Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian
**The Mona Lisa
*Halo: Uprising
*Halo Wars: Genesis
*Halo Legends
**The Package
*Halo 4
==Sources==
==See also==
*UNSC Marine Corps
*The boarding of the .
*The boarding of the Truth and Reconciliation.
*The boarding of the ODP Cairo.
Category:Military Terminology
Category:Battle
Category:UNSC
Category:Human-Covenant war
Category:Human