SSV McKinley
From FABT
| |
|---|---|
|
' |
 |
| Production information | |
|
Manufacturer: |
|
|
Class: |
|
|
Operator(s): |
|
| Technical information | |
|
Length: |
1439m |
|
Width: |
566m |
|
Height/depth: |
488m |
|
Max acceleration: |
1 kilometers per second |
|
Engine unit(s): |
|
|
Power plant: |
5 Element Zero drive cores |
|
Shielding: |
|
|
Hull: |
1000cm of Titanium-A4 Ablative Heavy Armor |
|
Sensor systems: |
|
|
Targetting system: |
|
|
Armament: |
|
|
Crew: |
22,700 |
|
Skeleton crew: |
850 |
|
Complement: |
|
| Usage | |
|
Commissioned: |
7 September 2163 CE |
|
Destroyed: |
24 September 2186 CE |
|
Role(s): |
|
|
Engagements: |
|
|
Fleet: |
|
|
Commander(s): |
Fleet Admiral Steven Hackett (2163 CE - 2186 CE) |
SSV McKinley HA-6 (Heavy Assault-6) was a Kilimanjaro-class dreadnought in the Alliance Navy. The sixth ship of its class to be built, the McKinley was assigned to the Fifth Fleet under Admiral Steven Hackett as the flagship of the Fifth Fleet. The McKinley was the sixth of thirty-two Kilimanjaro-class dreadnoughts built for the Alliance Navy, with the ship quickly becoming Steven Hackett's new personal flagship, transferring from his former command on the cruiser Southampton. The McKinley was Hackett's first dreadnought command, as well as his second space-based command, as prior to his command of the Southampton, he had served on sea-based ships in the United North American Navy on Earth. The McKinley would see its first action in the Skyllian Blitz, where it spearheaded many of the Fifth Fleet operations during the conflict, especially at the Battle of the Dhopris System. After the Blitz ended, the McKinley acted as the mobile command center for Hackett during the Theshaca Raids, although the ship itself saw very little action, even when the Blue Suns attempted a surgical strike on Theshaca itself and its monitoring posts. After the Raids came to an end, the McKinley would return to New Constantinople briefly before returning to active duty, where it played a brief role in Operation Gyrfalcon. By this point, Hackett's fame in the Alliance now extended to his command ship, and the McKinley became a well known symbol throughout the Alliance, soon to reach the peak of its fame in 2183 CE during the Eden Prime War. The ship was present at the Battle of Armstrong, where it was never far from the fighting, its main gun managing to score several kills on geth heavy frigates and some light cruisers. Upon the ship returning to Mars with the rest of the Fifth Fleet, it was the first to be mobilized when Hackett received word from the Normandy of the geth assault on the Citadel, and took its place in the vanguard as the Fifth Fleet jumped into the Widow system to save the Destiny Ascension during the Battle of the Citadel. Despite having some close calls during the battle where it was almost hit directly by thanix fire from Sovereign, it was one of many Fifth Fleet ships to land the killing blows on Sovereign once it was crippled. The McKinley would remain with the Fifth Fleet for many months afterwards while the CDF built itself back up, and then frequented the station once it was made the Fifth Fleet's new port-of-call. Its fame solidified at the Battle of the Citadel, the crew of the McKinley were effectively the most battle-hardened dreadnought crew of the entire Systems Alliance.
Following the sudden destruction of the Normandy and Commander Shepard's death a month after the Eden Prime War ended, the McKinley would be chosen for the honor of committing Shepard's coffin to space, following the memorial ceremony on the Citadel. In 2184 CE, the McKinley saw action again when it spearheaded Fifth Fleet operations during the Counter-piracy campaign of 2184 CE, the largest cross-fleet Alliance naval operation in its history since the Skyllian Blitz. One 19 July 2185 CE, on the two year anniversary of the Battle of the Citadel, the McKinley, along with some ships of the Fifth Fleet and the CDF, would escort the Destiny Ascension during its twenty-colony victory cruise, a sign of solidarity between the Council and humanity and a way to honor the Fifth Fleet's sacrifices: Hackett expressed in his memoirs that the cruise was nothing but a farce, as any mention of Shepard was downplayed, and all mention of the Reapers removed from the story upon the insistence of Council propaganda. On 2 June 2186 CE, the McKinley mobilized with the rest of the Fifth Fleet over Earth to reinforce the Second and Fourth fleets during the initial stages of the Reaper invasion. The McKinley survived the Battle of Luna and escaped with the Fifth Fleet to the Citadel. When work upon Project Crucible began, the McKinley was assigned to protect the device, although Hackett was no longer present on the vessel itself and had passed command to his XO, with much of his time being spent onboard the Crucible itself, personally overseeing operations. Hackett briefly took command of the McKinley again during Operation Defiant, but then once again returned command to his XO as he returned to the Crucible, where he took personal command of the Shield Fleet and remained onboard the Crucible during its transport. The McKinley would take part in the final battle over Earth, where it was destroyed during the battle. After the war, Hackett was given command of one of the newer Arbiter-class dreadnoughts, where he renamed the ship McKinley II in honor of his former flagship.
The ship was named after the highest mountain peak in North America in the former United North American States. There was some controversy over the ship's name, as "Mount McKinley" was the former name for the North American mountain prior to it being restored to the name of "Denali" in 2015 CE. As such, the ship should be called "Denali", but the name "McKinley" was chosen instead, largely due to disagreements over the naming. Despite this, no further attempts were made to rename the vessel, not even when its Coalition successor was built.