The United Nations Navy (UNN) is the naval branch of the United Nations (UN) military. It is considered less technologically advanced than the Martian Congressional Republic Navy (MCRN). However, it has the largest fleet in the Solar System and is generally considered to be the overall superior of the two.
Overview[]
Earth’s military, primarily the United Nations Navy (UNN) and the United Nations Marine Corps (UNMC), are arguably the most powerful combined military force in the system. Most of the UNN is spread throughout the Solar System, overseeing and protecting Earth's interests in the Belt and the Outer Planets or keeping the peace as part of the Earth-Mars Coalition Navy.
While not as technologically advanced as the MCRN, the United Nations Navy is considerably larger, consisting of capital ships such as Dreadnoughts and Battleships, as well as smaller vessels like Cruisers, Destroyers, Frigates, Corvettes, Patrol Torpedo boats, and Fleet support ships. Nevertheless, projections have shown that the technological superiority of Mars would give them an edge against UNN numbers in any major conflict between the two planets. unless the UNN can mobilize an overwhelmingly large force. This is due to many of UNN ship designs being outdated or even obsolete, with aging or substandard weaponry the likes of which are often vastly outranged by those of the MCRN. The United Nations Marine Corps serves aboard UNN vessels and guards UN outposts in the Belt and beyond. Marines wear vacuum-rated and radiation shielded Reaver powered armor, enabling them to engage in combat operations virtually anywhere in the system. The UNMC can place over 100 million troops on the battlefield at a given time, far outnumbering the ground forces of any other nation including Mars, and the fact that UN marines are born, raised, live, and train in the full gravity of Earth, gives them a considerable advantage against opponents accustomed to the lower gravity of Mars or the Belt.
Structure[]
The exact structure and ranking system of the United Nations Navy remains largely unknown.
However, according to on-screen information, the UNN is headed by the Fleet Admiral (a 4 or 5 star Admiral), who is the senior-most member of the Navy and has a seat in the United Nations Security Council.
The Navy itself is divided into several established fleets, each commanded by an Admiral. Each fleet has its assigned area of responsibility. For example, the Third Fleet's area of responsibility is Jupiter and its moons; hence, it's known as the "Jupiter Fleet". However, in times of war, this division becomes rather fluid. For the purpose of executing various missions, the Navy creates temporary units of lesser size, which may consist of ships from different fleets - these units are called Task Forces. One example is the Thomas Princes Task Force - a unit of the UNN which was created for the sole purpose of traveling to the Ring, and later into the Slow Zone itself.
UNN rank structure is somehow unclear due to noticeable differences between that and 21st century navy rank insignias but, it generally resembles the structure and insignias of western nations' navies.
Known ranks (including UNMC)[]
- Fleet Admiral (Augusto Nguyễn post-Souther's resignation, Sidiqi)
- Admiral (Michael Souther, Murrin, Felix Delgado, Tesfaye)
- General (McCourt) (UNMC Rank)
- Captain (C. Yvgeny, Vats)
- Commander (Kunis, Stenson, Adams, Sison)
- Colonel (Fred Johnson, Janus) (UNMC Rank)
- Sergeant (Ebron) (UNMC Rank)
- Lieutenant (Shaffer, Mancuso, Jordaan Nemeroff, Gaskin, Boyer, Hoult)
- Ensign (Larson, Butler, Fainga)
Known Shipyards[]
Designation | Appears | Notes |
---|---|---|
Bush shipyards | TV and Books | Multiple Epstein drives stolen from here for Protogen's secret Amun-Ra-class stealth frigates. |
Known Fleets[]
The United Nations Navy is divided into three primary fleets. Several smaller fleets also operate as part of the main fleets were required:
Designation | Commanding Admirals | Appearances | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
UNN Home Fleet | Admiral Pycior Admiral Souther Admiral Delgado |
TV and Books | Operated in the inner solar system near Earth and Mars. |
UNN Jupiter Fleet | Admiral Souther Admiral Nguyễn |
TV and Books | Operates in the Jupiter A.O. and the Belt. |
UNN Saturn Fleet | TV | Operates in Saturn A.O. | |
UNN One fleet | Admiral Sidiqi | TV | Fleet in operation during Free Navy Conflict. |
UNN 3rd Fleet | Admiral Souther | TV | Operated as part of the Jupiter fleet during UN-MCR War. |
UNN 5th Fleet | Unknown Commander | TV | Enroute to the Jupiter A.O. and reinforce the 3rd fleet. |
UNN 8th Fleet | Unknown Commander | TV | Converging with the 3rd and 5th fleets. |
Known Ships[]
Designation | Class | Ship type | Appearances | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
UNN Agatha King | Truman-class | Dreadnought | Caliban's War (Books) | UNN Fleet Command Flagship commanded by Admiral Nguyễn and taken to Jovian moon Io. |
UNN Okimbo | Caliban's War | UNN Jupiter fleet Flagship commanded by Admiral Souther over Jovian moon Io. | ||
UNN Thomas Prince | Xerxes-class | Battleship | Abaddon's Gate | |
UNN Zhang Fei | Unknown class | Destroyer | James Holden had been posted aboard this vessel when he was dishonourably discharged. | |
UNN Seung Un | Unknown class | Destroyer | Abaddon's Gate | Sabotaged outside The Ring in plot to discredit James Holden. |
UNN Arboghast | Military science vessel | Converted former third-generation Destroyer[1] | Caliban's War | 572 souls onboard killed when disasembled by the Protomolecule over Venus. |
UNN Wu Tsao | Unknown class | Frigate | Caliban's War | Part of fleet Admiral Nguyễn had sent to Ganymede but which Avasarala disbanded. |
UNN Ravi | Phantom-class escort | Corvette | Leviathan Wakes "The Butcher of Anderson Station" | |
UNN Feodorovna | Unknown class | Gunship | Caliban's War | One of the ships Avasarala couldn't divert away from Ganymede. |
UNN Dagmar | Unknown class | Marine assault craft[2] | "The Butcher of Anderson Station" | |
UNN Mikhaylov | Unknown class | Unknown | Caliban's War | One of the ship's Admiral Nguyen tried to sneak over to Ganymede. |
UNN Darius | Unknown class | Unknown | Caliban's War | Present at Io Campaign. |
UNN Greenville | Unknown class | Unknown | Caliban's War | |
UNN Tanaka | Unknown class | Unknown | Caliban's War | |
UNN Dyson | Unknown class | Unknown | Caliban's War | |
UNN Kennedy | Unknown class | Unknown | Caliban's War | |
UNN Triton | Unknown class | Unknown | Caliban's War | |
UNN Macedon | Unknown class | Unknown | Abaddon's Gate | The Macedon nearly had a cascade after Melba Koh improperly installed a brownout buffer[3]. |
UNN Edward Carr | Unknown class | Unknown | Babylon's Ashes | Was damaged and in need of extensive repairs during Free Navy Conflict. |
UNN August Marchant | Unknown class | Unknown | Babylon's Ashes | Escorted the cargo ship Minsky from Ceres to Earth[4]. |
UNN Bethany Thomas | Unknown class | Unknown | Babylon's Ashes | |
UNN Bernadette Koe | Medical support ship | Unknown | Caliban's War | One of the ships Avasarala couldn't divert away from Ganymede. |
UNN Charles Lyell | Military research vessel | Unknown | Leviathan Wakes | Commandeered by the UNN to investigate Eros along with escort. |
UNN Aristophanes | Unknown class | Transport | Caliban's War | One of the ships Avasarala couldn't divert away from Ganymede. |
UNN Cerisier | Unknown | Fleet maintenance ship | Abaddon's Gate |
Designation | Class | Ship type | Appearances | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
UNN Agatha King | Truman-class | Dreadnought | Season 3 | UNN Jupiter fleet Flagship commanded by Admiral Souther and taken over by Admiral Nguyễn and sent to Jovian moon Io. |
UNN Tripoli | Season 4 Season 5 |
Guarded the Sol gate after Slow Zone Incident. Part of the EMC ring gate fleet, destroyed during the battle for the Sol gate by the rogue MCRN fleet. | ||
UNN Thomas Prince | Season 3 | Carried various religious clergy and artists into the Ring. | ||
UNN Montenegro | Season 5 | Part of the EMC ring gate fleet. Destroyed during the battle for the Sol gate by the rogue MCRN fleet. | ||
UNN Hiram Grant | The Expanse: A Telltale Series | Was destroyed prior to 2347 during the UNN MCRN proxy battle near Titania | ||
UNN Zenobia | Nathan Hale-class command ship | Season 6[5] | Carried Secretary-General of the United Nations Chrisjen Avasarala. | |
UNN Nathan Hale | Leonidas-class | Assault cruiser | Season 2 (TV) | Sent by the UN to arrest Fred Johnson on Tycho Station. Raced the MCRN Scirocco to Phoebe until the MCRN Scirocco destroyed the station. |
UNN Raskolnikov | Season 4 | |||
UNN Jawaharlal | Assault cruiser converted to Supply ship | Season 6 | Resupplied Rocinante during Free Navy Conflict | |
UNN Zheng Fei (TV)[6] | Unknown class | Destroyer | James Holden had been stationed aboard this vessel when he was dishonourably discharged. | |
UNN Yasijuro | Unknown class | Destroyer | Season 3 | Crippled by an MCRN cruiser in the Vesta Blockade. Current status unknown. |
UNN Jimenez | Unknown class | Patrol Torpedo Boat [7] | Season 3 | Destroyed by the UNN Agatha King for betraying the orders of Fleet Admiral Nguyễn. |
UNN Heisserer | Unknown class | Patrol Torpedo Boat [7] | Season 3 | Refused to acknowledge Admiral Nguyễn and moved away from the Third Fleet before Jimenez's destruction. |
UNN Seung Un | Unknown class | Fleet support ship | Season 3 | Heavily damaged and in uncontrolled spin due to sabotage. |
UNS Arboghast | Unknown class | Civilian research vessel | Season 2 | Commandeered by the UNN to investigate the Eros crash site on Venus. |
UNS Hasami | Unknown class | Civilian research vessel | Season 5 | Attacked and destroyed by Free Navy. |
UNN Farragut | Unknown class | Unknown type | Season 6 | Searched for asteroids headed towards Earth alongside the MCRN Denali |
UNN Orinoco | Unknown class | Unknown | Season 1 | Attempted to intercept the MCRN Donnager but would not arrive until two days later when the engagement had already ended. |
UNN Battle Angel | Unknown class | Unknown | Season 3 | Present at Io Campaign. |
UNN Halpenny | Unknown class | Unknown | Season 3 | |
UNN Hodson | Unknown class | Unknown | Season 3 | |
UNN S.A. Corey | Unknown class | Unknown | Season 3 | |
UNN The Victor | Unknown class | Unknown | Season 3 | |
UNN Campsi | Unknown class | Unknown | Season 3 | |
UNN Mograph | Unknown class | Unknown | Season 3 | |
UNN Countee Cullen | Unknown class | Unknown | Season 3 | Carried all civilians off Thomas Prince before the dreadnought entered the slow zone. |
Watchtower-14 | Watchtower-class | Spy satellite | Season 3 | Responsible for finding Martian Stealth Ballistic missile platforms during the UN-MCR War. |
UNN Intrepid | Unknown class | Unknown | Season 5 | Was traveling to Luna during Free Navy conflict. |
UNN Dorie Miller | Unknown class | Unknown | Season 5 | Was traveling to Luna during Free Navy conflict. |
UNN Kutuzov | Unknown class | Unknown | Season 6 | Part of a UNN attack on Free Navy forces in the waning days of the Free Navy conflict. |
UNN J. Robinette | Unknown class | Unknown | Season 6 | |
UNN Santa Maria | Unknown class | Unknown | Season 6 | |
UNN Bunker Hill (ship) | Unknown class | Unknown | Season 6 | |
UNN Subutai | Unknown class | Unknown | Season 6 | |
UNN John Cabot | Unknown class | Unknown | Season 6 | |
UNN Austerlitz | Unknown class | Unknown | Season 6 | |
UNN Fuji | Unknown class | Unknown | Season 6 | |
UNN Yamuna | Unknown class | Unknown | Season 6 | |
UNN Cao Cao | Unknown class | Unknown | Season 6 | |
UNN Guion Bluford | Unknown class | Unknown | Season 6 | |
UNN Urshanabi | Unknown class | Unknown | The Expanse: A Telltale Series | Destroyed and boarded by pirates in 2347 |
Known UNN Ship Classes[]
Class | Ship type | Photo | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Xerxes-class | Battleship | Largest UNN warship class. Comparable in size to the MCRN's Donnager-class. | |
Truman-class | Dreadnought | UNN command ship. At least 4 in service during UN-MCR War. | |
Andronicus-class[8] | Destroyer | ||
Munroe-class | Light destroyer | Admiral Nguyễn sent six destroyers of this class to destroy the Rocinante.[9][10] | |
Murphy-class[11] | Light destroyer | ||
Valeria-class | Blockade runner | ||
Phantom-class | Escort | Outdated but still in service during UN-MCR Cold War. | |
Mulan-class[12] | Gunship | ||
Marine assault craft[13] | Breaching ship | Capable of carrying up to 200 Marines and breaching stations directly. Requires escort ships for defense. | |
Insertion-type[14] | Dropship Skiff | ||
Marauder-type[15] | Dropship Skiff |
Class | Ship type | Photo | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Truman-class | Dreadnought | UNN command ship. Despite being decades old, this is still the most powerful ship class in the entire fleet. At least one ship upgraded with additional PDCs and torpedo bays. | |
Nathan Hale-class | Command ship | A ship of this class the UNN Zenobia served as UN One during the Free Navy Conflict. This command ship was modern by this time and was equiped with Carbon silicate lace plating on its hull for extra armor. | |
Leonidas-class | Battleship | A design affected heavily by budget cuts. Used heavily by the UNMC due to its large hangarbay. Eventually refitted with new smaller railguns and one less drive cone. | |
Unknown class | Battleship | One ship of this class was destroyed by pirates, with its wreck being boarded, and surviving crew brutally murdered. | |
Unknown class | Cruiser | Two ships of this class engaged Free Navy forces near Patroclus during the Free Navy Conflict. | |
Unknown class | Unknown | Numerous amount engaged in combat with PDCs during the Ganymede Incident. At least two ships of this class later escorted the UNN Thomas Prince into the Slow Zone. | |
Unknown class | Unknown | This unknown ship class was a part of the EMC Jupiter fleet twenty years after the Free Navy Conflict[16] | |
Unknown class | Frigate | One ship of this class was stolen in 2345 during a Europa uprising in 2345.[17] | |
Unknown class | Destroyer | James Holden served onboard a ship of this class the Zhang Fei. | |
Unknown class | Patrol Torpedo Boat[18] | Were present in the UNN Jupiter fleet during the Io Campaign. | |
Unknown class | Unknown | A small ship type. One ship of this class was a part of the UNN battlegroup 1 during the Free Navy Conflict[19] | |
Leonidas-class | Supply ship | Heavily modified, this variant of the Leonidas-class had its railguns and missiles removed. | |
Unknown class | Fleet support ship | Used to support UNN fleets. These ships are unarmed. | |
M-Type | Dropship Skiff | Often used by the United Nations Marine Corps onboard Leonidas-class battleships. | |
L-Type | Dropship Skiff |
History[]
Eros Incident[]
When the Donnager is destroyed by what is believed to be OPA ships, and Mars declares war on the Belt, the the UN stays neutral. Later when Holden released information on the ships that destroyed the Donnager were actually made on Earth, UNN ships fired on Martian Congressional Republic Navy ships in Mars' orbit and destroyed the Deimos deep radar station. After securing Martian space, the UNN begin laying siege to Mars, forcing, the MCRN then orders nearly all their ships in the system to return to Mars and declares war on Earth. The Belt claims it a victory, and the siege lasts for months. However, all combat remains in orbit and doesn't spread onto Martian soil.
The Charles Lyell, a science vessel, escorted by the Ravi, was doing a non-Belt asteroid mapping when it was diverted to Eros to collect samples of the Protomolecule. It was in a confrontation with the Rocinante until they finally worked together to stop the asteroid.
Ganymede Incident[]
In the eighteen months since the Eros incident the MCR and UN have been in a bitter cold war.
The Ganymede incident was an event where a human-protomolecule hybrid attacked Martian and UN Marines on Ganymede, killing everyone except Gunnery Sergeant Roberta Draper. The initial attack was misinterpreted by both the MCR and the UN as an attack from the other side, which lead to a battle above and on Ganymede that claimed nearly three thousand military and civilian lives, as well as over five billion MCR dollars of infrastructure damage.
[]
In 16 XTE, the United Nations Navy was absorbed into the Consolidated Fleet, which, in turn, waged war against the Free Navy during the Free Navy Conflict.
At the end of the conflict only three of the UNN's Battleships are still operational, two of which are deployed to the Slow Zone to guard the Laconia system gate.
Laconian Dominance[]
After the defeat to the Laconian Imperial Navy the UNN was still permitted to operate as part of the Earth-Mars Coalition Navy in policing operations in the Sol system.
Prior to the Eros Incident[]
The UNN detected the battle between the MCRN Donnager and unknown stealth vessels, although powerful jamming in the area prevented precise readings. UNN Admiral Michael Souther dispatched the UNN Orinoco to find out what was going on, but by the time it got there it was to late to assist the Donnager. Unbeknownst to them, James Holden and his crew survived the battle by fleeing in a MCRN Corvette-class frigate, the MCRN Tachi.
Eros Incident[]
When the UN found out about Eros moving towards Earth, the UN and UNN leadership of the UN Security Council decided to contact a ship that was there, the Rocinante, not knowing that the captain was in fact James Holden working with the OPA faction of Fred Johnson. He persuaded them to launch long range nuclear missiles and that Fred Johnson could be trusted.
Ganymede Incident[]
Slow Zone Incident[]
The UNN dispatched a flotilla, along with the MCRN and OPA, to the Sol gate with various religious leaders, artists and scientists onboard the flagship UNN Thomas Prince. When the ring gate activated and the three fleets moved into it the Secretary-General of the United Nations ordered that all civilians onboard leave on the UNN Countee Cullen to Corley Station on Titan.
[]
With Nancy Gao the new Secretary-General of the United Nations she pursued a policy of emigration for the population off Earth to the new colonies on the planets accessible through the Ring network.
When Earth was struck by two stealth coated asteroids parliament member Chrisjen Avasarala convinced Nancy Gao to connect the asteroid spotters to the defence network to detect further asteroids. Nancy ordered this, however it was too late to save herself as whilst she was onboard UN One a third asteroid impacted the Indian ocean near her location. Her plane and its escorts were hit by the blastwave knocking them out of the sky and killing all onboard.
David Paster was the highest surviving member of parliament and became acting Secretary General. He knew he was unsuited to the role and asked Chrisjen Avasarala to serve on his council. During a meeting Admiral Felix Delgado recommended a strike on Pallas as it contained high Marco Inaros supporters. Chrisjen opposed this however as this was a civilian target and would only radicalise the entire Belt against the United Nations.
David Paster authorised a strike on Pallas behind the back of Chrisjen anyways hitting the station with many civilian casualties. Chrisjen Avasarala protested this and when became clear that David Pastor was more interested in attacking Belters in retaliation strikes she resigned from her position, refusing to be any part of it. A further three ministers then also immediately resigned along side her.
Later four more ministers resigned from his cabinet and those remaining made a Vote of no confidence in David Pastor removing him from his post and electing Chrisjen Avasarala to be Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Upon her swearing in Chrisjen Avasarala declared martial law on Earth and Luna during the crisis and announced that there would be no strikes against any of the loyal civilians of the Belt and outer system.Notable personnel[]
- The former leader of the Outer Planets Alliance, Fred Johnson, was formerly a colonel in the United Nations Marine Corps, where he gained infamy throughout the system as the “Butcher of Anderson Station.”[20]
Gallery[]
See also[]
References
- ↑ The Expanse Novel Caliban's War - Chapter 23: Avasarala
- ↑ The Expanse Short Story "The Butcher of Anderson Station"
- ↑ The Expanse Novel Abaddon's Gate - Chapter 7: Melba
- ↑ The Expanse Novel Babylon's Ashes - Chapter 25: Fred
- ↑ The Expanse TV Series - Season 6, Episode 1: "Strange Dogs"
- ↑ The TV adaptation referred to James Holden's ship with a similar but distinct name. It is unknown whether that was intentional or a blunder.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 the tone used when the remark was made suggests it may actually have been just a form of denigration and not an actual PT boat
- ↑ https://www.polygon.com/2020/9/21/21449127/ships-of-the-expanse-rpg-book-rocinante-deck-plan?fbclid=IwAR0g0GZX1N8T_QO0fsXSfZoPKmnbLQY4viWI74n02s9t9EFM7ynBGLeBvYg
- ↑ The Expanse Novel Caliban's War - Chapter 39: Holden
- ↑ The Expanse Novel Caliban's War - Chapter 42: Holden
- ↑ https://www.polygon.com/2020/9/21/21449127/ships-of-the-expanse-rpg-book-rocinante-deck-plan?fbclid=IwAR0g0GZX1N8T_QO0fsXSfZoPKmnbLQY4viWI74n02s9t9EFM7ynBGLeBvYg
- ↑ https://www.polygon.com/2020/9/21/21449127/ships-of-the-expanse-rpg-book-rocinante-deck-plan?fbclid=IwAR0g0GZX1N8T_QO0fsXSfZoPKmnbLQY4viWI74n02s9t9EFM7ynBGLeBvYg
- ↑ The Expanse Short Story "The Butcher of Anderson Station"
- ↑ https://www.polygon.com/2020/9/21/21449127/ships-of-the-expanse-rpg-book-rocinante-deck-plan?fbclid=IwAR0g0GZX1N8T_QO0fsXSfZoPKmnbLQY4viWI74n02s9t9EFM7ynBGLeBvYg
- ↑ https://www.polygon.com/2020/9/21/21449127/ships-of-the-expanse-rpg-book-rocinante-deck-plan?fbclid=IwAR0g0GZX1N8T_QO0fsXSfZoPKmnbLQY4viWI74n02s9t9EFM7ynBGLeBvYg
- ↑ The Expanse: Dragon Tooth Issue 10
- ↑ The Expanse: A Telltale Series
- ↑ The Expanse TV Series - Season 3, Episode 5: "Triple Point"
- ↑ The Expanse TV Series - Season 6, Episode 6: "Babylon's Ashes"
- ↑ The Expanse Roleplaying Game, chapter 8 - Earth