Difference between revisions of "Battle of Otium Aqua Sea"

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Battle of The Otuim Aqua Sea
Location: Otuim Aqua Sea- Western Stevidian Straights
Outcome: Stevidian/Independent Hitmen Tactical Victory
Combatants
The Empire of the Golden Throne	Stevid	Independent Hitmen
Strength
The Empire	Royal Navy	The IH Navy
4 Super/Dreadnoughts 6 Battleships 7 Aircraft Carriers 21 Cruisers 224 Assorted Ships	3 Super/Dreadnoughts 3 Battleships 6 Aircraft Carriers 64 Cruisers 86 Assorted Ships	0 Super/Dreadnoughts 4 Battleships 19 Aircraft Carriers 4 Cruisers 147 Assorted Ships
Approximate Casualties
The Empire	Royal Navy	The IH Navy
21 ships destroyed Numerous Damaged Ships 7000+ Lives Lost or Unaccounted for	29 ships destroyed Numerous Damaged Ships 8000+ Lives Lost or Unaccounted for	32 ships destroyed Numerous Damaged Ships 8000+ Lives Lost or Unaccounted for

The battle of Otium Aqua was the second sea battle fort during the War of succession on the Stevidian front. Party nations belonging to Independent Hitmen, Stevid and Guffingford first fought in the Otium Aqua Sea early in the war when Guffingfordii naval vessels attacked oilrigs in the southern regions of Otium Aqua. Before Guffingford’s withdrawal from the war, it became a battle of wits, stupidity and powerful technology with loses on both sides. Had Guffingford not pulled out, the Royal Navy would surely have fallen to the might of the Guffingfordii navy. With the “defeat” of the Guffingfordii Navy, the Shores of Stevid and Rubet Island were again safe from the torment of international pressure. Even Stevid had gotten herself into the war, both Her and Independent Hitmen were confident of victory in the West without having to suffer the possibility of defeat so close to home by the shores of Stevid. They were soon to be proved wrong again when the enemy they set out to destroy came again in the form of a more beatable, but none the less formidable foe. The battle in South Otium Aqua was not one of great significance, the real battle was about to begin, and fighting an enemy that was the cause of the war would not back down as Guffingford did. The Macabees had a fleet twice the size of the nearest one Stevid could put to sail and had the pride and joy of the fleet. The [I]Feathermore[/I], a huge Super Dreadnought that dwarfed the only other opposing side’s SDN, the Stevidian Catholic Class.

The real battle of Otium Aqua would take place in Stevid Waters just to the East of an International Waters plot, to the West of Rubet Island. It was were the titanic battle of the Sea would begin.

Background

The reasons the Otium Aqua Sea is so important to everyone involved is that it is the key terminal for sea-lanes stretching out across the local Imperial Armies region. A direct passage from the island nation of Stevid straight to the Western Continent of Imperial Armies. The fact that Stevid controls the seas en-route to the Western Continent means that strategically Stevid can see convoys and protect (or in the case of war, destroy) the convoys. Also the Southern reaches are rich with oil fields that have been contested regions for the past five years. It was over those oil fields that the first battle of Otium Aqua erupted marking the first sea battle Guffingford, Stevid and Independent Hitmen got involved in during the War of Golden Succession. Tensions between Stevid and Guffingford over the oil fields had been on the rise for months while relations between Guffingford and Zarbia became dramatically worse. When war was declared, both Stevid and Guffingford went on the offensive. Guffingford fleets met the Royal Navy in battle thus sparking the first of two very long battles in Otium Aqua theatre of war.

The second battle of Otium Aqua led from the first battle with The Macabees intending to send the Royal Navy packing back to port. The intensions being to prevent Stevid and her allies send ground troops and armour to help reinforce the Havenic Forces on the Havenic/Macabee border. With The Macabees making an attempt to attack and possibly destroy a wounded and demoralized Royal Navy and an IH fleet spread thin, the second battle was to swiftly begin in the Northern approaches of Otium Aqua.

Assault Strike Battle Group ‘Caretian’ (The Macabees)

Strike Force Caretian was The Macabees answer to both the Stevidian and IH hostility towards the Macabees. The Otium Aqua Sea was under direct Royal Navy control and was held with an iron grip. It would need something as equally powerful to loosen Stevid’s grip on the corridor of water between Stevid and the former Guffingford. Caretian was one of the largest battle group The Macabees had at their disposal containing the brand new HES Feathermore Super Dreadnought, the pride and joy of the fleet and proved to be the centrepiece of Caretian. Flanking her were two other Super Dreadnoughts acting as protection for the Feathermore that would undoubtedly draw an extremely large amount of firepower from the Royal Navy and the IH naval task force. The Macabees, following traditional task force composition, contained a generous amount of aircraft carriers, battleships and cruisers. Following up from those vessels came the outer protection circle of frigates and finally destroyers providing a wall of anti-air cover for task force Caretian.

The task force was led by Admiral Caretian himself and was tasked with using the Caretian Fleet denying Stevid her essential fields of black gold. The Admiral held an illustrious career that he hoped that his experience in battle could win the day. The military commanders feared that if Stevid and Independent Hitmen could combine their fleets together, Task Force Caretian would fail in it’s mission and would either be forced to disengage or be destroyed. The Tactic being to deny the Royal Navy access to her allies while destroying the IH fleet while wounding the Royal Navy to such a degree that they couldn’t possibly fight back.

Task Force Caretian totals to 263 Ships with approximately 116, 932 crewmember

The Royal Navy First Fleet (Stevid)

Initial routine spy satellite sweeps over Stevid led Naval Intelligence to believe that the Otium Aqua Sea was venerable to attack despite the fact that The Macabees was on the other side of the region. The first three sweeps showed a very large naval force with huge capital ships that were obviously Super Dreadnoughts. Satellites visually identified one as the HES Feathermore and so it was confirmed that the Macabees were going to try and take control of the sea. The Royal Navy has the First Fleet stationed at Conberth Harbour, since the Fifth Fleet had suffered at the hands of the Guffingford Navy and that Rubet Island was the nearest mainland with a fleet in harbour to the sea, it was them that would intercept the enemy. The fleet had only seen a real engagement during the Holy Panooly campaign and had under taken anti-terror missions in the Sudan and Somalia. It was also highly skilled and drilled in close quarter engagements with naval gunnery. Stevid is one of very few nations in the world that have experienced enough crews that have sail a Super Dreadnought close to the combat to well within cannon range and let loose salvos at deadly range. Even at long-range, Stevid guns are deadly due to constant gunnery and evasive manoeuvre drills in both calm and poor waters. It was with these skills and experiences that the Admiral of the Fleet, Admiral Farthing, would use to attack the Macabee fleet approaching from the North Otium Aqua. It was a tactic that couldn’t fail; the gunnery of the First Fleet was known to be first class excellence both at long and short-range. Using the Ace he had, Farthing intended to use the First Fleet to hold the line of defence in the sea while he awaited reinforcements in the air from Stevid and the, hopefully, timely arrival of the Hitmen naval forces to finally push back the Macabee navy. The Admiral trusted MI5 and Naval Intelligence implicitly and understood the devastating potential of the Feathermore SDN, weakening it to such a degree that it would rather not engage would be the first step, along with assaulting the carrier and capital ship force. The other ace in the hole Stevid and Independent Hitmen had was that Stevid owned Rubet Island was the nearest land mass in Otium Aqua to the engagement. Stevid had the ability to throw a large amount of air units at the enemy fleet without worrying back losing too many carriers to missile attack. The “Hold Until Relieved” strategy that was to be used until IH force arrived was to be used. If it alone worked, it would be the biggest victory the Royal Navy would ever have seen.

ROYAL NAVY FIRST FLEET

HMS Catholic (SDN) HMS Benedictine VIII (SDN) HMS Orthodox II (SDN) HMS Domination (Domination BB) HMS Fire Flame (Domination BB) HMS Indomitable (Domination BB) HMS Helix (Conroy CVN) HMS Gregory (Conroy CVN) HMS Etendard (Enterprise CVN) HMS Jaggard (Enterprise CVN) HMS Illustrious (Illustrious CV) HMS Collective (Illustrious CV) 12 Stevid AA Cruisers 28 Nottingham Class 12 Northern Class 12 Torrington Class 8 Broadsword Class 8 Langley Class 9 Duke Class 8 Kingsley Class 3 Dweller Class Destroyers 28 Daring Class 11 Arliegh Burke Class 11 Sheffield Class

NUMBER OF SUBMARINES

UNDISCLOSED BY ADMIRALTY

Royal Navy First Fleet totals to 162 Ships with approximately 103,859 crewmembers

Independent Hitmen Naval Task Force (IH)

Only recently involved in the War of Golden Succession on the Stevidian front, it was a welcome scene when IH capital ships entered down the River Hanover in Stevid Capita to the cheers of the population. IH is known throughout the world to navy a well-respected naval force, one not to be under-estimated by any nation, to have them on Stevid’s side. The Hitmen forces were scattered all over Stevid waters providing an extra boost to the local patrol sectors on the western fringes of home waters. The IH fleet in Stevid had just got back together after the conflict that ensued in South Otium Aqua. Hitmen Naval Forces could easily converge to together under one admiral’s control and this admiral, Admiral McWalter, would have the control of the fleets IH would send into battle. Many ships were battle hardened and ready for action after action in the Southern reaches of the Sea, many were green but none the less formidable and willing to take the fight to the enemy this time round. Admiral McWalter’s tactic was to follow up Stevid’s plan. Stevid was going to try and hold the line long enough to give Independent Hitmen to get the fleet to merge and move on the Macabee fleet. The First Fleet would be nearer so sailing at flank would give the fleet a short time to arrive at Stevid. The plan was to again, merge the First Fleet with the Hitmen fleets to make an almost invincible force of aircraft and missiles to use against The Macabees. In short, to meet up with Stevid the hot zone, and clean up what Stevid had managed to do to the enemy.

TASK FORCE HAMPSHIRE

IHS New Hampshire (New England Class CVN) IHS Fearsome (Periocles CVN) IHS Neptune (Isomer Class CVN) IHS PortHaven (Isomer Class CVN) IHS Expectation (Nimitz Class CVN) IHS Edginton (Nimitz Class CVN) IHS Orion (Aasimar Class BN) IHS Aires (Aasimar Class BN) IHS Hill (Iowa Class BN) 8 Ticonderoga Class AEGIS Cruisers 12 Arleigh Burke Class Destroyers 4 Type 45 Destroyers 9 ASW Frigates

TASK FORCE FEARLESS

IHS Fearless (Periocles Class CVN) IHS Peacekeeper (Isomer Class CVN) IHS Independence (Isomer Class CVN) HIS Cassandra (Cassandra Class CVNS) IHS Striker (Nimitz Class CVN) IHS Wilson (Nimitz Class CVN) IHS Walker (Nimitz Class CVN) IHS Raven (Aasimar Class BN) 4 Ticonderoga Class AEGIS Cruisers 11 Arleigh Burke Class Destroyers 5 Type 45 Destroyers 9 ASW Frigates

TASK FORCE LONDON

IHS New London (New England Class CVN) IHS Simon (Periocles Class CVN) IHS Fromtac (Nimitz Class CVN) IHS Lamboda II (Nimitz Class CVN) IHS Courtney (Nimitz Class CVN) IHS Jack Carter (Nimitz Class CVN) IHS Sparta (Greek Class Heavy Cruiser) 3 Ticonderoga Class AEGIS Cruisers 12 Arleigh Burke Class Destroyers 6 Type 45 Destroyers 7 ASW Frigates

AUXILARIES

18 Fleet Supply Ships 12 Fleet Oilers (4 with each formation) 9 Ammunition Ships 1 Floating Dry Dock (anchored close to Conberth Harbour) 2 Submarine Tendors 1 Command and Control Vessel (Blue Ridge Class)

SUBMARINES

12 Los Angeles Class 688I SSN’s 4 Seawolf Class SSN 1 Ohio Class SSBN

IH Fleet totals to 173 Ships with approximately 115,986 crewmembers