Difference between revisions of "CDF Naval Service"

Revision as of 00:42, 8 April 2006

This article is about a branch of the armed forces of Sober Thought. For discussions about armed forces generally, see Category:Armed forces.

The Naval Service of Sober Thought is the navy branch of the Community Defence Forces. The twin functions of the CDF Naval Service are to transport troops of the CDF Land Service to their overseas destinations and prevent hostile troops from landing on the shores of Sober Thought. All other functions are designed to further these two goals.

Vessels

See also article: CDF naval naming conventions.

To meet the goals of the first function, for every one hundred million national population there are three troop transports (together capable of transporting a division's worth of troops into friendly harbours) and nine landing ships (together capable of transporting a brigade's worth of troops onto hostile beaches). Air defence or force projection, the major portion of the second function, is provided by aircraft carriers and their embarked carrier air groups.

The remainder of the combat fleet is prepared for anti-submarine warfare and is comprised of: cruisers, destroyers, frigates, submarines or undersea boats, fast patrol boats and mine warfare boats. The first three ships listed above can, with decreasing effectiveness, also engage in gunnery attacks on surface or shore targets. See #Mobilisation below for a discussion of corvettes.

All surface ships may be refuelled or reprovisioned at sea by the nine supply ships per 100 million population. Additionally, two frigate hulls have been adapted as small craft tenders to support fast patrol boats and minelayer/hunters on extended operations.

Branches

The organisation of the Naval Service's branches most closely resembles that of the Air Service, since several branches are represented on every vessel while in the Land Service, most units have one (or mostly one) branch within it. The Bridge Branch includes navigation, command, radar, communications and similar functions. Sailors wear their branch insignia on their shoulderboards or epaulettes.

The Naval Weapons Branch includes all sorts of offensive and defensive weapons, such as anti-ship guns and rockets, anti-aircraft guns and rockets, and anti-submarine mortars, mines and rockets.

The Naval Engineering Branch is primarily concerned with keeping the engines, hull and superstructure of various vessels in working order. Similar but separate functions are performed by members of the tri-service Maintenance Branch and Engineering Branch on the contents of the larger of these vessels.

Naval Air Division

Main article: CDF naval aviation.

In order to protect troop transports and the soldiers embarked upon them from air threat, the naval air arm, nominally part of the CDF Air Service, is especially strong. Each hundred million of population supports one Naval Air Division comprised of one aircraft carrier group, a coastal defence group and several helicopter wings afloat on escort and landing vessels.

The aircraft carrier has more fliers than sailors aboard its 70 000 tonne and 320 m hull. Under the overall Chief Commander, it projects air power to distant shores, provides a combat air screen for large embarked fleets, and provides ground attack for large amphibious landings. It is mainly armed with the FN-1 Faina naval variant of the CDF fighter aircraft, which is equipped with arrestor hooks for carrier landings.

The underwater threat is partly minimized by anti-submarine helicopters aboard each surface ship (including the carrier). These ASW workhorses are also present in the Coastal Defence Air Group, which also has the propeller driven fixed wing RB-78 Robert for long range and long term airborne reconnaissance and anti-submarine air attack.

Naturally, the landing ships' composite helicopter squadrons are heavily weighted towards rotary wing aircraft suitable for supporting an amphibious landing rather than ASW.

Marine Division

Each one hundred million population also supports one Marine Division which is nominally part of the CDF Land Service but is always under naval command. It is numbered in its own sequence, so that the division number always equals the population wave number. In consists of three sequentially numbered field brigades.

The 1st Marine Brigade consists of light infantry with two battalions on shore and three afloat. The 1 274 marines permanently stationed on warships are under the command of the ship's captain. They are there to provide boarding parties and internal security so they are mainly armed with 9 mm submachine guns appropriate to the often confined spaces on small warships. They are alloted according to the following formula:

1. Frigates - a squad of 11 marines (totalling 264 per wave)
2. Destroyers - a platoon of 35 (420)
3. Cruisers - a company of 115 (690)
4. Aircraft carrier - one battalion of 565

The nine landing ships carry heavy marine units based on main battle tanks and armoured infantry combat vehicles which are organized as A through R Companies, Marine Assault Contingent. On shore is a cadre of 915 which expands and reorganizes the contingent into the 2nd Marine Brigade (Armoured) and 3rd Marine Brigade (Armoured Infantry). Combat support and service support troops numbering about 5600 also remain on land to round out the division or its brigade groups.

Mobilisation

Much more than its land and air counterparts, the Naval Service is tied to its equipment and cannot be easily or quickly expanded. Warships typically take at least a year from keel laying to commissioning, and even longer for capital ships like carriers and cruisers. However, a quick and dirty anti-submarine fix can be had by the mass production of corvettes.

Sailors through chief petty officers who were discharged honourably and medically fit in the last five years and who are aged no more than 30 are prime candidates for conscription. While mainly used as individual replacements for existing large Community Vessels, they are also used to crew new fast patrol boats, minesweepers/layers and frigates. Most importantly, however, they exclusively crew cheaply and quickly manufactured corvettes.