Paper 1/3203 : The Reorganisation of the Venerian Navy in light of the Asteel Revision of the ToOL
3203.001

Prior to the appearance of the Exterminator menace and the signing of the original Treaty of Old London (ToOL) the Venerian Navy (VN) was a highly structured force. Each interstellar fleet had a standard organisation irrespective of its duty station or task.

The standard organisation was 1 BBI, 2 CAI, 4 CVI, 2 DDI, 1 ALSI, 3 LSSI.

In addition there were a small number of CLI, attached to specific fleets, and the 7th Fleet had a slightly different organisation with 2 BBI and 1 CAI instead of the standard organisation, all other elements were standard.

All the Human polities realised, after the appearance of the Exterminator menace, that there were large numbers of naval ships tied up in duty stations merely watching each other. These units could be more usefully deployed in the frontline Quadrants contributing to the war. Under the ToOL a level of naval commitment was agreed as a standard for the unaffected Quadrants so that surplus forces could be redeployed.

The VN had already re-designated its second Home fleet, 9th, as a Strategic Fleet and deployed it to Quadrant 6. From the released forces and newly built units the VN was able to despatch to Quadrant 5 a complete replacement fleet to cover losses to the 5th Honour Fleet as well as a recently commissioned Strategic Fleet, 11th. A third Strategic Fleet, 12th, was subsequently commissioned and the remaining released naval units went to form the 13th Ghost Fleet.

The CLI were all gifted to the Wolfer 359 Commonwealth to assist in the rebuilding of their navy.

Each strategic fleet was given a higher than normal allocation of DDI and ALSI, with the addition of a TPTI, to provide a scouting force and planetary assault force, this being at the expense of the colonial Quadrants.

Proposed New Structure

Whereas the VN had been organised on the basis of a standard fleet structure we are now in a different climate, controlled rather more by the ToOL (Asteel Revision). This leads to the situation where the VN needs to consider reorganising into a "horses for courses" fleet structure.

Effectively this would mean having Home Defence/Training Fleets (current 10th, but will also include 14th under this plan), Colonial Defence Fleets (in Q's 1 - 8, currently Fleets 1 - 8) and a number of Strategic Fleets for deployment as the heavy fighting forces to reinforce a colonial Quadrants or take the fight to the NME (currently 9th, 11th & 12th Fleets).

Capital Ships

1: The Colonial Defence Fleets - would have to stay within the standard set by the ToOL (Asteel Revision), which imposes a restriction on capital ships allowed for local defence. Current establishment is set at 2 CAI + 2 CVI for each Quadrant and this will be adopted as the new standard for Quadrant Colonial Defence in ALL Quadrants.

2: The Strategic Fleets - would be on an establishment similar to that currently but would adopt the BBI released from other fleets, thus they are going to have a BBI rich establishment with 2 BBI + 1 CAI + 4 CVI.

3: The Home Defence/Training Fleets - would have to be a minimum of the equivalent of a Strategic Fleet plus a Colonial Defence Fleet to allow for the complete replacement of such fleets in the event of their loss. Newly commissioned ships would pass into the 10th Training Fleet as currently to allow for a period of "working up" to combat status for the ship and its crew. The 10th Training Fleet will be on an equivalent standard to a Strategic Fleet and the 14th Home Defence Fleet on an equivalent standard to a Colonial Defence Fleet, thus they will have a combined strength of 2 BBI + 3 CAI + 6 CVI. They are also probably going to have any surplus vessels not mothballed.

Light and Support Ships

A: Anti-Pirate Hunter-Killer Groups (TFnHK) - these are being brought up to have a naval core group of 1 CLI and 2 DDI in every Quadrant, this will be supplemented with any attached naval craft (most probably SVI) and SG on rotation from their home system.

B: Scout Task Forces (TFSn) - these are currently planned as groups of 3 SCI + 1 LSSI (the LSSI acting as a base ship) allocated to threatened Quadrants as the Venerian component of the Human scout forces. During 3203 two (TFS1 & TFS2) will become operational, in Q5 & Q6, and during 3204/3205 a third (TFS3) will become operational in Q7. These TFS will be independent of the local VN Fleet command and operate under the local Allied Commander.

C: Fleet Support Light Forces - these would vary depending upon the type of fleet they were supporting but should be 1 DDI, 1 ALSI, plus 1 - 3 LSSI per fleet (1 for a Colonial defence Fleet and 3 for a Strategic Fleet), with the addition of 1 TPTI for each Strategic Fleet.

Conclusion

(I) The initial aim is to provide 8 Colonial Defence Fleets, each comprising 2 CAI. 2 CVI, 1 ALSI, 1 DDI + 1 LSSI, in each colonial Quadrant. These are likely to be Fleets 1, 2, 3, 4, 11, 6, 7 and 8 in Quadrants 1 to 8 respectively.

The 14th Home Defence Fleet will be formed on the same standard in Quadrant 0 with a secondary role of Training.

Each Colonial Defence Fleet and 14th Fleet to have an attached Anti-Pirate Hunter-Killer Group operating within The Republics systems comprising 1 CLI + 2 DDI as a minimum.

(II) To form 5 Strategic Fleets each comprising 2 BBI, 1 CAI, 4 CVI, 1 DDI, 1 ALSI, 1 TPTI + 3 LSSI. These will carry a dedicated Naval Landing GFD onboard the TPTI and when operating within a colonial Quadrant will "acquire" the ALSI from the Colonial Defence Fleet along with a local GFD to bring the Naval Landing Force to Corps standard for any planetary assault. These 5 fleets are likely to be 5th Honour Fleet, 9th & 12th Strategic Fleets, 13th Ghost Fleet (mothballed) and 17th Liberty Fleet.

The 10th Training Fleet will be brought up to the same standard as a Strategic Fleet and allocated to the secondary role of Home Defence.

(III) Also 3 Scout Flotillas, which will be allocated to Quadrants rather than to Fleets, each comprising 3 SCI + 1 LSSI. As stated above these will be formed in Quadrants 5 & 6 during 3203 and Quadrant 7 during 3204/3205.

(IV) The additional forces required to complete this ambitious scheme have already been scheduled into The Republic's Naval Build Plan which currently runs until the end of 3205, but this mostly covers light and support forces as the majority of the capital ships required by this scheme are already in existence.

(V) For ease of deployment and operation the VN plans its operations around as limited a set of vessel types as possible. The VN doctrine suggests that the use of specialist vessels, particularly in the line of battle, tend to create additional problems for the commander as to battlefield deployment where these specialist vessels require protection to overcome any shortfalls in their capabilities. Therefore the VN relies solely on BBI & CAI for the line of battle supported by CVI for the capital ships, with DDI for fleet support, SCI for scouting and CLI & DDI for anti-pirate actions.

Commitment

The VN will commit 4 Strategic Fleets to the common cause under the Supreme Human Commander plus the first 2 Scout Task Forces during 3203 (5th Honour, 9th & 12th Strategic Fleets and 17th Liberty Fleet as well as TFS1 & TFS2). During 3204/3205 a third Scout Task Force (TFS3) will be committed to the common cause.

These will be deployed on a basis of 5th Honour Fleet & TFS2 in Quadrant 5, 9th Strategic Fleet & TFS1 in Quadrant 6 and 12th Strategic Fleet & 17th Liberty Fleet in Quadrant 0.

Economic considerations preclude any commitment to Quadrant 7 in the short term but during 3204/3205 TFS3 will be formed and committed to that Quadrant as a minimum.

(thanks toGraham Attfield)