South Colmari Squadron
Unit History
The history of Task force 39 (aka the South Colmari Squadron) goes back to the inter-war period when piracy started to run rampant again due to the Post-War depression after The War of the Nine Emperors. It was first proposed that a fleet needed to be stationed in the area of the south colonies by an Acentian political journalist named Artur Viksland in 1910 however this idea would not reach the Acentian parlament until February of 1921. The first Task force in the area was known as the "colonial guard squadron and consisted of 3 ships that had been stationed there during the war. The flagship was the Royal Port-Class Armored Cruiser APS Kaiphas, and two Helles-Class Destroyers, the APS Holendorf and the APS Honeycomb. This force was commanded by Captain Alfred Hodkens of the APS Kaiphas. This force patrolled the southern colonies for nearly a decade. Struggling with unreliable local colliers to refuel them, they often ended up sitting in port for months at a time before finally in 1930 they were replaced by the newly formed "New Acentia Squadron". This new force arrived in response to rising reports of piracy in the region and so this force was specifically designed for commerce protection and law enforcment. This new Squadron consisted of a flagship, the newly commissioned Battlecruiser APS Kain Burka, 3x outdated Cruisers from the previous war; the APS Holderead, APS Condor, and APS Ultimate; lastly 10x Brand new Grendal-Class Fast PT boats. This force saw significantly more action over the next 12 years, racking up nearly 280 confirmed victories over pirate vessels and assisting more than 4,000 ships in fending off pirate attacks. In 1943 at the start of the Twelve Years War the task force was put on high alert and began to patrol the area in force. At around midday on August 16th, 1943, smoke was spotted in the horizon to the north and the fleet swiftly moved to investigate. Ground based bombers within an hour identified this unkown force as a Stanni fleet of nearly double the firepower. After some consideration, the Admiral in command decided to make the attack an attempt to hold of the enemy force. While closing the distance the same Acentian bombers made a run on the enemy fleet, damaging one heavy cruiser enough that it had to fall out of line. By 7PM the forces met and the engagment began. The fiht lasted less than an hour and the whole Acentian Fleet was either sunk or scuttled, aswell as 2 Stanni Cruisers, and 1 Destroyer. Soon after the fight the bloodied Stanni fleet returned to their waters and everyone forgot about the south colonies due to the stalemate in Grabbenheim. Nothing much happend in the area until february of 1946 when the war in Acentia was cooling down that Task force 39 was formed with the TF39 Agreement between Acentia, Nydonia, and Mahadrin. All three nations contributed ships to the fleet as none alone had enough ships to spare after the Slugging match that was the Nine Days Battle back in November of 45'. The task force served faithfully, protecting merchant shipping, escorting convoys, and participating in several small engagments with the Imperial Toknaagi Navy. In 1955, less than two weeks before the end of the war several of the Task forces destroyers and the Battlecruiser flagship APS Nightengale were moved to guard the vital port of Gallowdance back in the home country after the 2nd battle there. and the rest of the force stayed until the early days of 1956 when the unit was disbanded and brought back to the home islands. a memorial to the men of TF39 who died during the war was erected in 1978 on the island of Goiyo where the task forces home port was. In more modern times, the Acentian Naval Academys "Naval police course" is often refered to as the "Privateer" course which is a nod to TF39s nickname. Additionally, the MOS for Navy Police is Tango-Foxtrot-3-9. To this day the veterans of TF39 make an anual reunion at the APS Nightengale Museum in Gallowdance Harbour.Composition
Vehicles
Flagship: 1x Cooper-Class Battlecruiser
APS Nightingale (BC12)
3x Avendora-Class Light Cruiser
APS Costal, APS Seraphim, APS Citadel
1x Ratukan-Class Heavy Cruiser
RMS Hanuman
2x Nydonia Class Heavy Cruiser
NSV Kiphon, NSV Rapier
3x Schofield-Class Heavy Cruiser
APS Kendall Jones, APS Avilla, APS Breakwater
4x Teal Class Destroyer
NSV Vice, NSV Calgary, NSV Forlorn, NSV Alligator
6x Hans York-Class Destroyer
APS Heaven, APS St. Martin, APS St. Frederick, APS Dalmatian, APS Bolo, APS Royal Port
Type
Navy
Overall training Level
Professional
Assumed Veterancy
Trained
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