Commonwealth Colonial Navy
The Commonwealth Colonial Navy (officially called the Commonwealth of Man Colonial Navy) is the primary spaceborne branch of the Commonwealth of Man's armed forces. The Colonial Navy is responsible for the defence of Commonwealth space from aggressors, interdiction of piracy, search and rescue, transportation of ground forces, disaster relief, and power projection into hostile space. The Navy is the most important and politically influential government organ in the Commonwealth, effectively dictating national policy since the beginning of interstellar spaceflight.
History
While Humans had long since developed spaceflight on Earth, the material necessities of survival on Unity after the landing of the Chrysanthemum in 2096 CE meant that spaceflight was limited to small prefabricated rockets and satellites brought with the colony ship. The first proper rocket manufacturing was not undertaken until the 2140s CE, which saw unmanned probes launched to explore the Deneb System. Manned spaceflight began in the 2150s CE, with simple rockets quickly evolving into surface-to-space shuttles with the development of repulsorlift technology.Early Commonwealth spacecraft were entirely unarmed, owing to the unified Human population and lack of any external threat. However, a military report published in 2181 CE emphasised the danger of potentially undiscovered alien life. As the Rare Earth Hypothesis had been proven entirely false by the existence of a habitable Deneb IIb, and the fact that sapient xenos existed on the planet, it stood to reason that alien life was relatively common throughout the galaxy. Although the report was decried as 'overly paranoid' by the intelligentsia of the Commonwealth, the military administration took it to heart. The Commonwealth Colonial Navy was formed in 2184 CE out of a collection of old shuttles retrofitted with laser cannons. While not the most imposing sight at first, dedicated warships and their production yards were quickly established over the succeeding decades.
The discovery of hyperspace and the invention of the hyper drive in 2207 CE transformed the Colonial Navy from a luxury into the single most important entity in the Commonwealth. Alien invaders would not be stopped by the tyranny of distance, but could cross lightyears in a matter of hours. At the same time, it opened up the largest frontier in Human history for exploration and expansion. The Colonial Navy was placed in charge of all exploration efforts, using both dedicated science ships and armed warships to explore the galaxy.
In 2228 CE, the corvette CNS Comet, on patrol in the Brius System, registered a ship emerging from hyperspace. Upon scanning, the ship's design did not match any known Commonwealth ship, and did not respond to hails. As it turned out, this was a science ship of the Xanid Suzerainty, which had stumbled across Commonwealth space as it was exploring the galaxy. When it was purportedly detected on an intercept course with the Comet, the ship's captain received instructions from the Admiralty to prevent any Commonwealth secrets from falling into alien hands. Before the Xanid ship could scan the Commonwealth corvette, the Comet opened fire. The unarmed science ship was crippled, but managed to make an emergency jump into subspace. The ship was torn apart as it did so, but was able to send a fragmented transmission back to Xanth indicating its location. This was the first action of the Commonwealth-Xanid First Contact War.
The Commonwealth-Xanid First Contact War saw a number of engagements between small groupings of ships at the edges of their respective territories, and the conflict was entirely handled by the Colonial Navy. Although the war ended a year later when formal communications were opened and a settlement negotiated, the Colonial Navy had identified numerous deficiencies in its doctrine and operational capabilities. With small ships and short supply lines, long-range expeditions into enemy space were deemed too difficult to prosectute a full-scale war against the Xanis.
The next conflict came in 2237 CE, when a pair of corvettes from the Tzynn Empire attempted to raid what was believed to be a colony of the United Nations of Earth. It was instead the Commonwealth colony of Aurora, which had been established in 2234 CE. The Tzynn were unprepared for the substantial defences their raiding craft came up against on the planet's surface and quickly retreated. This began the Commonwealth-Tzynn First Contact War, also called the First Commonwealth-Tzynn War. With updated doctrines and longer-range supply ships, the Colonial Navy was able to take the fight to the Tzynn, sweeping aside outlying defences and delivering the Colonial Marines to the Tzynn colony of Shi'Suma. The war ended in a Commonwealth victory, as the space superiority of the Colonial Navy prevented the Imperial Tzynn Starfleet from retaking their lost colony.
The Colonial Navy has been involved in a number of additional conflicts since the first war with the Tzynn, including the Commonwealth-Ix'Idar War (also called the 'Bug War') and the Second Commonwealth-Xanid War. However, its main purpose during peacetime is to protect Commonwealth space from raids by its enemies, such as the Tzynn Empire and Xanid Suzerainty, as well as eliminating the pirates that occasionally appear to harass Commonwealth space lanes.
Organisation
The Colonial Navy is, like the Colonial Marines, under the overall command of the Grand Marshal of the Commonwealth. The Grand Marshal acts as the commander-in-chief for both branches, while the highest position within the Navy itself is the Grand Admiral of the Colonial Navy. The Grand Admiral reports directly to the Grand Marshal, and is always a ranking Fleet Admiral in the Navy (though is itself not a rank, but a position within the military command structure). The Grand Admiral resides in Admiralty Hall in the city of Unity Prime, which is the headquarters for the entire Commonwealth military.Colonial Navy ships are allocated into fleets for organisational purposes, but execute missions as part of strike forces. These strike forces are typically named for mythological creatures, such as Strike Force Dragon and Strike Force Medusa. Ships on local missions, such as spacelane patrol, are typically not assigned a strike force, and instead operate directly under the command of the fleet headquarters. The ranking officer aboard an individual ship can differ in rank, from Captain (for battleships and cruisers) to Lieutenant Commander (for corvettes). However, going by Earth naval tradition, the officer in charge of a starship is always referred to as its 'captain', regardless of rank.
Aside from starship commands, the Colonial Navy has a number of other units and organisations within its purview. The most important of these is Colonial Naval Intelligence, usually just referred to as Naval Intelligence. It is the primary military intelligence unit within the Commonwealth of Man, and is responsible for intelligence gathering, reconnaissance, analysis, and espionage actions against hostile forces. While the Colonial Marines are responsible for boarding actions and planetary assaults from starships, the Navy operates a small number of soldiers as well. Most ships have a complement of Colonial Marines to repel boarders, but also employ Navy Security personnel at the captain's discretion. Navy Security is also used at Navy installations, such as offices, headquarters, and shipyards, and act as military police for ship crews. Additionally, the Navy Special Operations Forces (NAVSOF) are a small but elite group of special forces under the command of the Navy, similar to the much larger Marine MARSOF.
Equipment
The Colonial Navy is one of the largest in the galaxy, both by quantity of ships and tonnage. The core of the Navy is its cruiser fleet, which forms the bulk of its tonnage. The main cruiser class fielded by the Colonial Navy as of 2357 CE is the Merlin-class multirole cruiser, which is armed with a variety of mass drivers, autocannons, and antimatter missile launchers. As a gunship-pattern cruiser, the Merlin is highly effective at screening a main battle force from enemy frigates and corvettes, as well as being fast enough to intercept and board smaller pirate vessels preying on civilian shipping.Aside from its main battle force, the Colonial Navy operates a large number of support ships. These include supply ships, marine transport ships, cargo ships, shuttles, reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering ships, tenders, tugs, repair ships, rescue ships, and more. The Navy is also responsible for the operation of all outposts and starbases within Commonwealth space, though much of their defensive personnel is comprised of Colonial Marine forces.
Aboard ships, Colonial Navy personnel wear a flame-resistant grey coverall uniform that displays their rank on the chest and shoulder. Specialist uniforms are available for certain tasks, such as radiation- and fire-resistant suits for crew on damage control, or space suits for spacewalks. Strike craft pilots have a separate uniform, designed to minimise g-forces onboard their ships by adjusting blood flows and providing supplemental oxygen to the pilot through a breathing mask. Larger Colonial Navy ships have readily-accessible breathing masks for emergencies, such as a hull breach or fire. In the event that a ship or station is boarded by hostiles, Colonial Marines and Navy Security personnel use standard Marine weaponry and armour to repel them.
Founding Date
2184 CE
Type
Military, Space navy
Training Level
Professional
Veterancy Level
Experienced
Leader Title
Parent Organization
Location
Organization Vehicles
Comments