Menghean Navy

Menghean Navy
대멩 해군 / 大孟海軍 Dae Meng Haegun
File:Soodean Naval Flag.png Naval Flag of the Menghean Navy
Founded	1901
Current form	1988
Service branches	Marine Infantry Naval Aviation
Headquarters	Songsu-do Naval Base
Leadership
Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces	Choe Sŭng-min
Admiral of the Navy	Ri Han-bin
Personnel
Active personnel	410,000 (approx.)
Expenditure
Budget	$108 billion (2021)

The Menghean Navy (Menghean: 대멩 해군 / 大孟海軍, Dae Meng Haegun) is the service branch of the Menghean Armed Forces specializing in maritime warfare. It is tasked with defending Menghe and its strategic interests against foreign encroachment at sea, and supporting amphibious and coastal operations on land.

The Menghean Navy was established in its present form on 25 May 1988, when the Interim Council for National Restoration formally proclaimed the Socialist Republic of Menghe. Prior to that point, under the Democratic People's Republic of Menghe, it had been known as the Menghean People's Navy. It traces its heritage to the Imperial Menghean Navy of 1927-1945 and the Menghean Federal Navy of 1901-1927.

Organizationally, the Menghean Navy is equal in stature to the Menghean Army; together, the two branches account for the majority of Menghe's armed forces. The Menghean Navy has its own shore-based air service (Menghean Naval Aviation), its own ground combat units (the Menghean Marine Infantry), and during some time periods it directly administered the Menghean Maritime Security Force. There is a degree of inter-service rivalry between the Army and Navy, though both are subordinate to the Ministry of National Defense, which imposes a common grand strategy and common procurement standards upon the two branches.

In April 2022, on the eve of the Second Pan-Septentrion War, the Menghean Navy was one of the largest navies in Septentrion, with over 350 ships, over 1,300 aircraft, and over 410,000 personnel. Menghe's total naval budget for 2021, the last full prewar fiscal year, was officially reported as $109 billion. Even after accounting for wartime losses, it remains one of the largest navies in the world. Its expeditionary capability, however, is rather modest, and its surface operations are largely confined to the South Menghe Sea. In recent years, the Menghean Navy has invested in submarine bases further afield, most notably in Hallia, Kolodoria (now closed), and Idacua.

History

Modern history (1901-1945)

The Menghean Navy was established by law on 10 August 1901, slightly over a week after the formal establishment of the Federative Republic of Menghe. It was formed from the combined naval forces of the Namyang Government and the State of Sinyi at a founding ceremony in the city of Anchŏn.

Menghean People's Navy (1946-1988)

The immediate precursor of today's Menghean Navy was the Menghean People's Navy, officially established in 1964 at the end of the Menghean War of Liberation. Between foreign disarmament and the evacuation of Republican ships, its list of assets was pitifully short: two super-heavy cruisers, three destroyers, and six submarine chasers, as well as various torpedo boats and light patrol craft. Most of the major assets had been captured during the Gyŏngsan Mutiny, and all ships save for two submarine chasers were of PSW vintage. Having just emerged from thirty years of continuous conflict with the Western powers, the leaders of the Democratic People's Republic of Menghe were deeply concerned about the possibility of a foreign sea invasion, and launched the First Emergency Shipbuilding Program in an effort to restore some naval defensive capability. Many ships built during this period, such as the Taepung-class destroyers, were based on late-war designs and were obsolete from the moment they were laid down. The DPRM also purchased a number of warships from Letnia, which, due to its neutrality policy and relations with Kolodoria, became a major supplier of arms for the Menghean Navy.

From its formation onward, the Menghean People's Navy was highly defensive in orientation. Menghe's recovering shipbuilding capability left its fleet numerically and technologically inferior to the forces of Dayashina, Tír Glas, Sieuxerr, and Anglia and Lechernt, ruling out any meaningful power projection. At the same time, the DPRM's economy was relatively isolated from trade, and its main resource suppliers shipped goods over land, so there was little need to protect sea lanes in a conflict. The main role of the MPN was to intercept enemy landing ships and aircraft carriers, or at least buy time for the Menghean People's Army to prepare beachhead defenses. To serve this mission, the MPN was divided into two forces: the South Sea Fleet, which focused on intercepting traffic through the Strait of Portcullia, and the East Sea Fleet, which focused on engaging Dayashinese and Hanhaean forces around the East Sea (or Sea of Fuso). To allow free travel between the two areas, the DPRM invested in a naval landing force capable of seizing the Renkaku Islands, which formed a chain between the East and South Menghe Seas. Submarine bases in Maverica and Polvokia also allowed Menghean submarines to raid transoceanic shipping without having to slip through bottleneck areas en route.

It was in this period that Menghean naval doctrine developed into a new model emphasizing the counteroffensive strike. Faced with numerically and technologically superior large-ship forces, the Menghean People's Navy aimed to leverage its short supply chains and proximity to home ports, relying heavily on shore-based missiles, naval aviation, and light missile craft. Even its larger ships, like the Nunbora and Chŏndong classes, had relatively short ranges, and were designed to sortie from base, launch a salvo of anti-ship missiles, and withdraw to re-arm. To detect incoming threats, the Navy built a large network of HF/DF stations along the east coast of Menghe and the south coast of Innominada; to reduce losses in the face of enemy air superiority, maritime reconnaissance aircraft would only sortie to confirm the locations of approximate targets. As enemy anti-ship missile defenses improved, the Navy placed an increasingly heavy emphasis on saturating targets with large numbers of missiles from multiple directions. This demanded large investments in C3ISTAR assets and capabilities, and a different approach to training and planning. While the Menghean People's Army encouraged some lower-level initiative as part of its Fluid Battle Doctrine, the MPN adopted a very top-down approach. Under ideal circumstances, admirals in land-based installations would issue all commands to forces at sea, down to the exact launch time of each missile. Diesel-electric fleet submarines enjoyed some autonomy on oceangoing raids, but in the fleet support role they were expected to operate close to the surface and receive commands via radio periscope.

By the mid-1980s, the Menghean People's Navy had developed into a potent fighting force, with a large force of destroyers, submarines, and maritime bombers. The supersonic YDH-23 missile, originally a Letnian air-launched weapon, was developed into ship-launched, land-launched, and even submarine-launched variants, and Western and Dayashinese intelligence sources regarded it as a serious enough threat to merit the development of newer surface-to-air missile systems. While the cruiser projects of the 1970s, like Plan 137 Bangpae, never progressed beyond the design stage, in 1981 Menghe laid down its first postwar aircraft carrier and was planning to lay down another. Diplomatic setbacks, however, forced a serious re-evaluation of the Navy's defensive prospects. Following the nuclear test at Naran Gaja in November 1984, Western powers invoked the STAND Treaty to impose a total economic embargo on the DPRM, and even Menghe's allies in Hemithea cooperated out of a concern over Ryŏ Ho-jun's instability. This forced the MPA and MPN to withdraw their forces from Polvokia and Innominada. The loss of the former denied Menghe submarine bases on the Helian Ocean, and the loss of the latter denied Menghe air and naval bases on the Strait of Portcullia. Ryŏ responded by ordering the Second Emergency Shipbuilding Program, which focused on Chŏndong-class destroyers and Plan 215 corvettes with longer strike radii.

The Menghean Navy in transition (1988-2005)

The Decembrist Revolution which brought Choe Sŭng-min to power ushered in a period of détente with Menghe's main rivals, allowing a decrease in military spending and a shift toward economic growth. Despite back-channel efforts to broach the issue, Innominada and Polvokia refused to return former Menghean bases on the Helian Ocean and Strait of Portcullia, and the new Menghean leadership ultimately dropped the issue out of a fear that pushing it too hard would undermine efforts to normalize trade relations. Instead, the MPN (now simply the Menghean Navy) shifted its focus toward longer-range warships which could patrol the Strait of Portcullia while operating from bases in Southwest Menghe. Ships of this generation included the Ansa-class frigates and Chanjok Jachido-class cruisers, as well as the last batch of Chŏndong-class destroyers and the later Pyŏng'an-class destroyers.

During the 1990s, the Menghean Navy still relied primarily on exported Letnian powerplants and weapon systems, though a domestic missile design industry was emerging alongside them. Hallia, one of the first states to normalize trade with Menghe, took the risky step of selling state-of-the-art sonar equipment for the Chanjok Jachidos, in the hopes that a stronger Menghean Navy would counterbalance the EC's presence in the South Menghe Sea. Highly impressed with the performance of Hallian sonar on trials, Menghe ordered additional sets for the Hawŏn-class frigates and Pyŏng'an-class destroyers.

In the late 1990s, Menghe entered into negotiations with Tír Glas over acquiring a production license for the SM-2MR and Mark 41 Vertical Launching System. Major obstructions to the deal included allegations of human rights abuses during the Disciplined Society Campaign and diplomatic pressure from Dayashina, whose military planners still did not fully trust the new Menghean government. The situation finally eased in March 2001, when Choe Sŭng-min visited Dayashina in person and agreed to relinquish all territorial claims to the Renkaku Islands. As a sign of goodwill, Dayashina partially lifted its arms embargo on Menghe, and the licensing deals for the Mk 41 VLS and SM-2MR went forward in May. The availability of a universal hot-launch vertical launch system allowed for a new generation of Menghean surface combatants, first among them the Haeju-class destroyers.

Structure

Fleets

Organizationally, the Menghean Navy is composed of two fleets and three flotillas. Fleets (Hamdae) conduct blue-water operations over a large area, contain a mix of large surface ships and submarines, and are commanded by an Admiral (OF-9 rank). Flotillas (Sohamdae) conduct green-water operations in specific littoral areas, are comprised of missile craft and small submarines, and are commanded by a Vice Admiral (OF-8 rank).

Each Fleet or Flotilla is assigned to a designated zone of operation. These areas of operation are only approximate; in a real conflict, overlap between operational areas would be the norm, and zones of responsibility could be shifted to counter the distribution of threats. As a conflict progresses, ships may also be transferred from one unit to another, especially between flotillas. In peacetime ships often rotate between fleets or flotillas to keep all units at full strength when individual ships are withdrawn for long-term maintenance.

The South Sea Fleet and East Sea Fleet trace their history back to 1964, when they were assigned to the East Menghe Sea and the South Menghe Sea, with their zones of responsibility divided by the Renkaku Islands. Since then, their zones of responsibility have evolved, and expanded further beyond Menghe's shores. In 2002 the division between their operational areas was changed to the line of longitude running through Gyŏngsan, and in 2015 it was changed to the line of longitude running through Sunju. Following the Innominadan Crisis in 2015, the South Sea Fleet has increasingly sent surface ships through the Strait of Portcullia to conduct operations in the Meridian Ocean. There has been some recent discussion of creating a third fleet for Meridian Ocean operations, but as of 2020 the East Sea Fleet and South Sea Fleet are the only Fleet-level organizations in the Menghean Navy.

• The South Sea Fleet (남해 함대 / 南海艦隊, Namhae Hamdae) is assigned to the area west of Sunju. It is the larger and more important of the two fleets, even after repeated expansions of the East Sea Fleet's zone of responsibility. Its main mission, today and in the past, is to destroy any enemy assets approaching from the west to threaten Menghe's south coast. This includes a heavy focus on securing and defending the Strait of Portcullia, a strategic choke point for any movement between Casaterra and Menghe. In combination with the three Flotillas, it is also tasked with supporting operations around Altagracia, Isla Diamante, and Portcullia, including amphibious landings from long-range landing ships.

• The East Sea Fleet (동해 함대 / 東海艦隊, Donghae Hamdae) is assigned to the area east of Sunju. Historically it was tasked with engaging Dayashinese forces in the East Menghe Sea and sending commerce-raiding submarines into the Helian Ocean, but following steady improvements in relations in the 1990s, Dayashina and Tír Glas are now allies of Menghe. This forced a reorientation of the East Sea Fleet to wider missions. Since 2015, it has taken over the South Sea Fleet's mission of engaging EC units based in Maracaibo, and it now sends patrols further into the Helian Ocean to threaten Sieuxerrian and Anglian island bases.

• The Goŭn Flotilla (고은 소함대 / 高恩小艦隊, Goŭn Sohamdae) is assigned to the area around Altagracia (known in Menghe by its original name, Goŭn). In the event of a war with Sylva, the Goŭn Flotilla would be tasked with launching a surprise attack on any Sylvan warships in or around Altagracia, conducting amphibious landings on the sides of the peninsula, providing fire support for Army units advancing over land, and intercepting any reinforcements which manage to reach the area.

• The Argentstan Flotilla (찬국 소함대 / 儧國小艦隊, Changuk Sohamdae) is assigned to the coast of Argentstan. It is tasked with destroying naval forces based on Isla Diamante and supporting amphibious landings on the island. Under the Namhae Front's shared command structure, it is part of the Joint Argentstan Task Force, which is commanded by a Menghean Admiral and includes the ships, aircraft, and marine units of the Argentstani Navy.

• The Strait Flotilla (해협 소함대 / 海峽小艦隊, Haehyŏb Sohamdae) is assigned to the south coast of the Republic of Innominada. It is tasked with intercepting surface ships and submarines which attempt to pass through the Strait of Portcullia, and supporting amphibious operations against Portcullia itself. Under the Namhae Front's shared command structure, it is part of the Joint Strait Defense Task Force, which is commanded by a Menghean Admiral and includes the ships, aircraft, and marine units of the Innominadan Republican Navy.

Customs and traditions

Flags

The Flag of the Menghean Navy consists of a black anchor suspended on a pale grey background between two dark blue stripes. The dark blue and pale grey vertical stripes are not equal in width, but are instead sized in a 3:4:3 ratio, with the central stripe slightly wider. This design was adopted as the Flag of the Menghean Navy on 7 September 1905; for the first four years of its existence, the Menghean Federal Navy used Menghe's national flag. It remained in use under the Imperial Menghean Navy of 1927-1945, and was restored in 1988. This flag is exclusively used as Menghe's naval ensign, flown by ships and shore installations of the Menghean Navy. Civilian vessels use a separate civil ensign consisting of the national flag in the top left corner with a dark blue background, and the Menghean Maritime Patrol Forces use their own flag.

In keeping with international custom around naval ensigns, the flag of the Menghean Navy is flown from the mast while underway, but when moored, docked, or at anchor it is stricken from the mast, folded, and carried aft, where it is flown from a jackstaff at the stern. Initially, in keeping with prewar practices, the flag of the Menghean Navy was flown from a central mast at the highest point of the forward superstructure, but as later warship designs omitted this feature in the interest of saving weight and reducing radar reflection, it became common to fly the naval ensign from one of the arms of the main sensor tower.

Menghe does not have a separate naval jack. Instead, it uses its national flag as a jack. This flag is flown from a short jackstaff at the bow of a vessel while moored, docked, at anchor, or dressed overall, and taken down while underway.

The Menghean Navy Code of Signals is a modified version of the International Code of Signals, with individual letter flags representing the letter components of the Sinmun alphabet rather than the Latin alphabet. The current version of the MNCS, released in 1997, uses the same single-flag meanings as the ICS, so that simple messages like "negative" and "man overboard" can be communicated between ships with ICS and MNCS guidebooks. Multi-flag signal codes, however, differ between the two systems, with the MNCS codes prioritizing military messages. When two Menghean or Namhae Front warships are communicating with one another, they use the MNCS two- and three-flag codes; when communicating with civilian or other foreign vessels, they use the ICS two- and three-flag codes. The code/answer pennant and MNCS pennant are flown to indicate which signaling system a ship wishes to use.

Hull markings

In 2000, the Menghean Navy began using a "New Century Fleet" paint scheme consisting of blue-tinted light grey paint on all exterior surfaces. This replaced the color scheme of 1964-2000, which combined a darker shade of grey on vertical surfaces with tan imitation wood paint on a ship's decks.

The ship's name is painted along both sides in black paint. Where the ship's name can be written in Gomun characters, as is the case with most geographic names, Gomun characters are used. For ship names without Gomun characters, in the case of some weather systems and ethnic minority regional names, the ship's name is written in Sinmun script.

The ship's hull number is positioned on each side of the bow, and since 2000 it is painted in white Latin numerals with grey faux shadows to maximize contrast. From 1964 to 1994, hull numbers were assigned temporarily to ships and changed at irregular intervals in an effort to frustrate enemy intelligence. On 3 February 1994, the Menghean Navy formally switched to a system of permanent and exclusive hull numbers, and applied this system retroactively to all naval ships still in service. The following ranges of numbers are known to be reserved:

• Cruisers and large ASW patrol ships: 01-09
• Aircraft carriers: 10-19
• Large missile craft: 145-199
• Destroyers, missile destroyers, and coastal destroyers: 200-299
• Escort ships: 300-313
• Outer force escort ships: 314-359, 1300-1359(?)
• Main force escort ships: 360-399, 1360-1399
• Mine countermeasure ships: 400-449
• Underway replenishment ships: 460-469, 1460-1469(?)
• Small ASW patrol ships: 600-649, 1600-1649
• Medium ASW patrol ships: 650-699
• Conventional submarines: 900-965, 970-999
• Advanced sonar platforms: 780-789, 1780-1799(?)
• Midget submarines: 1500-1511

Dedication plaques

The Menghean Navy does not assign badges, seals, crests, or coats of arms to its ships, nor does it have a standard crest which it mounts on all ships, as the Imperial Menghean Navy did. It does, however, honor each ship with a unique dedication plaque. This practice began in 2009 under Admiral of the Navy Tak Jong-yŏn, as part of an effort to build naval pride and enrich naval tradition. As part of a typical commissioning ceremony, a high-ranking officer chosen to preside over the commissioning uses a brush and inkstone to write out the following information on a sheet of rice paper in traditional Gomun calligraphy:

• "Menghean Navy," followed by the seal of the Menghean Navy and a specially-chosen good fortune seal;
• The official classification of the ship (e.g., "Medium anti-submarine patrol ship");
• The ship's name, in large characters;
• The date of commissioning, written as "Year of the Republic," or number of years since 1901;
• The rank and name of the officer presiding over the commissioning ceremony, followed by his or her signature seal.

Wherever possible, the Admiral of the Navy attends the commissioning ceremony in person and completes the dedication plaque as part of the ceremony. When Admiral of the Navy Tak Jong-yŏn introduced this tradition, he only applied it to surface ships displacing over 3,000 tonnes in order to keep the workload manageable. After 2018, however, the Menghean Navy began commissioning all ships with dedication plaques, regardless of size. From this point, it became common for the Admiral of the Navy to delegate other flag officers to complete dedication plaques for smaller ships, while still personally completing dedication badges for frigates, destroyers, aircraft carriers, and other large vessels.

After commissioning, the sheet of paper bearing the commissioning officer's writing is framed and put on display within the ship, usually in the officers' lounge or in a central passageway.

Religious customs

Like many other Menghean government institutions, the Menghean Navy does not formally recognize any official religion, but it does adopt many customary practices from Sindoism and Chŏndoism. The Menghean conception of religion is relatively fluid and accommodating, and many of these practices are better understood as syncretic traditions or superstitions rather than acts of worship.

Menghean Navy ships typically set aside space for a small shrine, either in its own compartment or on one wall of a lounge area. At a minimum, this shrine includes a plaque to Haesin, the god of the sea, and Sŭngsin Manjŏnmansŭngnim, the god of victory. On ships with a Suhohon, described below, the shrine also includes a plaque to the deceased individual who donated their ashes to the ship. Sindo and atheist crew members may pray at these shrines for safety at sea and victory in battle. Shahidic and Christian crew members are not required to pray at these shrines, but must find other places on the ship to pray in accordance with their traditions.

Since 1999, the Menghean Navy has practiced the fixing of Suhohon to warships as a spiritual tradition. In this tradition, one portion of a deceased person's ashes are mixed into the steel which will be used for the ship's keel, with the carbon in the ashes contributing to the hardening process. According to Sindo belief, this allows the spirit of the deceased to find and visit the ship from the afterlife, in order to guide it to safety or protect it in combat.

Ship pronouns

While in many Western languages it is common to refer to a ship as "she" or "her," this linguistic practice does not exist in Menghean. Ships are instead referred to using the gender-neutral gŭ (그), meaning "this" or "it." This is true even where a Suhohon is assigned. This practice is carried forward into wiki pages on Menghean ships.

Equipment

Ships

Main article: List of active Menghean Navy ships

This list reflects the state of the Menghean Navy on 1 April 2022, ten days before the outbreak of the Second Pan-Septentrion War. Since then, the numbers have changed due to wartime losses, planned decommissionings, and the commissioning of new ships. It also groups these ships by their conventional Western classifications, rather than their formal Menghean hull types, which are typically tailored around a specific role. Thus, while the 11,000-ton Insŏng class and the 4,500-ton Chŏndong class are both commonly referred to as destroyers, the former is officially classified as a "main-force escort ship" and the latter as a "guided missile destroyer."

Submarines: 82

Nuclear guided missile submarines: 12

• Daedam-class submarine: 10
• Chungsŏng-III class submarine: 2

Nuclear attack submarines: 19

• Sinyi-class submarine: 9
• Chungsŏng-IV class submarine: 4
• Chungsŏng-II class submarine: 2
• Chungsŏng-I class submarine: 4

Conventional guided missile submarines: 16

• Chŏngsangŏri-class submarine: 8
• Salbenjari-class submarine: 8

Conventional attack submarines: 23

• Chuŏ-class submarine: 5
• Bung'ŏ-class submarine: 12
• Megi-class submarine: 6

Midget submarines: 12

• Pirami-class submarine: 12

Surface warships

Aircraft carriers: 4

• Choe Sŭng-min class aircraft carrier: 1
• Sibiwŏl Hyŏgmyŏng class aircraft carrier: 2
• Haebang-class aircraft carrier: 1

Cruisers: 6

• Hasŏ-class cruiser: 3
• Chanjok Jachido-class cruiser: 3

Destroyers: 44

• Insŏng-class destroyer: 5
• Onju-class destroyer: 4
• Haeju-class destroyer: 16
• Pyŏng'an-class destroyer: 4
• Hyŏngnam-class destroyer: 2
• Maepo-class destroyer: 1
• Chŏndong-class destroyer: 12

Frigates: 39

• Sŏnsan-class frigate: 7
• Chunchŏn-class frigate: 8
• Dŏkju-class frigate: 8
• Yechŏn-class frigate: 8
• Hawŏn-class frigate: 4
• Ansa-class frigate: 4

Corvettes: 102

• Yungju-class corvette: 7
• Muran-class corvette: 19
• Jedong-class corvette: 14
• Mirun-class corvette: 10
• Saebyŏk-class corvette: 12
• Taepung-class corvette: 3
• Sŏwicho-class corvette: 26
• Wang Yŏn-sŏk class corvette: 11

Missile boats: 48

• Ra Ji-yun-class missile boat: 12
• Cho Ji-hun-class missile boat: 12
• Meng Dae-wŏn-class missile boat: 24

Auxiliaries

Underway replenishment ships: 12

• Anchungang-class fast combat support ship: 4
• Yŏngjŏnggang-class replenishment ship: 8

Acoustic surveillance ships: 10

• Plan 1850 ocean surveillance ship: 8
• Plan 1828 ocean surveillance ship: 3

Mine countermeasures ships

• Ipchun-class minehunter: 16

See also

• Menghean Army
• Menghean Maritime Security Force
• Ministry of National Defense (Menghe)