Operation Open Hand

Operation Open Hand
Part of Operation Infinite Reach
HMNV Niels Bohr
Date January 1st 2010 Location Global Result Undetermined
Belligerents
The United Kingdom of Malgrave	Imerian Slavers
Commanders and leaders
Prime Minister Rachel Berry Grand Admiral Inigo Campioni	Unknown
Strength
Malgravean Armed Forces	Unknown
Casualties and losses
395

Operation Open Hand was a wide ranging naval operation conducted by the Malgravean Royal Navy between 2010 and 2012. It was comparable to Operation Infinite Reach but wholly focused on Imerian operations. Open Hand was cancelled when Imeriata ended the slave trade in 2012, however, it remained a source of tensions between the two nations for several years.

Background

Between 1938, the Royal Navy engaged in periodic missions based from the Malgravean mainland and a mixture of artificial and natural islands, such operations were designed to maintain awareness of events occuring in Mystria and keep tabs on the movements on Imeriata. It was these missions which led successive governments to be made aware of the existence of large pirate networks and the international slave trade, so when the country left isolation in 2000 the government at the time authorised a small operation organised by the Royal Navy to strike out against hideouts and bases known for supporting piracy and slavery.

Operation Gannet provided Malgrave with moderate success, as the Royal Navy was able to report the capture of a number of vessels supporting the slave trade and piracy in Mystria, however, at the time it also started to come under fire in the national media for being limited in scope and many netizens started to call for more aggressive action to be taken against major slavers in the region, with Imeriata being used as a prime example for wider military engagement.

In response to these outcries, the Malgravean government decided to conduct a readiness report on the state of the Royal Navy which soon evolved into a report on readiness of the wider Armed Forces. A considerable amount of variables were tested during the 2009 Armed Forces Evaluation, however, the final conclusion was beneficial for the Royal Navy who was able to use the findings of the report to push for more funding to assist them in future operations.

Afterwards, the decision was made to expand the size and scope of Operation Gannet, an operation which came to be known as Operation Infinite Reach. In recognition of the size of the Imerian slave trade, the decision was made to split off efforts to combat their slave trade into unique operation which became known as Operation Open Hand.

Operation

Operation Open Hand was launched in 2010, with HMNV Progress leading the first dedicated anti-Imerian task force successfully intercepting and seizing several Imerian merchant vessels. Between 2010 and 2010, the Royal Navy engaged Imerian ships on multiple occasions. During Open Hand four Malgravean ships were sunk and eleven received damage with the loss of 395 sailors and 897 receiving injuries from light to severe.