Themiclesian Navy
The Themiclesian Navy is Themiclesia's military force responsible for operations at sea and in certain terrestrial areas. It is headed by the Department of the Navy, a component of the Ministry of Defence. The Navy possesses numerous corvettes, destroyers, and other marine vessels. It traces its origins to the 9th century and has a central place in the defence of Themiclesia, as well as the protection of here interests abroad.
Definitions
Statutorily, there is no single organization called "the Navy"; rather, it is an umbrella term of several organizations that, for operational reasons, have shared a close relationship or, at times, leadership. The accepted boundaries of the Themiclesian Navy are the parts of these following organizations that are not simultaneously part of the Civil Service or Themiclesian Customs Service:
- Director of Fleets
- Director of Naval Engineers
- Director of Ancillaries
- Director of Ports and Passes
- Director of Naval Companies
- Director of West Woods
History
Pre-modern history
The history of the Themiclesian navies prior to the modern period (before 1800) are inextricably tied to Themiclesia's foreign policy objectives. Even though hostilities sometimes broke out in early history between the country and various Columbian native societies, it is ultimately the need to suppress piracy and protect merchant interests that backed the navies' existence. Themiclesia imported materials such as jewels, furs, wooden containers, and pigments from the Columbian natives and exported fabrics, porcelains, and other crafts to them. A source of coastal disorder that proved persistent was Maverican pirates, who looted the coastal settlements and raided merchant fleets. Seafaring Columbian natives also, at times, posed threats to Themiclesian merchant vessels. A second radix of Themiclesia's naval tradition is occasional naval conflicts with Maverican fleets, the first recorded instance of which occurred in 491.
Initially, warships were converted from merchant ships and escorted them across the Halu'an Sea and later to Meridia. The warships were manned by guilds of merchants in Themiclesia, providing the warships' complements; after the 5th century, the state appointed superintendants to oversee their activities, but ties with merchant fleets remained close. By the 8th century, maritime trade had grown in volume such that escorting specific merchant fleets became unfeasible; instead, the government took over the naval operation and launched regular circuits of warships along the coast of the Halu'an, the Columbian coast, and the northern coast of Meridia, to suppress pirates. The organizational link with trading guilds became a financial one: Themiclesia used revenues from customs and other levies to fund its navies. In 754, Themiclesia divided its fleet into two circuits, one for the coast of the Halu'an Sea, named the North Sea Fleet, and the other for all other coasts, for the South Sea Fleet. The SSF had its home port close to modern-day Concord, in the OS.
During the 9th through 14th centuries, the SSF frequently clashed with Rajian raiders; these occurred before the advent of gunpowder. In 1345, the SSF was defeated by the gunpowder-equipped Menghean fleet in the Battle of Portcullia, which quickly was adopted by the SSF and the NSF a few years afterwards. The first major naval conflicts the Themiclesians fought with the assistance of gunpowder were against the Kingdom of Sylva, who first expressed interest in the southern tip of Columbia in the 1400s. The SSF were again defeated in 1482, forcing them to relocated their home port from near San Alvarez to the mouth of the river adjoining La Riviera. Meanwhile, the NSF found it increasingly difficult to ensure peace in the Halu'an Sea due to overland incursion by Rajian settlers, who populated the north of Columbia. In 1607, the SSF were defeated by the Sylvans again. However, given the rise in Columbian population and propensity towards commerce, Themiclesian merchants began to prefer trading at home rather than sailing out to sea; as a result, the navies were both recalled and placed at home in 1610. Both underwent reductions in scale and armaments. In the 1700s, the NSF were charged with protecting coastal waters for the most part, while the SSF participated in enforcement of trade tariffs on the Columbian east coast and minor expeditions in northern Maverica. In 1791, the SSF was burnt to the waterline completely by the Tyrannians and never rebuilt.
Following the SSF's destruction in 1791, the Maritime Company that formed the backbone of the SSF was merged with that of the NSF. The part of the Themiclesian Marine Corps that belonged to the SSF were amalgamated with its counterpart in the NSF in the same process. While the government seriously deliberated the possibility of rebuilding the SSF between 1792–93, its fiscal resources were drawn away to the Army's campaign in north Maverica (then called Njit-nem). Initially (and severely) underestimated, the Maverican campaign dealt a fatal blow to the unreformed Army, ultimately triggering its implosion and the subsequent reform in the 1820s; the campaign was so costly that revenues raised to fund it stifled domestic commerce and the export economy, in turn further causing a number of industries to collapse. This period was called the "years of unprecedented and unfathomable misery for all walks of life" by Tyrannian historian N. M. Hoppers. Yet, as soon as the war ended, reduced taxation and rejuvenated commerce triggered a dramatic (against the backrop of the war) improvement in industiral environment, which the government and public came to associate with disarmament. The SSF's opportunity to be rebuilt thus disappeared in favour of spending on "pursuits of peace and prosperity". The future Themiclesian Navy can therefore be said to built on the foundation of the NSF.
The NSF has historically preferred to establish a wide presence and react to threats with speed. Such an approach contrasted with the SSF's desire to target its foes, even in their moments of strength, and force decisive battles at sea. These two ideologies are attributed to the enemies that both fleets faced: the SSF tended to engage with larger and better-armed fleets from Casaterran states, while the NSF dealt with smaller fleets, often of pirates or minor princes, but at a greater frequency and agility. Agility was required to prevent property loss, since pirates were after goods and sometimes hostages and are more effectually stopped before they reach either. In 1817, the government considered proposals to abolish the navy altogether. Through frantic lobbying, the NSF was able to secure its own existence by pointing to frequent piracy and serving as the country's defence force when the Army was under intensive reform. Further arguments asserted potential naval threats in the future, and the maintenance of a fleet, even in diminished form, as claimed, would make future expansion to address such threats easier. One such potential threat was the Organized States, according to the NSF, even though there was no actual evidence. In 1819, the NSF was renamed the Consolidated Fleet, and in the following year, a new portfolio over domestic and maritime trade was created, including the Consolidated Fleet; a Secretary of State was appointed in 1835 for more extensive government oversight.
The NSF received funding sufficient for the maintenance of their vessels but seldom for the purchase of new ships. This situation changed for the only time between 1852 and 1865, during which a Rajian invasion then Columbian invasion was feared to take place by sea. The NSF purchased several new ships-of-the-line at the beginning of 1853 and coastal ironclads towards the end of this era and into 1860–61. Further coastal ships were purchased between 1862–1864. After the Compromise of Sngrak-tju in 1857, threat of Rajian invasion gradually subsided, leaving a partly-modern fleet. Fears then turned towards an OS invasion, which was deemed existential by some, should the slave-holding side emerge victorious; this fear occasioned the purchase of the ironclad steam ships for coastal defence. Timing of the ship purchases could hardly be less favourable, as wooden ships-of-the-line were quickly phased out during the following decade. Nevertheless, the Navy would continue using these ships well into the 20th century, a situation they could not anticipate. Nevertheless, the Navy continued to press for funding under the dubious pretext of OS aggression, to which the government responded inconsistently. In the aftermath of the great flood of 1894, the government found itself hamstrung for funds and resolved to solve all matters with the OS diplomatically.
Stagnation and reform
Since the Organized States viewed Themiclesia with some suspicion in the late 1800s, the treaty of 1897 permitted the OS to station troops in certain industrial areas to protect OS interests. Officers reported on the state of Themiclesian defence establishments to the satisfaction of OS authorities, revealing no intention by Themiclesia to obstruct OS activities. Contemporaneous with these reports were more hollistic assessments about the navy, which the OS noted as "ageing and strenuously maintained". A memorandum to the OS Department of the Navy in 1902 spoke of the Themiclesian fleet as "not fit, by intention or neglect, to engage with any seafaring power on the open seas", though its coastal fleet was still "an adequate measure against deliberate incursion". Despite the state of the Navy, the OS still pestered the government to starve the Navy for funding; the Secretary of State for the Navy replied in 1903 that "current levels of funding is requisite for the maintenance of coastal peace and the incursion of miscreants, especially for the safety of OS interests". Naval historian Charles Raymond lamented in 1952 that "of all the centuries in which the Themiclesians could have suffered naval indignity, this one that consigned them to tertiary or quarternary status was the least fortunate."
Throughout the first two decades of the 20th century, the Navy was constantly in fluctuation in organizational terms. Up until 1905, the Navy was not a military force consolidated in the modern way; rather, the "Six Admirals" (Tyrannian translation dating from the 1700s) were independently responsible for various aspects of its operation. The OS prevailed on the government to replace these individuals with naval officers of a pro-OS disposition or possessed a personal history in OS' naval academies. The government relented and permitted the admiralty to become independent of the Civil Service. The early separation (contra the Army, which only underwent this process in 1940) permitted a higher degree of organizational flexibility in the reforms that followed. The most radical of these abolished two Maritime Companies in which virtually every Themiclesian sailor apprenticed. That institution linked the Navy to the commercial and fiscal policies of the state and was perceived as a threat towards OS domination of the Halu'an Sea. Abolition therefore, to the OS, "ensured the Themiclesian Navy would never use force to enforce commercial interests and exist as a purely defensive institution". By the same token, the Themiclesian Marine Corps and the Themiclesian Port Corps were withdrawn from serving as security forces around commercial ports and refocused on naval defence duties; their tasks were subsumed by the new Themiclesian Customs and the locally-administered Harbour Police.
In 1920, the Treaty of Mutual Friendship, which had defined the relationship between the two states up to that point, was revised. Amongst the provisions passed, the Themiclesian government were treaty-bound to purchase 100 ships from the OS, each costing no less than £1,000,000 in the money of Tyran within the next 30 years. This was a heavy burden on the Themiclesian Treasury and meant, ultimatley, to induce the government to shift focus away from the Army towards the Navy. The Navy was more friendly to the OS and had better contacts with them. Some believe this was due to the Army's persistent refusal to invite Columbian lecturers to its renowned Officer Academy, which suggests it was well-aware of the value of adding recent combat experience to officer education when it was not available first hand. The Army's actual rationale, if any there were, is not known. In any event, this imposition more than doubled Themiclesia's naval budget from $18 million (OSD, nominal) to $38 million in 1921 (contra the Army's budget in the same year, $12 million, reduced from $19 million in 1919). Surprisingly, the Themiclesian government was willing and able to discharge the obligation, amidst "numerous difficulties in purchasing any ship actually near the price floor set forth by the revised Treaty."
By 1925, the Navy had taken delivery of two missile destroyers, with a lengthening backlog