Royal Glasic Navy
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| Royal Banbhan Navy | |
|---|---|
| tCabhlach ríoga de Banbha | |
.svg) | |
| Founded | 1508 (516 years ago) |
| Country | Banbha |
| Type | Navy |
| Role | Naval Warfare |
| Size | 57,200 Regulars 10,100 Reservists 160 Commissioned Ships 28 Fleet Auxiliaries 400 Aircraft / Helicopters |
| Part of | Her Majesty's Naval Service |
| Patron | Jane I |
| Motto(s) | pro regina et patria a mari usque ad mare For Queen and Country, From Sea to Sea |
| Fleet |
|
| Engagements | See list of wars |
| Commanders | |
| High Admiral | HG Niamh Princess of Skellige |
| First Sea Lord | Admiral Sir Brian Walsh, CSMH, ADC |
| Second Sea Lord | Vice Admiral Eoin Reid, CSM |
| Fleet Commander | Rear Admiral Aoife O'Neil |
| Senior Naval NCO | Chief Petty Officer Michael Doyle |
The Royal Banbhan Navy (Cabhlach na Banbha) is Banbha's naval force. Although naval warfare had been practiced by the petty kingdoms of the Thirteen Kingdoms and later the Heptarchy it took until unification for a navy proper to come into existence. The modern Banbhan Navy can trace its origins back to the period immediately before the wars with Anglia in the 15th century.
By 1902 Banbha had since its granting of responsible government status assembled a motley collection of second and sometimes third-hand ships from abroad. After a series of war-plans had been assembled and wargamed Banbha embarked upon a substantial construction programme under the assumption that the growing Empire of Dayashina would pose the most serious threat to Banbha's Helian Ocean territories. Between 1912 and 1923 the Navy more than quadrupled in size much to the consternation of both the Casaterran and Helian naval powers, directly leading to the 1923 treaty on the limitation of naval arms.
The Banbhan Navy is a part of the Naval Service which also includes the Banbhan Coastal Rangers and Banbhan Coast Guard. The professional head of the Naval Service is the First Sea Lord who is a senior Admiral and a member of the Defence Council which, chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence oversees the day-to-day operations of the three arms of the armed forces. The Banbhan Navy operates three major shore establishments in Banbha, Waterford, Wexford and Belbain as well as two others on the isles of Inishmore and Inisheer.
Role
- To prevent conflict, both regionally and globally
- To provide security at sea and protect international trade on the high seas
- To uphold international partnerships
- To safeguard the seaborne trade routes of Banbha and the Vinyan Union
- To maintain an ability and readiness to fight, protecting Banbha’s interests regionally and globally
- To provide humanitarian aid both on and from the sea
History
Rebirth
During the period between 1859 and 1902 the newly reformed Banbhan Navy saw little to no action owing mainly to the abundance of Anglian shipping present in the region, its vessels were mainly old and in some cases barely seaworthy. The end of this period with Banbha's independence from Anglia marked the beginning of The Banbhan Navy’s expansion.
Growth
Upon regaining independence in 1902 a series of studies and undertaken resulting in a list of requirements that were presented to the government the following year. These studies became the definitive shopping list from which all future Banbhan naval planning owe their lineage to.
From 1905 until 1912 a series of war-plans were devised and played out to their conclusions resulting in amendments to the list and, in 1912 the first orders were made for a variety of combatants and auxiliaries, the first of which is now preserved as a museum ship in Avallone.
Between 1912 and 1923 the Banbhan navy grew exponentially in size, the Casaterran War or War of Sylvan Succession as it was also known played heavily into this with actions occurring around Banbhan possessions reinforcing to the public that Banbha required a robust naval presence to guarantee trade and security through the Maw and into and out of the Helian Ocean. The ever increasing size of capital ships during this period lead to the Banbhan Navy twice escalating from the norm in a bid to materially if not numerically out-match the Casaterran navies, this building programme would cost Banbha dearly in the immediate interwar years but at the time the perceived threat suppressed any real dissent to the exorbitant expenditure.
The end result was that by 1923 Banbha possessed or was in the process of constructing three of the largest capital ships on the planet with Nemain, Badhbh and Macha. Two more ships, which would later become Clíodhna and Cailleach were just beginning construction. A moratorium on construction was proposed in late 1922 whilst the two latter ships were still on the slips, this would lead to the 1923 conference on the limitation of naval arms.
Treaty era
In 1923 a conference was held by the great naval powers of the time to decide on how best to de-escalate the three-way arms race that was threatening to cause another war, the end result of this were limitations placed on a variety of warship types, both qualitatively and quantitively, at the time the Banbhan Navy was possibly the most modern in the world with thirteen super dreadnoughts, concessions would have to be made which included the disarming of the battleships Niamh and Nicnevin and their relegation to training and target ship statuses respectively as well as the cancellation of the two sister ships to Badhbh and Macha, these two nearly complete hulls would be re-built into the first true aircraft carriers of the Banbhan Navy, Clíodhna and Cailleach.
Throughout the 1920s naval construction continued in Banbha albeit at a more sedate pace, predominantly focussing on creating a large enough trade protection fleet to offset the limited number of capital ships, this resulted in the construction of the twelve Mountain-class cruisers which were in effect small battleships or more accurately modern armoured cruisers, armed with twelve 190mm guns and able to withstand gunfire from any lesser vessel they were heralded as the future at the time with some spectators claiming that the era of the battleship was over and that the armoured cruiser and submarine would become the dominant naval weapons.
By 1930 tensions were once again rising in the Helian with a newly expansionist Dayashina and emboldened Menghe beginning to assert themselves. This was the era of appeasement with two successive governments refusing to acknowledge that a war was inevitable with the Hemithean powers. By 1936 the naval treaty was a meaningless piece of paper seemingly only upheld by Banbha.
The slide towards war
From 1936 until the outbreak of war in 1942 the Banbhan Navy once again underwent a period of armament and re-armament with numerous successive classes of destroyers and cruisers commissioned to bolster the trade protection fleet as well as construction of new capital ships to replace 1910s-vintage ships that were rapidly approaching obsolescence. The first of these new capital ships would enter service in 1940 as Ealga, shortly followed by her sister Étaín, they were intended to replace the now obsolete Ana and Artio but this never happened with the older ships simply being retained and receiving piecemeal upgrades to their anti-aircraft batteries.
Scáthach, Shannon, Lagertha and Lassair would be completed before hostilities commenced, again as replacements for obsolete ships. By the end of 1941 the Banbhan Navy was the largest and best equipped it had ever been but was both unproven and unsure of itself, this coupled with the police of appeasement directly lead to what would become the largest naval battle in history.