Meridonian Navy

Meridonian Navy
Service flag of the Meridonian Navy
Active	06 May 1739 - present
Country	Meridon
Type	Navy
Role	Naval warfare
Size	181,382
Part of	Meridon Defense Forces
Ceremonial Garrison	MNS Pierra Bay, Port Sistine
Motto(s)	From the Seas, Strength
Colors	Naval Blue,   Guidon Gold
March	Anchors Aweigh
Engagements	Second Meridonian Civil War
Commanders
Commander-in-Chief	Yui Townley
Defense Secretary	Jason Merritt
Navy Secretary	Mary Woolworth
Chief of Defense Staff	ADM Benjamin Collins
Chief of Navy Staff	ADM Stephen Harford
Vice Chief of Navy Staff	VADM William McArmors
Naval Executive Warrant Officer	WOC1 Pierre Laforde
Insignia
Service badge
Aircraft roundel
Alternate low-vis roundel
Naval ensign

The Meridonian Navy is the naval warfare component of the Meridon Defense Forces. It is composed of 310,328 active duty sailors, and about 44,000 reservists as of 2022. It operates a number of aircraft and a number of naval vessels, making it the number largest navy in the world.

The Navy traces its origins to the merchant fleets and city-state merchant marines of early colonial Meridon through various means. The Meridonian Navy was formally organized in 1739 alongside the Army by the Union Council in order to help fight in the Second Meridonian Civil War. It was the first Meridonian military arm permanently authorized, eschewing its provisional status in 1783.

It regularly participated in punitive and policing actions throughout the 1800s, and fought in both Hiakemirian and Anagonian theaters of war during the Great War. The Navy, along with the Army, existed as independent forces without a real unified command structure until 1833, where it was subordinated under the War Office alongside the Navy. A need for greater joint forces command, realized during the Second World War, resulted in the restructuring of the armed forces and the establishment of the Meridonian Defense Forces and the Defense Department.

The Navy in the modern day is a fully professional service arm, considered the seniormost of the Defense Forces. Alongside the Army, it utilized mandatory conscription enacted in Meridon from 1938 to 1960 to meet manpower needs, however, it has been able to maintain numbers through volunteers alone since 1960. Today, the Navy is a blue-water, expeditionary-capable fighting force that fields a mix of warships including fixed-wing and helicopter carriers, submarines, guided missile cruisers, destroyers and frigates, and a number of other support vessels. The Navy is administered by the Department of the Navy as a civilian oversight, however it is commanded by the Chief of Navy Staff, an admiral and the seniormost commissioned officer in the Navy. It regularly conducts operations and exercises along other nations and is able to project power globally in the pursuit of national interests.

History

Early Iterations

The earliest iterations of what would form the Meridonian navy were the exploration and merchant vessels who contributed to the colonization of Meridon. While strong merchant navies existed in Amphia to enable settlers to travel to Meridon, naval fleets scarcely operated in the area, requiring vessels who travelled to Meridon to conduct their own protection against raiders and pirates in the region.

This would evolve into naval militias, Māhēra vigilantes and hired merchantman escorts conducting trade both within and without of the islands. Meridon's geography made it ripe for piracy before the advent of a professional navy, a problem it would contend with until the 1830s.

Formation

The UMS Pikeman engages the SCS Valour during the Battle off Kohaku during the Second Civil War.

Organization

The Navy consists of two components- Regular and Fleet Reserve. Regular formations compose the active-duty formations of the Navy and comprise the majority of its strength, including all of its major surface combatants. Reserve formations consist of both part time sailors and lower readiness formations and units that are generally relegated to defense support activities on an as-needed basis. Reserve sailors, at a minimum, conduct training two days per month with their formation and two weeks of annual training a year.

The Navy is headed by the Chief of Navy Staff, the highest-ranking commissioned officer in the Navy, who sits on the Defense General Staff as its seniormost representative. The CONS reports to the Navy Secretary, who reports to the Defense Secretary, who primarily advises the President of Meridon on all defense matters and is responsible for implementing civilian policy into the Navy.

Structure

See also: Structure of the Meridonian Navy
All naval operating forces, active and reserve, are operated under Naval Fleet Command (NAVFLEECOM), which operates, equips, organizes and administrates all Naval ships. NFC organizes vessels into both administrative and operational groupings, the former of which consists primarily of Amphibious Ready Groups (ARGs) and Carrier Task Groups (CSG) as standing naval formations, with surface action groups and other such task groups created ad-hoc.

Naval Support Command (NSC) organizes all non-operational or administrative functions of the Navy. Naval special forces are organized under the Naval Special Forces Group (NSFG), which is subordinated to the Meridon Joint Special Operations Command, a tri-service organization of special forces units.

Regiment Marines Commando

Main article: Regiment Marines Commando

The Regiment Marines Commando is a semi-separate organizational branch of the Navy that serves as Meridon's elite amphibious rapid reaction force. While in some respects it is organized and normally operates as a separate branch, the Marine Regimental Commander reports to the Chief of Navy Staff.

Special operations forces

See also:Special Operations Forces Command

Special warfare forces are organized under the Naval Special Forces Group (NSFG), which regularly interoperates and reports to Special Operations Forces Command (SOFCOM). NSFG consists of a number of tenant special forces unit.

Equipment

See also:Modern equipment of the Meridonian Navy

Uniforms

• 

  Sailors aboard the MRS Sistine posing for a picture wearing NGPU non-regulation face masks.

• 

  Sailors from MRS Loubret wearing Class Bravo service uniforms.

• 

  Former Chief of Navy Staff Roger Ribbald in Class Alpha winter formal uniform.

• 

  A foreign Rear Admiral and a Meridonian Navy Commander who is wearing Class Alpha-II summer dress uniform.

• 

  Members of 11 Squadron Combatant Diver Unit carrying an inflatable rubber raiding craft

• 

  A Naval Aviator from 8 NEAS in flight gear is greeted by his family.

Personnel

See also:Military ranks of the Meridon Defense Forces#Meridonian Navy

Commissioned officers

DD Pay Grade	OF11	OF10	OF9	OF8	OF7	OF6	OF5	OF4	OF3	OF2	OF1	OFC
Navy												Various
Rank title	Fleet Admiral	Admiral	Vice Admiral	Rear Admiral	Commodore	Captain	Commander	Lieutenant Commander	Lieutenant	Not used	Sublieutenant	Various
Abbrevation	FADM	ADM	VADM	RADM	CDRE	CAPT	CDR	LCDR	LT		SBLT	Various

Other ranks

DD Pay Grade	WO1	WO2	WO3	WO4	WO5	OR6	OR5	OR4	OR3	OR2	OR1	Recruit
Navy												No rank insignia
Rank title	Warrant Officer Class 1	Warrant Officer Class 2	Not used	Not used	Not used	Chief Petty Officer	Leading Petty Officer	Petty Officer	Leading Rate	Senior Rate	Able Rate	Seaman Recruit
Abbrevation	WOC1	WOC2				CPO	LPO	PO	LR	SR	AR	SmR

See also

• Meridon Defense Forces
• Modern equipment of the Meridonian Navy