Naval warfare in the Third Chryse War
Naval warfare in the Third Chryse War involved direct combat between the Górskan Federal Navy and the Navy of the Syaran Republic throughout the Sundering and Syaran Seas. Compared to the relatively static, slow moving pace of operations on the island of Chryse itself, the war at sea involved multiple large scale decisive operations. Both Górska and the Republic of Syara began the war with similar numbers of warships, but by the end of the conflict the Syaran Navy had decisively defeated the Federal Navy and crippled its strategic capabilities. Despite this, the Syarans were unable to leverage their victories at sea enough to impact the outcome of the fighting on Chryse before the conflict came to an end.
The naval campaigns of the Third Chryse War effectively marked the end of an era for warship design. The introduction of the HMS Eerika Waterly-Davion-class dreadnought battleships three years prior marked a revolution in battleship design that would render the vast fleets of pre-dreadnoughts and ironclad warships obsolete. Although the Syarans had begun construction of their own dreadnought design before the start of the war, it was not finished in time to see service in the conflict. The Third Chryse War was therefore the last major naval war to be fought wholly with pre-dreadnought battleships, while the major fleet actions in the Sundering Sea would foreshadow the Divide War a decade later.
At the start of the war the two navies were in similar in size with an advantage towards the Syara, which operated 191 warships to 143 Górskan ships. Both navies operated a diverse array of warships, including pre-dreadnought battleships, ironclads, armored cruisers, protected cruisers, unprotected cruisers, sloops, torpedo-boats, early destroyers, gunboats, and monitors. Although the dreadnought design had been introduced three years earlier with the HMS Eerika Waterly-Davion, neither side had yet to produce an equivalent; the Syaran equivalent had been laid down in 1904 but was still under construction when the war broke out. Although both sides had created naval submarines, they did not see combat.
Following the Second Chryse War the Górskan Federal Navy identified the need to rebuilt the fleet and field larger and more powerful warships to protect Górskan interests in Chryse and the Sundering/Sanguine Seas. Admiral Ciesielski set the goal for a Federal Navy of 50 major warships by 1890, but the Unification of Syara in 1875 forced a re-evaluation as Górska now had to compete not just with the Kingdom of Makedon but the entire Republic of Syara. In response the goal was raised to 125 warships by 1900. Such a demand was beyond the ability of Górskan ship yards to meet, and the Directorial Republic was turned to foreign powers to assist with the expansion of the Górskan Navy.
Assistance was gained from Ossoria and Acrea, who provided investments while also producing warships on behalf of the Republic. Combined with Górska's own naval construction the Federal Navy had surpassed Ciesielski's request, reaching 130 warships by 1900. This rapid growth was undercut by the rapid progression of naval technology within the latter half of the 19th Century and the early years of the 20th Century that often rendered relatively new ship classes outdated within just a few years of them entering service. At the beginning of Ciesielski's expansion program the primary goal was the creation of ironclad warships, which often resembled either older sailing frigates fitted with iron bands of armor, or low freeboard river monitors. Beginning n the 1870s ocean-going ironclads became more common, leading to the diversion between more traditional river monitor-like ironclads and ocean-going ironclads more akin to true battleships.
The first of these was the Jarosz-class battleship, steam powered with breech-loading guns in open barbettes, and constructed with compound armor of steel and iron rather than wrought iron. Three ships were built, carrying 305mm guns and giving the Federal Navy a class to field the rest of the navy around. In 1894 these were followed by the Opolski-class, two larger, more armored, and better armed battleships that became affectionately known as the "twins". They carried 305mm guns as well, with 230mm of belt armor and capable of a top speed of 16 knots. Between 1901-1904 they were followed by three more battleships of the Rykowski-class which burned fuel oil rather than coal, although could only reach 15 knots. The sudden advent of the HMS Eerika Waterly-Davion rendered the Górskan battleship fleet suddenly obsolete. Even worse, Górska's rapid naval expansion in the 1890s had depleted the Górskan treasury and left the Republic with little means by which to counter this new design of battleship.
Most of these battleships had been built with Acrean and Ossorian assistance, leaving Górskan shipyards to focus on other classes. Inexperience with building large capital ships meant much of Górska's shipbuilding capacity focused on smaller vessels, with the largest built being armored cruisers. Additional constructed vessels consisted or both protected and unprotected cruisers, sloops, destroyers, and "coastal battleships". Coastal battleships, also known as Coastal defense ships were cruiser-sized warships built to reflect miniaturized versions of battleships. Slow moving and short ranged, they were nevertheless heavily armored and armed for their size, and were designed to operate in the coastal waters between Górska and Chryse. More than 20 were built between 1885-1905, and formed a significant part of the Górskan fleet at the onset of hostilities.
Górskan sailors and officers themselves were considered of good quality. The navy itself contained strong institutional experience gained from the Second Chryse War and had trained extensively with foreign military powers. Throughout the war Górskan crews repeatedly demonstrated significant skill-at-arms and courage under fire, even under poor conditions.
When the war began the Górskan Federal Navy consisted of 8 ocean-going battleships, 14 ironclad warships, 23 coastal battleships, 12 cruisers, 21 frigates, 53 torpedo boats, and 12 sloops.
The Unification of Syara in 1875 had drastically altered the strategic situation of the Western Sundering Sea and had opened up Syaran shipbuilding to a capacity that had not been seen before. By 1900 Syara had constructed 73 major shipyards across the Republic, and were churning out on average 250 ships a year. This extended to warships, which now all fell under the Navy of the Syaran Republic. The newly unified Syaran Navy (MRS) had replaced the naval forces of the four successor states and almost immediately had embarked on a campaign of modernization and standardization; more than 200 warships, most of them early iron steamships, were withdrawn from service, either scrapped or sold off. Within a year of its foundation the MRS Admiralty had declared the end of usage of any sailing ships in a military manner. This decision was a progressive one that correctly predicted the future of warship movement, but also left the Republic with a dearth of actual fleet ready warships. Prior to unification the Syaran Realms possessed just two ironclad steam ships that could be considered analogous to "battleships".
Filling in this sudden gap was a demand that Syaran shipbuilding industry struggled to fill initially. The 1870s saw a slew of designs for warships presented, but employing large ships without sails for propulsion, relying instead either entirely on coal, was a constant trial and error process. The first capital ship to be produced by the Republic, the 7,000 ton RS Hope of Unity fielded two 305mm guns one at the stern and bow, and four 152mm guns as a secondary battery. She nearly capsized on her sea trials as the crew learned that her freeboard tended to shrink to less than a meter when out on the open water. She was introduced in 1881 and by 1887 had already been stricken out from active service. Not helping matters was disagreement within the Republic as to what kind of navy to actually build; the Symmerians wanted large, iron-clad warships with big guns and heavy armor that could slug it out with any craft in Tyran. The Scitarians wanted coastal craft that could patrol their extensive coastline, and the Galanians wanted river monitors.
In 1886 the Syaran Admiralty outlined a new plan for the construction of the Syaran fleet; a core of heavily armored and armored battleships supported by a fleet of versatile armored cruisers, torpedo boats, and coastal craft for littoral defense. Difficulty in building powerful enough boilers to propel large battleships delayed Syaran plans for a battleship core; in 1889 the Navy unveiled the RS Resplendent Savior, arguably Syara's first true "battleship" of six turrets of 152mm guns. The 1890s would however usher in the next wave of Syaran shipbuilding that would be among the most alarming developments for the Górskans. In 1892 Syara began construction of the Nemaro-class battleships, at 11,000 tons and bristling with guns they were larger than any warship fielded by either Syara or Górska. They were followed by the Zmrouk-class cruisers, 3,800 tons and six 163mm guns as primary armament. In what would become Syara's defining advantage at sea for much of the Great War Era, the MRS also introduced its torpedo boats; first the Yenaryn-class at just 150 tons, but carrying two 356mm torpedo tubes, then by the Volozova-class torpedo gunboat, the precursor to the eventual destroyer. A second cruiser class, the Sena-class armored cruisers fielded powerful 254mm guns, establishing a clear divide between the Syaran and Górskan navies.
By 1900 it was clear that Syara had pulled ahead, further augmenting the MRS with the Republic-class battleships. By 1904 Syara possessed 14 battleships, 22 cruisers, 48 torpedo gunboats (from hereon referred to just as "destroyers"), 73 torpedo boats, 13 coastal defense ships, 9 monitors, and 12 gunboats. Further alarming to the Górskans was the revelation of the HMS Eerika Waterly-Davion, the first dreadnought battleship which rendered all previous battleships outdated. This was only compounded by the Syaran announcement of plans to build their own dreadnought, which further threatened to drown out the Górskan navy.
Although not warships, the Syaran Navy had also constructed five Harpy-class airships which were used for aerial reconnaissance.