HMS Aledia
| class="fn" colspan="2" style="background: lightsteelblue; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;" | Aledia |
|---|---|
| Nickname: | n/a |
| Class: | Sorraine-class Fifth-Rate Frigate |
| Nation: | Kurathene Empire |
| class="fn" colspan="2" style="background: lightsteelblue; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;" | Specifications |
| Builder: | Royal Denevier Dockyard |
| Tons Burthen: | 1,103 tons |
| Deck Length: | 155' |
| Keel Length: | 133'9" |
| Breadth: | 39'8" |
| Depth of Hold: | 13'6" |
| Crew Complement: | 321 |
| Armament: | 28 x 18-pound long-guns 4 x Deglossian-brass long-nine chasers 16 x 32-pound carronades |
HMS Aledia is a 38-gun frigate in the service of the Kurathene Imperial Navy. One of the most modern warships in the world, she is one of the handful of warships constructed of prized Kurathene Live Oak. Aledia is one of the best known ships in the Imperial Navy, having fought in numerous engagements and being closely associated with Ayren Milen.
Design and Construction
Aledia is a fifth-rate built to the design of HMS Sorraine, a fifth-rate frigate of 38-guns. The Sorraine and her sisters were designed by Sir Lucien Axiom, the senior surveyor of the navy as part of the Millennial Establishment Plan put forth by the Whitworth Admiralty. The plan required a frigate design to be built of Kurathene Live Oak treated with the ironwood spell and able to serve for a minimum of one hundred years. After creating the Lively-class to test design principles for large frigates, Sorraine and three of her sisters were laid down at the Royal Denevier Dockyard shortly after the start of the Third Tri-Fief War.
The frigate was built with utmost care, with each of her scantlings and knees built from natural grown Kurathene live oak in Denevier Forest. Her frames were laid down in Stockyard 3 of the Royal Denevier Dockyard and allowed to season naturally. This core structure was then reinforced by master shipwrights utilizing the ironwood spell to reinforce their natural durability. The process to construct the skeleton of Aledia took the better part of three years. The remainder of the ship was built from natural grown oak cured with alchemical protection from the elements, and took approximately eighteen months.
Aledia was launched in the fall and spent the next three months fitting out in Denevier under the supervision of Captain Ayren Milen. During this time details of her appearance were finalized. The ship's figurehead was modeled upon Captain Milen's wife, Nikki Tanner with her arms outstretched carrying the sword and shield of the Kurathene Empire. The rest of the ship was designed along modern lines, with less adornment than many of her sisters and a preference for simple, smooth lines. Her bottom was sheathed with mithril sheets rather than the traditional copper, giving her hull a blue-silver tinge, while most of the ship was painted black with a streak of light blue along her upper deck. Her gun-ports are painted a metallic silver, while much of her railing and main chains are dressed with a suitable amount of gold leaf.
Like her sisters Aledia measures 155 feet long on the main deck with a keel length of 133 feet 9 inches and has a burthen tonnage of 1,103 tons. She is 39 feet 8 inches wide at the beam and has a depth of hold of 13 feet 6 inches, making her slightly larger than the more numerous Lively-class frigates. She is armed with 28 eighteen-pound long-guns crafted of a steel alloy mixed with true-silver, 16 thirty-two pound carronades on her forecastle and quarterdeck, and 4 Deglossian Brass Long-Nine chasers to the fore and aft. Her official standard complement is 265 officers, men and boy, 52 marines and 4 War Mages.
History
Aledia was commissioned late in the Third Tri-Fief War under the command of Captain Ayren Milen. Captain Milen had distinguished himself in a series of bold single-ship actions as acting commander of the frigate Entente and was awarded Aledia as a reward. Nonetheless the appointment of such a young commander of low seniority to a plum fifth-rate was controversial at the time and excited considerable debate within the Admiralty. The ship was assigned to the Andarran Station under Vice-Admiral of the Silver Reinhart Fenton.
Aledia was assigned to a cruise along the southern coast of Crullath and Brekon. With her extraordinary seakeeping and sailing qualities, she captured 34 Crullathian merchant ships valued at 216,000 crowns. In addition her crew conducted raids along the coast, destroying eight coastal batteries, six semaphore stations and two supply caches. The exploits of Aledia and her captain were popular in the Kalion Press, with the The Times of Kalion devoting six editions for a serialized dramatization of this campaign. After the capture of the Crullathian 20-gun corvette Broadsword, Aledia was assigned to the Denevier Squadron to refit and serve as a fleet escort.
Her service in the Third Tri-Fief War came to a spectacular end in the Battle of Denevier Bay. Leading a squadron of four frigates, Aledia and her consorts engaged the van of a Crullathian squadron, capturing one ship of the line and delaying the rest long enough for Vice Admiral Sir Lucien Amphion's squadron to engage them. The damage from the battle required a moderate repair, and Aledia spent the remainder of the war undergoing repairs in Denevier. She was paid off six months after the end of the war and spent the next year in ordinary.
The following year Aledia was placed under the command of Captain Bladen Messer Paget and assigned to carry the Kurathene Imperial Envoy Sir Reinhart Halley to the Nixie City of Qwanderal. The mission was considered a failure as Halley failed to secure a trading treaty with the skittish fey, but Captain Paget's war mage Lieutenant Cynthia Marshal made several important discoveries on the frigate's journey, including capturing a sample of the largest known species of land-gorgon on one of the islands on the eastern sea.
Aledia returned to Denevier the following year where she underwent a short refit before being recommissioned under Captain Leland Knowles. She was assigned to be part of Home Fleet's cruiser squadron and sailed for Kalion in the spring where she spent a year in commission before being reassigned to the North Sea Fleet with the outbreak of the War of Thorns. During the conflict Aledia cruised off the northern seas where she captured six Crullathian privateers and a Brekonese man of war.
In the third year of the War of Thorns, Aledia returned to Denevier for a minor repair and was placed once again under the command of Ayren Milen. She served as the lead frigate in the Imperial Anti-Corsair Squadron when Dubunat entered the conflict. The squadron was responsible for the capture of twenty-two Dubunati corsairs and the destruction of ten more, and also served to defend the coastal town of Calaine that served as the headquarters for the Expeditionary Cohort commanded by Legate Harlan Tochi'larian.
Her most famous engagement of the War of Thorns came a week before the end of hostilities, when a Crullathian squadron sought to land a division of soldiers to catch the Army of Hyribia between two fires. Facing a third-rate battleship and four frigates, Aledia and two frigates engaged the squadron off the western coast. In the resultant engagement the third-rate sank, while two of the frigates were captured. The troop ships loaded with the Crullathian reinforcements were captured by the victorious Imperial squadron.
Worn out from near constant service during the War of Thorns, Aledia was sent to Kalion for an extensive rebuilding. Surveys from the dockyard shipwrights revealed stress damage to much of her hull, and she was stripped down for a thorough refit. As a result she was unavailable when the newly promoted Admiral Milen requested Aledia to serve as flagship of the Joint Anti-Slavery Squadron.
The repair took the better part of six months which saw the outbreak of the Southern War of Chains against Drotid. When Ayren Milen returned from his ill-fated Battle of Hel'byssia, he was given Aledia and a handful of ships to reinforce the Anti-Slavery Squadron. She currently serves as the flagship of the Joint Anti-Slavery Squadron operating in the Eastern Sea against the Shaahesk.
Sailing Qualities
Aledia is famous for her excellent seakeeping qualities, particularly in heavy seas. Like her sisters of the Sorraine-class she is extremely weatherly and capable of making 9-12 kts on most points of sailing. Her weatherly qualities make her an excellent sailor close-hauled, with a recorded speed of 12.3 kts. She is also extraordinarily fast off the wind, with her fastest recorded speed being 16kts under a combination of a strong breeze and magical assistance.
Her overall sailing qualities are remarkable, but she is a somewhat difficult ship to handle. Her sailing reports show that she is highly sensitive to changes in her trim and light airs with an empty hold leave her relatively crank compared to when full-laden and sailed large. She is regarded as one of the finest sailors in a navy full of high performing frigates, but her performance has varied wildly depending on who is in command and the skill of the crews.
Current Officers
Vice Admiral of the Blue Ayren Lyandric Tochi'larian, Commanding Officer
Lieutenant Jordan Harwell, First Lieutenant
Lieutenant(Acting) Patricius Windham, Second Lieutenant
Lieutenant(Acting) Trenton Ariele, Third Lieutenant
Major Tomas Alderton, Senior Marine Officer
Lieutenant Julian Remm, Junior Marine Officer
Colonel Matthias Dorne Krell, Senior War Mage Officer
Captain Lucius Capethorn, War Mage Officer of the Marines, First War Mage Officer
Lieutenant Abigail Hallendon, Second War Mage Officer
Lieutenant Alexis Etheridge, Third War Mage Officer
Weston Harte, Sailing Master
Erika Maiteland, Purser
Warren Coastgrove, Boatswain
Braden Keller, Gunnery Officer
Emilia Woods, Carpenter
Percival Maynard, Midshipman (Master's Mate)
Leighton Prescot, Midshipman (Master's Mate)
Kendrick Foxthorn, Midshipman
Julius Braithwaite, War Mage's Mate
Francis Oscar, War Mage's Mate
Diana va'Relle, War Mage's Mate
Willard Orton, War Mage's Mate
Preston Hampshire, War Mage's Mate
Julia Greene, War Mage's Mate
Sophia Vanden, War Mage's Mate
Illian March, War Mage's mate