An update from the Chief of Operations

As we enter the Winter, this is the current state of the Wild Fleet :

• the Second Battleships Division and the First Escort Division are currently docked in their home port of Winterfell Eventide. Their main duty is to patrol and  protect the home waters and they will continue to perform this task until further notice
• the fourth battleship division is currently cruising in Southern Caledon and will be back into Winterfell waters to grant the crews their shore leave, before the holidays.
• The High Seas Squadron (Third Battleship Division,  Second Escort Division and Second Schooner Division) is currently sailing south of Nautilus City. No operations are planned before the end of the year. The three division will split up and will reach friendly harbors to celebrate the holidays, with the exception of the Grand Star and the Hunting Star that will provide the necessary patrols during the Christmas Days. They will be replaced in this duty by the Black Star and the Star of Twilight before New Year's Eve.
• The First Frigate Division - after closing the advanced base in Alurel, is now sailing toward Bay City where it is expected to dock in a couple of days. The division will take sea again after the holidays heading to Winterfell. The Bright Star and the Star of Alurel will alternate on patrol duty.
• the Light Escort Division is sailing from the Atoll to Bay City where will join the First Frigate Division . It will escort it back to Winterfell after the holidays
• The special ops division is currently engaged in operations in the Southern Continent

Wild Fleet Order of Battle

From: Wild Fleet Headquarter, Admiralty Island, Winterfell Eventide


Here is the order of Battle of the Wild Fleet valid through the rest of the yaar, or until further notice

Home Squadron

Home Port: Winterfell Eventide

• First Battleship Division (in Reserve - non active duty) 
• Star of Christmas 
• Second Battleship Division 
• Star of Winter 
• Star of Summer (squadron flagship) 
• Star of Spring 
• First Escort Division 
• Starburst (division flagship) 
• Young Star 
• Starblast (to be commissioned) 
• Fourth (Light) Battleship Division 
• Fighting Star 
• Exploring Star 
• Ghost Star 

High Seas Squadron

Home Port: Advanced base in the North of Nautilus

• Third Battleship Division 

• Star of Winterfell (fleet Flagship) 
• Star of the Dawn 
• Grand Star 
• Black Star 

• Fifth Battleship Division (to be activated) 

• Second (Fast) Escort Division 

• Hunting Star (division flagship) 
• Shining Star 
• Star of Twilight 
• the Hit Star 

• Second Light (Schooner) Division 

• Sailing Star (division flagship) 
• the Windy Star 
• Raising Star 

Mainland Squadron

Home Port: Bases in the Atoll, Samsara and the Southern Continent

• (First) Frigate Division 
• Battle Star (Squadron Flagship) 
• Star of Alurel 
• Bright Star 
• Second Frigate Division (to be activated) 
• First Light (Sloop and Schooner) Division 
• Flying Star (division flagship) 
• Rolling Star (Baltimore Schooner) 
• Third Escort Division 
• Special Ops Division 
• Running Star 
• Shooting Star (division flagship) 

from the Chief of Naval Intelligence: Antiquity Raiding Fair Winds

from the Chief of Naval Intelligence, aboard the Shooting Star on the way from the Atoll to Fair Winds

Flash dispatch  - MAXIMUM Priority

We have received information about a planned attack of Antiquity Naval Forces in Fair Winds waters.
It looks like attack is planned for next Saturday

Operatives dispatched in Antiquity and Fair Winds to gather more information. Sailing to Fair Winds at maximum speed.

Further messages will follow.

from the Admiral's Log: planning of getting new ships

The new fleet organization clearly shows the need for some reinforcements. Now the fleet is much bigger than it used to be and, should events like the sabotage of the end of 2010 or a major engagement like the Battle of the Isle of Skye reoccur, we would no longer be left with just a few ships operational for extended periods of time.

Yet the bulk of the Home Squadron is still based on old, although powerful, ships, slow and with limited mobility. They can be still good to protect the home waters but it would be nearly impossible to dispatch them away should the need arise. The light battleship division has more mobility, but they are still rather old ships and they can't compete against the more recent vessels.

The third battleship division is a formidable formation and its line of battle can challenge any opponents. Supported by the second escort division , they make the High Seas Squadron Highly reliable for today's standards. If this is enough to be up to the challenge of the future it is still to be seen.

The Mainland Squadron is built around the first frigate division. It is adequate for the current objective of the squadron, yet it engages all the frigate class vessels and it  would be preferred to have also a frigate division available to support the ships of the line of the Home and High Seas Squadrons.

We need therefore to start planning at lest two new ships of the line and two new frigates, plus a number of smaller vessels, in order to be able to give more flexibility to the different formations and be able to exchange ships and divisions among squadrons should the need arise.

from the Fleet Headquarters : New fleet Organization

From: Fleet Headquarters - Admiralty Island - Winterfell Eventide
To : the entire Wild Fleet

effective immediately

the Wild Fleet is from now organized on three main squadrons plus a number of support formations.
The three squadrons are

• Home Squadron
• High Seas Squadron 
• Mainland Squadron 

the ships Star of Summer, Star of Winterfell and Battle Star will be the flagships of the three squadrons respectively.

The Star of Christmas is retired from active duty and moved into the reserve flottilla. The Star of Winterfell will assume the duties of overall fleet flagship.

The gunboat flottilla will continue to patrol the homeland waters and will operate in support of the fleet when necessary.

The Steam Squadron and the Airship Squadron will continue to operate independently.

The Special Ops Squadron will become a division within the Mainland Squadron and will assume the name of Special Ops division.

A further notice will detail the assignment of ships to divisions and squadrons.

signed

VADM Wildstar Beaumont
Admiralty Island - Winterfell Eventide

from the Admiral's Log:about Armada, Steelhead and the new ship of the line

This world of ours never stops to amaze me. I thought that with the burning of Armada all was over for that region and yet here we have a surprise. I got a report from the Star of Alurel, that briefly anchored in Steelhead, during her recent cruise in the waters separating elven lands from Steamlands. The report claims that a major Tsunami, powerful enough to displace sims, has caused to rip away the sim that used to be Armada, and brought it to crash against Steelhead, making it a part of this region. No other major damages were assessed, so I guess all is well.

On a different subject, the name for the new ship of the line has been decided at last:  she will be the Star of the Dawn

She will be assigned to the third Battleship Division and temporarily detached to support Special Ops in mainland waters. In the next days the new fleet organization will be released with the new structure and unit assignments.

from the Chief of Naval Intelligence

From: Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxx, sailing on board the Shooting Star off shore the coast of Bay City
To: Wild Fleet Headquarters, Admiralty Island, Winterfell Eventide

Naval Intelligence Report

All looked quiet for the past weeks along the coast of the mainland continents. The Shooting Star continued its patrolling cruising between the Atoll and Samsara and all the communication lines are open and safe.

The Running Star continued to sail in the Nautilus area and all is quiet there as well. During the recent cruise of the Battle Star in the Blake Sea we were able to get confirmation of the new base of operation of the Scoudrels in the Blake Sim. We all regret the loss of Armada, but it looks like that they have been able to fall back to a safe area. Images have been dispatches to Fleet HQ through the usual channels.

The Running Star also supported the test cruise of the new ship of the line. We all look forward to know her new name and to have her here in support to the Special Ops in the next weeks.

Agent C reports nothing significant from his area inland as does Agent L.

Lady W continues her travelling across the Southern continent. She has left her base at Sternsberg several weeks ago by now and she is now charting the north eastern arm of the continent.

Nothing new concerning the mad scientist targeting non-humans in Winterfell. The tracks are all cold at the moment. I still suggest to send the tiny to a safer location. I understand he still dislikes to sail but the alternatives might not be pleasant.

This is it for now

With my compliments

Xxxxxx Xxxxxx
Commanding Officer
Special Ops

  

from the archives : the battle for the Isle of Skye

The battle for the Isle of Skye is by far the biggest naval action ever fought in Winterfell waters. It was fought in the Summer of 2011 and took a heavy toll on the fleet. It is worth to remember those events. here is the official report that was released after a couple of days :

All hands got up early on Saturday morning. We knew the Vulgarian fleet was close and all the reports were pointing towards Saturday as the day of the clash.

The fleet was deployed NE of the Isle of Skye with all the water of Libris and Undertow to give us a good maneuverability. The most probable direction of approach of the Vulgarians was from the north, along the eastern coast of Harbour. If so we would be ready to welcome them.

The Battle Star, the Ghost Star, the Star Burst and the Discovery Star made the bulk of the task force. Later Miss Serra reinforced us with her Twilight Rose. The Star of Winter and the Star of Summer operated independently, away from the main force ready to intervene if necessary.

Lady Eva had her ground forces assembled in her castle and her batteries were ready to cover the sea below. Overall we felt rather ready.

Despite that it was a messy affair: the Vulgarian humbugged us! They fainted a descent along the eastern coast of Harbor, as we expected, and we moved to face them. However it was just a deception. While we got ready to intercept, the Vulgarian fleet came down the Harbour canal and took us in the rear of the formation.

The Star of Winter did what she could to delay the enemy actions but found herself under the fire of the entire enemy fleet. In minutes she was badly damaged and partially sunk.

Soon the rest of the fleet started to take hits while still maneuvering to be able to return fire.

Despite the surprise, our deployment still proved to be strategically superior: we were keeping the gate to open waters and the Vulgarians were constrained in the narrows, unable to fully exploit the their firepower else hit each other.

Lady Eva started to hammer the ships from her battlements, despite being in turn under the fire of a Vulgarian airship. We started to return fire as well. The exchanges were ferocious. Each ship on either side took damage and soon fire was visible on every deck.

The Ghost Star was hit badly and soon started to lean on one side.


The Vulgarians tried to force their way into the eastern waters but we were able to force them back. Now we had the advantage. Their only way out was to retreat and give way to our pursuit.

A consulate airship materialized to even the chances on the sky. The vulgarian airship had to back off and Lady Eva boarded the friendly airship to have herself dropped on the enemy flagship, while a boarding party down from the slopes of the isle approached the enemy ships aboard a gunboat. We decided to support this action and pierce deep into the enemy formation. The Battle Star moved to ram into the Vulgarian flagship, while the Discovery Star followed to support her. An enemy broadside wiped the Discovery Star from the sea. She disappeared from the fight, missing and probably sunk. Captain Baldr is still missing. Despite the fire the Battle Star was able to gain speed and she rammed hard into the side if the enemy flagship, loosing all her masts because of the violence of the impact.

By now all the ships were constrained into a small space and the boarding parties were able to jump from deck to deck as one single battlefield.

It was all swords and musketfire by then. The fight was long and bloody, but by now it was clear that the battle was won. Despite our losses the Vulgarian fleet was shattered and no longer able to operate as a fighting unit. We had the control of the deck of their flagship and the other ships were either sunk or on fire.

The few ships still seaworthy tried to brake free and gain once again the northern waters to disengage. The Star of Summer and the Star Burst pursued them, sinking one before having to give up because of the heavy damages on the Star of Summer.

It was over. The butcher's tally was heavy but we had won. The Vulgarian were no longer a serious threat.

The official damage report for the Wild Fleet counted :

• Discovery Star wiped out by a broadside, missing, possibly sunk - Baldr Wingtips - the ship commanding officer - missing 
• Star of Winter heavily damaged, partially sunk 
• Star of Summer damaged 
• Battle Star dismasted and damaged when ramming the enemy flagship 
• Ghost Star damaged

After several days afloat Captain Baldr Wingtips was rescued, but has been unfit to set foot on a deck since the battle. Most of the ships had to stay in a dry dock for months to have the damage repaired. The Battle Star, that was the flagship during the action has been able to go back to sea more than one year after the battle.

The long term effects of the battle however, saw the fleet grow in size and strength, with the commissioning of several ships of the line, frigates and smaller escort vessels. 

from the Admiral's Log ...

Admiralty Island, January the 29th 2013

the new ship of the line has been delivered by the shipyards and the first tests on sea have been very successful. She's a beauty and a powerful lady, even if a bit difficult to turn. She must have a pretty good speed before turning into the wind otherwise it is very easy to end up "in irons".

 

She still needs a name and to be assigned to a squadron. The most natural choice would be to assign it to the third battleship division. It would be a perfect sister ship to the Star of Winterfell and the division would offer quite a formidable line of battle. On the other end, assigning a fifth capital ship to the third battleship division would make the division quite unbalanced, given that both the first and second division have two ships each (and the construction of Star of Spring is still month away). Might be a good opportunity to restructure the organization of the capital ships, even considering that retiring and moving the Star of Christmas into reserve is by now overdue.

For what concerns the name, no good ideas yet, but it must decided soon. The ship is already committed to a cruise to support the special ops division in the coming weeks, so must be made fully operational.

Concerning Special Ops, I am waiting for the new report from Fleet Intelligence. So much is going on and we still know so little. The recent loss of Armada has been painful, even if it is good that the Scoundrels have been able to fall back to a new base in the Blake sims. 

We will see what the future holds for us.

from the Wild Fleet Headquarters

From: Fleet Headquarters - Admiralty Island - Winterfell Eventide
To : the entire Wild Fleet

Effective Immediately

A new information page will be created in order to make available all the information concerning the fleet status and activities.
The page can be reached at http://wildfleet.blogspot.com

Posting of classified information require the clearance of the chief of naval intelligence

signed

VADM Wildstar Beaumont
Admiralty Island - Winterfell Eventide