Royal Manticoran Navy
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The Royal Manticoran Navy (abbreviated RMN) is a fictional space navy from the Honorverse, a series of novels and stories written by David Weber, and now others. All are published by Baen Books.
It's the navy of the Star Kingdom of Manticore. The RMN is a thinly-disguised copy of the Age of Sail Royal Navy (United Kingdom).
The Royal Manticoran Navy traces its origins to the early days of the Manticore Colony. The original colonists had left a considerable amount of money on Earth to guard its interests before they arrived to Manticore (a voyage that took seven centuries). Amongst other things, the Manticore Colony Trust used this money and the accrued interest to acquire four small frigates which were dispatched to protect the fledgling colony from pirates; these were the first ships that flew under Manticoran flag. For the next decades the Manticoran System Navy remained a small system defense fleet. Under the command of Commodore Edward Saganami, the RMN became a force to be reckoned with, and the following discovery of the Manticore Wormhole Junction changed the RMN, as the fleet expanded to protect Manticore's growing merchant marine. As the threat of the People's Republic of Haven loomed, King Roger III and Prime Minister Allen Summervale began a naval buildup program which placed the RMN as one of the largest fleets in human space.
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Command Structure
The King or Queen of Manticore is the Commander-in-Chief of the Manticoran armed forces. The civilian head of the Royal Manticoran Navy is known as the First Lord of Admiralty, who handles the overall coordination of naval policy as directed by the Cabinet. Another civilian official, the Second Lord of Admiralty, is responsible for the budgetary and fiscal management of the RMN. The Third Lord of Admiralty concerns with health and manpower.
Below the Lords of Admiralty are the Space Lords, the senior uniformed officers in the RMN. Each Space Lord handles a specific branch, or bureau, of the RMN:
- First Space Lord: The senior active-duty officer in the Royal Manticoran Navy, responsible for overall strategic direction, force structure management and deployment.
- Second Space Lord: Handles operational and tactical planning and is the head of the Office of Naval Intelligence. Heads the Bureau of Planning (BuPlan)
- Third Space Lord: Oversees construction and maintenance of warships in accordance with directions from the Second Lord of Admiralty. Heads the Bureau of Ships (BuShips)
- Fourth Space Lord: Responsible for research and development of new systems for the Navy. Heads the Bureau of Weapons (BuWeaps)
- Fifth Space Lord: Manages recruitment and manpower, and oversees transfers and placement of naval personnel. Heads the Bureau of Personnel (BuPers)
- Sixth Space Lord: Responsible for the training and education of Manticoran naval personnel in accordance with the Third Lord of Admiralty and the Fifth Space Lord. Heads the Bureau of Training (BuTrain)
- Seventh Space Lord: In charge of the health and medical treatment of all Fleet personnel, and administers Naval Hospitals. Heads the Medical Bureau (BuMed)
Ranks
Flag Officers
Flag officers are "of the Red" or "of the Green" (for example, "Rear Admiral of the Red Mark Sarnow" or "Admiral of the Green Hamish Alexander"), indicating seniority. Being a flag officer of the Red indicates recent promotion to the rank, while the Green is the senior division.
Commissioned Officers
- Captain (Senior Grade) - Also known as "Captain of the List", as these officers are on "the List", indicating they can be considered for promotion to Commodore. (OF-5)
- Captain (Junior Grade) (OF-5)
- Commander (OF-4)
- Lieutenant Commander (OF-3)
- Lieutenant (Senior Grade) (OF-2)
- Lieutenant (Junior Grade) (OF-1)
- Ensign (OF-1)
- Midshipman/woman (OF-D)
Non-commissioned Officers
- Senior Master Chief Petty Officer (OR-9)
- Master Chief Petty Officer (OR-9)
- Senior Chief Petty Officer (OR-8)
- Chief Petty Officer (OR-7)
- Petty Officer First Class (OR-6)
- Petty Officer Second Class (OR-5)
- Petty Officer Third Class (OR-4)
Enlisted Personnel
(The NATO standard ranking system has been applied as used in the Military Rank articles. OF=Officer, OR=Other Ranks.)
The RMN has "Warrant Officers"; these are non-commissioned officers who have been promoted but not given a commission. In terms of seniority their ranks are equivalent from Lieutenant (JG) to Commander, but they are not in the chain of command. A Warrant Officer would then occupy a specialist position normally held by an officer, such as in engineering.
Midshipmen follow the Royal Navy pattern, to a point. They do not fill the role of Ensign; otherwise they are nearly identical, to the point of being some form of Warrant Officer.
Historical Basis
This rank structure is clearly based on the old Royal Navy. The distinction between senior and junior-grade Captains is similar to RN captains historically wearing one epaulette if they had less than three years' seniority. Promotion to flag rank was on the basis of seniority on the Captain's List. The RN also split flag ranks into Blue, White and Red divisions (in ascending order) on the basis of seniority. See Admiral for an article dealing with this.
This is only based on history, and there are some differences, especially in the seniority rules. For example, in the RN of the day, Commodore was an appointment rather than a rank, and was conferred on Captains lacking the seniority for promotion to flag rank. In the RMN, Commodore is a substantive rank, and the promotion any Captain of the List is guaranteed if they live long enough. Alice Truman was jumped directly from Captain of the List to Rear Admiral, while Honor Harrington was promoted from Commodore to full Admiral in the RMN.
Technology
Like all navies in the Honorverse, the RMN uses starships which are designed remarkably like Age of Sail men-of-war, with a moderate "chase" armament mounted in the bow and stern of the ship, and the main firepower of the ship concentrated in its broadsides. A typical broadside for a light cruiser might contain several laser or graser (a gamma-ray laser lensed by artificial gravity) cannon and seven to ten missile tubes; a typical broadside for a super-dreadnought (the largest class of capital ship in the Honorverse, over three kilometers in length and massing over eight million tons) might have a dozen or more times as many weapons in raw numbers, each individual weapon mount also being much more powerful than the light cruiser's battery. Because of the nature of Honorverse propulsion, "fighters" are not possible; the smallest possible effective warship is the light attack craft (LAC), massing 20,000-30,000 tons (LACs cannot travel through hyperspace, however, they must be towed through it by tenders or carried in aircraft carrier-like ships called CLACs).
RMN space ship classes and ships
Superdreadnoughts
- King William-class
- HMS King William
- HMS King Roger
- HMS King Michael
- HMS Queen Caitrin
- Manticore-class
- Sphinx-class
- HMS Sphinx
- Gryphon-class
- HMS Gryphon
- Medusa-class (formerly known as the Harrington class)
- HMS Belisarius
- HMS Troubadour
- HMS Thunderer
- HMS Trevor's Star
- HMS Yeltsin's Star
- HMS Barnett
- HMS Hancock
- Samothrace-class (obsolete)
- HMS Hercules
- Unidentified class - these ships were mentioned in a post by David Weber as forming part of Honor Harrington's fleet during the Second Battle of Marsh, see [1] (http://infodump.thefifthimperium.com/Harrington/hh_ob_1920_second_marsh.htm)
- HMS Horatius
- HMS Minerva
- HMS Romulus
- HMS Starcrest
- HMS Highlander
- HMS Prince Charles
- HMS Admiral D'Orville
- HMS Yawata
- HMS Winton
- HMS Duke of New Madrid
- HMS Prince Malachai
- HMS Duke Winter Mount
- HMS Prince Royal
- HMS Harrier
- HMS Conquest
- HMS Nicator
- HMS Kathryn Howard
- HMS Challenger
- HMS Revenge
- HMS Ibrahim
- HMS Defender
- HMS Morning Star
- HMS Excalibur
- HMS Macedonian
- Invictus-class
Dreadnoughts
- Majestic-class
- Bellerophon-class
- HMS Bellerophon
- Unidentified class - these ships were mentioned in a post by David Weber as forming part of Honor Harrington's fleet during the Second Battle of Marsh, see [2] (http://infodump.thefifthimperium.com/Harrington/hh_ob_1920_second_marsh.htm)
- HMS Grendelsbane
- HMS Prince Nicholas
- HMS Scepter
- HMS Matador
- HMS Earl Sydon
- HMS Baroness Bellisle
LAC Carriers
- Minotaur-class
- HMS Minotaur
- HMS Chimera
- HMS Cockatrice
- HMS Werewolf
- HMS Centaur
Battlecruisers
- Redoubtable-class
- HMS Defiant
- HMS Invincible
- HMS Intolerant
- HMS Onslaught
- Homer-class
- HMS Achilles
- HMS Agamemnon
- HMS Cassandra
- Reliant-class
- HMS Nike
- HMS Reliant
- Unidentified class - these ships were mentioned in a post by David Weber as forming part of Honor Harrington's fleet during the Second Battle of Marsh, see [3] (http://infodump.thefifthimperium.com/Harrington/hh_ob_1920_second_marsh.htm), or have been named in published Honorverse works but not identified by class.
- HMS Repulse
- HMS Retaliation
- HMS Royalist
- HMS Athena
- HMS Atropos
- HMS Victorious
- HMS Vengeance
- HMS Valiant
- HMS Relentless
- HMS Mars
- HMS Shiva
- HMS Triumphant
- HMS Glory
- HMS Furious
- HMS Dresden
- HMS Ishtar
- HMS Hecate
- HMS Viper
- HMS Venom
- HMS Truculent
- HMS Implacable
- HMS Champion
- HMS Hector
- HMS Braveheart
Heavy Cruisers
- Crusader-class
- HMS Crusader
- Prince Consort-class
- HMS Prince Adrian
- Star Knight-class
- HMS Warlock
- HMS Fearless
- HMS Circe
- HMS Magician
- HMS Merlin
- HMS Sorcerer
- HMS Star Knight
- HMS Vigilant
- Edward Saganami-class
- HMS Edward Saganami
- Edward Saganami B-class
- HMS Gauntlet
- Edward Saganami C-class
- HMS Hexapuma
Light Cruisers
- Courageous-class(obsolete)
- HMS Audacious
- HMS Defiant
- HMS Fearless (scrapped)
- HMS Gallant
- Apollo-class
- HMS Apollo
- HMS Agni
- HMS Amaterasu
- HMS Adonai
- HMS Arethusa
- HMS Athena
- Avalon-class
- HMS Aegis
Destroyers
- Hawkwing-class(obsolete)
- HMS Hawkwing
- Linnet-class
- HMS Linnet
- Minstrel-class
- HMS Balladeer
- HMS Madrigal (possible)
- HMS Oracle (possible)
- HMS Plain Song
- HMS Troubadour (possible)
- HMS Windsong (possible)
- HMS Arrowhead (class unknown)
- Chanson-class(obsolete)
- HMS Rondeau
- HMS Aria