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Noverran Flower-Class Corvette
Barely a few months into the Altaran War, tiny warships barely 230 feet long were chuffing out of U.S. Sector ports.
Their mission: protect Allied convoys bound for the New British Isles.
They were the Flower-class, named for the corvettes built by the British for the same purpose during World War II. Only these came with a bit more modern punch.
Designed in weeks and launched within months for sea trials, the Flower-class earned a reputation as the little warrior bees of the war. Small, cheap, fast in a pinch, and lethal enough to force Kraken-class submarines away from convoys, they did the job. And they did it well.
They weren’t perfect, however. Forty-eight would be lost, most of them to enemy action, including the lead ship of the class, PCE-001 UFS Tulip.
Tulip was on her fifth crossing when a storm in the Mid-Atlantic forced the convoy to deviate south. During that deviation, the fifteen-ship convoy and its eight-ship escort screen came under attack by boats and aircraft. Although the escorts fought them off and saved all but one of their charges, three escorts were sunk and two damaged in the attack, including Tulip, which made a good showing with her CIWS but was ultimately struck by three anti-ship missiles, leaving no survivors.
Another famous Flower was PCE-005, RNN Lily, the oldest Flower to survive the war. After multiple crossings, multiple battle stars, and a Parliamentary Unit Citation, she went on to a solid postwar life as a Coast Guard cutter.
And then there’s PCE-151, RNN Marigold. Well, I’ll let her captain’s Medal of Valor citation speak for itself:
"On October 30th, 2056, after a long bout with multiple Kraken-class encounters, Captain Harvy Oliver of the RNS Marigold found himself and his ship as the sole surviving member of the escort fleet. Six other Flower-class ships—the Violet, Honeypot, Strawberry, Lemon Vine, Apple Leaf, and Green Tea—had all been sunk or severely damaged, their surviving crews taken aboard the convoy ships.
At 21:30 hours local time, five hours from the farthest reach of Allied Maritime Patrol Aircraft, another wolfpack was detected. Captain Harvy Oliver, with no regard for his own safety or that of his crew, ordered the RNS Marigold to flank speed and into a screening position between the wolfpack and the convoy.
When the first submarine was detected, Captain Oliver ordered batteries release with his starboard torpedo tubes. With one torpedo left, he fired—and scored a direct hit. Two more submarines were detected and engaged with the remaining torpedoes. Both hit and sunk.
Then the fourth and final submarine attempted to engage Marigold. Captain Oliver ordered his ship directly at the enemy and launched a full spread from his hedgehog launcher. One charge detonated close—an indirect hit—but enough to cripple her. The Kraken surfaced, seeking to duel in the storm.
For nearly five minutes, in heavy seas, Marigold and the Kraken traded fire. With precise gunnery and unbroken resolve, Captain Oliver’s 105mm scored a direct hit on the enemy’s torpedo bay. Multiple sympathetic detonations tore the Kraken apart. Captain Oliver’s stubborn defense of Convoy OCT-13-56 is in keeping with the highest traditions of the navies that preceded the Royal Noverran Navy, and stands as a standard for all who follow."
A total of 264 Flowers were built between March 2055 and November 2058, with the last hull, HMS Wildflower, hitting the water on November 29th, 2058, and arriving in New London on December 24th, 2058.
After the war, 68 hulls were transferred or traded to other nations for service as coastal patrol vessels, while 62 were transferred to the Royal Noverran Coast Guard to serve as cutters.
The rest continued to serve with the Royal Noverran Navy until the first Lake-class corvettes and River-class frigates began coming online in late 2065, at which point the remaining Flowers began to be decommissioned.
Five would be preserved, including Marigold, whose historical society maintains her engines well enough to conduct coastal cruises every few weeks for paying visitors, complete with mock ASW drills.
In January 2076, Marigold was pulled from this duty, overhauled, and repainted in her original wartime colors in time for the coronation of Queen Palli Davonger. Alongside CGC-005 RNCG Lily, she escorted the new Queen’s launch from RNN Eternal Vigilance from carrier to shore, where Stalwart, also preserved as a museum ship, waited with members of her original crew holding banners reading “GO WIN!”—an echo of late 2056, when Palli, then a little over four years old, gave them their second order, and her first official order as a Royal:
To “Go Win.”
And they did.
If you like this ship class, and want to check the main story, you can do so at these links:
KDP: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FR47SXKD?binding=kindle_edition
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/vengeance-james-news/1149080723
Posted using PostyBirb
Their mission: protect Allied convoys bound for the New British Isles.
They were the Flower-class, named for the corvettes built by the British for the same purpose during World War II. Only these came with a bit more modern punch.
Designed in weeks and launched within months for sea trials, the Flower-class earned a reputation as the little warrior bees of the war. Small, cheap, fast in a pinch, and lethal enough to force Kraken-class submarines away from convoys, they did the job. And they did it well.
They weren’t perfect, however. Forty-eight would be lost, most of them to enemy action, including the lead ship of the class, PCE-001 UFS Tulip.
Tulip was on her fifth crossing when a storm in the Mid-Atlantic forced the convoy to deviate south. During that deviation, the fifteen-ship convoy and its eight-ship escort screen came under attack by boats and aircraft. Although the escorts fought them off and saved all but one of their charges, three escorts were sunk and two damaged in the attack, including Tulip, which made a good showing with her CIWS but was ultimately struck by three anti-ship missiles, leaving no survivors.
Another famous Flower was PCE-005, RNN Lily, the oldest Flower to survive the war. After multiple crossings, multiple battle stars, and a Parliamentary Unit Citation, she went on to a solid postwar life as a Coast Guard cutter.
And then there’s PCE-151, RNN Marigold. Well, I’ll let her captain’s Medal of Valor citation speak for itself:
"On October 30th, 2056, after a long bout with multiple Kraken-class encounters, Captain Harvy Oliver of the RNS Marigold found himself and his ship as the sole surviving member of the escort fleet. Six other Flower-class ships—the Violet, Honeypot, Strawberry, Lemon Vine, Apple Leaf, and Green Tea—had all been sunk or severely damaged, their surviving crews taken aboard the convoy ships.
At 21:30 hours local time, five hours from the farthest reach of Allied Maritime Patrol Aircraft, another wolfpack was detected. Captain Harvy Oliver, with no regard for his own safety or that of his crew, ordered the RNS Marigold to flank speed and into a screening position between the wolfpack and the convoy.
When the first submarine was detected, Captain Oliver ordered batteries release with his starboard torpedo tubes. With one torpedo left, he fired—and scored a direct hit. Two more submarines were detected and engaged with the remaining torpedoes. Both hit and sunk.
Then the fourth and final submarine attempted to engage Marigold. Captain Oliver ordered his ship directly at the enemy and launched a full spread from his hedgehog launcher. One charge detonated close—an indirect hit—but enough to cripple her. The Kraken surfaced, seeking to duel in the storm.
For nearly five minutes, in heavy seas, Marigold and the Kraken traded fire. With precise gunnery and unbroken resolve, Captain Oliver’s 105mm scored a direct hit on the enemy’s torpedo bay. Multiple sympathetic detonations tore the Kraken apart. Captain Oliver’s stubborn defense of Convoy OCT-13-56 is in keeping with the highest traditions of the navies that preceded the Royal Noverran Navy, and stands as a standard for all who follow."
A total of 264 Flowers were built between March 2055 and November 2058, with the last hull, HMS Wildflower, hitting the water on November 29th, 2058, and arriving in New London on December 24th, 2058.
After the war, 68 hulls were transferred or traded to other nations for service as coastal patrol vessels, while 62 were transferred to the Royal Noverran Coast Guard to serve as cutters.
The rest continued to serve with the Royal Noverran Navy until the first Lake-class corvettes and River-class frigates began coming online in late 2065, at which point the remaining Flowers began to be decommissioned.
Five would be preserved, including Marigold, whose historical society maintains her engines well enough to conduct coastal cruises every few weeks for paying visitors, complete with mock ASW drills.
In January 2076, Marigold was pulled from this duty, overhauled, and repainted in her original wartime colors in time for the coronation of Queen Palli Davonger. Alongside CGC-005 RNCG Lily, she escorted the new Queen’s launch from RNN Eternal Vigilance from carrier to shore, where Stalwart, also preserved as a museum ship, waited with members of her original crew holding banners reading “GO WIN!”—an echo of late 2056, when Palli, then a little over four years old, gave them their second order, and her first official order as a Royal:
To “Go Win.”
And they did.
If you like this ship class, and want to check the main story, you can do so at these links:
KDP: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FR47SXKD?binding=kindle_edition
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/vengeance-james-news/1149080723
Posted using PostyBirb
Category All / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 2538 x 1452px
File Size 2.59 MB
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