Essay:Clan Naval Forces

With few exceptions, the Clans view WarShips as a point of pride and yet also derision. While almost unimaginable raw military might can be concentrated at a single point, the vessels also require coordination, collaboration, and communal work. This aspect makes the idea of the great warrior-knight difficult to achieve among the subcaste, , and such responsibility was quickly seen as disgraceful. A select corp is called to such machines, and most are members of the Aerospace phenotype; only the Snow Ravens maintain Naval Commander Bloodnames, though the Star Adders, Nova Cats, and Sea Foxes were well regarded in select times.

The Exodus Fleet

The entire Exodus Fleet that Aleksandr Kerensky led into exile and which would evolve into the Clans had reportedly amassed in the New Samarkand system by 12 October 2784, and embarked on their journey from there on 5 November (after the last DropShip had docked to its JumpShip) by jumping out in groups over the course of a full day.

The numbers given for the fleet is frequently cited as 402 WarShips (or "over 400 WarShips") escorting 1,349 JumpShips (or "transports"), with over 5,000 DropShips carried between them. At the time, Raymond Sainze counted "nearly two thousand JumpShips and WarShips" clogging the New Samarkand system. It should be noted that these numbers may be inaccurate.

The first problem is that the distinction between WarShips, JumpShips and DropShips is not as clear cut as it seems. While BattleTech construction rules are clear about it, in-universe perception may differ. There are several ship classes that feature a compact Kearny-Fuchida drive, requiring them to be built as "WarShips" under the construction rules, while they may not be considered WarShips in-universe. Examples include Yardships and various classes of military transports such as the Sylvester and Potemkin; the Bug-Eye class surveillance ship is even built to resemble a DropShip. Conversely, so-called Jolly Roger JumpShips are outfitted for combat roles and could conceivably be called WarShips although they are JumpShips under the construction rules.

This uncertainty about what is what is exacerbated by the fact that the stated numbers seem to stem from the local authorities' count from when the fleet assembled in the New Samarkand system, adding another layer of possible error as ships may have been misidentified or overlooked; the aforementioned Bug-Eye class in particular was built to have a low profile and may have eluded sensors altogether.

The second problem is that some parts of the Exodus Fleet might not actually have moved through New Samarkand by 5 November or at all, but joined the fleet later, and thus would not have been included in the count made at New Samarkand. It is positively known that the fleet detached WarShips and scout JumpShips as vanguard and rearguard forces and along the flanks, and had pickets hunting for worlds from which the fleet could resupply. While the evidence is not conclusive, it is possible that these detached vessels moved through New Samarkand before the count was made, later, or not at all. Canonical examples include the rearguard mission of the SLS Manassas and the location of its rendezvous point at Schwartz which is a significant detour from the Exodus Road; the fact that the DropShip carrying the protagonist from When the Bears Left lifts off from Axton on 26 October 2784 and is unlikely to have traveled the roughly 450 light-years to New Samarkand by 5 November already; and the timeline of the Exodus Fleet's visit to Gutara V.

Of the (reportedly) 402 WarShips that left the Inner Sphere with General Kerensky, some were lost over the course of the Exodus. Of those remaining, most were mothballed in various Boneyards or Naval Caches, while many were destroyed in the Pentagon Civil War. When Nicholas Kerensky returned with his Clans, only a reported 260 remained. All Clans seem to use mostly updated pre-Exodus vessels (almost all renamed), while a few were able to design and construct new series of vessels. Estimates vary on how many WarShips can be found throughout the touman and reserves of the Clans. Due to the horrors of the conflicts throughout Clan space following the Exodus Civil War, including but not limited to the Wars of Reaving, a final tally may be impossible.

List of Clan Naval Forces

• Clan Blood Spirit Naval Forces
• Clan Burrock Naval Forces
• Clan Cloud Cobra Naval Forces
• Clan Coyote Naval Forces
• Clan Diamond Shark Naval Forces
• Clan Fire Mandrill Naval Forces
• Clan Ghost Bear Naval Forces
• Clan Goliath Scorpion Naval Forces
• Clan Hell's Horses Naval Forces
• Clan Ice Hellion Naval Forces
• Clan Jade Falcon Naval Forces
• Clan Jade Wolf Naval Forces
• Clan Mongoose Naval Forces
• Clan Nova Cat Naval Forces
• Clan Sea Fox Naval Forces
• Clan Smoke Jaguar Naval Forces
• Clan Snow Raven Naval Forces
• Clan Star Adder Naval Forces
• Clan Steel Viper Naval Forces
• Clan Stone Lion Naval Forces
• Clan Widowmaker Naval Forces
• Clan Wolf Naval Forces
• Clan Wolf-in-Exile Naval Forces
• Clan Wolverine Naval Forces

List of Clan WarShip Class Introduction

WarShips are updated Star League Era WarShips unless noted. These classes are mostly found in the leadup to the Golden Century, while some were found at the beginning of the time of the Clans' updated tactics and the introduction of other great leaps forward, such as the OmniMech.

Clan refits usually consisted of updating the armor with the latest improvements in armor: Lamellor Ferro-Carbide, fitting them with the valuable Lithium-Fusion Battery, and/or changing the number of OmniFighter bays to fit the Clan's tactical doctrine.

The Clans of the Political Century, as they began to settle into Warden and Crusader camps, began to explore their surrounding systems and start to look back at the Inner Sphere. This timeframe introduced the first of the Clans' new designs. The Snow Ravens, Wolves, and Jade Falcons each produced small exploration corvettes that the refit Star League frigates and battleships were ill-suited for. They were unsuccessful in lasting long, as the Clans had lost the inter-discipline focus of the SLDF, and largely misused the new WarShips, misjudging the costs involved in fielding the resource-intensive weapons.

The Great Debate and the preparation for return to the Inner Sphere sparked the Snow Ravens to design several new WarShips in concert with the Ghost Bears. With the confirmation of the absence of WarShips in the Inner Sphere and the end of large-scale cooperation, new production was limited, and new construction was largely halted. The time of the Great Refusal was a time of limited cooperation and the first losses of WarShips in internecine Clan fighting in almost a century.

Upgrades

• 2835 - Texas

Seven vessels are noted to have survived to join Exodus. The vessels SLS Prinz Eugen, SLS Mountbatten, and SLS Bismark were noted by their Star League names or predate the introduction of Clan WarShip refit Texas. The CCS Ancestral Home, CJF Falcon's Nest, CSJ Veiled Huntress, and CWS Nicholas Kerensky are assigned to various Clans, likely with new designations. An eighth, the SLS Perth, is noted to be barely functional and orbiting Arcadia during Operation KLONDIKE. If the note of only 7 surviving vessels is correct, the Perth must have been repaired and renamed.

• 2836 - Volga

"about two dozen"

• 2841 - Lola III

"large number survived"

• 2843 - Aegis
• 2843 - Black Lion

with "less than a dozen" Black Lion Exodus vessels, hulls are manageable, though more than a dozen are named throughout Clan history. SLS Huisman is only known before EXODUS, and the SLS Michael Norman was reported destroyed in the Pentagon Civil War to a degree that makes restoration unlikely. CSA Admiral William S. Preston, CGB Bear's Den, CJF Blue Aerie, CJF Jade Aerie, CJF White Aerie, CBS Rocinante, CNC Thunderbolt, and CSJ Streaking Mist are REVIVAL-era touman listings. The issue of Clan Wolf's vessels is problematic, though. The Arctic Wolf is only noted in the 3052 unified Wolf touman. The Dark Wolf is only named in the short-lived Clan Jade Wolf touman. The Implacable joined Clan-Wolf-in-Exile, while the Blood Drinker and Stealthy Kill are named as Crusader Wolf vessels. Even assuming the pre-Absorbtion Wolf vessels were renamed for unknown reasons and the Huisman rechristened to one of the subsequently Clan-named vessels, an even dozen are so named. To reconcile this, either the Norman was repaired or the count of vessels is mistaken. The rumored origins of the Tripitz cloud the number further, though if the clandestine actions of the ship are to be believed, obfuscating those that survived Operation LIBERATION may be intentional.

• 2845 - Sovetskii Soyuz
• 2851 - Cameron
• 2851 - McKenna

18 McKenna survived to leave on the Exodus. 10 are known: the SLS(Clan Wolverine) Zughoffer Weir, SLS McKenna's Pride, and SLS James McKenna are noted to predate Clan refits, and so are presumed to continue their Star League monikers. The SLS Spicer is observed in joining EXODUS, but not found later in Clan history. The CCC Second Coming, first noted at KLONDIKE, is unclear. The CSJ Obsidian, CSA Sovereign Right, CIH Cage's Pride, CGS Lei Kung, and CWS Werewolf are noted in their respective Clan toumans first in the 31st Century, and likely Clan rechristenings.

• 2862 - Essex II

"less than thirty"

• 2875 - Potemkin

"roughly 30"

• 2901 - Whirlwind

19 Davion-class are known to have left on EXODUS. Seven are noted in REVIVAL-era toumans as Whirlwind Clan refits. One, the SLS Weasel, was a Clan Wolverine vessel and battled their former brethren during their Annihilation. The other 11 have unknown dispositions.

• 2914 - Congress

"small amount"

First New Vessels

• 2915 - Corone - first of entirely new Clan WarShip designs by Clan Snow Raven

Six vessels

• 2932 - Nightlord - new class by the Snow Raven Clan

Nine constructed/named

Golden Century ends, Political Century considered begun

• 2947 - York - refit Riga II-class

Six Riga II were noted to have joined EXODUS. As the known number of York hulls is at least 16, the six original and the Snow Raven manufactured new dozen (plus one Coyote-ordered new construction CCS Broken Sea) leaves 3 unnamed (possibly lost or mothballed) hulls.

• 2950 - Carrack
• 2951 - Molniya - new Clan Wolf design

Four constructions

• 2962 - Fredasa - new design
• 2969 - Peregrine - new design by Clan Jade Falcon
• 2985 - Carrack-Merchant - downgraded Carrack for Merchant Caste use
• 2997 - Vincent Mk. 42

Return to the Inner Sphere

• 3024 - Liberator - refit Avatar-class WarShips

Six EXODUS vessels. SLS Constantineau is an SLDF-named ship, continued in service with Clan Burrock/Star Adder. The SLS Morello is anachronistic, possibly a misprint or unrelated Star League prototype or heretofore unknown class. The other seven named vessels point heavily to the CWS Blood Fang and CWS Fuego Lobo being renamed CWS Victoria Ward and CWS Jerome Winson in the post-Refusal War birth of the Crusader Wolves.

• 3052 - Conqueror - refit Kimagure-class

Only five Kimagure survived to the Exodus. Two have been seen as Snow Raven Conquerer refits, and one Burrock/Society CBS Admiral Russell Nga restored from cache, leaving two unaccounted-for hulls.

New Leviathans

• 3055 - Leviathan Transport - downgraded new class, eventually restored to battleship parameters as Leviathan II in 3066
• 3070 - Leviathan (Prime) - heavily armed secret Clan Steel Viper vessel based on original Leviathan specifications
• 3150 - Leviathan III - long-rumored first new construction of a WarShip in nearly a century by Clan Ghost Bear

Losses and Refocused Importance

The relocation of many Clans to the Inner Sphere began with the Ghost Bears and Nova Cats but eventually encompassed all Invader Clans. Whether a symptom or cause, the Wars of Reaving unleashed untold amounts of devastation and left the Homeworlds in ruin, destroyed many WarShips throughout, ruined or lost a large number of formerly inactive vessels, and eventually cost the survivors the ability to produce large amounts of new equipment. The end of contact with the Clan worlds after 3090 leaves a void in the goings on in the birthplace of the Clans and their greatest weapons.

Post-Jihad, the Clans that founded the Council of Six were mostly unable to maintain almost any weapon, let alone the largest resource sinks, their WarShips.

Entering the Republic era, the weakest of the technically-former Clans, the Wolves-in-Exile and Nova Cats, had no yards and limited access to Snow Raven or Clan Diamond Shark / Sea Fox drydocks. The Hell's Horses kept few manufacturing centers open to them, due to their location on the edge of the Periphery. The losses suffered by the Crusader Wolves and the Jade Falcons in the post-Great Refusal time saw them refocus on survival before their WarShips. The new holdings gained after the invocation of Fortress Republic gained worlds, but no new orbital yards. The Ghost Bears and Snow Ravens are seemingly best positioned, but non-military uses were the priority, and no new construction was undertaken. The Sea Foxes and their colossal ArcShips contain mobile yards, but are seemingly uninterested in the use of massive weapons of war, preferring to turn them into centers of commerce.