Editing Hetherington

{{infoBoxIndividualVessel
| image      = 
| vesselname = Hetherington
| prevname   =
| type       = [[WarShip]]
| class      = [[Riga (WarShip)|Riga]]
| prevclass  = 
}}

==History==
The ''[[Riga (WarShip)|Riga]]''-class frigate '''''Hetherington''''' was one of a number of [[Star League Defense Force]] [[WarShip]]s to survive the [[Amaris Civil War]], the subsequent [[Operation EXODUS|Exodus]] to the [[Pentagon Worlds]] led by [[General]] [[Aleksandr Kerensky]] and the [[Pentagon Civil War]]. The ''Hetherington'' - possibly known by a different name at the time - was then most likely placed into storage by [[Clan Star Adder]], only to be recovered during the [[Wars of Reaving]] by the group known as [[The Society]] and subsequently given to the ressurected [[Clan Burrock]] to form a part of their ''[[touman]]''.<ref name="WORp112+">''The Wars of Reaving'', p. 112-113, "Constriction"</ref>

By December [[3072]] the Star Adders had suffered a number of casualties amongst their WarShip fleet as a result of battles during the ongoing Wars of Reaving. With ships lost in combat against [[Clan Coyote]], [[Clan Snow Raven]] and most recently a resurgent Clan Burrock the Star Adder leadership decided to activate some of the eight WarShips that formed a part of the Clan's last naval reserve. The naval reserve had been given the designation MKSC-2 and was established in a planetless system; a salvage party was assembled and arrived at MKSC-2 in late December.<ref name="WORp112+">''The Wars of Reaving'', p. 112-113, "Constriction"</ref>

The Star Adder convoy discovered shortly after arriving that a group from the [[Dark Caste]] had already been working on activating ships from the mothballed fleet, and had already successfully activated a ''[[Kimagure]]''-class pursuit cruiser and a ''Riga''-class frigate, both of which were missing from the cache, while a ''[[Baron]]''-class destroyer had also been reactivated and was still present in the system;<ref name="WORp112+"/> with the Society providing WarShip assets to Clan Burrock, it was likely that these two ships were the ''Kimagure''-class [[Admiral Russell Nga|CBS ''Admiral Russell Nga'']] and ''Riga''-class CBS ''Hetherington'' respectively based upon what was subsequently uncovered regarding the Clan Burrock black water navy.<ref name="WORp89">''The Wars of Reaving'', p. 89, "Military Commands (3072)/WarShips"</ref>

By the time the Star Adders discovered the absence of the ''Hetherington'' from the MKSC-2 cache, the ''Hetherington'' had already been lost in action against forces from [[Clan Diamond Shark]].<ref name="WORp102"/>

Gathered at [[Salonika]] in early July [[3072]] and under the command of [[Star Admiral]] [[Lori Hawker]], one of the last [[Clan Diamond Shark]] convoys to assemble for an exodus to the Diamond Shark holdings in the [[Inner Sphere]] found itself surprised by Burrock forces.<ref name="WORp102"/>

The convoy consisted of almost sixty [[JumpShip]]s - two with mobile repair stations in tow - along with the ''[[Volga]]''-class transport [[Bold Venture|CDS ''Bold Venture'']] and the ''[[Carrack]]''-class transport [[Star Swimmer|CDS ''Star Swimmer'']], and was waiting for straggling merchant caste vessels to arrive. When the Burrock forces appeared Admiral Hawker presumed the small fleet to be the same group of vessels that had been hitting nearby Diamond Shark stations in recent weeks.<ref name="WORp102">''The Wars of Reaving'', p. 102, "Bearding the Shark"</ref>

Admiral Hawker ordered the ''Bold Venture'' and the ''Star Swimmer'' to engage the new arrivals, and both ships responded quickly to her orders. The unidentified vessels were under the command of Star Admiral [[Olson Nga]], and consisted of six JumpShips, the CBS ''Hetherington'', and some ten [[Star]]s of [[aerospace fighter]]s crewed by a mixture of Burrock personnel and volunteers from [[Tanis]]. The ''Star Swimmer'' closed first as the Burrock forces began a delaying action, with the Burrock JumpShips hot-charging their engines as the fighters and the ''Hetherington'' engaged the ''Star Swimmer''. The Burrock forces managed to inflict only moderate damage on the ''Star Swimmer'' before it closed on the JumpShip [[Earthen Vessel|CBS ''Earthen Vessel'']], intending to board and capture the Burrock ship; the crew of the ''Earthen Vessel'' panicked at the Diamond Shark WarShip's approach and triggered their K-F drive. With the K-F drive of the ''Star Swimmer'' in close proximity, the result was the ''Earthen Vessel's'' hyperspace field warping and inflicting catastrophic damage to the drives on both ships.<ref name="WORp102"/>

Despite the damage inflicted on the ''Star Swimmer'', both Diamond Shark vessels pressed the attack, with the ''Star Swimmer'' destroying one JumpShip while a second JumpShip surrendered to the ''Bold Venture''. Two Burrock JumpShips and the ''Hetherington'' successfully jumped out of the Salonika system, whilst the last Burrock JumpShip misjumped and was lost. Admiral Hawker believed her convoy to be safe at this point, and transmitted information on the engagement back to the Homeworlds while ordering that the ''Star Swimmer'' be stripped of essentials, as the damage inflicted on the ship meant that it would have to be abandoned as the Diamond Sharks withdrew to the [[Inner Sphere]]. What Lori Hawker didn't know was that her message would never be received, as the Burrocks had destroyed or taken control of the [[HPG]] stations between her and the Homeworlds.<ref name="WORp102"/>

Two weeks after the first battle, the Diamond Shark convoy was still gathered at Salonika when the Burrocks returned. This time, the Burrocks had bought their main fleet from [[Tathis]], just seventy light years away, and found that the Diamond Shark convoy had increased to seventy-one ships of various sizes. The Burrocks had brought the ''Hetherington'' back into the fray, along with the CBS ''Admiral Russell Nga'', the ''[[Mako]]''-class corvette [[Stone Crab|CBS ''Stone Crab'']], eight Stars of aerospace fighters, and almost thirty DropShips.<ref name="WORp102"/>

The appearance of the Burrock forces caused a degree of panic amongst the Diamond Shark Merchants, but Admiral Hawker responded quickly; gathering together just over twenty combat-capable DropShips of her own from the assembled merchant fleet, Hawker used those DropShips plus the ''Bold Venture'' and the ''Star Swimmer'' - which had been stripped of several systems, but which still mounted most of its weapons and remained maneuverable - to strike at the Burrocks. The battle itself was brutal, and fought amidst the assembled Diamond Shark flotilla, with many of the Diamond Shark ships falling to targets of opportunity; twenty-one Diamond Shark JumpShips were destroyed, along with both Diamond Shark WarShips and most of the combat-capable DropShips assembled by Hawker.<ref name="WORp102"/>

Before being defeated, Hawkers forces managed to destroy nearly half the assembled Burrock DropShips as well as the ''Hetherington'', but the forty-eight surviving JumpShips were left unarmed and helpless. With little choice other than to be taken as ''[[isorla]]'', the remaining Diamond Shark vessels surrendered, and the Burrocks used their surviving warriors to place forces on the thirty-three ships they deemed to be the most important. The flotilla was then ordered to jump back to the Tanis system, although the fifteen vessels without Burrock warriors aboard all managed to lose themselves from the convoy, scattering into the [[Deep Periphery]] as the Burrocks brought the rest of their prizes home.<ref name="WORp102"/>

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''[[The Wars of Reaving]]''


[[Category: Individual WarShips]]
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[[Category: Individual Riga-class WarShips]]