Kenneth Jones
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Kenneth Jones | |
|---|---|
| Personal | |
| Died | 2790 |
| Affiliation | Federated Suns |
| Profile | |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Title(s) | Knight of the Realm |
| Profession | Naval Officer |
Kenneth Jones was an Admiral in the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns during the First Succession War. He is best known for being the commander of the AFFS fleet at the Battle of Cholame.
History
Regarded as one of the best fleet commanders of the Federated Suns' navy, Jones and his flagship, the FSS Golden Lion, were already combat veterans four years into the war with the Draconis Combine. As the DCMS' naval arm had played a huge role in House Kurita's stunning successes, it was to Jones that First Prince John Davion turned to as he formulated a desperate plan to end his nation's series of defeats.[1]
Under Admiral Jones' command, over a hundred AFFS WarShips and assault vessels, with a roughly equal number of fighter wings, assembled in the Arcadia system. Jones' primary objective was the destruction or capture of DCA naval assets; accordingly his plan called for the Suns fleet, divided into two groups, to sweep through the most recently conquered systems before reassembling at Cholame.[1]
Beginning in early January 2790 Jones and his fleets moved rapidly across a line of systems stretching from Imbrial III and Evansville to New Valencia and Corydon. They were successful in inflicting some losses on the Combine's WarShip and transport arms while suffering fewer casualties of their own, as well as supplying anti-Kurita resistance fighters behind the lines, and while Jones was wary about the unexpectedly small number of Combine WarShips encountered, morale among the fleet was high as it rendezvoused at Cholame.[1] [2]
At this point Jones and his fleet would pay for a critical intelligence failure by the DMI. Far from being deserted, the DCA had also chosen Cholame as a staging area, ironically in part for their own fleets assembled in response to Jones' raiding. The first AFFS fleet jumped into the system and found itself almost hull-to-hull with the Combine vessels; Jones frantically launched his fighters and DropShips in an effort to protect his transports which were well within Combine firing range. He also managed to get off a warning to the FSS Black Bear, the flagship of the second AFFS fleet, enabling that fleet to shift its jump coordinates and attempt to reinforce their comrades while flanking the Combine vessels.[1]
In the end Jones went down with the Golden Lion, but managed to win a Pyrrhic victory for his nation. After six weeks of running fights across the Cholame system, over three-quarters of his fleet was destroyed, but the DCA had lost nearly as many WarShips and transports, ending their streak of rapid conquests for over a year and leaving their ground forces without naval support. In recognition of this, Jones was posthumously awarded the Medal Excalibur.[1] [2]