From: Helena Remek, Counter-Admiral,
Director Triplanetary Fleet Operations
To: Penelope Cartwright, Senator from
Mars Orbital
Date: 4th January, 2167
Subject: State of the Triplanetary
Fleet, January 2167
Classification: MOST SECRET
Ma'am,
Allow me first to
congratulate you for your recent by-election victory, and your
subsequent appointment to the Extrasolar Affairs Subcommittee. I will
do my best to answer the questions your aide put to me; feel free to
contact me at any time if you require additional information. I
request that you do not disclose the contents of this letter to
anyone who does not possess Most Secret clearance, as defined by the
Contingency Appropriations Act of 2166.
Currently, our fleet is
in the process of a massive expansion in all areas, assisted greatly
by the pool of personnel and materiel provided by the Planetary
Defence Forces, in order to cope with our growing extrasolar
commitments following the discovery of human colonies on Ragnarok
(Lalande 21185) and Jefferson (GJ 2097), and the joint
Confederation-Republic mining effort on Desdemona (Uranus). Further,
increasing evidence of an inimical power based beyond Jefferson, one
which has already engaged Triplanetary forces in battle, suggests
that a strong defensive posture is required at this time.
The loss of the TSS
Thunderchild has left our current front-line battlecruiser strength
at five, all of them Thermopylae-class, but two additional
Gilgamesh-class battlecruisers will be completing overhaul and refit
within the next six months. These ships are were designed for
long-range independent operation, and all are of the vintage of the
Interplanetary War. Given overhauls and refits, we estimate that four
battlecruisers will be in operation at any one time during 2167/68;
to answer your specific question, TSS Alamo (Lieutenant-Captain
Marshall) has recently concluded its refit following Operation
Dampier, and will be proceeding to its next assignment soon.
In December last year,
the Mars Defence Forces also agreed to the transfer of two fleet
carriers, the Wright and the Curtiss, to Triplanetary control. Both
of these vessels had been placed in 'mothball' status, and we
estimate that with current funding levels, they will be operational
in March and September 2168. We did consider reactivation of the
older 'escort' carriers, but it was decided that these had been in
'mothball' status for too long for them to be brought into service in
any reasonable period, though a low-level effort has been authorized
should an urgent need arise.
Our current carrier
strength, therefore, consists of two assault carriers. We currently
operate twenty-one squadrons, a significant increase from our initial
estimate of nine, but eleven of these are currently at half-strength
or less. A crash training programme has been implemented, though we
are uncertain whether these squadrons will be ready until 2170.
There is a significant
gap in smaller vessels that has become apparent; this is being
mitigated in two ways. Firstly, the development of the new
Warren-class Cruisers, designed for convoy- and fleet-escort roles,
as authorized by the Fleet Appropriations Act of 2165. These ships
are being constructed to designs that originated in the Military
Reappraisal Conference of 2159, and hence the first is scheduled to
begin its shakedown testing in June 2167, with five more in the
series to be ordered. As your predecessor suggested, all of these
ships are to be named after individuals who have died in Triplanetary
service.
The second method of
mitigation is the reactivation of the Mariner-class scoutships,
designed for long-range deep patrols during the early stages of the
war. Whilst this class did not prove effective during the conditions
of the Interplanetary War, it is hoped that the vessels bring brought
into the fleet will serve at the very least as stop-gap escorts, as
well as freeing heavier fleet assets from patrol or guard-ship duty.
The first two of these vessels are already in operation, with the
remainder to be activated over the course of the year.
Our fleet auxiliaries are
likewise due for upgrades over the next five years, with increasing
reliance planned on the commissioning of civilian vessels on a rental
basis; currently the fleet operates five support tenders and four
tankers, all of them modified Mullane-class vessels, with another
three tenders and five tankers in various degrees of 'mothball'
status. The decision to acquire the assets of Caledonia Shipping upon
that company's collapse in 2165 has left the fleet with four
personnel carriers; one of these is to be commissioned as a
casualty-receiving ship, the Musgrove, with the remainder being
utilized as espatier transport vessels, in co-ordination with the
assault carriers.
As for the Triplanetary
Espatier Corps, it was apparent early on that the original plan of
establishing an enlarged company would be insufficient for fleet
requirements; the current plan projects two regiments of four
companies each, to be in full operation by 2174. As yet, there is a
significant personnel shortfall, especially in the senior NCO ranks,
and only three companies are currently at operational readiness. In
addition to our ongoing commitment on Jefferson, we are maintaining
garrisons at Ragnarok and Desdemona, the former also serving as a
training facility for atmospheric combat.
Our non-FTL capability is
of course limited by the original act that formed the Triplanetary
Fleet; it currently consists of only four frigates, two of them on
permanent loan from the Republic of Ragnarok, the remainder
transferred from the Belt Defence Force to defend assets in-system;
these are stationed at Ragnarok and Uranus, respectively, and are not
expected to be replaced when they reach the end of their current
design lifespans, in the 2170-75 period.
I hope this has answered
your questions satisfactorily; as to the other matter we discussed,
I'm afraid that we will have to meet in a secure location to discuss
it. I will say that as a result of our recent discoveries, all
capital ships are to be assigned a Science Officer with
responsibility for such matters, and by the end of the month these
should all be at their assigned stations. We had some difficulty
finding sufficient suitable candidates, and this is definitely a
deficiency in the training program we will address upon the formation
of a Triplanetary Fleet Academy; your suggestion of Phobos as a
location for such a facility has been passed to the relevant
committee.
If there is anything
further you wish to know, then please feel free to contact my office,
and I will be only too happy to answer any further questions, or to
meet with you in person.
Yours sincerely,
Helena Remek,
Counter-Admiral, Director Triplanetary Fleet Operations
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BCC: Christopher
Thorpe, Lieutenant
Classification: TOP
SECRET (Destroy After Reading)
For God's sake Chris,
keep this woman off my back until Alamo and Camerone have left.
Preferably for at least two weeks. Make up some sort of excuse –
and that goes for anyone else poking to deep. I've already got the
spooks on this one just in case, Vlad's death was a bit sudden.
See you at dinner?
Helena Remek,
Counter-Admiral
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From: Sam Paine, Fleet
Captain, Triplanetary Intelligence, Cabal Case Officer
To: Helena Remek,
Counter-Admiral, Director Triplanetary Fleet Operations
Date: 6th
January, 2167
Subject: Extrasolar
Affairs Committee
Classification: TOP
SECRET (Destroy After Reading)
We've looked into every
member of that committee with as fine a data sweep as we can get away
with, and thus far have drawn a blank, though I assure you that we
will keep looking – though I personally think it's a bit of an
obvious trick for the Cabal to use, and thus far they have been
anything but obvious.
Your suggestion that my
people could join Alamo and Camerone as Science Officers was a good
one, but I don't think that either of them could do that job well
enough, especially on the short notice. Frankly, they might as well
go in as Intelligence Officers; they'll need to do their jobs openly
in any case. That reminds be, I'll need two blank commissions for
Senior Lieutenants; could you get Sandy down in Fleet Personnel to
get some made up for me under the radar?
Isn't that aide of yours
a bit on the young side? You want to hang around with Fleet Captains
more often instead!
Yours,
Sam Paine, Fleet Captain,
Cabal Case Officer
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