House of Steel: The Honorverse Companion

by David Weber

  Protector’s Own Squadron

  Protector Benjamin Mayhew IX established the Protector’s Own in 1914 PD, using as its core the warships and volunteers of the Elysian Space Navy. The crews of the Elysian Space Navy were former State Security prisoners of war who escaped the Cerberus System under the command of Admiral Harrington. Every member was offered a position in the Protector’s Own, and nearly one hundred sixty thousand accepted. Like service members in the Grayson Space Navy, members of the Protector’s Own are entitled to Grayson citizenship following six years of honorable service. While the initial service members of the Protector’s Own were foreign, and in some cases decades out of practice in the art and science of space combat, that core group and the Grayson-born members who have joined it have become the most skilled force in the already elite Grayson service.

  The Protector’s Own is personally financed by the Protector of Grayson. The squadron’s new ships are built in Grayson Space Navy yards. The Protector’s Own Squadron, currently nearer to a fleet in size, generally shares doctrine, training, maintenance, and upkeep facilities with the GSN. Service members of the Protector’s Own are uniformed in the Mayhew gold and maroon. They are paid on a scale set by the Protector. As of 1921 PD, that rate is 115 percent of GSN pay for the same grade.

  In recognition of Fleet Admiral Harrington, its commanding officer, the emblem of the Protector’s Own is a flame-enshrouded salamander. Because of her other duties, Admiral Harrington relies on her second-in-command, Admiral Alfredo Yu, to serve as the acting commanding officer in her absence. Though many of the members of the Protector’s Own are foreign born, service is open to all spacers (foreign or steaders) who meet the qualifications standards and choose to compete for a position. Most of these service members become Grayson citizens. Additional members of the Protector’s Own, as needed to maintain force strength, have been enlisted and commissioned from Grayson. Most maintain residences in Harrington Steading. All Protector’s Own officers and general spacers make their oath to the Protector, as do all members of the GSN, but the Protector’s Own has been established as a separate service branch, legally coequal to the Grayson Space Navy, the Grayson Army, and Grayson Planetary Security. A recruitment office run at the direction of the Protector on Mayhew Steading reviews applications and administers qualification testing quarterly.

  Uniforms and Equipment

  OFFICER’S SERVICE DRESS

  The Grayson Space Navy’s officer’s uniform consists of a medium blue hip-length tunic with lapels blending into a collar that opens towards the neck. The tunic is sealed with three buttons and has pocket flaps bilaterally on the breast and hips with silver buttons. Service badges, ribbons and awards are worn above the left pocket flap, and a nametag and unit awards are worn over the right. Officers assigned to a particular ship wear the ship’s patch on the shoulder of the right sleeve, while the GSN crest is worn on the right shoulder. Rank insignia pins are worn on both sides of the shirt collar and duplicated on the shoulderboards. Traditional cuff rings are worn as well, with the exception of lieutenant senior grade which also has a Grayson sword above the single gold ring.

  The shirt worn under the jacket is, for some reason, referred to as an Oxford shirt. It is white with buttons up the front and buttons holding the points of the collar, which is folded down over an old-fashioned navy blue necktie.

  The trousers are dark blue and come down to the tops of the black boots. As an option, and thanks to the efforts of the Bancroft Society, the GSN Uniform Board has made skirts an option for the dress uniform and split skirts for working uniforms for female GSN personnel. The skirts are the same color as the trousers.

  The officer’s cap is generically referred to as a “wheel cap.” The cloth portion of the cap is the same dark blue as the trousers. The band around the head is black, with a black strap secured by silver buttons at the sides and a black peak, carrying gold braid “scrambled eggs” for senior officers and flag officers. A silver badge with the GSN crest adorns the front of the cap. In a tradition borrowed from the Manticoran Navy, starship commanders wear a white band on their cap.

  ENLISTED SERVICE DRESS

  GSN enlisted personnel wear a short jacket that seals up the front in the same medium blue as the officer’s tunic. It opens toward the top to lapels that blend into a collar. The sleeves terminate at the cuffs in a wide knit band for comfort. There are pleated pockets on both sides of the chest with silver buttons on the pocket flaps. Similar to officers, awards and decorations are worn over the left pocket and an identification tag is worn over the right. The Oxford shirt and necktie are the same as worn by officers. Shoulder decoration is the same as the officer’s uniform. Rating insignia is worn on the left sleeve while service hash marks adorn the right, one for every four years of service.

  The trousers are similar to the officers’, but in the same medium blue as the tunic, terminating at the black boot tops. Like officers, female enlisted personnel also have the option of wearing a skirt.

  The hat is a fore and aft cloth cap in azure blue with a narrow black band around the base.

  SKINSUITS

  Graysons use state-of-the-art skinsuits imported from the Star Kingdom of Manticore. Markings on these Grayson-issue skinsuits are similar to their Manticoran counterparts, but there are noticeable differences.

  Like the RMN, skinsuits used by the GSN mark an enlisted spacer’s department in a large color-coded area along the arms and legs. Unlike the RMN markings, the Graysons prefer to leave most of the chest area white, coloring only the shoulders and the front helmet attachment piece in a fashion that slyly resembles their duty uniform’s ancient necktie.

  Markings on the left arm of the enlisted suit include the Grayson roundel (a six-pointed star over crossed swords) reversed from the department color in white. Below that is the wearer’s rank, also in white. The spacer’s name is worn in his department color on the right breast. Like the RMN, Graysons also color the enlisted helmet’s visor with the wearer’s department color, reversing out their name in white. Rank is displayed above the name for enlisted spacers.

  The Grayson officer’s skinsuit utilizes department-neutral coloration, favoring a navy blue accent around the shoulders instead of the black of RMN officer skinsuits. Rank is displayed on the helmet, on the collar, reversed on the shoulders, and on the sleeve of an officer’s skinsuit. The name is displayed on the visor of the helmet and on the right breast.

  Both officers’ and enlisted spacers’ skinsuits display the hull number and unit name on the right shoulder. The officer’s skinsuit also displays the Grayson roundel on the left shoulder.

  Order of Battle

  The Grayson Space Navy was defined by its wars with the Faithful. The GSN’s sudden and rapid adaptation of modern interstellar warfighting technology, successful conclusion of its conflict with Masada, and ascension to its role as a senior Navy in the Manticoran Alliance is a testament to the flexibility of the force and a telling reminder for those who would see Graysons as backwards. In Grayson parlance, the modern GSN met and surpassed the Test for which it was created.

  At the time that they were recontacted by the rest of humanity, the Graysons had the capability to build fission- and fusion-powered reaction drives, create large spaceborne structures, and conduct a great deal of their society’s industrial business off-world. They accomplished this with no gravitic technology, completely ignorant of nanofacturing techniques that had been industrial standards in the rest of the explored galaxy for centuries. Their accomplishments were aided, somewhat ironically, by the natural abundance of heavy elements through which their world daily tried to kill them. For example, their development of nuclear fission reactor technologies to previously undreamed of levels was largely due to the abundance of the needed fuels in their rocks, soil, and groundwater. The radioisotopes required less infrastructure to extract and a lower level of capability to burn than safer and cleaner fusion fuels.

  This particular issue famously led to re
volutionary developments in light attack craft (LAC) powerplants when the Grayson industrial base familiarized itself with modern fabrication techniques. However, it also created a host of problems as the Graysons tried to build their first modern fusion-powered hyper-capable warships. Simply put, pre-Alliance Grayson fusion plants were not gravitically/electromagnetically compressed (as are GRAVMAKs). They operated purely on electromagnetic principles and were enormous when compared to a modern GRAVMAK of similar output. Pairing their plasma output with hyperdrives, impeller nodes, sidewalls, and other gravitic devices strained Grayson ingenuity to its limits before it joined the Alliance.

  Given a technically literate populace, a robust space infrastructure, and the motivation of the coming Manticore-Havenite War, the nascent Grayson space industry rapidly learned how to overcome many of these technical issues as they license-built their first Manticoran designs during the prewar naval buildup. The large number of space workers in Grayson service, coupled with new manufacturing techniques and processes brought in from Manticore, combined to create explosive growth in Yeltsin’s Star’s space population and manufacturing capability. This infrastructure and the generation who built it have become some of the most accomplished shipwrights in the known galaxy by any standard. Thoughtful understanding of technical principles and a continuous search for better ways of accomplishing their tasks are hallmarks. The GSN’s methodical approach to modern starship design has surprised the known galaxy, enemies and allies alike, with innovations from the first years of the Alliance up to the present day.

  LIGHT ATTACK CRAFT (LAC)

  Before the Protectorate of Grayson entered the Manticoran Alliance, the GSN boasted twenty-one locally built light attack craft in its order of battle. The influx of military and spacecraft technology that followed Alliance admission rendered these early Grayson LACs obsolete even for their original sublight system defense mission. The GSN summarily halted all construction and decommissioned the units in service.

  When Project Anzio kicked off production in 1912 PD, the GSN rapidly constructed a number of the new advanced LAC classes as part of the military building push in advance of Operation Buttercup. These more capable and reliable units performed the system defense mission and remained close to home during the initial attacks. Later GSN fleet exercises evolved to more closely integrate LAC operations within GSN doctrine.

  Grayson architects improved on Manticoran designs in their production of LACs for the space superiority role. They used the cancelled RMN Space Superiority LAC Program for initial designs, but followed through with superior designs of their own. Grayson’s latest LAC class, the Katana, is in service in both the RMN and GSN as a dedicated “LAC killer.”

  Faith-class system defense unit

  Mass: 11,250 tons

  Dimensions: 138 × 23 × 21 m

  Acceleration: 409.3 G (4.014 kps²)

  80% Accel: 327.5 G (3.211 kps²)

  Broadside: 12M, 1L, 1AC

  Chase: 1L, 1AC

  Service Life: 1891–1907

  The Faith-class unit’s formal designation in Grayson service was “system defense unit” rather than “light attack craft” because it was actually the primary sublight system defense platform for the primitive, pre-Alliance GSN and massed barely twelve percent as much as a contemporary Grayson cruiser. However, those units were widely regarded as LAC analogs by other navies, given their mission requirements.

  The Faith class was divided into at least three distinct subtypes, but the weapons fit between them is nearly identical. The major changes between subtypes are in the sensors, electronic warfare packages, and fire control systems. Like many pre-Alliance GSN units, the Faith class were protected by point defense autocannon, as the smallest pre-Alliance Grayson beam installation was far too large and slow firing to be an effective missile defense system. The designs are crude compared to modern units, but the Faith class performed well in the final Masadan attack.

  Fission power plants driving plasma accelerators for gravitic conversion were standard in these units, and the inability to refit more modern Manticoran gravitic radscreens into their powerplants was a major factor in their retirement. The GSN initially considered upgrading them to modern GRAVMAK fusion plants similar to those used in RMN LACs, but decided against it. The tradeoffs revealed in that study convinced the GSN to propose the combination of Grayson fission reactors with Manticoran shielding materials and screen generators that ultimately resulted in the Shrike’s powerplant, however.

  Another significant presage of the Shrike design were the Faith’s spinal laser weapons. While most impeller drive warships mount their largest weapons in their chase batteries, the Faith-class mounts were unusually large compared to their broadside mounts, requiring a dedicated plasma accelerator to feed them from the fission pile. The Faith-class’ designers realized that the platform needed improved turn rates if its crews were going to survive to use these weapons and gave it larger maneuvering gyros and more wedge torque than previous designs. All of these features provided valuable experience for designing the Shrike around a single spinal beam.

  Shrike-B-class light attack craft

  (for specification, see RMN Shrike-B-class LAC)

  Service Life: 1915–present

  While involved heavily in the initial Shrike research and development, Grayson lagged behind Manticore by several years in operational LAC and carrier deployment. A number of early Shrikes were in service with Systems Command as research and development testbeds, but the first advanced LAC class in GSN service was its own Shrike-B variant. The differences between the models are minor and each can operate from the other’s carriers as necessary.

  Katana-class light attack craft

  Mass: 19,500 tons

  Dimensions: 71 × 20 × 20 m

  Acceleration: 640.4 G (6.28 kps²)

  80% Accel: 512.3 G (5.024 kps²)

  Forward: 5M/CM, 3PD

  Aft: 6PD

  Service Life: 1917–present

  Originally designed as the Grayson answer to the Ferret-class, the Katana does everything Graysonwanted a Ferretto do without trying to fill the antiship role. The Graysons realized early on that the primacy of the LAC in the antiship role was time-limited and began looking for ways to create a space-superiority fighter with enhanced dogfighting capabilities. The cancellation of the RMN’s own Space Superiority LAC Program under the Janacek Administration made the Katana class the only functional space-superiority LAC in the Manticoran Alliance.

  The Katana carries five high-speed launchers capable of launching either standard Mk31 counter-missiles or the Mk9 Viper anti-LAC missile. These off-bore launchers are capable of launching into virtually any open aspect, including directly aft.

  With no provision to carry the larger shipkillers, magazine levels have been increased over even that of a Ferret. The Katana also carries a trio of heavy superdreadnought-grade point defense clusters forward, optimized for antimissile defense but powerful enough to be used against other LACs in close combat. Aft, they carry a standard ring of light point defense clusters like the Shrikes and Ferrets.

  The Katanas are slightly smaller and substantially more maneuverable than any of the other Shrike variants, with improved electronic warfare capabilities as well as the new two-phase “buckler” bow wall. Their multipurpose launchers fire the Viper missile, which can be used in either counter-LAC or counter-missile mode. Used in the second mode, the Viper remains an extremely capable counter-missile, matching the antimissile performance of the cheaper dedicated Mark 31 counter-missile from which it was derived.

  In addition to its dogfighting role, the GSN and RMN have recently begun to use the Katana to supplement fleet missile defense, especially in the kind of MDM environment Alliance ships have faced against Haven’s new wall of battle post-Operation Thunderbolt.

  DESTROYERS (DD)

  With the explosive growth of the Grayson economy and the matching growth of naval responsibilities following Grayson’s membership in the
Manticoran Alliance, the Grayson Space Navy found itself in desperate need of light units. The fact that none of its officers had ever commanded a warship heavier than a light cruiser and that they had no experience with extended deep-space hyper operations also gave Grayson good reason to begin by increasing the number of smaller ships in its Navy.

  Like the rest of Grayson naval doctrine, Grayson destroyer design evolved nearly independently from the rest of the explored galaxy’s conceptions of naval power. Already at war continuously for several hundred years prior to their rediscovery, the first GSN “destroyers” were really just the lower level of two tiers of hyper-capable Grayson warships, used defensively to intercept Masadan raiders in the Yeltsin’s Star system and offensively as support units on Grayson raids into the Endicott System. Unlike most other navies, limited interstellar trade meant that GSN destroyers were not needed in the traditional commerce protection role common across the rest of human explored space.

  Grayson’s Alliance membership changed the roles of its destroyers as it changed many other things. For the first time in living memory, the GSN no longer had to worry about an existential threat a handful of light-years away. Instead, it faced the potentially much larger threat of Haven and began concentrating on the development of interstellar combat power. Not content to accept “received wisdom” from their Manticoran partner, the Graysons responded with their hallmark inventiveness and reexamined their naval doctrine across the board. The end result was a concept of operations for their destroyer forces that essentially ignored traditional commerce protection missions. Instead, the forces are designed for three fleet missions: scouting, antiscouting, and screening.