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In 1916, the Tuvarian Government drew up concepts for an armored car. The car would be built around the Brzina BMPC with an upgraded frame, wheels, and design to carry 3-inch steel plates covering the entire vehicle leaving the top exposed with an Gastovna MG-06 being mounted on the front right passenger seat. Brzina was called to complete the job for a hefty payment of 100,000 Tuvanats (245,000 Almodats today). The brothers got to work with a group of other engineers to build the '''Brzina Armored Vehicle (BAV)'''. The task was difficult with the two brothers arguing over design details and the strain of having to make a design that has never been done before in the country as of yet. The government failed to do anything but supply and encourage the builders to keep going. In 1917, the first BAV prototype began worthiness trials. To say the trials were a massive failure would be an understatement with the car being unable to move half the time and at one point exploding after being revved up to even start moving which killed two test drivers. The Brzina Brothers were reprimanded and berated by the army higher ups and they returned to the drawing board. In June of 1917, the brothers refined the design with the old civilian engine being replaced with a bulkier water cooled, 4 piston engine which could go at a nice speed of...14 miles per hour on paved roads and 6 miles per hour off road. Trials resumed in July and this time no one died or exploded. The biggest issue now was with the machine gun due to the casings of the bullet which were shot out of the left side of the gun after they were fired, would burn the driver and gunner leaving 3rd degree burns. The BAV driver crewmembers were then given new uniforms which had extra padding and external heat protection, and goggles to protect the eyes. This proved to be somewhat more effective, and the behind schedule vehicle entered service in september of 1917. The BAV vehicle would be the grandfather of all future armored vehicles.
 
==== The sinking of TNN Dorsevic (August 8, 19171915) ====
The Tuvarian Navy (TNN) was large to say the least...and rather mean. TNN was known for antagonizing Skavarian ships in neutral waters (between aranistan and almodor) where the Tuvarian crews would throw rocks or fire the main guns of their ships into the air to spook them. These events would end up in grand courts but usually ended with the Tuvarian ship getting a pass and the Skavarians rolling their eyes. One ship in particular was notorious for this behavior: TNN Dorsevic.
 
TNN Dorsevic was a cargo steamer built by the Tuvarian Government in 1889. The ship was commanded by Andrej Zivojin (1877-19171915) since 1895. Zivojin was a seasoned captain and was destined to someday be promoted to an admiral but his track record of antagonization held him back from getting his promotion which he blamed on "Sissies in Parliament". On August 6th, the Dorsevic was planned to ship 3000 guns and 1700 pounds worth of various other military cargo from a port in Kunovec to the Skavarin port city of Neveno. The ship left for Skavari on the 6th and was never seen from the shoreline again. The crew onboard numbered around 145.
 
On August 8th after two days of smooth sailing, a submarine was detected about 12 miles starboard from the bow at around 11:43 AM by the ship's navigator Herald Stephenson (1880-1940). The ship was in neutral waters around Almodor and so the sub was ignored with the general belief being it was just on a basic patrol. The submarine was the SNN "Bandit" which was not on active duty at the time. The grand admiral of Skavari gave an order to all naval forces stating that any sign of antagonizing by the Tuvarians can be replied to with "Unforgivable Force" after years of bullying. At around 11:46 AM, a large explosion occurs in the starboard bow section of the ship just in front of Boilers 1 and 3 and smoke and fire rose from the ship. Immediately, the room begins flooding with gallons of water with there already being multiple casualties from the explosion with flames spreading from boiler 1 to 3. Some coal scoopers were sucked out of the ship by the water and drowned. Boilers 1 and 3 were abandoned and the boiler crew immediately shut the watertight compartment doors at 11:48 AM.
 
Zivojin held off from ordering an abandon ship order believing that the ship should be moved closer to the shoreline so emergency services could arrive quicker. With this order, boilers 2, 4, 5, and 6 continued burning. The ship moving as the fire and water came in only made the flooding worse and at 11:50 AM, the water overflowed and came over the top of the watertight bulkhead now flooding boilers 2 and 4. Finally, Zivojin orders to ship to go into a full stop and ordered for remaining boilers to stay active only to keep the lights on. The flames had spread from the underdecks up to D deck, which was made of mostly flammable materials, making the fire spread further through the starboard side. The smoke blocked the vision for those on the starboard decks and covered the lifeboats in impenetrable darkness. At 11:59 AM, the ship began to list starboard at to an angle of 6 degrees and finally Zivojin ordered an evacuation order and for Marconi operators to send distress signals to Aranistan, Almodor, and Tuvaria while excluding Skavari for political reasons. The waves slowly became more choppychoppier, and water began seeping onto the boat deck of the bow while the fire continued spreading from D deck to C deck. Men in the boiler room were up to their knees in water as they kept boilers 5 and 6 operating after abandoning 2 and 4. The list worsened from 6 degrees to 12 degrees. Lifeboat deployment on the port side was rushed as they needed to get men down from that side before it becomes impossible while on the Starboard side, sailors were being choked out by the black smoke billowing out. At 12:03 PM, the bow of the water was fully submerged, and water began rushing down the stairs all the way down through the decks into the boiler room over the top of boilers 5 and 6. The coal scoops went from being in knee deep water to hip deep water. Boilers 5 and 6 were then abandoned and sealed up with watertight doors as remaining coal scoops retreated to the stern of the ship to keep the generators running. The list worsened to 16 degrees and the remaining port lifeboats were abandoned as fire spread to the B deck. At 12:07 PM, the starboard boats were all released leaving nearly 66 men of the 145-crew trapped onboard. Of these 66, about 19 of them were trapped in the underdecks and many had drowned in the boilers tragically. At 12:10 PM, the water rose up from the bow up to the bridge from which it was abandoned by the officers. Zivojin was still onboard the ship in A deck collecting his belongings before he met the rest of the sailors on the stern. The list was so bad by 12:10 that the remaining crew were sliding off the ship and into the cold waters. Zivojin became trapped in A deck when the list reached 20 degrees and the water continued to rise. He was unable to escape and died in his quarters when the water reached him. By 12:15 PM, the power went out and the boiler crew were trapped in the pitch-black space where only the echoing sounds of screaming, water, and the ship creaking could be heard.
 
The view from the lifeboats was no better. Survivors recall seeing the large black cloud rising from the ship and could see the top of the boat from their location since the list was so bad. At 12:20 PM, the two funnels and masts broke off the ship and caused more damage to the floundering vessel. At last, the distress signals sent by the Marconi Operators were picked up by the Tuvarian navy at 12:35 PM. The navy sent out the frigate TNN Oluja to pick up the crew. Meanwhile, the remaining crew on the Dorsevic were holding on for dear life. Some lifeboats got close to the ship to pick up survivors who fell off but the currents caused by the ship going down and the smoke rendered them useless. At 12:46 PM, the ship was at nearly a 90-degree angle on its side and the deck was still burning when suddenly, a boom was heard from under the water. The boom after the investigation was found to be an air pocket that popped under the pressure which caused new holes to form in the hull and at 12:49 PM, the bow separated from the Stern and sunk to the bottom of the sea. The stern fell with a crash on its side and almost immediately continued falling into the deep and fell under at 12:57 PM with two similar booms occurring in the stern section with cargo sliding out of the fallen wreck and later scattering along the sea floor...the Dorsevic was lost. Shortly after the stern went under, the Oluja arrived at 1:07 PM and the horrors came to an end. Of the 145 crew, only 43 survived the disaster.
 
===== The investigation into the sinking of TNN Dorsevic (1915-1916) =====
The government, families, and many others involved wanted answers to the crash. The navy formed the Dorsevic Sinking Investigation Board (DSIB) in September of 1915 to examine the events following up to the crash.
 
== Etymology ==
Almodaria Almond
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