Royal Antoran Armada: Difference between revisions
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These ideals of local defense and compartmentalization were carried over to the much more organized navy of the Kingdom of Corric, founded in 1584 with the absorption of the Kingdom of Réal. While Réal never had access to the ocean, it had an abundance of resources that allowed the Crown to expand and consolidate the navy. The forests and mines of Réoran land provided matierals to construct more capable warships. The astronomers of the Réoran mountains had much better star charts than Arranzic scholars which allowed for more accurate navigation. The increased population also let the Armada recruit more, especially from Réoran populaces that were curious about the sea.
=== Consolidation ===
In 1588, the Royal Arranzic Armada, the various fleets of the nobility, and the warships of shipping guilds were all brought together in the Great Fleet Project. This initiative was the combined brainchild of King Felipé III and his wife, Queen Alicia la Joven, former princess of Réal. The Queens newfound love of the ocean, and the desire for the King to have a national project to unify the Réoran and Arranzic peoples, made this the first large-scale Crown-sponsored project of the new kingdom. Older ship designs were scrapped or sold, new ones built or bought, crews were trained and standards set. The Armada was officially headquartered at Porto Armada on the southern coast. After nearly four years of preparation, the Royal Corric Armada was fully formed. The new navy was tasked with much of the same duties as had previously fell to its predecessors. The new command structure enabled it to be vastly more effective than the earlier organizations had been, and a Royal Admiral position was created within the crown's government.
Heavy fighting against coastal and deep-water shipping pirates in the 17th century left the Armada battle-hardened but diminished. By the late 1600s, the ships of the fleet were mostly relegated to coastal defense duties, which left most long-distance shipping vulnerable to attacks. The losses of merchant ships, combined with the general flow of wealth to the nobility and already-wealthy commoners, was one of the greatest contributors to the Ambrezar Revolution of 1659. The revolution, headed by Armada captain Marco Juan Ambrezar, was a general movement of the people of Casilló y Réal to reform the standards by which they were governed. Large portions of the Corric economy were paralyzed, and significant numbers of military personnel joined the revolutionaries. The nobility and royal family were threatened with death and exile unless they complied with the populaces' demands. King Juan Teo was forced to sign the First Constitution of the Kingdom of Corrí, which established the constitutional monarchy the nation exists as today.
=== Constitutionality ===
Part of the Constitution enshrined in law the governments responsibility to protect trade. Section 10 of the document makes it illegal for the Crown to maintain less than a certain number of professional military forces, stipulating the following:
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The Constitution, while moving the headquarters of all military branches of the internal city of Descarei, Porto Armada remained the most important naval installation. The establishment of the ''Arsenale'' allowed the city to build and maintain many new ships. Large portions of wealth from private coffers was sized by the newly-created parliamentary Ministry of Armed Services to build out its portfolio, including the Armada. By 1688, the Armada is recorded as having 45 ships of respectable tonnage and guns and over 200,000 sailors and marines. The Royal Corric Defense Forces successfully defended territory and economic interests several times in this period, securing the eastern Novaris coast for shipping and commerce.
=== 20th and 21st centuries ===
In the early 20th century
Montero Julio's death in 1912 allowed his son King Sebastián I to work towards bringing the Armada and other military branches to some semblance of parity with international standards. The Corric treasury was heavily subsidized in this period by the loans it negotiated during the war starting to be paid back. Motivated by his service in the Armada during his early adulthood, Sebastián I gave it the lion's share of funding. Between 1913 and 1920, more than eighty ships were laid down. While the eventual progress of technology led most of these to be scrapped by the 40s, the size and capabilities of the Armada would steadily increase under Sebastián I and his son, King Benito Ares. Notably, several accidents and breakdowns plagued attempts at the Armada to put submarines into service, and so such vessels were excised from naval doctrine.
Benito Ares sponsored a number of ships during the 1950s and 60s, as it was his earnest desire that the Corric naval power be a match for any other regional force. This period saw the first Corric forays into advanced radar, guided missiles, and computerized fire control. The technology was not developed in Casilló y Réal at this point, necessitating expensive study programs and import deals that severely limited the number of ships capable of using such components. The Armada shrunk from 60 major surface combatants in 1950 to 25 in 1960. Attempts to make up for the losses were made with the ''Rége Felipé'' class frigates, ''Princesa Mariangel'' class corvettes, and the ''Gracia'' class helicopter cruisers. Various issues made the smaller ships obsolete within two years of commissioning them, while their designs meant they could not be overhauled accordingly without serious budget debt. This stalled further Armada expansion, and by 1975 the fleet consisted of around 30 major surface combatants, 35 patrol ships, and around a dozen auxiliaries of various types.
The 1979 Corric Succession crisis saw the 5th Squadron of the First Attack Fleet as well as the Fifth and Sixth Squadrons of the Second Deterrent Fleet back the former Crown Prince Astolfo, who had been dismissed from his position as heir-apparent to Benito Ares for an extramarital affair as well as the abuse of his household staff. The prince, vocal that the legal line of succession must be upheld (despite the reigning monarch having prerogative over who in the family inherits,) managed to convince the commanding officers and captains of the defecting squadrons of his legitimacy. This incident quickly spiraled from a political scandal to armed insurrection. The prince, displaying what was diagnosed after the fact as delusional narcissism, expressed publicly via radio that he intended to use the backing of the naval squadrons to fight for and win back his inheritance. Other military elements including a squadron of fighter pilots also expressed loyalty and support for the Prince.
==Organization==
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