Navy of Masada

The Navy of Masada or Navy of the Faithful was the space-based military force of the star nation of Masada.
Its ships used the prefix MNS.
==History==
In 1883 PD, the Navy received nearly one-third of Masada's gross system product towards building up its fleet. Its primary responsibility was the conquest of Grayson. 
In 1903 PD, the Navy received two warships from the People’s Republic of Haven Navy, the Sultan-class battlecruiser PNS Saladin and the Bastogne-class destroyer PNS BreslauA possible reference to a famous couple of ships in the Ottoman Navy's service: Yavuz Sultan Selim (ex-SMS Goeben) and Midilli (SMS Breslau). The ships were renamed the MNS Thunder of God, and MNS Principality respectively. A third of the original Havenite crew were kept on as advisors. The new ships represented eighty percent of Masada's GSP.
The Navy built a base on Blackbird, a moon of the gas giant Uriel in the Yeltsin's Star System using Grayson resources delivered by the Brotherhood of Maccabeus. The Thunder of God was used to tow LACs to Blackbird, a strategy that had not been used before. 
The Navy was twenty percent stronger than the Grayson Space Navy overall, and much stronger in terms of hyper-capable warships. The Navy had five light cruisers, eight destroyers and twenty LACs; It also had a limited quantity of modern fixed defenses on the surface at the covert Blackbird Base, and an unknown number of fixed orbital defenses, including asteroid bases, scattered throughout the Endicott System.
The Navy defeated the Grayson Space Navy in the First Battle of Yeltsin's Star, which would be the last Masadan victory; a majority of the Navy was either damaged or destroyed during the battle. Soon after, it was dealt a decisive defeat in the Battle of Blackbird. ()
==Weapons==
The Masadan Navy used nuclear weapons to target Grayson during the First Grayson-Masadan War. ()
== Notable battles ==
There were at least one battle in the Yeltsin system during first war against Protectorate of Grayson.
There were three battles during second war in 1903 PD:
* First Battle of Yeltsin's Star
* Battle of Blackbird
* Second Battle of Yeltsin's Star
There was no data as to if there were any space battles in the Endicott System in 1903 PD – the remaining destroyer and two LACs were clearly no match for an RMN battlecruiser squadron during conquest of Masada. ()
== Notes ==
The officers and enlisted crewmembers did not refer to their warships as in the feminine form, due to their belief that females were inferior.
The Navy of Masada was notable for being the first known navy to 'carry' LACs for the purposes of interstellar power projection. These LACs where tractor towed through hyperspace under the wedges of MNS Thunder of God and MNS Principality. This was executed as a stalling tactic designed to placate their Havenite advisers during the execution of the Maccabean coup. The LACs almost succeeded in destroying HMS Fearless and HMS Troubadour when Captain Harrington was caught unaware of vessels she 'knew' had to originate in the Yeltsin's Star System.
The color of the uniforms were scarlet and gold. ()
== References ==
Category:Masada
Category:Masadan Military
Category:Navy of Masada
Category:Military