Alexander Thurston

Alexander Thurston was a Havenite citizen and an officer of the People's Navy.
== Biography ==
By the time of Rob S. Pierre's coup, Alexander Thurston held the rank of captain in the People's Navy, and as he was not a Legislaturalist, his chances for promotion to flag rank were slim. However, he quickly rose through the ranks in the aftermath of the Committee of Public Safety's early purges, until he was promoted to the rank of Vice Admiral some time before 1907 PD.
He had political ambitions which he kept mostly to himself, even though both his People's Commissioner, Michael Preznikov, as well as Chairman Pierre himself, were aware of them to a certain extent. However, Thurston decided to bide his time and build a successful career before moving against the Committee.
To secure both a strategic victory for the People's Republic and a successful campaign under his belt, Admiral Thurston conceived Operations Stalking Horse and Dagger as part of a single battle plan: Stalking Horse consisted of a simultaneous assault on the Manticoran Alliance member systems of Candor and Minette, aimed at drawing as many ships of the wall away from the vicinity of Yeltsin's Star.
Then, Yeltsin's Star would be the target of Operation Dagger, which would use a considerable number of battleships assembled from the Havenite system defense elements to smash and destroy the Grayson Space Navy, devastate Grayson's space industry and then aid the Masadan Faithful by destroying the Manticoran-Grayson picket in the Endicott System and then deliver advanced weapons to the surface of Masada.
Once the attacks carried out by Vice Admiral Esther McQueen's Task Force 30 in Minette and Vice Admiral Diego Abbot's Task Force 20 in Candor succeeded in driving away the Manticoran pickets and divert ships of the wall from the nearby Allied systems and bases, Admiral Thurston launched Operation Dagger, with him personally commanding Task Force 14 onboard the battleship PNS Conquistador.
Both confident in his numerical superiority over the Grayson Space Navy and fooled by the Allied EW and maneuvers, Thurston did not notice the presence of six superdreadnoughts from Admiral Honor Harrington's First Battle Squadron until it was too late for his task force to effectively react to the threat. He died when PNS Conquistador was destroyed in the following Fourth Battle of Yeltsin's Star. ()
== Service Record ==
=== Promotions ===
* Captain - before 1905 PD
* Vice Admiral - 1907 PD
=== Posts===
* Commanding Officer, Task Force 14
==References ==
Thurston, Alexander
Thurston, Alexander
Thurston, Alexander
Thurston, Alexander
Thurston, Alexander
Thurston, Alexander
Thurston, Alexander