State Security Naval Forces

The StateSec Naval Forces, or SSNF, were a special naval force under the control of the People's Republic of Haven's Office of State Security that existed during the rule of the Committee of Public Safety (1905-1915 PD).
In the time after Rob S. Pierre's and Oscar Saint-Just's rise to power, StateSec amassed an entire fleet of warships, which were either commanded by StateSec officers or even manned entirely by StateSec personnel.There were no StateSec Naval Forces warships mentioned as not manned by State Security personnel except in the events in the La Martine Sector described in Fanatic; all later references concerning La Martine events should be considered as exceptions to standard StateSec activities. The SSNF were not a part of the People's Republic's armed forces and were completely independent from the People's Navy. They were used to cope with internal affairs and were prepared as another means of control of the Navy, aside from People's Commissioners.
== Features ==
* Uniforms - standard black-and-red State Security uniforms - black trousers and red jacket. ()
* Tradition of request for formal permission to board a ship was abandoned. Instead, it was just one more papers check before boarding a StateSec ship. (HH7)
* Custom of addressing StateSec officers as "madam" or "sir" was informally remainedas well as for StateSec People's Commissioners assigned to People's Navy, but it was compulsory to address every member of People's Navy personnel as "Citizen" ().
* On-board StateSec naval vessels, unless special exemptions were in place, only StateSec officers were allowed to carry sidearms. In fact, officers were required to carry them. One exemption was a ship's brig security detail. (, )
* StateSec Naval Forces officers did not cooperate with StateSec People's Commissioners assigned to the People's Navyat least in the La Martine Sector ().
* StateSec Naval Forces did not cover StateSec's Hades planetary prison: that was the duty of Charon Control, subordinated to StateSec's prison branch. Even after the destruction of Charon Control in 1913 PD the People's Navy picket planned to guard Hades. ()
== History ==
The State Security Naval Forces were created before 1911 PD and officially disestablished in 1915 PD. For detailed timeline of the SSNF history see:
:History of the State Security Naval Forces
== Human resources ==
Much of StateSec Naval Forces personnel came from discontented elements of the pre-coup People's Navy and People's Marines.
:See: Personnel of the State Security Naval Forces
== Organization ==
=== Command ===
* There was some naval command or section present at the StateSec Central HeadquartersAdmiral responsible for a dispatch boat mentioned in HH9.
* Units of the StateSec Naval Forces, present in the Capital Sector, could be subordinated to StateSec Central Headquarters (HHA3).
* Chain of command for StateSec naval operations included non-naval officers
** SSNF warships were subjugated to StateSec Commanding Officers of a sector or senior StateSec officers in a sectorShila Sector and Danak Sector - Major Generals, La Martin Sector - the senior People's Commissioner assigned to Vice Admiral Chin's task force (HH8, HHA4) and no StateSec naval command appeared in that sectors.
** It was demanded that pacification expedition, like one sent to Seabring, should be under command of Major General of StateSecit consisted naval and transport complement, as well as and ground force complement (HH8).
* No higher then squadron-level naval staffs appeared:
** at least two task groups naval staffs were employed from People's Navy in 1913 PD, (HH8)
** appeared StateSec battle squadrons2-4 were commanded by officers in ranks of Commodore or Rear Admiral (HH9),
** two appeared StateSec divisions were commanded by officers in rank of Captain. (HH9, HHA4)
=== Territorial organization ===
Naval intervention forces in sectors:
* comprised of single ships without common naval command:
** in the Shilo Sector - four battlecruisers, one heavy cruiser and one light cruiser - October 1913 PDincorporated into the Seabring Expedition, seized by escaped POWs in the Cerberus System - October 12 1913 PD (HH8)
** in the Danak Sector - three battlecruisers and one heavy cruiser in October 1913 PDincorporated into expedition to the Cerberus System, destroyed there on Oct 24, 1913 PD
* comprised of some tactical units:
** in the Haven System, Capital SectorStateSec sector CO did not appear, unknown fate during and after Admiral Theisman's coup (HH9):
*** a battle squadron, commanded by Commodore of State Security HelftUsed against Capital Fleet during Admiral McQueen's coup attempt on December 18, 1914 PD, not mentioned during the Leveller Uprising
*** at least a division of two battlecruisers, commanded by Captain Eliza Shumate
** in the La Martine Sector - in 1915 PD - a battle division, Captain Jillian Gallanti commandingFinally integrated into the People's Navy in May 1915 PD - Vice Admiral Chin's task force; two superdreadnoughts: PNS Hector van Dragen, CO Captain Jillian Gallanti, and PNS Joseph Tilden, CO Captain Vesey
=== Task oriented organization ===
* Forces officially detached to People's Navy 12th Fleet operations:
** for Operation Scylla's purposes, it was reinforced with an over-sized battle squadronmore than 8 SD and DN; that StateSec battle squadron was divided and its ships were assigned to Admiral Giscard's and Vice Admiral Tourville's task forcesTF 12.1 and TF 12.2, however it is not certain, who exactly was in charge in each one; StateSec battle squadron commading officer didn't appears; senior StateSec officers assigned to both task forces were refered as "superdreadnought captains"; despite of significant loses during Operation Scylla it is not certain if any SS warships were destroyed or damaged ()),
** for planned Operation Bagration purposes it was reinforced with two battle squadrons consisted of superdreadnoughtsit is not certain, if StateSec units fighting in operation Scylla were part of those squadrons; appeared vessel’s names: PNS Alphand, PNS DuChesnois, PNS Lavalette (HH9) - over-sized battle squadron commanded by Rear Admiral (SS) Alasdair Heemskerk (12 SDs), assigned to Vice Admiral Tourville's task force and battle squadron commanded by Citizen (Rear Admiral) Salznerprobably in rank of Commodore or Rear Admiral, assigned to Admiral Guiscard's task force,
* expeditions formed for internal affairs - the only known example was Sebring expedition of 1913 PD task group-sized, no squadron commands, light ships only,
* StateSec Hades planetary prison affairs, eg. prisoners delivery with single ships, like PNS Tepes in 1911 PD and PNS Krashnark in 1913 PD or taking supplies or workforce from Hades by PNS Bacchante and the expedition to Seabring in 1913 PD,
* PNS Tepes - assigned to the Office of Public Information.
=== Ranks ===
It is very likely that StateSec Naval Forces mimicked People's Navy ranks:
*Rear Admiral of State Security ()
*Commodore of State Security (, )
*Captain of State Security (, , )
*Commander of State Security (, HHA4)
*Lieutenant Commander of State Security (HHA4)
*Lieutenant of State Security ()
Seniority between equally ranked officers was common within the People's Navy. ()
== Other cooperation with the People's Navy ==
* Senior State Security officers had standing authority to requisition the support of any Navy or Marine unit which they might happen to decide they needed, eg. naval staffs, courier ships, or warships ():
** the biggest known venture based on this authority was General Major (SS) Seth Chernock's Cerberus expedition destroyed in the Cerberus System in October 1913 PD.
** People's Navy courier ships were used by StateSecappeared courier ships were sent to the StateSec Hades planetary prison in the Cerberus system: one commanded by Commander Proxmire and one commanded by Lieutenant Commander Edgar Heathrow - subjugated because of shortages connected with Operation Icarus in 1913 PD,
** there were two known events when People's Navy staff was employed for task groups command in conjunction with StateSec in 1913 PD: Commodore Rachel Yang for Seabring expedition and Rear Admiral Yearman for the Cerberus expedition.
* Two StateSec SDs were integrated into the People's Navy task force in the La Martine Sector in May 1915 PD on Special Investigator Victor Cachat's authority. ()
== Remains ==
=== Republic of Haven space ===
Some StateSec warlords on the Republic of Haven area were StateSec sector Commanding Officers, eg.in 1918 PD there were still present five or six isolated holdouts ruled by warlords of non-StateSec or unknown origin also, like Admiral Federico Agnelli, who in 1918 PD controlled three star systems, and refered once only Listerman (HH10); it is not certain however, if naval forces belonged to StateSec warlords were organized as the SSNF or the People's Navy:
* General of StateSec Silas Mikasinovich's naval forces consisted of capital ships, presumed to have surrendered to the Republican Navy forces under Admiral Giscard; the six-star systems territory he controlled was the last major StateSec holdout in 1918 PD.
* General of StateSec Adrian Carson – part of his naval forces remnantssix freighters with an equivalent of two or three superdreadnought load-outs worth of missile pods on board and the better part of three of the old StateSec intervention battalions surrendered to the Republican Navy's Twelfth Fleet task forceunder Admiral Lester Tourville's and Commodore Scott Zrubek's command in the Montague System. Without Montague, Carson's direct control area was reduced to only two systems.
=== Outside the Republic of Haven ===
Rogue Havenite naval units outside the Republic of Haven were in contact and the Liberation Force in Exile organization (LFE) had grown up among them. Known parties were:
*the People's First Liberation Squadron, destroyed in the Battle of Nuncio, ()
*the People's Navy in Exile, hired by Manpower and later in 1921 PD defeated by the Solarian League Navy's Maya Sector Detachment in the Second Battle of Congo, ()
*rogue Havenite warships present in the Silesian Confederacy areaAt least 3 battlecruisers, destroyed by RMN and IAN, not all of them of StateSec origin however. After the partition of the Confederacy in 1920 PD, Manticore and the Anderman Empire vowed to eradicate all piracy in the area. ().
*several ex-StateSec ships operated in the Talbott Cluster and the Republic of Erewhon area. ()
== Ships ==
The offical StateSec naval prefix was "PNS" for "People's Navy Ship", because all Havenite warships officially belonged to the People's Navy and were just in temporary State Security use. StateSec Naval Forces acquired new warship classes as they became available and generally operated no destroyers. Some ships could be modified to better cope with internal affairs, like PNS Tepes. ()
Ships by type and class:
* Courier ships. ()
* A Desforge-class destroyer, destroyed in the Nuncio System Talbott Cluster in 1920 PD. ()
* Frigate-class light cruisers: Bacchante, Sabine, Seahorse – all three lost in 1913 PD in the Cerberus system. ()
* Mars-classes heavy cruisers: Anhur, Ares, Huan-Ti, Ishtar, Hachiman (1913†), Krashnarkreference to Weber's War God series, Morrigan (1913†) - four undestroyed vessels captured for Elysian Space Navy (ESN) in the Cerberus system (), severely damaged Anhur captured by RMN on the Talbott Cluster area in 1920 PD. ()
* Battlecruisers:
** Warlord-class battlecruisers appeared in the Cerberus System: Attila (1913†), Barbarossa, Cassander (1913+), Farnese, Ivan IV (1913†), Kutuzov, Modred (1913†), MacArthur, Tepes (1911†), Wallenstein – five vessels captured for ESN (, ),
** two battlecruisersWarlord-class very likely () appeared as a part of StateSec Naval Forces present in the Haven system after Admiral McQueen's coup attempt - 1914/1915 PDnot appeared in the Cerberus System between July and October 1913 PD ()
* Dreadnaughts – mentioned as 12th Fleet component after operation Scylla in 1915 PD. ()
* Superdreadnaughts – At least three squadrons, one of that squadrons consisted of twelve vessels, at least one DuQuesne-class ship presence confirmed (PNS Alphand), at least one non DuQuesne-class ship presence confirmed (PNS Hector van Dragen). (, )
Confirmed ships numbers: even 38three battle squadrons, division at La Martine capital ships, including at least two dreadnoughts. Appeared also: twelve battlecruisers, seven heavy cruisers and three light cruisers.
The vast majority of SSNF ships of the wall did not surrender to the Navy, and were destroyed. Some lighter warships managed to escape. ()
== References ==
Appearence in the main series:
*first StateSec Naval Forces vessel, 1911 PD - In Enemy Hands
*light StateSec Naval Forces present in some distant Havenite sectors as well as constituing a pacification expedition, 1913 PD - Echoes of Honor
*heavy StateSec Naval Forces, 1914-1915 PD - Ashes of Victory
== External links ==
* A Warlord class battlecruiser's basic data chart at the Nefarious Honorverse Ships List
* StateSec dates given here according to Joe Buckley's InfoDump timeline
* Examples of StateSec uniforms (fan art)
Category:Republic of Haven
Category:Havenite Military
Category:Republic of Haven Navy