HMS Hexapuma

HMS Hexapuma (CA-412) was an Edward Saganami-C-class heavy cruiser of the Royal Manticoran Navy.
== Technical Data ==
Nicknamed the Nasty Kitty by its midshipmen, Hexapuma was one of the first Edward Saganami-C-class cruisers constructed by the RMN, massing 483,000 tons. Compared to her predecessors in the Star Knight and Prince Consort classes, Hexapuma had a considerably smaller crew than most ships her size due to increased automation, but her improved weaponry made her more than a match for any similarly sized warship. ()
== Service Record ==
Named after the predator from the planet Sphinx, Hexapuma was commissioned at HMSS Hephaestus in 1920 PD, under the command of Captain Aivars Terekhov, and was assigned to the RMN forces in the Talbott Cluster. Having arrived in the Cluster, Hexapuma rendezvoused with HMS Hercules, Rear Admiral Augustus Khumalo's flagship, in the Spindle System, and was further assigned to patrol work in the Cluster.
The ship was sent first to the Nuncio System to show the SKM flag and to assist the locals if possible. Captain Terekhov learned of mysterious and unidentified vessels which had been recently penetrating Nuncian territory. Suspecting possbie piracy, he prepared to confront them if and when they returned; the Nuncian Navy was insufficiently equipped to challenge them. On August 25, 1920 PD, Hexapuma's sensors detected three approaching spacecraft. The Battle of Nuncio followed, during which the heavy cruiser PNS Anhur and a Desforge-class destroyer were destroyed, and the Solarian freighter Emerald Dawn retaken.
Hexapuma proceeded to the Celebrant System, but was ordered by dispatch boat to return to Spindle, picking up Bernardus Van Dort in the Rembrandt System on the way. Lady Dame Estelle Matsuko, Provisional Governor for the Talbott Cluster, asked Van Dort and Hexapuma to go to Montana to try to negotiate with Stephen Westman of the Montana Independence Movement.
After intervening against a terrorist uprising led by Agnes Nordbrandt, Hexapuma returned to Montana, discovering there something about the organization of the resistance to the proposed annexation by the Star Kingdom in several places across the Talbott Cluster. In early 1921 PD, Captain Terekhov led the Hexapuma and ten other Manticoran ships of the Cluster Squadron to the Monica System, where most of the squadron was destroyed in the Battle of Monica. Hexapuma was crippled, with 74 killed and 32 wounded among her crew. Terekhov kept the remaining ships of the Monican Navy from attacking by threatening to launch a nuclear bombardment on the main Monican space station and shipyard, Eroica Station. Admiral Khumalo's reinforcements, led by Hercules, arrived seven days later and forced Monica to surrender.
Exactly one year after her midshipmen reported aboard, HMS Hexapuma returned to the Manticore System to complete repairs. She and HMS Warlock were greeted by the Home Fleet in Coronation Day formation, in the presence of Queen Elizabeth III aboard HMS Duke of Cromarty.
The names Hexapuma and Warlock were both added to the List of Honor, so that there would forever be ships of these names on active duty in the RMN. ()
After Captain Terekhov's promotion to Commodore, his former first officer, Ansten FitzGerald, was given command of Hexapuma. ()
In February 1922 PD, the ship was docked at HMSS Hephaestus when the station was destroyed by the Mesan Alignment Navy as part of Operation Oyster Bay. Hexapuma was hit in one of her fusion plants by a graser, and exploded, leaving no survivors. ()
== Assigned small craft ==
Codenames:
* Hawk-Papa-One (pinnace)
* Hawk-Papa-Two (pinnace)
* Hawk-Papa-Three (pinnace)
== Known Personnel ==
=== Naval personnel ===
Commissioned officers
* Captain (SG) Aivars Terekhov – Commanding Officer (1920 PD – 1921 PD)
* Commander Ansten FitzGerald – Executive Officer (1920 PD – 1921 PD), assigned to Copenhagen (CO) then, Commanding Officer (1921 PD – 1922 PD †),
* Commander Ginger Lewis – Chief Engineering Officer (1920 PD – 1921 PD)
* Lieutenant Commander Naomi Kaplan – Tactical Officer
* Lieutenant Commander Amal Nagchaudhuri – Communications Officer (1920 PD – 1921 PD), later Executive Officer (1921 PD – 1922 PD †)
* Lieutenant Commander Brenda Howell - Chief Engineering Officer (1921 PD - 1922 PD).
* Lieutenant Commander Tobias Wright – Astrogation Officer
* Lieutenant Commander Frank Henshaw – Second Engineer
* Lieutenant (SG) Guthrie Bagwell – Electronics Warfare OfficerChief engineer, acting XO and electronic warfare officer, respectively, as of February 1921 PD, shortly after the battle of Monica (HH15).
* Lieutenant (SG) Andrea Duncan – Logistics Officer
* Surgeon Commander Lajos Orban – Chief Medical Officer
* Lieutenant (JG)/acting Lieutenant (SG) Abigail Hearns – Assistant Tactical Officer / Officer Candidate Training Officer
* Lieutenant (JG) Jefferson Kobe – Assistant Communications Officer, assigned to Copenhagen
* Lieutenant (JG) Hansen McGraw – Communications Department
* Lieutenant (SG) Jensen Sheets – Assistant Astrogator
* Lieutenant (SG) Frances Olivetti – Third Astrogator, assigned to Copenhagen
* Lieutenant (JG) Freda MacIntyre – Engineering Department, assigned to Copenhagen
Midshipmen
* Midshipwoman Helen Zilwicki
* Midshipman Aikawa Kagiyama, assigned to Copenhagen
* Midshipman Paulo d'Arezzo
* Midshipwoman Ragnhild Pavletic †
* Midshipman Leopold Stottmeister
Enlisted
* Senior Master Chief Petty Officer Jeanette Clary – Senior helmswoman
* Senior Chief Petty Officer Aubrey Wanderman – Engineering Department
* Senior Chief Petty Officer Harris
* Senior Chief Petty Officer Waltham
* Chief Petty Officer Ashton
* Chief Steward Joanna Agnelli
* Coxswain 1/c Tussey
* Petty Officer 1/c Cheryl Clifford - the quartermaster of the watch, acting quartermaster
* Steward 1/c Benjamin Frankel †
* Sensor Technician 1/c Liam Johnson
* Environmental Technician Jankovich
* senior sensor rating Danziger, assigned to Copenhagen
* senior sensor rating Traynor
=== Marine personnel ===
Commissioned officers
* Captain Tadislaw Kaczmarczyk – Commanding Officer, Marine Detachment
* Lieutenant Angelique Kelso – Commanding Officer, 1st Platoon
* Lieutenant William Hedges † – Commanding Officer, 2nd Platoon
* Lieutenant Bill Mann – Commanding Officer, 3rd Platoon
Non-commissioned officers
* Sergeant Major Hermelinda Urizar – Company sergeant major – Gunny
* Platoon Sergeant George Antrim‎ – Senior NCO, 1st Platoon
* Platoon Sergeant Alberta Maguire – Senior NCO, 2nd Platoon
* Platoon Sergeant David Crites – Senior NCO, 3rd Platoon
* Sergeant Cassidy – 1st Squad Leader, 1st Platoon
* Corporal Sanders
* Lance Corporal Wendell McCollum – Squad leader, 3rd Platoon
* Private 1/c Franz Taluqdar –1st Team, 1st Squad, 1st Platoon
Owens Guard
* Lieutenant Mateo Gutierrez – Personal armsman to Miss Owens (Lt. Hearns)
==References==
Hexapuma, HMS
Hexapuma, HMS
Hexapuma, HMS
Hexapuma, HMS
Hexapuma, HMS