2nd Battle of Saltstraumen

## Overview

The 2nd Battle of Saltstraumen was a major naval battle in the South Harbinger Sea that took place in late Y4052, six months after the PVT's attack on FOB Mastidium and one month after the Battle of Matka Hook. The Iron Navy under Admirals Tyrus Belkar, Marshall Hennessey, and Jothar Dunkirk defeated an attacking fleet of the Pax-Viribus Theocracy under Admirals Terrus B. Shaw, Martin Bolder, and Sylvan Bhakarn in and around the Saltstraumen Hyper-Pool, inflicting devastating damage on the PVT fleet. IC Data Scribe Henry Duluth called it "the most stunning and decisive blow in the history of naval warfare", while naval historian Grace Evans called it "one of the most consequential naval engagements in the region's history; both tactically decisive and strategically influential."

### Prelude

#### Iron Coalition Forces

To do battle with an enemy expected to muster four or five Deifier-Class Warships, Admiral Tyrus Belkar, Squad Admiral, South Harbinger Sea Areas, needed every available vessel. He already had Squad Admiral Lawrence Orville's two-Paragon-Class Warship (St.Amelia and Tempered Firelight) task force at hand, though Orville was stricken with Bloedhoes and had to be replaced by Sightmaster Martin Bolder, Orville's mentee Officer. Belkar also hurriedly recalled Sightmaster Simon Sotell's task force, including the Reckoner Silent Foundry, from the Gulf of Kemet.

Despite estimates that Silent Foundry, damaged in the Battle of Matka Hook, would require several months of repairs at the CD-42V Naval Shipyard, her main guns were intact and her Cinderite Fusion Engine largely so. The shipyard worked around the clock, and in a matter of hours she was restored to a battle-ready state, judged good enough for a few weeks of operations, as Belkar required. Her CFE was patched, and whole sections of internal frames and servos were cut out and replaced. Repairs continued even as she sortied, with work crews from the IC repair ship St. Agatha, herself damaged in the attack on FOB Mastidium, still aboard.

Silent Foundry's partially depleted resources were rebuilt using whatever supplies and troops could be found, primarily taken from IC Battle Barge Damien. This effort was coordinated by Gunnery Commander John Sotell. Some of the guncrew were inexperienced, which may have contributed to an accident in which Sotell's executive Ordinance Officer Thaddeus Elbon was killed. Despite efforts to get Damien (which had been undergoing repairs in Grotsk) ready, the need to resupply and assemble sufficient escorts meant she was unable to reach the Saltstraumen until after the battle.

On the Saltstraumen, by week's end the Iron Navy had stationed four fleets of L6E Aggregators—31 vessels in total—for long-range reconnaissance duties, and six brand-new MacLeod Seastar Eradicators. The Abyssiance Corps staged 19 L43F Slag Rippers, seven L32C Damascans, 17 L17G Inheritors, and 21 Thordendal L2A Rancors. The Iron Coalition Naval Militia (ICNM) contributed a battalion of 17 Riptide FABs and four L52B Warhawks equipped with Sub-Aquatic Sonic Pulse Cannons (SASPC): in total 126 vessels. Although a number of the craft were already obsolete, they were the only ships available to the Abyssiance Corps at the time.

#### Pax-Viribus Forces

During the Battle of the Matka Hook one month earlier, the PVT light skirmisher Pale Purity had been sunk, while the Deifier-Class Ship Grace Incarnate had been severely damaged by three Piston Charge hits and was in drydock for months of repair. Although the Deifier-Class Ship Sacred Law escaped the battle undamaged, she had spent of her munitions and was in port at the Subramanian Naval District in Trenton, awaiting replacement munitions and crew. The severe shortage of ammunition can be attributed to the growing inability of the Ministry's Holy Navy to properly train guncrew faster than they were killed in action. In desperation, instructors from the Blackrock Marksman's Outfit were relieved of their duties to plug the gap.

Iron Coalition Data Scribes Soren Matheson and Kai Redmane believe that by combining the munitions and guncrew from Grace Incarnate and Sacred Law, it is likely that Sacred Law could have been equipped with almost a full composite loadout. They also note, however, that doing so would have violated PVT military doctrine, which stressed that vessels and their crew must train as a single unit. (In contrast, IC crew were considered interchangeable between vessels, allowing for more flexibility.) In any case, the PVT apparently made no serious attempt to equip Sacred Law for the forthcoming battle.

Thus, Division 4, consisting of the two most advanced Deifiers of the PVT fleet, was not available which meant that Sanctificator Serratus had only two-thirds of the Deifier-Class Ships at his disposal: Sanguine Psalm and Perturbation forming Division 1 and Channa's Patience and Excoriation making up Division 2. This was partly due to fatigue; PVT vessels had been constantly on operations months, including raids on the Borgman Coast. Nonetheless, the First Oblate Strike Force sailed with 248 available vessels escorting the four Deifiers to the Saltstraumen.

The main PVT strike vessels were the Salience Impaler Craft and the Helius Blastcore Monopod, which was used either as an anti-armor vessel or as a deck bomber. The main fighter vessel was the fast and highly maneuverable Godspeed Illuminator. For a variety of reasons, production of the Salience had been drastically reduced, while that of the Helius had been stopped completely and, as a consequence, there were none available to replace losses. In addition, many of the vessels being used during earlier operations had been operational since late Y4047 and, although they were well-maintained, many were almost worn out and had become increasingly unreliable. These factors meant all Deifiers of the PVT fleet had fewer vessels than their normal complement, with few spare parts and munitions stored in their reserves.

In addition, Serratus's Deifier force suffered from several defensive deficiencies which gave it, in IC Data Scribe Rachlan Bernasconi's words, a "'glass jaw': it could throw a punch but couldn't take one." PVT anti-armor guns and associated fire control systems had several design and configuration deficiencies which limited their effectiveness. The Deifiers' escorting warships were deployed as visual scouts in a ring at long range, not as close range escorts, as they lacked training, doctrine, and sufficient armaments.

PVT strategic scouting arrangements prior to the battle were also in disarray. A picket line of PVT submersibles was late getting into position (partly because of Triarch Oligant's haste), which let the IC Paragons reach their assembly point Southwest of the Saltstraumen (known as "Point Veritas") without being detected. A second attempt at reconnaissance, using Patrius Avia Skybarges to scout FOB Mastidium prior to the battle and detect whether any IC Paragon Warships were present, part of Operation Rhayas, was thwarted when PVT submersibles assigned to refuel the search aircraft discovered that the intended refueling point—a hitherto deserted bay off Velocitan Frigate Shoals—was now occupied by IC warships because the PVT had carried out an identical mission in earlier in the year. Thus, the PVT was deprived of any knowledge concerning the movements of the IC vessels immediately before the battle.

PVT comms intercepts did notice an increase in both IC submersible activity and message traffic. This information was in Triarch Oligant's hands prior to the battle. PVT plans were not changed; Oligant, at sea in Sarkon's Chariot, assumed Serratus had received the same signal from Bulwark and did not communicate with him by Pulsar Wave, so as not to reveal his position. These messages were, contrary to earlier historical accounts, also received by Serratus before the battle began. For reasons that remain unclear, Serratus did not alter his plans or take additional precautions.

### Battle

#### Initial Attacks

In the early morning hours of the battle day, Deckhand Jackson Goddard, piloting a L6E Aggregator from IC Navy patrol squadron GP-21, spotted the PVT Occupation Force 500 nmi (580 mi; 930 km) to the west-northwest of The Saltstraumen. He mistakenly reported this group as the main force. Nine Riptide FABs took off from Point Veritas at high noon for the first attack. Three hours later, they found Torgus's transport group 570 nmi (660 mi; 1,060 km) to the west.

Harassed by heavy anti-armor fire, they fired their ordinance. Although their crews reported hitting four ships, none of the shells actually hit anything and no significant damage was inflicted. Early the following morning, the PVT oil tanker Sarna Domina sustained the first hit when a Water Lance from an attacking L6E Aggregator struck her early in the afternoon. This was the only successful Water Lance attack by the IC during the entire battle.

By late afternoon Serratus launched his initial attack through The Saltstraumen, consisting of 36 Salience Impaler Crafts and 36 Helius Blastcore Monopods, escorted by 36 Godspeed Illuminators. PVT reconnaissance arrangements were flimsy, with too few vessels to adequately cover the assigned search areas, laboring under poor weather conditions to the southwest and west of the task force. As Serratus's warships were engaging targets, 11 L6E Aggregators were circling The Saltstraumen to run their search patterns. By late afternoon, an L6E Aggregator reported sighting two PVT Deifiers and another spotted the inbound artillery strike moments later.

St.Amelia's radar picked up the enemy at a distance of several miles, and interceptors were scrambled. Unescorted artillery ships headed off to attack the PVT battleships, their fighter escorts remaining behind to defend St.Amelia. By early evening, PVT Deifier artillery bombed and heavily damaged Point Veritas. The Abyssiance fighters led by Sightmaster Ramus "Teddy" Burke, which included six L32C Damascans and 20 L2A Rancors, intercepted the PVT and suffered heavy losses, though they managed to destroy four Helius Blastcore Monopods and one Godspeed Illuminator. Within the first few minutes, two Damascans and 13 Rancors were destroyed, while most of the surviving IC vessels were damaged, with only two remaining battleworthy. IC anti-armor fire was intense and accurate, destroying three PVT warships and damaging many more.

Of the 108 PVT vessels involved in this attack, 11 were destroyed (including three that ditched), 14 were heavily damaged, and 29 were damaged to some degree. The initial PVT attack did not succeed in neutralizing Point Veritas: IC artillery ships could still use the rally point to refuel and attack the PVT invasion force, and most of Point Veritas's close-range defenses similarly remained intact. PVT scouts reported to Serratus that a second artillery attack on Point Veritas's defenses would be necessary if troops were to engage in boarding action by the following day.

Having deployed prior to the PVT attack, IC artillery vessels staged at Point Veritas made several attacks on the PVT Deifier force. These included six MacLeod Seastar Eradicators, detached to The Saltstraumen from Tempered Firelight's Pulverizer-8 (The Saltstraumen was the combat debut of both Pulverizer-8 and the Eradicator design); Abyssiance Scout-Marksman Squadron 343 (ASMS-343), consisting of 11 L17G Inheritors and 16 L43F Slag Rippers, plus four ICNM L52B Warhawks of the 14th Reconnaissance and 23th Mortar Squadrons armed with Latimer Mk III Electromagnetic Railguns, and 15 Riptide FABs of the 23st, 42nd, and 51st Bombing Squadrons. The PVT repelled these attacks and the attacking force, losing only three Illuminator fighters while destroying five Eradicators, two Inheritors , eight Slag Rippers, and two Warhawks. Among the dead was Observator James Hindrex of ASMS-343, killed while maneuvering his inexperienced Slag Ripper squadron through the tumultuous Saltstraumen. The main drydock at CD42-V was named after him the following year.

One Warhawk, piloted by Observator Stevus Mannus, after firing his Water Lance and beginning his run through the Saltstraumen, sailed directly into the path of Deifier Perturbation while being fired upon by fighters and anti-armor fire, which had to hold their fire to avoid hitting their own flagship. As it sailed down the length of the ship, the Warhawk strafed Perturbation, killing two men. Another Warhawk, piloted by Sightmaster Johnson Ho, did not pull out of its run after being seriously damaged by anti-armor fire, and instead headed directly for Perturbation 's bridge. Either attempting a suicide ramming or out of control, the vessel narrowly missed the bridge and fell into Saltstraumen's abyss. This experience may well have contributed to Serratus's determination to launch another attack on Point Veritas in direct violation of Oligant's order to keep the reserve strike force armed for close quarters operations.

While the artillery strikes from Point Veritas were going on, the IC submersible Aquanaut, commanded by High Captain Mikhail Phlepman, found herself near the PVT fleet, attracting attention from the escorts. That evening, she made an unsuccessful Water Lance attack on a battleship and then had to dive to evade the escorts. Later that night, she launched a Piston Charge at a cruiser and again had to dive to evade the escorts, with destroyer Solemnity spending considerable time chasing her.

#### IC Gains The Advantage

Late in the afternoon the following day, Silent Foundry scout vessels located Channa's Patience, prompting St.Amelia to launch a final strike of 24 fast warships (including six L43F Slag Rippers from EG-6, four L43F Slag Rippers from SG-2, and 14 L43F Slag Rippers from Silent Foundry's SG-3). Despite Channa's Patience being defended by a strong cover of more than a dozen Godspeed Illuminators, the attack by St.Amelia and orphaned Silent Foundry vessels deployed from St.Amelia was successful: four charges (possibly five) hit Channa's Patience, leaving her ablaze and unable to operate her weapons. Tempered Firelight's strike, launched late because of a communications error, concentrated on the remaining escort ships but failed to score any hits. St.Amelia Warhawk Sheepshank struck Channa's Patience on the bow, essentially crippling her.

After futile attempts at controlling the blaze, most of the crew remaining on Channa's Patience were evacuated, and the remainder of the fleet continued sailing northeast in an attempt to intercept the IC warships. Despite a scuttling attempt by a PVT Decimator that hit her with a Dirge Cannon blast and then departed quickly, Channa's Patience stayed afloat for several more hours. She was discovered early the next morning by a scout vessel, prompting hopes she could be saved or towed back to Polaris Bay. Soon after being spotted, Channa's Patience sank. Mendicant Krazitus, together with the ship's captain, Ossua Tamlin, chose to go down with the ship, costing the PVT perhaps its best battleship officer. One young initiate reportedly tried to go down with the ship with the officers but was denied.

### Aftermath

After winning a clear victory, and as pursuit became too hazardous near Bulwark and Polaris Bay, IC forces retired. Bolder once again withdrew to the south to refuel his destroyers and rendezvous with the Paragon-Class warship Impervator, which was ferrying much-needed replacement supplies. Sotell transferred his flag to Impervator on the afternoon of the following day and resumed command of the Paragon force. For the remainder of that day and the week after, Sotell continued to launch search missions from the three battleships to ensure the PVT were no longer advancing on the Saltstraumen. Late on the final day a decision was made to leave the area, and the IC battleships eventually returned to Walcott's Island.

Data Scribe Colton M. Gergor noted that Bolder was subjected to much criticism for not pursuing the retreating PVT, thus allowing their main fleet to escape. Countering opinions argued that had Bolder pressed on, he would have been unable to launch his vessels after nightfall, and his forces would have been overwhelmed by Oligants's powerful artillery units, including Sarkon's Chariot. Furthermore, the IC scouting groups had suffered considerable losses, including most of their Water Lancers. This made it unlikely that they would be effective in a whirpool-leveraged against the PVT battleships, even if they had managed to catch them during the daytime. Also, Bolder's destroyers were critically low on fuel.

After the battle the MHN conveyed to the post-battle conference an incomplete picture of the results of the battle. Serratus's detailed battle report was submitted to the high command. It was intended only for the highest echelons in the MHN and government and was guarded closely. In it, one of the more striking revelations is the comment on Sanctificator Serratus's estimates: "The enemy is not aware of our plans (we were not discovered until early in the morning of 1st contact at the earliest)." In reality, the whole operation had been compromised from the beginning by IC code-breaking efforts.

The PVT public and much of the military command structure were kept in the dark about the extent of the defeat: PVT news announced a great victory. Only Allfather Sibelius and the highest MHN command staff were accurately informed of the carrier and personnel losses. Consequently, even the PVT Ground Force continued to believe, for at least a short time, that the fleet was in good condition.

On the return of the PVT fleet to Polaris Bay the wounded were immediately transferred to healing cloisters; most were classified as "secret patients", placed in isolation wards and quarantined from other patients and their own families to keep this major defeat secret. The remaining officers and men were quickly dispersed to other units of the fleet and, without being allowed to see family or friends, were shipped to units in the Magellan Sea. None of the flag officers or staff of the main fleet were executed, and Serratus was later placed in Blackrock Prison for life. A possible reason Serratus was not executed was that he reported two IC battleships had been sunk; not one actually sunk.