Guardian Affair

## Combatants

* Tokkiado
* Syrellia

The order of battle for the conflicting sides

## Events

June 30th 1900 08:00 A Syrellian crewed ship is stopped by the Royal Tokkiado Navy Patrol Ship TKS Guardian a torpedo boat modified for piracy patrol and search and rescue. The ship has been reported by local merchants for seveal violations including one ramming.

08:30 The crew of TKS Guardian legally request the Syrellian ship's papers and manifest as they are steaming in Tokkidan Waters and towards Shuseon.

08:45 The ship refuses and as a result is boarded and searched, revealing contraband. A fight breaks out and several Syrellian crew members are wounded 1 member of TKS Guardian's crew is shot and the ship's cat is killed by a stray bullet.

09:00 The Syrellian ship is disabled by TKS Guardian and taken under tow. The crew who participated in the fighting are treated and incarcerated for violence.

00:00 TKS Guardian steams into harbor with the captured crew and ship and hands them over to the authorities.

November 1st 1900 22:00 Local Time: After many weeks at sea the Syrealian Cruiser Arranoa enters Tokkiadan Waters intent on making her way through the straits towards Tokkaido's port City of Shuseon her assigned mission is to blockade the port and force Tokkaido to pay reparations for a ship caught smuggling goods on Tokkidan Waters. The crew sail with lights on as the waters are shallow in areas and the straits can be narrow. A thick fog is starting to roll in and snow looks to be on the horizon.

00:00 Several ships report the cruiser and TKS Guardian, Angel, Flower, and Defender are dispatched with orders to find and stop the reported ship.

00:10 A heavy snow sets in, forcing Arranoa to slow her speed as visibility drops. Her lights are kept on to watch for rocks close to the ship.

00:25 TKS Angel spots the cruiser's lights and gives chase. As a precaution her single 102mm Breach Loading gun is made ready and all her lights are turned off. Captain Seyuon knows the area well and has trained his crew in night navigation. The lights of the cruiser help guide them nearby.

01:00 TKS Angel makes contact with Arranoa . She flashes a warning to the ship to turn back as the waters there are shallow and rocky, the ship refuses to acknowledge the Tokkiadan boat.

01:15 TKS Guardian, Angel's squadron mate relays a command from RTN coastal headquarters. If the ship does not cease her mission she is to be engaged as best able.

01:16 TKS Angel once more shuts off all her lights and fades into the darkness and snow. Arranoa's watchmen loose track of the boat and soon spot a second and third boat in the darkness. Rumors start to spread of torpedo boats hiding just out of searchlight range.

01:17 TKS Defender joins the pack and shadows Arranoa off her port bow. In accordance with RTN commands Defender gives a warning signal, then also shuts off her lights and drops speed, fading into the darkness.

01:20 After ignoring orders to halt and turn back TKS Angel steams to within 1000 meters of Arranoa . She and all her sister ships signal one last time for the ship to turn back or be attacked.
The cruiser signals something along the lines of "No" and keeps sailing.

01:30 Arranoa is struck amidships by a single Tokkidan 400mm Torpedo there is a large explosion and the Cruiser heels off course towards the shore

02:00 Arranoa slams into an uncharted rock on her starboard side. This rips a hole in her starboard bow and causes flooding.

02:20 The Arranoa beaches itself and her crew abandon ship. TKS Angel makes note of this in her logs. 02:30 There is a massive explosion in the fore section of Arranoa , the ship's bow is rendered a heap of slag and the stern buckles taking heavy damage.

03:00 RTN Rescue ships called in by TKS Angel arrive shortly to provide aid. TKS Angel and her sister ships search the waters for any of the Arranoa's crew. But survival time in the cold waters is limited. They eventually drop anchor away from Arranoa and await morning.

## Results

### Syreallia

The sinking of the *Arranoa* caused massive protests in major Syrellian cities, with crowds demonstrating vocally against the Nanclares dictatorship. The ship's loss also had a dramatic effect on the morale of the Syrellian Navy, which continued to be starved for funds by the dictatorship. In mid-July, the naval leadership sarcastically noted that *Arranoa*'s loss was "the result of fifteen years of criminal neglect by the government." During a pro-democracy march in Pamplonia on July 21st, the Fleet's sailors and officers were called to assist in breaking up a crowd of marchers in the National Square. The officers and sailors instead marched to the National Square and joined the protest, tussling with the Special Police and sparking their withdrawal. Within two weeks, the Nanclares regime bowed to increasing pressure and called national elections.

### Tokkaido

Tokkidan officials opened negotiations first with the newly elected Syrellian government. They formally apologized and expressed regret for the loss of life. For their part Tokkiado and Syrellia acknowledge the actions of TKS Guardian as within Tokkaido's legal rights as she was protecting territorial waters and other ships from the reckless actions of the merchant vessel in question.
Tokkaido agreed to return the bodies of the fallen and paid a sum out in compensation for their deaths. This was not negotiable as Tokkaido insisted they be given proper burial and honors.

Tokkaido's navy emerged from the incident a new organization. Much of the contact throughout the incident between the patrol boats was over a few radio sets the crews brought on board. The communication advantage was perceived as allowing the smaller boats to outmaneuver the cruiser and coordinate their actions effectively without the use of signal lights. The inadequacies of the converted torpedo patrol boat were also pointed out and spurred the development of the larger, and arguably over armed Blossom class and their smaller Frigates in an attempt to build a navy that could actually stand up should a larger power try to do such actions again.

### The fate of Arranoa

The Arranoa was rendered mostly useless as her bow was entirely blown clean off behind the A turret, the shockwave buckled the non armored steel across most of her midsection, and the hole amidships had flooded out one boiler room.
The only saving grace for her salvage would be that the waters of Tokkaido are very cold and thus very low oxygen.
Arranoa was raised, fitted with a wooden bow and her hole amidships was plugged. She was towed back to Shuseon Naval Yard and initially was set to be scrapped.

In 1902 as part of an the buildup that was planned by the passing of the 1900 Naval Development Act. Saw the old hulk raised, hauled into drydock and basically rebuilt to serve as an early training ship. The ship received a new bow, was cut down and basically had her fore and aft decks rebuilt and her engines replaced with new boilers. Her guns were also removed to enable training on the then standard 102mm/L45 QF gun. The ship served poorly in this role and was set to be scrapped in late 1904 as the new Blossom Class heavy Frigates rolled off the slipway and were commissioned and sent into their first mission as training ships pending the delivery of two new Protected Cruisers.