Battle of Caparce Bay

Part of the Ibarklan Revolutionary War

The Battle of Caparce Bay, by F. Newman

### Result

Decisive Ibarklan victory* Complete destruction of the Doge Wonderlandian 1st Expeditionary Force
* Establishment of Ibarklan naval supremacy

## Belligerents

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**Ibarkla**
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**Doge Wonderland**
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## Commanders and leaders

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Napolebin LadenYi Nimity
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Borker FriseWoofer SpaniellePoodla Boofer
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## Casualties and losses

*Note: This article is outdated and needs to be updated to current lore*

The **Battle of Caparce Bay**, also known as the **Ironclad's Smashing Debut**, was a naval battle during the Ibarklan Revolutionary War between the Ibarklan Navy and the Doge Wonderlandian 1st Expeditionary Force.

After the Ibarklan capture of Caparce, the Doge Wonderlandian navy had no suitable ports upon which to land forces for their planned recapture of Ibarkla. As a result, they planned to retrieve their forces from Dystavia, where the bulk of their troops were stationed, and redeploy them to recapture Caparce. After making a stop in Woofertown to bolster their materiel and manpower, the Doge Wonderlandian 1st Expeditionary Force sailed to Caparce to retake the port city and land their own forces there. Under the command of Admiral Borker Frise, the Doge Wonderlandian fleet met the Ibarklan Navy in Caparce Bay under Admiral Yi Nimity.

Nimity's forces were badly outnumbered, with just 17 ships of the line to the Doge Wonderlandian fleet's 67, including the Doge Wonderlandian Navy's flagship, the HSS *Ascendancy*. However, Nimity had the advantage of the three newly-built Ibarklan ironclads: RIS *Bulletproof*, RIS *Indomitable*, and RIS *Hope*. Initial combat testing of the *Hope* in the Nantese Strait yielded promising results, but many in the Ibarklan military still remained unsure of its combat potential.

Doge Wonderlandian forces arrived under cover of night late on 11 March, planning to launch a surprise raid on the bay and take it before significant resistance could be mustered. However, an Ibarklan civilian fishing boat discovered their movements and launched an emergency flare, alerting Caparce to the danger. A small task force was hastily mobilized, aiming to lure and distract the bulk of the force while the rest of the Ibarklan Navy was launched, cutting off the rear of the Doge Wonderlandian forces.

Nimity directed the fleet's wooden ships to maintain their positions encircling the Doge Wonderlandian ships, and sent the ironclad warships to perform the bulk of the fighting. The ironclads were extremely successful at this role; their thick iron armor shielded them from cannon bombardment, and they were able to destroy over half of the Doge Wonderlandian fleet before running out of ammunition, at which point they began ramming the wooden ships. After the *Bulletproof* was scuttled by its own crew after being boarded after running out of fuel, the *Impenetrable* and the *Hope* retreated to Caparce to refuel and rearm.

After the *Hope*'s retreat, the rest of the Ibarklan Navy began attempting to encircle and destroy the weakened Doge Wonderlandian Expeditionary Force. However, despite the crippling of the Doge Wonderlandian force, the Ibarklan fleet still possessed less ships of the line. In addition, the Doge Wonderlandian ships were better crewed and serviced, leading to the Ibarklan fleet's slow destruction. By the late morning, however, the *Impenetrable* and the *Hope* returned to the battle, once again destroying most of the Doge Wonderlandian fleet. Despite the *Impenetrable* suffering a boiler explosion early in the afternoon and sinking with loss of all hands, the rest of the Ibarklan force were able to force Frise to surrender.

The Ibarklan victory cemented the fledgling navy's prowess in the oceans. It was achieved in large part due to heavy use of the three ironclads; Nimity said after the battle that "had it not been for the God-blessed ironclads, I would be sitting in this chair at the bottom of the ocean". Despite this importance, the battle received little attention until after the end of the war; Ibarklan intelligence agents carefully prevented any knowledge of the battle and especially of the ironclad warships from spreading to prevent the Doge Wonderlandian military from learning of their importance. However, it signaled the beginning of a new age of naval warfare, and the Ibarklan Navy began full-scale production of ironclads after the battle.

## Background

### Military situation

In 1812, the Ibarklan Revolutionary War began. The Ibarklan army was able to easily capture much of the northern half of the continent, thanks to local support by the majority-Robotist population, but had a more difficult time advancing upon the southern half of the continent due to larger Doge Wonderlandian garrisons. Thus, they focused their efforts on capturing the city of Caparce due to its importance as a deep water port, its large armory and the many military assets stationed there. Despite its strong defenses, they were able to capture Caparce with relatively few losses by the fall of 1812 by using unconventional tactics including biological warfare.

Due to lack of Doge Wonderlandian investment into their Ibarklan colonies' infrastructure, Caparce was the only city not firmly in Ibarklan control with a port capable of accommodating the large Doge Wonderlandian warships. In addition, the city was home to many arms factories, an asset most of the rest of Ibarkla lacked despite ongoing efforts to construct armories.

As a result, Doge Wonderlandian leadership concentrated on the reinforcement and defense of Caparce to both enable troop landings and cut off the Ibarklan ability to produce arms. However, the bulk of the Doge Wonderlandian army was deployed in the Fejaca Archipelago off the east coast of the southern tip of Dystavia. Due to the difficulty in travel, news of the rebellion and their redeployment did not even reach them until after Caparce's capture. This gave valuable time for the Ibarklan fleet to prepare for invasion.

Meanwhile, the Doge Wonderland heartland immediately activated their reserve troops and sent them to Caparce via Woofertown immediately upon receiving news of the rebellion. Bad weather and the need to train soldiers to crew ships delayed their deployment, and by the time the fleet arrived the city had already been captured by Ibarklan forces. The occupying rebel forces successfully destroyed the Doge Wonderlandian fleet, though at the cost of nearly all their own warships captured from Caparce, prompting a change in naval tactics.

### RIS *Hope*

> *Main article: RIS Hope*
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Despite the advent of steam propulsion, top Doge Wonderlandian military officials believed its application in naval warfare was limited due to steam engines requiring large quantities of coal for operation. This severely limited their range and made it nearly impossible to use steam-powered warships in their campaign in the Fejaca Archipelago. As a result, relatively little funds were allocated to the research and development of steam-powered ironclad warships, causing it to still be under construction by the time Ibarklan forces captured Caparce.

After the capture and successful naval defense of Caparce, Ibarklan General Napolebin Laden personally toured the dry docks where the *RIS Hope*, then unnamed, was still under construction. He felt the design had potential and prioritized its construction over wooden warships, reasoning that its iron armor would render it nearly impenetrable by munitions of the day. This decision proved initially unpopular, especially due to his orders that not only would two more be constructed, but also that captured Doge Wonderlandian engineers would be put to work on the project; Laden quelled most of his army's discontent by promptly issuing them a double ration of whiskey.

On 22 October 1812, work resumed on the ironclad. She had already been well on her way to completion by the time the Ibarklan forces captured Caparce, and she was officially laid down on 21 November 1812 and christened the RIS *Hope*. Her offenses consisted of just 10 guns, an unthinkably low number of guns at the time, as well as a sharpened bow ram. After initial testing in Caparce Bay, she was attached to the 3rd Naval Task Force and sent to raid Doge Wonderlandian merchant ships in the Nantese Strait, achieving marginal success and offering tentative proof of the viability of the ironclad warship.

### RIS *Bulletproof* and RIS *Impenetrable*

RIS *Hope*'s sister ships, RIS *Bulletproof* and RIS *Impenetrable*, began construction on 22 October 1812. They were declared operational, though not finished, just days before the battle, on 8 March 1813. Like the *Hope*, *Bulletproof* and *Impenetrable* were both armed with far fewer guns than considered reasonable by prevailing naval orthodoxy of the time, and incorporated a sharpened ram, a weapon thought to be obsolete. Nevertheless, Laden's clout as well as the personal loyalty of his men allowed *Bulletproof* and *Impenetrable* to continue production under the *Hope*'s design rather than being redesigned. One notable difference was their engines; *Bulletproof* and *Impenetrable*'s steam engines were more hastily constructed and, though operational, not fully completed by the date of the battle, a flaw that led to *Impenetrable*'s demise.

## Fleets

### Ibarklan

By 11 March, Admiral Nimity had just 17 ships of the line in addition to the three ironclads. Nimity's flagship, RIS *Aspiration*, was the fleet's only 100-gun first-rate ship; the rest consisted of three 98-gun second-rate ships and 14 74-gun third-rate ships. Nimity also commanded 12 frigates of 36 guns each and 31 merchant clippers converted into warships with 24 guns each.

### Doge Wonderlandian

Under Admiral Frise's command sailed one of the most powerful wooden fleets in history. His flagship, the 140-gun first-rate HSS *Ascendancy* was one of twelve first-rates in his fleet; Vice-Admiral Spanielle and Rear Admiral Boofer each commanded a 120-gun first-rate ship, while the rest of the first-rate ships held 100 guns each. The rest of the ships of the line consisted of 12 98-gun second-rates, 13 96-gun second-rates, 24 80-gun third-rates and 6 74-gun third-rates. Accompanying the main battle fleet were 32 38-gun frigates, 27 16-gun troop transports, and 4 12-gun brigs, making for a total of 130 vessels.

## Battle

### Nimity's plan

With a severely outnumbered navy, Nimity discarded the prevailing naval doctrine of approaching the enemy in a line and firing volleys of broadsides parallel lines. Due to the chaotic start of the battle, Nimity was unable to implement his earlier-developed plan of sailing directly perpendicular to enemy lines in two groups, cutting the enemy formation into three, while directing the ironclads to each attack one section of via more conventional broadsides.

Instead, he was forced to