Cetus-class Submarine

**Cetus-class Submarine** is a warship of the Gra Valkas Empire's navy. It is used to attack enemy vessels from beneath the surface of the ocean, reconnaissance and disrupt enemy convoys. Its creator is the company Beldienche.

## Description

Not much is described about the appearance of this type of vessel, though one can assume it to have similar technology to the I-400 submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy near the end of World War 2. Since it had to be refueled several times during its mission to Japan, one could also assume that it was driven by some form of surface engine, while relying on an alternative power source when submerged. Its hull is primarily made of iron and its main weapon seem to be a supply of unguided torpedoes. The torpedoes have a range between 2 to 25 km.

## Specification

This is only an estimated specification for the Imperial Cetus-Class submarine based on the I-400 submarine of the former Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN)

* **Weight**:
	+ 5,223 tons (surfaced)
	+ 6,560 tons (submerged)
* **Propulsion**:
	+ 7,700 hp (surfaced)
	+ 2400 hp (submerged)
* **Speed**:
	+ 18.7 knots (surfaced)
	+ 6.5 knots (submerged)
* **Armaments**:
	+ 8x 533mm torpedo tubes,
	+ unknown type/numbers of AA guns.
* **Operating range**:
	+ 37,500 nmi (69,450 km) at 14 kn (16 mph; 26 km/h), surfaced
	+ 60 nmi (111 km), submerged.
* **Aircrafts carried:** 3 x Acrux special-attack seaplane.
* **Other features:** escape pods (unknown number in each submarine)

Gra Valkas submarines apparently lack noise suppression equipment, making them very loud and easy to detect by Japanese sonar systems. This goes against the principles of submarine warfare, which baffled the JMSDF. The subs are equipped with primitive acoustic systems in order to detect incoming enemy torpedoes. One interesting detail is that the ship is also equipped with an emergency escape pod that will allow crew members to abandon ship if the sub is damaged or sinking. As for firing their torpedoes, they must ascend to a periscope depth in order to visually acquire the target and time their launch with the speed of the target. Since their torpedoes are unguided, they are normally fired in a spread to increase the chances of a hit. However, the appearance of a periscope, along with the noise, gives away their position and allows for their target to evade or counterattack

## Submarines of her Class

* *Mira -* Destroyed by JS *Takanami* at Skirmish at New Japan Sea.
* *Baten Kaitos -* launched the Acrux Seaplane piloted by Astor. It bombed the car carrier *DRIVE NEW WORLD* *(Ikai Maru* in the WN), then gunned down the survivors. Escaped before Mu's aircraft can intercept.
* *Cetus -* Lead ship of the class.

## Operational History

During the Skirmish at New Japan Sea, the Gra Valkas submarine *Mira* engaged a Japanese destroyer some 400 km from the Okinawa. The submarine fired first but was unable to hit its target. The Japanese destroyer evaded the torpedo, and countered with a guided torpedo. The *Mira's* acoustics officer picked up the sound of the enemy torpedo, but the *Mira* was unable to evade it and was destroyed with most of the crew perishing. Only a few survivors managed to get to the escape pod before the sub went down, and would be picked up months later, weak from being stranded in the sea.

Several of these subs were used during the conflict with the Holy Milishial Empire's Zeroth Fleet, and managed to sink several ships.

After the near-catastrophic defeat of the Gra Valkas Navy during the Great Naval Invasion of Japan, the submarine fleet began trying hit-and-run tactics against the approaching allied fleets. A group of 12 submarines were near the coast of the former Leifor nation, when they were detected by Japanese anti-submarine aircraft. Despite trying to use newly-developed sonar decoy devices, the guided Japanese torpedoes sank two of their submarines, causing the lead submarine commander, Netril, to order a retreat.

A Kongō-Class Destroyer would soon detect the fleeing subs and order them all to be sunk, using anti-submarine missiles.

## Trivia

* The Cetus-Class submarine is named after the **Cetus** constellation. Cetus was a sea monster in Greek mythology as both Perseus and Heracles needed to slay, sometimes in English called 'the whale'. Cetus is in the region of the sky that contains other water-related constellations: Aquarius, Pisces and Eridanus.
* The name of the Gra Valkas submarine Mira in the web novel is "Black Moon" and the name of the Baten Kaitos in the web novel is E-400.
* Because the Acrux seaplane is based on the Nakajima A6M2-N, it can be said that this is the difference between Cetus-class submarines and real-life I-400 submarines. In fact, the aircraft model that I-400 was designed to carry was the Aichi M6A Seiran (which was also designed to be carried by this submarine).