Teyrnon Reforms / Establishment of 1702

The **Establishment of 1702**, sometimes called the *Teyrnon Reforms*, was a naval construction program started by the Royal Liotainian Navy in the aftermath of the Five Days Battle. The construction program was managed by Princess Vilmante Dobis-Kanas and the Breizhoned-born naval architect Teyrnon Morfran.

## Overview

In the century leading up to the start of the Firocco-Liotain War, the Royal Liotainian Navy heavily focused their construction on traditional galleys, such as the ones used a century earlier at the Battle of Cape Sovata. In the intervening century, however, the Firoccan Armada - and many other large navies - shifted first to galleons, and then to more heavily-armed and sleeker frigates and ships-of-the-line.

At the Five Days Battle, the more modern Firoccan fleet inflicted a catastrophic defeat on the Liotainian galleys. The Firoccan commander, Count Carlos of Balefornia, used his eleven heavily-armed warships - and a half-dozen fireships - to sink seventy galleys and drive another forty vessels ashore.

The scale of the defeat caused a major shift in the priorities of the Royal Liotainian Navy. A number of senior naval officers were cashiered, and King Karolis promoted new naval architects and fleet commanders to fill the gaping holes in the navy's ranks.

Although it was widely held that the defeat alone that sparked the restructuring, Karolis in fact started the process before the battle, appointing the Breizhoned-born naval architect Teyrnon Morfran to the post of Chief Constructor of the Navy in May 1701. Trained abroad by Antargentine and Celtican shipwrights, Teyrnon was fully aware of the most recent trends in naval architecture, and quickly established his own expertise at design of modern warships. Shipyard owners, who hitherto handled both the design and construction of naval galleys, resisted Teyrnon's reforms until late August 1701, when news of the Five Days Battle reached Liotain. Karolis responded with a swift and heavy hand, promising that any shipyard owner failing to fall in line with his Chief Constructor would be criminally charged. Resentful but intimidated into submission, the shipyards on the west coast changed their tune.

Administratively, the naval reforms were managed not by Teyrnon himself - who preferred to focus mostly on the technical aspects of his trade - but by Karolis's sister, Princess Vilmante. The princess exercised a deft hand in project management, whether soothing prickly shipyard bosses, arranging payment for materials, or organizing the limited skilled workforce. Vilmante successfully negotiated loans - at very favorable rates - with Antargentine and Celtican lenders. She saw such success that administration of the entire navy was handed over to her in 1703.

Karolis himself took a keen interest in the reconstruction of his navy. Although he gave Teyrnon significant autonomy, Karolis kept informed of every development, and in the spring of 1702, spent several weeks working random jobs in the shipyard at Laizuva in order to encourage the workers.

## Ships of the Establishment

Once placed in command of naval construction, Teyrnon focused Liotainian efforts on the construction of three standardized classes of warships.  The smallest of these were the 32-gun *Deimantas* class frigates, which would be the first of the new warships to see action.  Teyrnon also designed a standardized forty-four gun ship-of-the-line (the *Dvylika Apastalu* class) and the sixty-gun *Rudeksna*.  These ships-of-the-line were smaller than their Firoccan rivals, but they proved very maneuverable, particularly in the shallow waters of the Argent Sea, and drew significantly less water.

Ships of the Establishment of 1702
 *Rudeksna* | Ship-of-the-line
 *Dvylika Apastalu* | Ship-of-the-line
 *Deimantas* | Frigate

### *Rudeksna*-class Ship of the Line

The largest of the Teyrnon-designed warships.  The *Rudeksna-*class was rated as a sixty-gun ship, calculated as the largest design that would comfortably operate in the shallow southern end of the Nestorian Sea.  They were constructed out of a mix of Liotainian *tikmedzio* (black teak) and Celtican live oak.  For their period, they were extraordinarily well-armed on their main gun deck with 12-wt (26.5-pounder) cannon, which were usually only employed on the largest of three-deckers.

Eleven ships would be ordered, with ten completed (the *Karaliskas* was re-ordered as an 80-gun ship).  *Neris* was lost in a storm in 1705, but the remaining nine all fought at the Battle of Rietavas.  *Neris*, *Sventoji*, *Rokantiskes* and *Eletrenai* would be paid for by conscription, with funds raised from the chief cities of Liotain.  These ships were therefore named for the cities which funded them.

* Ordered 1701: *Karaliskas*, *Rudeksna*, *Perkunas*
* Ordered 1702: *Kerstas*, *Solhynian*, *Neris*
* Ordered 1703: *Pergalingas*
* Ordered 1704: *Rekyva*, *Rokantiskes*
* Ordered 1705: *Sventoji*, *Eletrenai*

### *Dvylika Apastalu*-class Ship of the Line

The smaller of Teyrnon's two battleship classes, the *Dvylika Apastalu* class mounted forty-four guns on two decks.  These were small battleships, but were very highly regarded for being extremely fast and nimble under full sail, even under conditions that would normally favor larger vessels.  Their construction was prioritized over the larger sixty-gun ships due to a variety of factors, including the availability of cannon, shipbuilding timber, and yard size.  They were mostly built out of Liotainian black teak (*tikmedzio*) but the earliest ships incorporated some softwoods in their frames, which made them relatively short-lived.

A total of fourteen ships were ordered, but only nine laid down and completed; the other five were re-ordered in 1704 as sixty-gun ships.  Four ships were paid for by the Order of Saint Mykolas, which resulted in all nine ships receiving religious-themed names, including four Orthodox saints and two archangels.

* Ordered 1701: *Dvylika Apastalu*, *Arkangelas Urielis*, *Sv. Linas Misionierius*
* Ordered 1702: *Saltielis ir Reicele*, *Desimt Isakymu*, *Sv. Eusebius Apologetas*
* Ordered 1703: *Sv. Jonas Kankinys*, *Arkangelas Remielis*, *Sv. Matas Evangelistas*

### *Deimantas*-class Frigate

* **Type**: fifth rate
* **Tonnage**: 530t
* **Length**:
	+ Gundeck: 36 m
	+ Keel: 30 m
* **Beam**: 9.8 m
* **Draught**: 4.1 m
* **Sail plan**: full-rigged ship
* **Complement**: 195 men
* **Armament**: (rated 32)
	+ Main deck: 22 6kg guns (13.3 lb)
	+ Quarter deck: 6 3kg guns (6.6 lb)
	+ Forecastle: 4 3kg guns (6.6 lb)

Teyrnon proposed a single frigate design for the Liotainian service, standardizing on a 32-gun ship based on a well-regarded Celtican vessel from 1697.  The resulting *Deimantas* class were graceful and fast, carrying on average four more guns than the standard Firoccan frigate of 1701, with 6-wt (13.3-pounder) cannon, compared to the 9-pounder guns on their immediate rivals.  The *Deimantas* had loopholes for sweeps, so they could still be rowed in calm seas; they tended to suffer somewhat on the open ocean.  Many of them were built with green wood and their service life proved short; *Trigaila* was the longest-lived ship, being retired in 1720, only seventeen years after her construction.

In total, twenty-four ships were ordered, although only twenty were completed.  Three vessels, including *Safyras*, were captured in battle, and saw service in the Firoccan Navy, which despised them for their poor handling on the open ocean, but incorporated elements of their construction into their own frigates.

* Ordered 1701: 4x
* Ordered 1702: 4x
* Ordered 1703: 4x
* Ordered 1704: 4x
* Ordered 1705: 4x
* Ordered 1706: 4x