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Hamish Alexander

From Honorverse

Lord Hamish Alexander-Harrington, 13th Earl White Haven, Steadholder Consort Harrington, was a Manticoran citizen and an officer of the Royal Manticoran Navy. He was known among treecats as Strong Heart.

Contents

[edit] Family

Hamish Alexander was married to Emily Alexander and Honor Harrington, and had one younger brother, William.

He had a son, Raoul, with Honor, and a daughter, Katherine, with Emily. (HH11)

[edit] Character

Alexander rose through the ranks quickly, in which he was proud that he did not use his noble status to achieve it. He was known to ignore going by The Book, when it was in his way, especially after the death of his father.[1]

[edit] Biography

Alexander was born on the planet Manticore in 1820 PD/233AL as the son of the 12th Earl White Haven and his wife. He later chose to pursue a career in the Royal Navy. During his time at the Royal Manticoran Naval Academy on Saganami Island, he was under the tutelage of Lieutenant Raoul Courvosier, which developed into a lasting friendship during his Midshipman cruise. (HH2)

When Alexander was a Captain, Commander Craig Warner served under him. During that time, Alexander allowed Warner to go through with a duel. Later, he became the godfather of Warner's eldest son, Robert.

At some point early in his career, Alexander got married to his first wife Emily, a renowned holodrama actress, who later got paralyzed in a horrible aircar accident. (HH1)

At one time he served as Third Space Lord. (HH7)

Once promoted to Admiral's rank, Alexander led the school of traditionalist tactical thought against Admiral of the Red Sonja Hemphill's jeune ecole. In 1900 PD, he discussed Commander Honor Harrington's actions at in the Basilisk System with First Space Lord Sir James Webster in Landing. Afterwards, he went back to White Haven and conversed with his brother William about the situation, starting to brag about Harrington at meetings. (HH1)

In 1903 PD, Alexander held his flag aboard HMS Reliant. After meeting with Commander Truman of HMS Apollo, he met with Admiral Webster, who authorized him to take two squadrons of battle cruisers to Yeltsin's Star. In order to get to Grayson as fast as possible, he ordered the fleet at high speeds.

In the aftermath of the battle, Alexander met with Captain Harrington and reprimanded her about striking Reginald Houseman, but he conveyed the gratitude of Queen Elizabeth III and he was present when Harrington was knighted into the Order of King Roger by Ambassador Anthony Langtry. (HH2) Afterwards, he shifted his flag to HMS Sphinx. (HH3)

After the First Battle of Hancock Station, he was named president of Captain Lord Pavel Young's court martial. He then commanded Task Force 4, part of the Home Fleet, with HMS Queen Caitrin serving as his flagship.[2] After Paul Tankersley's death, he gave Honor Harrington the order not to challenge Earl North Hollow to a duel. After she defied the order and killed Young, he regretted having given an illegal order and that he knew would be ignored even if legal.

He led the primary thrust at the People's Republic of Haven after war was declared and was only stopped in the Nightingale System. He continued his drive on the Trevor's Star System and considered making a direct attack despite his reputation as a master of the indirect approach. He also managed to incorporate certain ideas of the jeune ecole despite his general distaste for it. (HH4, HH6)

In 1913 PD, White Haven was given command of the Manticoran Alliance's Eighth Fleet, to be activated in the Yeltsin's Star System with GNS Benjamin the Great as his flagship. While being chastised by Honor Harrington for narrow thinking, he had a brief realization of how attracted he was to her, an emotion that camet hrough to her through her link with Nimitz. As a result, when she was captured, he felt guilty that he may have driven her off Grayson. (HH7)

By the time of her funeral, he was sure he was the reason for her departure. When word of a Havenite attack on the Basilisk System was received, he ordered Eighth Fleet to re-deploy from Trevor's Star to Basilisk via the Manticore Wormhole Junction, and arrived just in time to prevent further damage and to inflict severe casualties on the attackers. (HH8)

When Honor Harrington returned to Trevor's Star with the Elysian Space Navy, White Haven was glad she was wearing the uniform of a Grayson Admiral so he could greet her as an equal. (HH9)

Because of the mutual hatred between him and Sir Edward Janacek, White Haven is placed on half-pay after the death of Prime Minister Cromarty and the rise of the High Ridge government. He and Honor Harrington finally realized they loved each other, but did nothing about it out of their mutual love and respect for Lady Emily. The High Ridge government, in an attempt to neutralize their influence, started rumors that they were lovers, which were fuelled by the fact that Samantha, the mate of Harringon's treecat Nimitz, adopted White Haven.

Acting on intelligence that Harrington sent him directly, he travelled to Grayson to arrange for the Grayson Space Navy to reinforce Trevor's Star. Using the Manticoran Wormhole Junction on an emergency priority basis, they arrive just in time to discourage Havenite Admiral Javier Giscard from attacking. Following the fall of the High Ridge government, White Haven became the new First Lord of the Admiralty. Meanwhile, his wife, after extensive discussions with Samantha, gave her blessings to him and Harrington acting on their love for each other. (HH10)

In 1921 PD, White Haven, Lady Emily, and Honor Harringon got married and decided to have children. At the age of 101, he became the father of a son, Raoul, from Honor and a daughter, Katherine, from Emily. (HH11)

[edit] Works

Admiral White Haven translated Gustav Anderman's Sternenkrieg into English. (HH2)

[edit] Service Record

[edit] Promotions

  • Admiral, RMN - before 1901 PD
  • Admiral, GSN - after 1914 PD

[edit] Posts and duties


First Lord of the Admiralty after retirement. (HH10-HH11)

[edit] Half-pay periods

  • First Janacek's Admiralty (HH1)
  • Second Janacek's Admiralty (HH10)

[edit] Decorations

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ↑ Honor Harrington generally did not participate in the main military activities of the First Havenite-Manticoran War, so the presence of Hamish Alexander made it easier for David Weber to describe the course of the war.
  2. ↑ At the time, only nine active duty officers were senior to him.
  3. ↑ unnamed and probably ad hoc task force comprised of two battlecruiser squadrons with screen, including Battlecruiser Division 17 or 18, supported by twelve lighter ships; flagship - HMS Reliant (BC); chief of staff - Captain Byron Hunter
  4. ↑ before the war he completed a survey of frontier stations' readiness states for Admiral Webster
  5. ↑ flagship - HMS Sphinx (SD) - 1905 PD, very likely Commanding Officer of a task force in the Home Fleet
  6. ↑ four battlesquadrons, possibly Task Force 4
  7. ↑ flagship - HMS Queen Caitrin (SD)
  8. ↑ including direct command over a task force of Sixth Fleet during the first battle of Nightingale; chief of staff - Captain Byron Hunter
  9. ↑ flagship - GNS Benjamin the Great (SD)


Preceded by
the 12th Earl of White Haven 		Earl of White Haven
Succeeded by
Incumbent
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