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The People's Navy in Exile was an organization of former members the Havenite Office of State Security operating units of the State Security Naval Forces and State Security Ground Forces. Its warships used the prefix PNES.

History[]

An association of former SSNF captains and personnel that refused to recognize the new Havenite Government, the People's Navy in Exile unified StateSec refugees that were acting as pirates in the Verge region with the support of Manpower Incorporated and Mesa[1]. Officially, their stated goal was to one day return to Haven to overthrow the Pritchart administration and return the Committee of Public Safety to power in the Republic of Haven. In reality, the PNE had almost no chance of accomplishing that goal as it had no permanent base of operations and almost nothing in the way of resources or logistical or financial support[2].

See also: Liberation Force in Exile, People's First Liberation Squadron

The closest the PNE came to achieving its objective was in 1921 PD when its Mesan Alignment sponsors[3] offered to reinforce the PNE with former Solarian League Navy units in return for the PNE's execution of Operation Ferret, a rogue naval operation to retake the Congo System and Congo Wormhole Bridge and attack on the newly-established Kingdom of Torch that included an Eridani Edict violation against the planet Torch itself[4].

Fortunately for Torch, the authorities of the neighboring Maya Sector authorities were able to learn of the possibility of an attack and deduced the probable location of the intended action, dispatching elements of the Maya Sector Detachment to discourage, deter, and if necessary defeat the expected attack. Though the Mayan forces suffered significant losses in the subsequent Second Battle of Congo, the battle resulted in the destruction of the PNE's battlecruisers and the surrender of its remaining forces surrendered without the intended kinetic bombardment.

The PNE survivors were later interned on a remote island on Torch, with almost no chance of escape due to the hostile marine life in the surrounding ocean, and were kept isolated to conceal their knowledge of Mayan tactics, ships, and weapons.[5] According to Solarian knowledge, until 1922 PD, survivors were handed over for trial to the Republic of Haven[6]. (CS2, HH14)

Mesan Support[]

  • Mesa System Navy "played mayor part" in providing training and logistical support to the PNE.
  • Gift of 31 Solarian-origin warships (10 BC, 5 CL, 16 DD) for the established People's Navy in Exile[7]. Transfered ships were effectively SLN castoffs however.
  • At least one maintenance overhaul of the PNE warships.
  • Assistance with recruitment action.
  • Support with c.a. 5000 Cataphract-A dual drive shipkiller missiles[8].

During maintenance procedures the Mesans planted secret autodestruct charges on all the PNE warships[9]. They were to be detonated upon success of the destruction of Torch. There were to be no inconvenient witnesses, and no retaliation concerning the Eridani Edict. (CS2)

Personnel[]

With four battlecruisers, eight heavy cruisers and three light cruisers there should be 19,000 of original SSNF personnel. 31 more warships were handed over by Mesa, making it necessary for the PNE to recruit and train an additional 31,000 crew.

The person in charge of personnel recruitment on Mesa was Cybille DuChamps. She hired both StateSec refugees[10] and criminals with some technical skills[11]. Shortages required that non-StateSec mercenaries obtained commanding officer positions on nine destroyers. It also proved necessary to promote some non-commissioned officers to commissioned officers' posts.

As in the People's Navy and the SSNF, officers of the PNE referred to each other with a "Citizen" appended to their rank.

Chain of Command[]

  • Commodore Adrian Luff – Senior Officer, Commanding Officer of the battlecruiser element[12]
  • Commodore Santander Konidis – PNE second in command, Commanding Officer of the heavy cruiser squadron at least
  • third in command and further – SSNF Captains in charge of screening elements or being ships' commanders

Staff[]

Commodore Luff's staff[]

Captain Olivier Vergnier – flag captain (PNES Leon Trotsky, CO)

Captain Gowan Maddock – official Mesan Space Navy liaison to Commodore Luff ("technical advisor"), covert Mesan Alignment Navy officer in fact

Commodore Konidis' staff[]

Captain Irénée Egert – flag captain (PNES Chao Kung Ming, CO)

Commander Jessica Milliken – MSN liaison with Commodore Konidis, same covert status as Captain Maddock

Order of Battle[]

(W) for Warlord C-class units, other - Indefatigable class units

References[]

  1. In actuality, the Manpower and Mesan support of the PNE and other StateSec exiles was a clandestine operation of the Mesan Alignment.
  2. An example of the PNE's financial problems were the difficulties of PNES Jacinthe, which had operated independently before joining the PNE and had taken severe damage as a result of several unsuccessful pirate operations.
  3. The Alignment used the Mesan Space Navy as its proxy.
  4. Unbeknownst to the PNE, a secondary operation, Operation Wooden Horse, would have detonated hidden nuclear devices inside their ships, eliminating all witnesses to Mesan involvement.
  5. One of the ocean's indigenous species was described as a "cross between a manta ray and a lobster" and were known to eat anything except rocks.
  6. In that case, the fate of non-Havenite personnel, including Mesan liaison officer, was not certain.
  7. Far exceeding the number of original Havenite units (4 BC, 8 CA, 3 CL).
  8. An equivalent of 12 broadside salvos of 14 battlecruisers (over 400 missiles).
  9. Operation Wooden Horse.
  10. Charged with the enforcement of military discipline. (CS2)
  11. As mercenaries. Planned homicide in the Congo System didn't allow cooperation with respectable mercenary outfits.
  12. Captain (SSNF) and acting Commodore in fact, promotion to Commodore self-granted. His seniority between other SSNF Captains is not certain. Obiviously junor to Commodore Clignet of People's First Liberation Squadron, who died August 25, 1920 PD in the battle of Nuncio.
  13. The only one mentioned was comprised of PNES Leon Trotsky and PNES Mao Tse-tung.
  14. Mars-class vessels
  15. gifted Bridgeport-class vessels
  16. 16 War Harvest-class units
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