Sonja Hemphill
From Honorverse
Lady Dame Sonja Hemphill, Baroness of Low Delhi, was a citizen of the Star Kingdom of Manticore, a Knight of the Kingdom, Peer of the Realm, and an officer of the Royal Manticoran Navy.
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[edit] Family
Hemphill was a first cousin of Sir Edward Janacek. (HH1) She was also the heiress to the Barony of Low Delhi. (HH4)
[edit] Biography
Admiral Hemphill led the second school of tactical thought called jeune ecole. Admiral Hemphill and her group theorized that the growing number of better weapons and technology would make the traditionalist view outdated and outmoded. With Admiral Hemphill's cousin (Admiral Janacek) as First Lord of Admiralty, the jeune ecoles were able to be in the top Navy positions. In particular, Admiral Hemphill received the chairwomanship of the Weapons Development Board, the body which oversees and directs all research and development for the RMN.
In 1900 PD, Admiral Hemphill authorized the top secret refit of the light cruiser HMS Fearless to be fitted with the experimental grav lance technology. During the war games shortly thereafter, Admiral Lady Hemphill commanded the defender fleet. During a battle with a Havenite Q-ship at Basilisk, Honor Harrington saw the massive flaws behind the experimental grav lance refit, and later expressed her reservations to the Weapons Development Board. (HH1)
Admiral Hemphill's development of the recon drones helped the RMN forces at Grayson. (HH2)
During Captain Lord Pavel Young's court martial, Admiral Hemphill ignored considerable pressure to acquit Young, and instead voted to convict him. Though she would not support a death sentence, she decided that it was unacceptable to allow Young to escape justice, and so she voted for his dishonorable discharge from the Navy.[1] (HH4)
Despite her past disputes with Hemphill, Harrington championed her proposals for superdreadnoughts with hollow missile pod cores and "super light attack craft". These proposals would later prove essential to the breakthrough in naval warfare that allowed the RMN and GSN to essentially smash the far larger PRN with minimal losses in Operation Buttercup, signaling a change in naval tactics. (HH10)
With the beginning of the second war with Haven, Sonja Hemphill was appointed to head the Bureau of Weapons by Admiral White Haven, her former adversary and the onetime leader of the "traditionalist" school. The development of Project Mistletoe, stealthed recon drones with laser and nuclear warheads designed to kill fixed defenses, and Project Apollo, the development of a faster-than-light communications missile, took place under her supervision and guidance. (HH11)
[edit] Character
Throughout the series, the portrayal of her has changed from a person in love with her own theories to an overenthusiastic but fundamentally intelligent and excellent officer.
[edit] Service Record
[edit] Promotions
[edit] Posts
- Chairwoman, Weapons Development Board
- CO, Bureau of Weapons
[edit] Decorations
[edit] References
- ↑ This marked the transition of her character from a theorist with a few good ideas who won't listen to criticism, to a character with integrity, who may have some bad ideas but never abuses her position or deliberately makes mistakes.
