Task Group 1037 was the official designation of a squadron of armed merchant cruisers dispatched by the Royal Manticoran Navy to the Silesian Confederacy in early 1909 PD in response to an upswing of piracy in that area.
Premise[]
The removal of RMN light forces from the Confederacy[1] to support the battle fleets fighting Haven had led to a rise in merchant losses and a subsequent rise in insurance rates for Manticoran merchant ships operating in the Confederacy. The problem grew so great that major cartels such as Hauptman and Dempsey faced the possibility of having to suspend trading there, which would have had calamitous effects on the Star Kingdom's economy and ability to continue the War.
In response, First Space Lord Thomas Caparelli accelerated the construction of the Trojan-class armed merchant cruisers, refitted Caravan-class freighters typically used for carrying supplies for the RMN but re-equipped with capital grasers, two internally carried squadrons of Series 282 LACs and several missile tubes in addition to missile pod rails allowing deployment through aft hatches. These units were therefore important forerunners of the pod-layer and LAC carrier designs of the future. The first group was rushed to commission and deployed to Silesia under Commodore Honor Harrington. (HH6)
Ships[]
Task Group 1037 was placed under the command of Commodore Honor Harrington, who was recalled from half-pay and service with the Grayson Space Navy to command the force. The four ships under her command were:
- HMAMC Wayfarer - CO Captain (SG) Honor Harrington, XO Commander Rafael Cardones
- HMAMC Parnassus - CO Captain (SG) Alice Truman, XO Commander Angela Thurgood
- HMAMC Gudrid - CO Captain (JG) Allen MacGuire, XO Commander Courtney Stillman
- HMAMC Scheherazade - CO Captain (JG) Samuel Webster, XO Commander Augustus DeWitt
Commodore Harrington commanded the Task Group until March 1910, when the Wayfarer was scuttled due to battle damage taken from two Havenite battlecruisers in the Battle of the Selker Rift. Task Group 1037 continued its activities under subsequent commanders, reinforced by additional Q-ships as they were completed and dispatched to Silesia. (HH6)
Service record[]
- Battle of Walther - Wayfarer vs. pirates
- Battle of Schiller - Wayfarer vs. elements of the Chalice Privateer Squadron
- Battle of Tyler's Star - Scheherazade vs. cruiser division of Task Force 29
- First Battle of Marsh - Wayfarer vs. the Chalice Privateer Squadron
- Battle of the Selker Rift - Wayfarer vs. the picket of Task Force 29
Score[]
At least[2]:
- 2 BC
- 6 CA
- 2 CL - including 1 captured
- 1 DD
- 1 FG
- 1 AR
References[]
- ↑ RMN vessels had played a role in anti-piracy activities since the days of Edward Saganami.
- ↑ The service record of HMAMC Parnassus and Gudrid remains unknown.