Praetonia
01-04-2006, 21:27
HM the King Commissions new River Monitor Service
War Office claim new service will 'bolster defence, law and order and national pride' as 105 new vessels are commissioned.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v387/Praetonia/TerrorClassMonitor2.png
The official Imperial Praetonian Shipyards datasheet on the new 'Terror' Class of heavy monitors.
___________________
From 'The Parliamentarian'
Page 3
The marching band of the Grenadier Guards played 'God Save the King' as His Majesty King Sarius I broke a bottle of reserve champagne over the bow of the PWS Terror - the first in a 105-strong class of vessels that will be tasked with patrolling the rivers and waterways of Praetonia for at least the next few decades. At least 23,000 people turned out for the occassion and more gathered to watch as the Terror made its way from Praeton harbour down the mighty Praeton Flumens river to begin its first patrol.
The War Office released an official statement saying 'The new service will provide an extremely powerful line of defence against a potential invader. To drive an army across a river with six 15" guns bearing down upon one is practically impossible.' The Terror Class of vessels making up the new service were ordered from Imperial Praetonian Shipyards last year and, at 15,000t apiece, are the largest river monitors ever deployed by the IPN; possibly the largest ever deployed in the world.
Although the new 'heavy monitors' will be too large to fit down many of the minor rivers, the War Office claims that 'each of the mighty rivers that effectively partition our nation against an invader can be patrolled by the Terror Class.' Monitor stations are already under construction. Although the new vessels will officially fall under the Gunboat Service (and will bear the traditional GBT-XXX penant number), the War Office is quick to say that the new vessels will form a truely independent force, stating that 'These new vessels give our armed forces a capability they have never had before.'
Each vessel is built to the highest specification with the most advanced weapons and electronics the 'Imperial Group' of ex-Imperial Praetonian Ordnance companies have to offer and costs over http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v387/Praetonia/PraefeliSymbolL.png1bn. The War Office estimates that each vessel will be able to completely dominate a radius on land of more than 50 miles about it, and exert force over a radius of 100 miles. Many experts in war studies are claiming that crossing a river defended by an intact Terror Class vessel is all but impossible.
'What we have here is a vessel that can be damaged by only the heaviest of land-based artillery and has more than adequate defence against aircraft, whilst also retaining the ability to return the fire of anything it's likely to encounter on land at at least the range of the firer - most likely more. 155mm pieces generally used by a conventional army just won't touch this,' said Dr William Robertson from Imperial College Uxbridge. Armed with high-powered anti-tank guns and retractable CIWS / gatling guns, an attacking force isn't expected to fare much better at close range either.
Imperial Praetonian Shipyards is yet to comment on whether or not it will open up the vessel to orders from abroad, but there is nothing in its contract that states it cannot sell the vessel on to approved users once the War Office's order is fulfilled, and it is expected that they will enter production for export as yards, dry docks and manufacturing facilities become available.
War Office claim new service will 'bolster defence, law and order and national pride' as 105 new vessels are commissioned.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v387/Praetonia/TerrorClassMonitor2.png
The official Imperial Praetonian Shipyards datasheet on the new 'Terror' Class of heavy monitors.
___________________
From 'The Parliamentarian'
Page 3
The marching band of the Grenadier Guards played 'God Save the King' as His Majesty King Sarius I broke a bottle of reserve champagne over the bow of the PWS Terror - the first in a 105-strong class of vessels that will be tasked with patrolling the rivers and waterways of Praetonia for at least the next few decades. At least 23,000 people turned out for the occassion and more gathered to watch as the Terror made its way from Praeton harbour down the mighty Praeton Flumens river to begin its first patrol.
The War Office released an official statement saying 'The new service will provide an extremely powerful line of defence against a potential invader. To drive an army across a river with six 15" guns bearing down upon one is practically impossible.' The Terror Class of vessels making up the new service were ordered from Imperial Praetonian Shipyards last year and, at 15,000t apiece, are the largest river monitors ever deployed by the IPN; possibly the largest ever deployed in the world.
Although the new 'heavy monitors' will be too large to fit down many of the minor rivers, the War Office claims that 'each of the mighty rivers that effectively partition our nation against an invader can be patrolled by the Terror Class.' Monitor stations are already under construction. Although the new vessels will officially fall under the Gunboat Service (and will bear the traditional GBT-XXX penant number), the War Office is quick to say that the new vessels will form a truely independent force, stating that 'These new vessels give our armed forces a capability they have never had before.'
Each vessel is built to the highest specification with the most advanced weapons and electronics the 'Imperial Group' of ex-Imperial Praetonian Ordnance companies have to offer and costs over http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v387/Praetonia/PraefeliSymbolL.png1bn. The War Office estimates that each vessel will be able to completely dominate a radius on land of more than 50 miles about it, and exert force over a radius of 100 miles. Many experts in war studies are claiming that crossing a river defended by an intact Terror Class vessel is all but impossible.
'What we have here is a vessel that can be damaged by only the heaviest of land-based artillery and has more than adequate defence against aircraft, whilst also retaining the ability to return the fire of anything it's likely to encounter on land at at least the range of the firer - most likely more. 155mm pieces generally used by a conventional army just won't touch this,' said Dr William Robertson from Imperial College Uxbridge. Armed with high-powered anti-tank guns and retractable CIWS / gatling guns, an attacking force isn't expected to fare much better at close range either.
Imperial Praetonian Shipyards is yet to comment on whether or not it will open up the vessel to orders from abroad, but there is nothing in its contract that states it cannot sell the vessel on to approved users once the War Office's order is fulfilled, and it is expected that they will enter production for export as yards, dry docks and manufacturing facilities become available.