1st Battle Fleet, AFFS NavyFSS
Pegasus (
Columbia class Battleship)
FSS
Liberator (
Federation class Battlecruiser)
FSS
Ascendant (
Covenant class Cruiser)
FSS
Nicolas Davion (
Nike class Cruiser)
FSS
Sulaco (
Conestoga class Light Cruiser)
FSS
Cynthia Davion (
Davion II class Destroyer)
FSS
John Gordon (
Davion II class Destroyer)
Representing the bulk of the ships recovered from the Ghost Fleet to date, the 1st Battle Fleet represents perhaps the single largest concentration of naval fire-power in the entire Inner Sphere. Which is odd, as despite its size, only a handful of its units have been actively deployed to date, and always on solo operations or at most paired with a second warship. The first ships to make their public début did so dramatically, to say the least.
With the capital world of New Avalon under effective siege by Blakist warships, the AFFS was forced to try and run in fresh troops and supplies in from pirate points, often losing several to enemy ships. Then, in February 3070, they allowed word to leak out of a convoy of JumpShips bring in the equivalent of an entire RCT, including the rough area where they would be jumping in. believing that they had the opportunity to deal the Davions a crushing blow, the Blakists deployed a number of pocket-warships and a pair of
Pinto class Corvettes to intercept.
To their great surprise, far from facing lightly armed transports, the ambushers where themselves the ambushed in what became known as the Second St. Valentine's Day Massacre. The
Columbia class Battleship
Pegasus and the
Federation class Battlecruiser
Liberator jumped in and immediately deployed seven
Overlord A3A class pocket-warships before turning their guns on the Blakist ships. Massively out-gunned, the Blakist's were immediately routed and thrown into disarray. Both of the
Pinto's and a number of pocket-warships were taken out within minutes, swarmed by fighters and pounded by the far larger guns of the massive battle wagons. Having decimated the supposed ambushers, the two Davion ships and their attendant DropShips then burned hard for New Avalon, performing the same slingshot manoeuvre that the
Liberator had famously pulled off back during the First Succession War, firing upon several Blakist ships before heading back out system for a second pirate point and jumping back out.
While overall damage done to the blockading forces was limited, the raid had a massive physiological impact on both sides, helping to remind the people defending the besieged capital that they hadn't been forgotten, and that the Blakists weren't the only ones with a surprise or two up their sleeves. Both the
Pegasus and the
Liberator would continue to carry out similar boom-and-zoom attacks through the Jihad, often acting as heavy escorts for relief or raiding forces. The
Liberator gained additional fame on the Capellan front, where both Capellan and Blakist propaganda reported her destroyed more than once, only for her to show up again safe days latter. This earned her the nickname
The Galloping Ghost of the Capellan Coast.
Another famous, or some might say infamous member of 1st Battle Fleet is the
Covenant class Cruiser
Ascendant. Along with the gifting of the
Kirishima class Cruiser that became known as the FSS
Covenant to the Federated Commonwealth, the DCMS also handed over the classes full design specifications to the New Syrtis Shipyards to allow them to maintain the vessel. It should be of no surprise that the Department of Military Intelligence was a potential advantage at building a secret
Covenant class warship that could be potentially used in False Flag operations. Thus the
Ascendant was commissioned at one of the more isolated satellite yards attached to the New Syrtis Shipyards. The
Ascendant had a somewhat troubled birth; the need for secrecy meant that DMI had to go to extraordinary lengths to cover their tracks in acquiring the parts needed, and the ship took twice as long the build as a standard
Kirishima. Indeed, the
Ascendant had been launched just days before the start of the Jihad, and was still undergoing top secret acceptance trials in the outer system when the fighting started. Deciding that New Syrtis was too exposed, the
Ascendant joined the
Morgan Hasek-Davion on its journey to Tartarus Station for completion and commissioning.
What followed remains highly contentious to this day, at least in part because the Federated Suns has never openly admitted it happened: Operation BLUE DRAGON.
Realising that they had in their hands a warship of a type designed and used by the Draconis Combine, and with open hostility along their boarder with that nation, DMI devised a series of False Flag raids to be carried out against Clan Snow Raven forces in the Outworlds Alliance. The
Ascendant was repainted in DCMS colours and markings, her transponder reprogrammed to broadcast DCMS codes. Her fighter bays were loaded with aerospace fights commonly used by the DCMS, and she was assigned a trio of
Achilles class Assault DropShip that had been acquired from the Combine during Operation: BULLDOG. Thus equipped, the
Ascendant was moved to the boarder world of Haynesville, which was selected as a forward staging ground. From there the Ascendant stuck at Crestoblus, Dormandaine and Ramora, attacking merchant shipping and military transports, before crossing over into the Draconis Combine at Niles.
The second phase of Operation: BLUE DRAGON saw them strike at shipping around Kinkaid II and Sevon, before attempting to strike at Mitchella in a bid to make it look like the Combine was aiming to attack Alpheratz itself. Unfortunately they encountered much stiffer resistance than expected, and two of the
Achilles' were lost. Unable to pick up survivors, and under strict order to not allow anyone to be taken prisoner, the
Ascendant was forced to fire upon the handful of escape pods that had managed to get away before the Snow Raves could pick them up. Having helped to stir up tension between the Draconis Combine and the Snow Raven forces in the Outworlds Alliance, the battle damaged
Ascendant returned to Haynesville before making the journey back to Tartarus Station for repair and refit.
The
Ascendant continued to be operated by DMI through out most of the Jihad, making several False Flag attacks to keep the DCMS off balance, before the 'newly built' cruiser was unveiled during the lead-up to the Liberation of Terra in 3078. While the
Ascendant did take part in the assault on the Sol system itself, it did take part in taking the Blakist fleet anchorage Ross 248 and the second attack on Luyten 68-28. She suffered extensive damage during the assault on Luyten 68-28, and withdrew back to Tartarus Station for an extensive period of and refit. It was during this time that the DCMS and Raven Alliance started making enquiries into the ships origins and exact date of completion.
TBC
