this is an out-of-character page about Astarey

Astarese ships near port, 1997- in front is Carrier #29 Loyalty, the second ship of the Patriotism class of light aircraft carriers; behind it is the recently-launched Battleship #1 Mardo, still the only ship of the Capital class of cruisers; and last is the then-decommissioned Cruiser #60- also named Mardo- the 9th and last ship of the City class of light cruisers.

The National Navy of the Commonwealth of Astarey is the principal military force of the Commonwealth of Astarey. Established in a relatively modern form shortly after the Proclamation of the Commonwealth in Fogiretesz in 1821, it unsually gives primacy to the Navy- the National Navy of the Commonwealth of Astarey's Surface Naval Forces' Fleet Command technically has control over the other eight branches of the Navy, though in practice only exercises its authority over the other Naval Forces (with the only unified command being the Astarese government proper). The nine branches, with their major sub-branches and commands, by age, are:

Several other sub-branches, mostly logistical, exist; there are also numerous sub-sub-branches with increasingly idiosyncratic names.

Battleship number 1, Mardo, at sea. Originally intended as the first ship of the dozen-ship Capital-class, Mardo- a 220-metre hunk of steel many nations would consider a mid-range cruiser- was designed and launched in the 1990s, during yet another wave of Astarese grandstanding in the face of the Commonwealth's existence. Many advanced features were planned for the vessel- from guided missiles to a full-scale nuclear reactor- but the only ones that made it in were its helicopter pad and its air conditioning system. Mardo today remains the only ship in its class ever completed, with two scrapped during construction and one supposedly still under construction as new features are added, but it is still the largest ship in the Astarese navy- and as such it takes the pride of place in an oceangoing group, accompanied by several frigates and a frigate leader cruiser.

It notably does not have authority over organizations such as the Armed Public Security, Commonwealth Guard (military guard of Astarese politicians), the Astarey Protection Guild (an intelligence agency), the National-Regional Guard (smaller militias and militaries belonging to individual Regions, including several Interregional Unified Guard forces such as the Apiran Republic Army), and oddly the NNCA Survey Establishment & Meteorological Forces; which are handled separately. It has often been proposed that the NNCA-Coastal Guard be split off from the NNCA proper, as it already operates under largely separate authority, but this has not come to pass so far. In addition, several Forces operated firefighting services for Astarese cities; these are now independent.

Salvage/Towing Ship #7 Program J-7 pulls the hulk of Mardo's unnamed sister ship Battleship #3, damaged beyond repair after decades of neglect.

As a result of this multifaceted division of forces, Astarey's seagoing vessels, armored vehicles, and aircraft are split between the Forces and Commands so intensely that it is often hard to get any work done. The disposition of Astarey's 280 naval vessels (165 warships and 115 auxilliaries), including only self-mobile large vessels of a determined class of vessels (what the NNCA calls "regular ships", an arbitrary classification that often excludes smaller unarmed vessels despite including large noncommissioned ships), is thus:

Of special note are the Valor-class Aircraft Carriers and Municipality-class Cruisers- while their construction did not overlap, the Valor-class design was one of two programs for the uprating of the Municipality-class cruisers- the other converting the seven remaining ships of the class to guided missile ships. Additionally, upsized versions of the Municipality-class became the basis for the single-ship Fogiretesz-class Command Cruiser and Capital-class Battleship- similar processes occured to produce most of the NNCA's other command ships.

The Valor itself, Carrier #20...

...and a typical Astarese Municipality-class Cruiser, #46.

The prevailing setup for warship naming in Astarey is themed per type or class, with a class often being named for its naming theme. Otherwise, classes are named for the first-launched ship of the class- even if said ship is not the first-numbered or planned. Cruisers and other large surface combatants are named for the cities of Astarey, including the battleship Mardo in its capacity as a Capital-class battleship named after a former capital of Astarey. Aircraft carriers are named after "National Virtues", while amphibious assault ships are named for the regions of Astarey.

A representative Region-class ship, #12, here serving as a helicopter carrier.

Frigates, being smaller than cruisers, were initially named after towns in Astarey; but now are named after coordinates to virtues- Steadfast for Loyalty, Swift for Decisive. Patrol vessels, including larger ships belonging to the NNCA Coastal Guard and NNCA-SNF Riverine Riverine Prefecture are named for animals, especially those that hunt- the Coastal Guard prefers birds, the Riverine Prefecture prefers land animals. Submarines are named after sea life- cruiser submarines being marine mammals, missile submarines being cartaliginous fish, attack submarines being other predatory fish, and coastal submarines simply being Perch [number].

Frigate #79, the Steadfast-class frigate Honorable, on its first cruise after commissioning on 21 May 2021.

A Gecko-class patrol boat of the Riverine Prefecture.

Most auxilliary vessels, especially those outside the NCAA-AF Joint Logistical Command or NCAA-SNF Sealift & Auxilliary Command, only have nicknames- these are not reproduced, and are only seldom recorded; often a crew will be entirely unaware of the ship's prior nicknames. The Office of Naval Construction, obstensibly having the mission to assign such meaning-schemes, tends to simply leave Astarey's many military forces to figure it out for themselves- only applying a project number, often a simple sequential number- though individual branches will usually make their own simple designation instead of using that.

Fleet Cargo Ship Program C #6, nicknamed "Old Fesíba", during the disastrous First Astarese Tramuntanic Expedition

Astarey is one of the few remaining nations to operate large independent gun-carrying oceangoing submarines, also known as cruiser submarines. These five ships are quite old, having been designed in the late 1960s. Though able to carry aircraft (including the occasional helicopter) and large weaponry like Astarey's major warships of the time, this capability proved more of a hindrance- especially as the 80s rolled on and Astarese vessels began to be designed with missile armament in mind. By the early 1990s, then, as designs like Battleship #1 Mardo and the Patriotism-class light aircraft carrier left the realm of blueprint and entered the Astarese navy, the Submarine Naval Forces saw the perfect opportunity to design a truly grand vessel. Envisioned as a unification of the four Submarine Commands, the massive Whale design would carry the finest in Astarese weaponry and be an undetectable behemoth, unstoppable above or below the waves.

The Patriotism-class carrier Loyalty after its 2003 upgrade, carrying a somewhat characteristic Astarese mix of jets, propeller aircraft, and helicopters.

Many of its design features were inspired by those present on the submarines of other nations, from nearby Novoroyska's relatively recently-launched Omega-class and its separate internal pressure vessels to faraway Jezabelstein's vast arsenal of submarine-launched missiles to highly disturbing rumors of "indefinite-submergence" vessels produced by the hated Meridian Commonwealth. It would feature Astarey's first naval nuclear reactor, and carry dozens more nuclear warheads onboard in the form of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and nuclear-tipped torpedoes- not to mention an internal hangar for the Perch 40-class miniature submarines of the Coastal Command.

One of the later Perch 60-class miniature submarines, launched in the early 2000s in a bid to expand Astarey's spy delivery capability.

New features were added to the design almost every day, but what really killed the project was a turn in geopolitics. Publically snubbed in Jezabelstien, Astarey's newly-crowned Sovereign Danjél Zechéja returned to the desk to discover a proposal from the Submarine Naval Forces suggesting an agreement to provide Jezabelstein with political support in exchange for the advice, expertise, and materials necessary to build the first Whale- a proposal that, naturally, could not be abided. The project was quickly cancelled, but some aspects of its design eventually made it to the water- the two Shark-class missile submarines, launched in 2002, each have built-in launch tubes for high-explosive-armed cruise missiles, and the project that ultimately saved the Ray-class missile submarine from cancellation in the wake of its primary armament being infeasible entailed outfitting its integral cruise missile hangars with provisions for use with miniature Coastal Command-operated "delivery vehicles".

The Ray-class submarine Torpedo, its double hangars visible. Not visible are the changes made to them- Torpedo serves as a permanent hub for small Coastal Command "wet subs", allowing spies and special forces to go ashore under the cover of more standard Astarese military grandstanding.

Carrier #21, Integrity, docked at Joint Naval Station Aruda. In the first picture it is across from Amphibious Landing Platform #4 Lake Erchani. In the second its piermate is Cruiser #68, of the then-new Reczad class of missile cruiser.

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