HMS Duke of Cromarty

A few remarks in the Beowulf tactics thread about Elizabeth I not attempting to evacuate Manticore during the first Battle of that system led me to wonder what HMS Duke of Cromarty was doing during said battle.

Everything I've read says the royal yacht was a BC(P) with only a portion of its missile storage replaced. So did it fight with Home Fleet or sit in Manticore's orbit?

A third possibility is being in yard hands, similar to HMS Hexapuma.

munroburton wrote:A few remarks in the Beowulf tactics thread about Elizabeth I not attempting to evacuate Manticore during the first Battle of that system led me to wonder what HMS Duke of Cromarty was doing during said battle.

Everything I've read says the royal yacht was a BC(P) with only a portion of its missile storage replaced. So did it fight with Home Fleet or sit in Manticore's orbit?

A third possibility is being in yard hands, similar to HMS Hexapuma.

My guess, for what it is worth, is that it was caught in Manticore orbit (since that is where the Queen was, as far as we know, and was too distant to make it to Sphinx to take part in the battle.

It may have been part of the Manticore (planet) defense force and integrated into that command.

munroburton wrote:A few remarks in the Beowulf tactics thread about Elizabeth I not attempting to evacuate Manticore during the first Battle of that system led me to wonder what HMS Duke of Cromarty was doing during said battle.

Everything I've read says the royal yacht was a BC(P) with only a portion of its missile storage replaced. So did it fight with Home Fleet or sit in Manticore's orbit?

A third possibility is being in yard hands, similar to HMS Hexapuma.

Where did you read this - I don't remember that at all. Not doubting you, just looking for the reference.

munroburton wrote:A few remarks in the Beowulf tactics thread about Elizabeth I not attempting to evacuate Manticore during the first Battle of that system led me to wonder what HMS Duke of Cromarty was doing during said battle.

Everything I've read says the royal yacht was a BC(P) with only a portion of its missile storage replaced. So did it fight with Home Fleet or sit in Manticore's orbit?

A third possibility is being in yard hands, similar to HMS Hexapuma.

I think you are meaning Elizabeth III, but going with the question nonetheless. My thoughts:

Although David has said previously said that "losing Manticore loses the war", I think that really only applied to Haven. Given that statement, I would think that the HMS Duke of Cromarty is NOT part of Home Fleet and is specifically tasked with defending and possibly even evacuating the House of Winton under battle conditions. Given that it's not the SKM any more but the SEM, it is possible that the Wintons could be withdrawn to Trevor's Star, Basilisk, or through Lynx to Talbot, etc. Then the remaining GA ships make plans to retake Manticore proper. (not that Manticore is takeable, btw).

If someone like those nasty MAlign ships at Darius managed it, however, picture a simultaneous assault from the Basilisk and Trevor's Star terminus from the RH, Sarnow's fleets from Silesia plus the Andermani assaulting from the Gregor terminus, more RH ships from Hancock, the GSN from Yeltsin, Eighth and Tenth Fleets from Lynx and wherever Eighth Fleet was at, plus Truman's ships which might have been on station in Beowulf.

Once they clear the former invader's wreckage, the HMS Duke of Cromarty brings the Wintons back and life goes on in the Honorverse.

fallsfromtrees wrote:

munroburton wrote:A few remarks in the Beowulf tactics thread about Elizabeth I not attempting to evacuate Manticore during the first Battle of that system led me to wonder what HMS Duke of Cromarty was doing during said battle.

Everything I've read says the royal yacht was a BC(P) with only a portion of its missile storage replaced. So did it fight with Home Fleet or sit in Manticore's orbit?

A third possibility is being in yard hands, similar to HMS Hexapuma.

Where did you read this - I don't remember that at all. Not doubting you, just looking for the reference.

In the Pearls: http://infodump.thefifthimperium.com/en ... gton/248/1

Hutch wrote:My guess, for what it is worth, is that it was caught in Manticore orbit (since that is where the Queen was, as far as we know, and was too distant to make it to Sphinx to take part in the battle.

It may have been part of the Manticore (planet) defense force and integrated into that command.

(Or it might have been ordered to deliberately place itself behind the planet, to preserve it undamaged, in case the queen or someone did need to evacuate (or otherwise use it).

One BC(P)'s defenses shouldn't make or break the defense of the system.

munroburton wrote:A few remarks in the Beowulf tactics thread about Elizabeth I not attempting to evacuate Manticore during the first Battle of that system led me to wonder what HMS Duke of Cromarty was doing during said battle.

Everything I've read says the royal yacht was a BC(P) with only a portion of its missile storage replaced. So did it fight with Home Fleet or sit in Manticore's orbit?

A third possibility is being in yard hands, similar to HMS Hexapuma.

fallsfromtrees wrote:Where did you read this - I don't remember that at all. Not doubting you, just looking for the reference.

SWM wrote:In the Pearls: http://infodump.thefifthimperium.com/en ... gton/248/1

Thank you.

SharkHunter wrote:I think you are meaning Elizabeth III,

I don't know how that I got into there, probably a typo or something. I do recall a few debates where it's been argued that she's Elizabeth III where the Old Star Kingdom is concerned and Elizabeth I where the Star Empire is concerned. Either way, I didn't mean to include her regnal number.

SWM wrote:

fallsfromtrees wrote:

Where did you read this - I don't remember that at all. Not doubting you, just looking for the reference.

In the Pearls: http://infodump.thefifthimperium.com/en ... gton/248/1[/quote]
That's one of the sources, yes. Probably the strongest one as to how the ship differs from the standard design.

It does sound as if the new 'yacht' is a lot closer to a mobile headquarters for a government in exile than the previous yacht was.

"munroburton"]["SharkHunter"]I think you are meaning Elizabeth III,

I don't know how that I got into there, probably a typo or something. I do recall a few debates where it's been argued that she's Elizabeth III where the Old Star Kingdom is concerned and Elizabeth I where the Star Empire is concerned. Either way, I didn't mean to include her regnal number.

["SWM"]["fallsfromtrees"][/]
Where did you read this - I don't remember that at all. Not doubting you, just looking for the reference.[/quote]
In the Pearls: http://infodump.thefifthimperium.com/en ... gton/248/1[/quote]
That's one of the sources, yes. Probably the strongest one as to how the ship differs from the standard design.

It does sound as if the new 'yacht' is a lot closer to a mobile headquarters for a government in exile than the previous yacht was.[/quote]


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Bolding mine --
I believe there were some notes (likely in the Pearls) that Manticore took a "lessons learned" approach after the Blackbird assassination attempt that took out the previous yacht.

-- Stewart

There is no textev to suggest that HMS Duke of Cromarty was involved in the BOM and I find the idea extremely improbable.

What I wonder is it survived the Yawata Strike... Is there something about that that I might have missed?

Don