Coast Guard (The Babbage Islands)
The Coast Guard, name notwithstanding, is the principal military force of The Babbage Islands. It is a brown-water navy with a rapidly-developing green-water capability.
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Installations
Coast Guard Bases
There are two main bases for the Coast Guard. The Northern Fleet is headquartered at CGB Santa Catalina on the island of Verne, near the main shipyards of Factorias Albuquerque S.A. The Southern Fleet is headquartered at CGB Wye on the south coast of South Island, surrounded by The Babbage Islands' largest city.
Each base is home port to three corvettes and three cutters. The Northern Fleet substitutes the Coast Guard's only destroyer, BCS Rachel Hawkins, for one corvette.
Coast Guard Stations
The Coast Guard also maintains one smaller operational station on each of the seven islands. Each Coast Guard Station hosts three ships: one FMV Flexible Mission Vessel and two cutters.
Ship types
Destroyer
The pride of the Coast Guard is its sole destroyer, the BCS (Babbage Commonwealth Ship) Rachel Hawkins. It serves as flagship of the Northern Fleet, with home port at CGB Santa Catalina. The Rachel Hawkins is the first of two planned ships in the class, although the fate of the second is uncertain for budgetary reasons.
Factorias Albuquerque, S.A. designed and built the ship. At 6,700 tonnes displacement, it dwarfs all other ships in the Coast Guard. Length is 63 metres, maximum beam is 17 metres, and fully-loaded draught is 5,6m, carrying a crew of 319.
Sixteen ship-to-ship missile launchers can strike at ranges of up to 140 km. The ship can also embark two vertical-operations Aerocorps craft for aerial surveillance. A combination of gas turbines and diesel motors can move the Rachel Hawkins up to 28 knots maximum speed.
Corvette
The Horatio Nelson-class corvette was developed by Factorias Albuquerque, S.A. Four have been built to fit a MCM/ASW profile; the BCS Horatio Nelson herself has been fitted for an attack/anti-surface warfare role.
The class is noteworthy for its so-called "stealth" design, utilising modern composites in a sandwich construction to dramatically reduce signature and decrease spotting range. The ship is 72 metres long, displaces 600 tonnes, and has a draught of 2.4m. It carries a crew of 40. Maximum speed is 35 knots for short duration or 15 knots for long duration using CODOG propulsion.
Five corvettes are in service, divided between the two fleet headquarters. The class is named for naval heroes both historical and mythical.
FMV Flexible Mission Vessel
The Verne-class FMV (flexible mission vessel) was developed by Factorias Albuquerque, S.A. as an all-purpose solution for brown-water and green-water operations, ranging from large rivers out from the coast to international waters.
The heart of the FMV is a modular configuration. Four specialised container holds permit swapping out mission-specific modules for weapons and sensors to completely transform a mission profile in under 48 hours.
- Surface combat mode: Eight surface-to-surface missiles; six surface-to-air missiles; two 533mm torpedo tubes; 76mm gun.
- ASW anti-submarine mode: Anti-submarine torpedoes; depth charge launchers; variable depth sonar; 76mm gun.
- MCM mine counter-measures mode: Six surface-to-air missiles; two remotely-controlled drones; 76mm gun; added side scan sonar.
- Minelayer mode: Mine rails for 60 mines; 76mm gun.
- Surveillance/pollution control mode: 76mm gun (optional); enhanced radar/sonar arrays and/or cleanup support.
The FMV is 54 metres long (50 at the waterline) with a beam of 9 metres. Under full load, it displaces 450 tonnes and has a draught of 2.5m. It carries a crew of 20-30 depending on configuration. The ship's maximum speed is 30 knots, using CODAG propulsion. Under diesel only it makes 20 knots; under hydraulic drive, 6.5 knots. The maximum range of the vessel is about 2 400 nautical miles (3 860 km) at 18 knots.
One FMV, named for the island where it makes its home, is assigned at each of the seven Coast Guard Stations.
Cutter
Three classes of smaller coastal and riverine patrol boats fall into the category of cutters, designated as BCC instead of BCS. They are distributed to both bases and stations in groups of two or three, together with one to three ships.
Fleet organisation
Northern Fleet HQ (CGB Santa Catalina): Destroyer BCS Rachel Hawkins (flagship); corvettes BCS Babcock, BCS Clan Macleod; cutters BCC Audaz, BCC Héroe, BCC Impávido.
Southern Fleet HQ (CGB Wye): Corvettes BCS Horatio Nelson (flagship), BCS Argonaut, BCS Hornblower; cutters BCC Commonwealth, BCC Independence, BCC Undaunted.
CGS Far Point: FMV BCS North Island; cutters BCC Libereco, BCC Lojaleco.
CGS Harbor Beach: FMV BCS Tesla; cutters BCC Courageous, BCC Indefatigable.
CGS Kabe: FMV BCS Cayley; cutters BCC Gardisto, BCC Triumfo.
CGS Nancy: FMV BCS Verne; cutters BCC Majestic, BCC Victorious.
CGS Nov-Londono: FMV BCS Daimler; cutters BCC Ehrenvolle, BCC Ehrfuhrt.
CGS Xianggang: FMV BCS Gibson; cutters BCC Băo Hù, BCC Dăo Mín.
CGS Zamenhofa Urbo: FMV BCS South Island; cutters BCC Demokratio, BCC Harmonio.
Ranks
Ranks in the Coast Guard are not pay grades as found in many navies. Instead, they are closer to position or function titles.
Officers
- Commodore: The commanding officers of the two fleet flagships.
- Captain: The commanding officers of all other corvettes, FMV, and Coast Guard Bases.
- Commander: The commanding officers of all cutters and Coast Guard Stations. A former commanding officer still on active status is also styled Commander by courtesy in later assignments.
- Lieutenant-Commander: Lieutenants with significant supervisory roles, such as a cutter/CGS second-in-command, a department head on a larger ship, or a senior staff aide to a base commander or the Commodore.
- Lieutenant: The substantial majority of officers are Lieutenants.
Ratings
- Petty officer
- Master rating
- Able rating
- Ordinary rating
