173rd Battle Group#

The 173rd Battle Group is a formation of the United Empire of Earth Navy assigned to Second Fleet. Established in 2930 as a conventional carrier-centred battle group, the formation has served in convoy protection, frontier security, anti-piracy operations, humanitarian response and support of the Vanduul war.

The group is particularly associated with the Thorne Action of 2934, during which its first commander, Rear Admiral Evelyn Thorne, sacrificed her flagship, the UEES Foresight, to protect an evacuation convoy carrying approximately 5,000 civilians. The action destroyed both the Foresight and an attacking Vanduul capital ship and became the defining event in the formation’s history.

The 173rd later served in support of Second Fleet during the Battle of Vega II in 2945. Although the group did not participate in the central engagement against the Vanduul Kingship, it conducted evacuation, casualty support, convoy defence and recovery operations elsewhere in the system. The main battle occurred on 5 October 2945, when Admiral Ernst Bishop’s Second Fleet defeated the invading Vanduul force over Aremis. ^[2]

Following a period of post-war restructuring, the 173rd was reduced to a small headquarters cadre and nearly removed from the Navy’s active order of battle. It survived principally through the efforts of its third and current commander, Vice Admiral Marcus Jett. A formal reformation began in 2954 with the arrival of the UEES Castra, the first capital-class vessel returned to the group after its earlier ships had been redistributed.

As of 2956, the 173rd is rebuilding around a Core Fleet, four specialist squadrons, Battle Group Personnel Command and an attached UEE Army Detachment. This structure incorporates the 77th Logistics Squadron, 287th Combat Squadron, 299th Medical Squadron and 514th Recovery and Salvage Squadron.

History#

Formation#

The 173rd Battle Group was authorised by the UEE Navy in 2930 during a period of renewed concern over Vanduul incursions, piracy and the vulnerability of civilian shipping beyond the Empire’s most heavily defended systems.

Its original establishment followed the conventional UEE battle-group model: a main carrier, several destroyer and frigate escorts, specialist combat vessels, replenishment ships and an embarked aviation component. Although the carrier formed the centre of the group’s aviation and logistics capability, Rear Admiral Evelyn Thorne maintained her flag aboard the Javelin-class destroyer UEES Foresight.

The Javelin was designed by Aegis Dynamics as a modular UEE Navy destroyer capable of convoy escort, fleet combat and independent deployment, making the Foresight well suited to Thorne’s mobile command style. ^[3]

The original mission assigned to the 173rd consisted of four broad responsibilities:

• Reinforcing threatened shipping routes
• Escorting civilian and military convoys
• Suppressing piracy and organised raiding
• Responding to Vanduul incursions until larger formations could arrive

Thorne rejected the idea that a battle group existed only to engage an opposing fleet. Under her direction, the 173rd trained extensively for civilian evacuation, damaged-ship recovery and sustained operations beyond established naval bases.

This approach initially attracted criticism from officers who considered humanitarian and recovery planning secondary to fleet combat. It later proved decisive to the group’s survival and reputation.

Evelyn Thorne#

Evelyn Thorne was a career surface-warfare officer known for a deliberate command style and an unusual willingness to delegate authority to junior officers. She had previously commanded escorts and convoy groups before being selected to form the 173rd.

Thorne believed that naval authority carried an obligation to protect Imperial citizens even when doing so endangered military assets. Her earliest standing orders to the formation reportedly included the statement:

A warship is replaceable. The people behind it are not.

Under her command, the 173rd developed a culture of decentralised action. Ship captains were expected to understand the purpose of a mission rather than await instructions for every manoeuvre. Engineering, medical and logistics officers were brought into planning conferences normally dominated by operations and combat staff.

One of the junior officers assigned to Thorne’s flag staff was Marcus Jett. At the time, Jett was a relatively inexperienced officer serving in the Foresight’s command organisation. Thorne reportedly considered him capable but overly willing to remain at his station after his presence had ceased to serve a useful purpose.

That assessment became central to the event that defined both officers.

The Thorne Action#

Civilian evacuation#

In 2934, the 173rd was directed to cover the evacuation of several exposed frontier settlements after long-range reconnaissance identified the approach of a major Vanduul force.

The evacuation convoy consisted of passenger transports, converted freighters, medical vessels and civilian craft carrying approximately 5,000 people. Many of the ships lacked the speed or defensive capability necessary to survive contact with a Vanduul capital force.

Thorne placed the carrier and most of the group’s lighter escorts around the convoy. The Foresight and a small covering force remained behind to delay the enemy.

As the convoy approached its withdrawal point, the Vanduul capital ship broke through the outer screen. The Foresight had already sustained severe damage, including the loss of portions of its propulsion, defensive and communications systems. Thorne concluded that the destroyer could neither withdraw nor prevent the enemy ship from entering weapons range through conventional engagement.

Evacuation of Marcus Jett#

In the final phase of the action, Thorne ordered the evacuation of surviving staff personnel who could preserve the group’s command records, encrypted orders and operational continuity.

Jett refused to leave voluntarily.

According to later testimony, he argued that his station remained aboard the flagship and that departure during combat would constitute abandonment of duty. Thorne rejected the argument and personally ordered security personnel to remove him from the command deck.

Jett was placed aboard one of the last departing craft with the surviving command archive and instructions to report to the senior officer accompanying the evacuation convoy.

The decision was not intended to save Jett alone. Thorne believed that if the flagship and its entire command staff were lost, the 173rd might cease to exist as an organised formation even if its remaining ships survived.

Jett’s evacuation ensured that the group’s orders, personnel records, command authentication and operational plans survived the destruction of the flagship.

Loss of the Foresight#

Minutes after the final evacuation craft cleared the destroyer, Thorne ordered the remaining crew to concentrate all available power on propulsion.

The Foresight accelerated directly towards the Vanduul capital ship.

The enemy vessel attempted to alter course, but the damaged destroyer struck it before it could clear the engagement area. The collision and resulting reactor detonations destroyed both vessels.

There were no survivors aboard the Foresight.

The destruction of the Vanduul ship prevented it from pursuing the convoy. Approximately 5,000 civilians escaped the area and were later transferred to secure ports.

The event became known officially as the Thorne Action. Among members of the 173rd, it was often called simply the Sacrifice.

Inquiry into Jett#

Jett’s survival became the subject of immediate controversy.

Fragmentary recordings showed his evacuation craft leaving the Foresight shortly before the destroyer’s final charge. Early reports, circulated before the full command logs had been recovered, suggested that a junior officer had abandoned the flagship while others remained aboard.

A formal board of inquiry examined:

• Thorne’s evacuation order
• Security recordings from the command deck
• Testimony from the evacuation crew
• The transfer of command records to Jett
• The actions of the personnel who physically removed him
• His repeated attempts to return to the ship

The board found that Jett had been evacuated under direct orders and had neither deserted his station nor requested special treatment. The finding cleared him of wrongdoing.

Nevertheless, the allegations followed him for years. Some officers believed he had benefited from Thorne’s personal favour. Others argued that a flag officer should not have intervened to save one junior member of her staff while hundreds remained aboard.

Jett rejected both interpretations. He maintained that Thorne had acted solely to preserve continuity of command, but privately blamed himself for not finding a means to remain aboard.

His later command philosophy was heavily influenced by the event. Jett became known for detailed succession planning, redundant command structures and a refusal to allow any ship—regardless of its symbolic importance—to become indispensable to the survival of the formation.

Legacy#

Thorne was posthumously honoured by the Navy, while the surviving elements of the 173rd adopted Courage Through Sacrifice as their motto.

The group’s memorial at Sherman records the names of every member lost aboard the Foresight. By tradition, the name of Evelyn Thorne appears last rather than first, reflecting the belief that a commander remains responsible for the crew before herself.

The Foresight name has not been reassigned.

Command of Cassian Vale#

Following Thorne’s death, command passed to Rear Admiral Cassian Vale, the senior surviving flag officer within the group.

Vale became the second commander of the 173rd and oversaw its reconstruction from 2934 until 2952.

Where Thorne had been associated with tactical flexibility, Vale was primarily an organiser. He stabilised the formation, restored its carrier group and incorporated several previously independent squadrons into a permanent order of battle.

Vale also defended Jett during the inquiry following the Thorne Action. Although he did not excuse Jett from normal duties, he resisted repeated attempts to transfer the younger officer away from the formation.

Vale’s tenure can be divided into three periods:

1. Reconstruction after the loss of the Foresight
2. Expansion into a full conventional battle group
3. Wartime and humanitarian operations surrounding Vega II

Under Vale, the 173rd again operated as a full-strength formation with a carrier, multiple capital ships, escorts, combat aviation and fleet-support vessels. By the early 2940s it was considered a conventional, if not especially prestigious, Second Fleet battle group.

Squadron histories#

77th Logistics Squadron#

The 77th Logistics Squadron predates its permanent assignment to the 173rd.

Originally formed as a mobile replenishment and transport command, the 77th supported convoy groups that lacked dedicated fleet-train vessels. Its personnel specialised in fuel distribution, ammunition transfer, cargo control, personnel transport and the establishment of temporary supply points.

The squadron was first attached to the 173rd during the formation’s early deployments. Thorne recognised that the ability to sustain ships away from fixed naval facilities was essential to her concept of a mobile response force.

The 77th was formally incorporated into the group in 2932.

Role in the Thorne Action#

During the civilian evacuation of 2934, the 77th was responsible for organising the movement of transports and redistributing fuel between vessels whose reserves had become critically low.

Its personnel transferred supplies while the convoy was already under threat. Several logistics crews remained behind longer than ordered to assist damaged civilian vessels.

When the Foresight engaged the Vanduul force, the 77th continued moving the convoy rather than turning back. This decision was later judged essential to the survival of the evacuees.

Later service#

Under Vale, the 77th expanded to include transport, replenishment, convoy-support and cargo-control elements. It became particularly experienced in supporting dispersed formations rather than a single concentrated fleet.

During the Battle of Vega II, the squadron maintained supply movements outside the central battle area, transported medical materiel and helped redirect civilian shipping away from threatened routes.

The 77th was heavily reduced during the later drawdown of the 173rd. A small administrative and technical cadre remained with Jett, preserving its records and qualifications until the squadron was formally rebuilt after 2954.

The current 77th is responsible for transport, fleet replenishment, cargo operations and convoy support.

287th Combat Squadron#

The 287th Combat Squadron is one of the oldest operational formations now assigned to the 173rd.

Created as a mixed naval combat-aviation unit, the squadron served under several commands before joining the Battle Group. It developed a reputation for long-range interception, bomber escort and the defence of larger naval vessels against concentrated fighter attacks.

The 287th suffered severe losses during frontier service in the 2930s. When its previous parent formation was reorganised, Vale requested that its surviving flights be transferred to the 173rd rather than divided between replacement units.

The transfer became permanent in 2938.

Integration into the Battle Group#

The 287th initially resisted Vale’s effort to integrate it with the wider formation. Many of its pilots viewed themselves as an independent combat unit rather than an embarked component.

This changed after a series of operations in which the squadron was required to coordinate directly with the 77th, shipboard fighter controllers and the group’s medical services.

By the early 2940s, the 287th had become the principal aviation arm of the 173rd.

Its duties included:

• Fleet combat air patrol
• Interception of hostile spacecraft
• Strike and anti-capital operations
• Escort of transports and medical vessels
• Reconnaissance and armed patrol
• Defence of evacuation corridors

Vega II#

The 287th was not committed to Admiral Bishop’s principal engagement against the Vanduul Kingship. Instead, its available flights were dispersed across evacuation and support routes elsewhere in the Vega system.

During the battle, the squadron intercepted Vanduul elements attempting to reach damaged civilian traffic and rear-area support vessels.

Several 287th pilots remained in combat after reaching minimum fuel limits because transports were still clearing the area. Replacement craft and fuel supplied by the 77th allowed portions of the squadron to return to action.

The squadron sustained significant losses but kept multiple evacuation corridors open.

Its performance at Vega II became one of the principal reasons the 287th retained its identity during the later reduction of the Battle Group. Even when most of its aircraft and personnel were transferred elsewhere, the squadron number was not formally retired.

The modern 287th continues the combat-aviation lineage of the earlier formation and is organised to support fighter, interceptor and strike elements.

299th Medical Squadron#

The 299th Medical Squadron began as a Navy medical-response unit rather than a component of the 173rd.

It gained recognition during a major civilian-station accident in 2939, when its medical teams established emergency treatment areas inside cargo compartments after the station’s principal hospital section became inaccessible.

The squadron’s personnel treated military and civilian casualties without distinction and remained aboard the damaged station until evacuation was complete.

Vale requested the 299th for several subsequent 173rd deployments. Its initial attachment became permanent in 2941.

Development of fleet medical doctrine#

Before the 299th joined the group, medical support was distributed between individual ships with limited central coordination.

The squadron introduced:

• Common triage procedures
• Casualty-transfer protocols
• Deployable medical teams
• Medical evacuation planning
• Central control of medical supplies
• Cross-training between shipboard medics and flight crews

These measures significantly reduced preventable losses during extended deployments.

Vega II#

The 299th achieved its greatest distinction during the Battle of Vega II.

Although the 173rd remained outside the primary fleet engagement, damaged military and civilian vessels began arriving in its operating area soon after the Vanduul attack.

The 299th converted hangars, cargo decks and passenger spaces into temporary treatment facilities. Medical personnel were dispersed between several ships so that the loss of any single vessel would not eliminate the group’s casualty capability.

The squadron treated wounded civilians, pilots, ship crews and ground personnel. Its evacuation elements repeatedly entered areas where hostile contacts remained unconfirmed.

Admiral Bishop later thanked the commanders of the 173rd and other supporting formations in person. The recognition did not portray the Battle Group as a participant in the destruction of the Kingship; instead, it acknowledged the less visible work that prevented the main battle from producing even greater civilian and military losses.

Within the 173rd, the 299th’s actions at Vega II are regarded as equal in significance to any direct combat achievement.

The squadron’s current responsibilities include fleet medical support, emergency response, casualty evacuation and medical logistics.

514th Recovery and Salvage Squadron#

The 514th Recovery and Salvage Squadron was not part of the 173rd at its formation.

Its origins lie in the temporary recovery groups created after the Battle of Vega II. These units searched for escape craft, recovered remains, secured classified wreckage and assisted damaged ships unable to leave the system under their own power.

The work continued long after the public focus had shifted from the battle.

Personnel later assigned to the 514th recovered flight recorders, identification data and sealed compartments from vessels considered too dangerous for ordinary salvage crews. Their work provided closure to families and preserved intelligence that might otherwise have been lost.

The Navy consolidated several of these detachments into the 514th in 2946.

Transfer to the 173rd#

The squadron worked alongside the 173rd during later convoy and frontier operations. Vale argued that recovery capability should exist within a battle group rather than be requested only after a disaster had occurred.

The 514th was attached to the group in 2948 and subsequently made permanent.

Its responsibilities expanded beyond wreck recovery to include:

• Search and rescue
• Towing of disabled vessels
• Damage assessment
• EVA recovery
• Material control
• Hazardous-wreck clearance
• Recovery of sensitive military equipment

The 514th was almost completely dispersed during the later drawdown. Its designation survived because several former members continued maintaining recovery records and equipment inventories under the reduced headquarters.

It was formally restored during the Jett reformation.

The Army Detachment#

The Army element associated with the 173rd began as a temporary attachment for ground security, landing-zone control and protection of deployed naval facilities.

Its initial personnel were not permanently assigned to the Battle Group. Units rotated according to mission requirements, creating inconsistencies in communications and command procedures.

Vale negotiated the creation of a standing detachment in the early 2940s.

The detachment provided:

• Planetary security
• Landing-zone protection
• Ground reconnaissance
• Convoy escort
• Combat engineering
• Vehicle support
• Recovery-site security
• Medical support during surface operations

Army personnel supported the 173rd during the Vega crisis but were not committed to the principal orbital battle.

The original detachment was dissolved during the post-war redistribution of personnel. A new 173rd Army Detachment was established during the reformation and is designed to expand from a small team into larger formations as personnel become available.

Its modern structure remains scalable, allowing it to grow from teams and squads to platoon or company strength without changing its overall identity.

Battle of Vega II#

On 5 October 2945, a major Vanduul Clan entered the Vega system and attacked Aremis, Vega II. Admiral Ernst Bishop’s Second Fleet fought the principal engagement and eventually destroyed the Vanduul Kingship. ^[2]

The 173rd had been operating within supporting distance of Second Fleet but was not positioned with the forces that made first contact.

When the attack began, Vale received orders to secure secondary routes, assist civilian evacuation and prevent additional Vanduul elements from reaching the fleet’s rear areas.

The group’s contribution included:

• Escorting civilian vessels away from Vega II
• Establishing protected withdrawal corridors
• Refuelling and resupplying dispersed Navy units
• Treating casualties transferred from the combat zone
• Recovering pilots and escape craft
• Protecting damaged ships awaiting evacuation
• Relaying communications between separated support groups

The 287th Combat Squadron defended the evacuation routes, while the 77th maintained the movement of fuel, supplies and personnel. The 299th treated casualties across several vessels, and elements that later became closely associated with the 514th assisted with recovery.

The 173rd’s ships did not fire upon the Kingship and were not credited with the central victory.

Their work remained important because the concentration of Second Fleet around the main battle left civilian and damaged traffic vulnerable elsewhere in the system.

After the battle, Bishop met Vale, Jett and commanders of other supporting formations. According to the 173rd’s official history, Bishop thanked them for ensuring that Second Fleet’s victory did not become a logistical and humanitarian collapse.

The meeting later acquired symbolic importance when Jett became commander. He frequently cited Vega II as proof that a battle group’s value could not be measured solely by enemy ships destroyed.

Post-Vega service and decline#

Wartime expansion#

In the immediate aftermath of Vega II, the 173rd remained at high readiness.

The group conducted escort, reinforcement and recovery missions as the Empire prepared for wider conflict with the Vanduul. Its squadrons operated more frequently as independent detachments, supporting other Navy formations whose organic capabilities had been depleted.

This flexibility enhanced the reputations of the 287th and 299th but gradually weakened the 173rd as a unified formation. Ships, flights and specialist teams were repeatedly detached for missions elsewhere.

Some returned. Others were permanently reassigned.

Fleet redistribution#

By the early 2950s, Navy planners considered the 173rd a source of experienced personnel and functioning vessels that could be used to reinforce higher-priority formations.

The group’s carrier was transferred. Destroyers, frigates and support vessels followed. Aviation personnel were reassigned in complete flights or as replacements for other squadrons.

The UEES Ballista, a Javelin-class destroyer associated with the group, entered extended service under the operational control of Second Fleet elsewhere.

The reduction was officially described as a redistribution rather than a disbandment. In practice, the 173rd ceased to resemble a battle group.

Rear Admiral Vale departed command in 2952. Accounts differ as to whether he requested reassignment, accepted retirement or was moved because he opposed the dismantling of the formation.

Command passed to Marcus Jett, by then a senior flag officer and one of the few remaining figures who had served under both previous commanders.

He became the third commander of the 173rd.

The Jett era#

Preservation of the formation#

When Jett assumed command, the 173rd retained its designation, headquarters records and a small number of personnel, but little else.

Several Navy offices recommended suspending the group’s colours and transferring its remaining administrative functions to Second Fleet headquarters.

Jett opposed every such recommendation.

He argued that the 173rd remained a legally established battle group, possessed an intact command lineage and could be rebuilt more efficiently than an entirely new formation could be created.

His critics suggested that his attachment to the group resulted from guilt over surviving the Foresight. Jett did little to dispute that his past influenced him, but maintained that personal sentiment did not invalidate the strategic case for preserving the unit.

For nearly two years, the 173rd existed largely through:

• A reduced headquarters staff
• A small reserve and training cadre
• Squadron records without full operational strength
• Temporary attachments
• The UEES Belfast

UEES Belfast#

The UEES Belfast was a former UEE Navy RSI Constellation Andromeda that became the practical backbone of the diminished group.

The vessel was not a capital ship and could not replace the lost carrier or destroyers. It nevertheless served as a mobile headquarters, transport, patrol vessel, training platform and symbol of continuity.

The Belfast carried personnel and equipment between scattered assignments at a time when the 173rd lacked a permanent fleet train. Meetings that would once have been conducted aboard a carrier took place in its crew spaces.

Its bridge served as the group’s operational centre during several minor patrol and escort deployments.

The vessel became closely associated with the personnel who maintained the 173rd during its weakest period.

When the reformation later gained capital ships, Jett rejected proposals to scrap or sell the Belfast. It was demilitarised and transferred to the UEE Navy Museum at Sherman.

The museum preserves it as one of the relatively small number of Constellation Andromedas to have seen formal UEE Navy service and as the ship credited with keeping the 173rd operational between its two principal eras.

Reformation of 2954#

Arrival of the UEES Castra#

The formal reformation of the 173rd began in 2954 with the assignment of the UEES Castra, registry FFL-107.

The Castra, an Idris-P frigate, was the first capital-class vessel permanently returned to the group after the redistribution of its previous fleet.

Its arrival transformed the 173rd from a headquarters cadre into a viable naval formation.

Among the personnel present during the opening phase of the reformation were Mercer, Wolff and several others who had joined or remained with the group when its future was uncertain.

These personnel formed the nucleus from which new ship crews, squadron staffs and training systems were established.

The Castra initially served several functions simultaneously:

• Flag and command platform
• Training ship
• Escort
• Personnel reception vessel
• Engineering and qualification platform
• Visible evidence that the 173rd had returned to active fleet status

Its crew faced the difficulty of rebuilding procedures that had once been supported by a much larger organisation. Departments were understrength, officers filled multiple duties and experienced personnel were required to train new arrivals while maintaining readiness.

The assignment nevertheless marked the end of the survival-cadre period.

Restoration of the squadrons#

Following the arrival of the Castra, Jett began reactivating the group’s squadrons.

The process was deliberately gradual. Squadron designations were restored before subordinate flights or sections were activated, allowing the units to grow without creating an appearance of strength unsupported by personnel.

The 77th resumed logistics and transport planning. The 287th rebuilt its aviation establishment. The 299th re-established fleet medical and casualty-response capability. The 514th began assembling recovery and salvage elements.

Rather than recreating the pre-drawdown structure exactly, Jett introduced a model in which each squadron could deploy independently while remaining administratively integrated with the Battle Group.

Expansion after reformation#

UEES Chronos#

The assignment of the UEES Chronos, an Idris-M frigate with registry FF-335, gave the 173rd its principal frontline combatant.

The Idris-M is the military variant of the Aegis Idris and serves in the UEE Navy as a standard frigate larger than traditional corvettes but smaller than destroyers. ^[4]

The Chronos became the group’s routine operational flagship and principal shipboard training establishment. Its greater combat capability allowed the Castra to assume a more flexible role in escort, support and development of new personnel.

The ship’s name was intended to represent both time and continuity: the period the 173rd had survived without a conventional fleet and its determination to rebuild.

UEES Rook#

The UEES Rook, registry K-280, joined the Core Fleet as a Tiburon heavy gunship.

Smaller and more readily deployable than the Idris frigates, the Rook supports patrol, escort and rapid-response missions. Its addition gave the 173rd a vessel capable of operating where commitment of a frigate would be disproportionate.

The ship is also used to maintain command experience among officers who might otherwise have no opportunity to command independently.

Current administrative structure#

The reformed establishment consists of:

• Office of the Senior Naval Authority
• 173rd Battle Group Headquarters
• Core Fleet
• 77th Logistics Squadron
• 287th Combat Squadron
• 299th Medical Squadron
• 514th Recovery and Salvage Squadron
• Battle Group Personnel Command
• Reserve Component
• 173rd Army Detachment

Battle Group Personnel Command oversees assignments, advanced training, officer development, qualifications, reserve administration and the Fleet Replacement Pool.

Headquarters and facilities#

Sherman, Castra II#

The headquarters of the 173rd is located at Sherman on Castra II.

Sherman was originally a major military installation built on Ulysses Peak. It served as a launch point for heavy bombers positioned to watch the former Perry Line and the approaches to Xi’an territory. Most of the base was later demilitarised and converted to civilian use, with former Navy pads and maintenance facilities becoming part of the planet’s principal landing zone. ^[5]

The 173rd occupies a retained military section of the old installation.

Its facilities include:

• Battle Group Headquarters
• Command and communications spaces
• Personnel and administrative offices
• Training rooms
• Secure archives
• Limited maintenance and storage areas
• Memorial facilities associated with the Foresight
• Liaison offices for squadron and Army personnel

The presence of an active Navy formation within a largely demilitarised complex has occasionally caused administrative disputes with civilian authorities. Jett has resisted proposals to relocate the headquarters, arguing that Sherman is inseparable from the group’s identity and offers infrastructure difficult to reproduce elsewhere.

Area18#

The 173rd maintains a forward presence at Area18 on ArcCorp to support operations in Stanton.

The group does not own a permanent Navy base there. Instead, it rents pads, hangars, storage and administrative space through local agreements.

Area18 is one of ArcCorp’s principal approved landing zones and a major centre of commerce, transport and industrial activity. ^[6]

The Stanton facilities are used for:

• Temporary basing
• Personnel movement
• Cargo consolidation
• Maintenance coordination
• Liaison with local authorities
• Support of operations conducted away from Sherman

Command continues to regard Sherman as the 173rd’s home station. Area18 is classified as a forward operating presence rather than a replacement headquarters.

Current and projected fleet#

The June 2956 fleet register records active, assigned and planned vessels under the 173rd’s lineage.

UEES Ballista#

The UEES Ballista is a Javelin-class destroyer that remains associated with the 173rd but is currently being used by Second Fleet elsewhere.

Its transfer predates the reformation and was repeatedly extended because of continuing fleet requirements.

The Ballista is expected to return to the 173rd within approximately twelve months, although no return date is considered final until Second Fleet releases the vessel from its current assignment.

Its return would be symbolically important. It would provide the modern group with a Javelin for the first time since the loss of the Foresight and restore a destroyer element to the Core Fleet.

Jett has reportedly rejected suggestions that the Ballista should inherit the Foresight’s place in ceremonial practice. He considers the two ships to possess separate histories.

UEES Heimdall and the Odin trials#

The UEES Heimdall, registry CB-122, is an Anvil Odin battlecruiser assigned to the 173rd under a service-trials arrangement.

Anvil has publicly presented the Odin as its most ambitious military vessel and as a new battlecruiser-scale combat platform. ^[7]

The Heimdall remains in production and has not yet entered the 173rd’s active books. Its assignment is therefore provisional in practical terms, even though the Battle Group has been named as the intended trial formation.

Anvil’s selection of the 173rd was based on several factors:

• The group’s experience rebuilding mixed crews
• Its history of integrating independent squadrons
• Its facilities at Sherman
• Its need for a future heavy command ship
• Jett’s willingness to challenge established doctrine
• The availability of both combat and specialist support elements

The decision has been opposed by some senior Navy officers.

Critics argue that the 173rd has not yet restored the conventional carrier and escort structure expected of a full battle group. Assigning an experimental battlecruiser of exceptional firepower could create an unbalanced formation and place excessive logistical demands on a still-developing command.

Others question the influence of Anvil Aerospace in selecting a trial unit and believe the vessel should be assigned to a more established frontline group.

Supporters argue that the 173rd is precisely the type of formation suited to evaluating the Odin because it has no entrenched carrier doctrine to protect.

The battle-group doctrine debate#

Jett’s long-term objective has consistently been the restoration of the 173rd as a standard full-strength battle group.

Under conventional UEE doctrine, this would require:

• A main fleet carrier
• Several destroyer or frigate escorts
• Combat and support vessels
• An integrated air group
• Logistics and replenishment capability
• Medical and recovery support

The arrival of the Ballista and eventual fielding of the proposed carrier UEES Lynx would move the group towards that structure.

The Heimdall complicates the plan.

An Odin battlecruiser would provide the 173rd with firepower normally associated with a major fleet concentration. Its command, maintenance, protection and support requirements may force the group to reorganise around the battlecruiser rather than the carrier.

Several possible futures have been discussed within the Navy:

Conventional carrier battle group#

The 173rd would restore its carrier as the centre of the formation, treating the Odin as an attached heavy combatant.

Battlecruiser-centred action group#

The Heimdall would become the formation’s principal offensive vessel, supported by the Idris frigates, Ballista and specialist squadrons.

Divided task-group structure#

The 173rd would operate separate carrier and battlecruiser task groups under a single Battle Group Headquarters.

Reclassification#

The Navy could decide that a formation containing both a main carrier and Odin battlecruiser is too powerful or structurally unusual to remain a standard battle group, leading to a new designation or expanded command relationship.

Jett has not publicly endorsed any single model.

He has stated only that the future structure must remain capable of protecting civilians, sustaining itself and continuing to fight after the loss of any individual vessel.

This reflects the central lesson of the Foresight: no flagship, however powerful, may become more important than the formation it commands.

Commanders#

Marcus Jett#

Vice Admiral Marcus Jett remains a controversial figure within the broader Navy.

Supporters regard him as the officer who refused to allow an honoured formation to disappear for administrative convenience. They credit him with preserving the squadron lineages, securing the Castra, restoring the Core Fleet and obtaining the future Odin assignment.

Critics describe his decisions as overly influenced by the memory of Thorne and question whether the reconstruction of the 173rd has become a personal mission.

Jett rarely speaks publicly about the final moments of the Foresight. Those who have served closely with him report that he continues to believe he should have died with the ship, despite the formal inquiry and Thorne’s direct order.

His command decisions frequently emphasise:

• Continuity of leadership
• Protection of evacuation routes
• Recovery of isolated personnel
• Redundant command systems
• Preservation of unit identity
• The responsibility of senior officers to remain accountable for losses

Although Jett is the senior flag officer and formal commander of the 173rd, the reformed headquarters delegates routine operational control to its appointed battle-group and unit staffs.

Traditions and identity#

Motto#

The official motto of the 173rd is:

Courage Through Sacrifice

It was adopted after the loss of the Foresight and applies not only to combat deaths but to the wider belief that effective service requires the willingness to place the crew, the mission and civilians before personal recognition.

The empty chair#

At formal command dinners, one chair is left unoccupied for the commanding officer of the Foresight.

The chair is not labelled with Thorne’s name. Tradition holds that it represents every commander who may one day be required to make the same decision.

Foresight remembrance#

The anniversary of the Thorne Action is marked at Sherman by a reading of the ship’s final transmitted order.

The names of the crew are recorded before Thorne’s name. No speech is made after the final entry.

Belfast bell#

The original ship’s bell from the UEES Belfast remains in the Battle Group Headquarters rather than aboard the museum ship.

It is sounded when:

• A new commissioned ship enters the Core Fleet
• A commanding officer formally assumes command
• A missing member is declared recovered
• A vessel returns after extended detached service
• The Battle Group commemorates the Thorne Action

The bell is expected to be sounded when the Ballista returns.

Present status#

As of 2956, the 173rd remains a formation in transition.

It is no longer the near-empty headquarters preserved by Jett and the crew of the Belfast, but it has not yet regained the carrier, destroyers, personnel or support strength of its pre-drawdown establishment.

Its active strength is centred on the Chronos, Castra and Rook, supported by reconstituted squadrons and a growing Army Detachment.

The anticipated return of the Ballista would restore a destroyer to the group. The future Heimdall could transform its combat power entirely. The possible addition of the Lynx would complete Jett’s ambition to rebuild the conventional carrier-centred formation that existed before the reduction.

Whether those ships produce a restored standard battle group or an entirely new type of heavy naval formation remains unresolved.

What has remained consistent is the identity established by Thorne, preserved by Vale and carried forward by Jett:

The 173rd exists not merely to field ships, but to ensure that those ships, their crews and the citizens under their protection survive as a coherent force.

Courage Through Sacrifice.