View source for The Battlefleet Prosperitas

The High Guard, the Void Nobility: the Imperial Navy is a culture unto itself. Many of its Officers and Crew are born aboard the vast city-sized Battleships, and the leadership of many vessels is often determined by a combination of merit, breeding and heritage. Every ship has its own community, and every Fleet its own culture. The Ships of the Imperium are truly deadly things, each carrying enough firepower to utterly destroy anything from a city, to an entire planet.

=== Five Things To Know About the Imperial Navy ===

*'''They are traditional.''' The Imperial Navy is home to a myriad of ancient and often incomprehensible traditions, superstitions and obscure piece of etiquette, many varying from vessel to vessel.

*'''They love their ships.''' The crew of a Voidship have bonds as close as any Imperial Guard regiment, and their first loyalty is to their vessel. When two Navy crews meet on shore leave, one can expect sharp banter at best; open brawling is not uncommon. Ratings often sport tattoos or uniforms bearing the name or insignia of their home vessel, though this habit is considered gauche for officers.

*'''They are technical specialists.''' The complex and ingenious machinery which keeps a Voidship flying through the Warp is far more complicated than most technologies, for this reason the Navy has a close relationship with the Machine Cult and many officers wear both the Aquila and Cog Mechanicus as symbols of devotion.

*'''They have the big guns.''' No matter what massed ground power the Imperial Guard can bring to bear, or what strange and deadly weapons the Inquisition or fabled Astartes boast, it is the Imperial Navy who hold the greatest firepower in the Imperium of Humanity. The destructive power of a massed macrocannon broadside or the planet-burning might of a cyclonic torpedo fusillade outweighs any mere ground armament by several orders of magnitude.

*'''Their ships are vast.''' The smallest scout-ship in the fleet has a crew of some seven and a half thousand souls; the crews of battleships can number into the hundreds of thousands. More akin to vast, ancient void-capable cities than oceangoing vessels, every Navy vessel has its quirks – its bad neighbourhoods, its darkholds, and its hidden secrets.

=== Five Things To Know About the Battlefleet Prosperitas ===

*'''It's ships are eclectic and ancient.''' Unlike the Battlefleets in more established Sectors the frontier reaches of the Prosperitas Sector see its Naval forces supplied with very few new warships and the three forges of the Sector lack large-scale ship facilities. To this end the Battlefleet Prosperitas is mainly comprised of war-scarred vessels of ancient design that have seen centuries of service, this is a blessing and a curse, for many rarer patterns of ship not seen in more 'modern' Battlefleets are found in this sector.

*'''Prize ships are common.''' Captains of the Battlefleet Prosperitas might well be snobbishly treated as privateers by their peers from stabler Sectors. The use of prize money, a payment rewarded to crews of vessels that take the enemy intact in battle is common in the Prosperitas Sector where the Battlefleet has adapted to recycling captured enemy vessels for Naval service.

*'''It often relies on Rogue Trader support.''' It is not uncommon for the Navy to work closely with the Captains of the Rogue Trader Houses, [[House Majid|Majid]], [[House Durovera|Durovera]] and [[House Di Firro|Di Firro]] for support while prosecuting military actions along the frontiers of the sector where the Warrants of Trade of these Houses hold sway.

*'''It is proud.''' Most, of the Warmasters of the Prosperitas Sector have been drawn from the ranks of the Battlefleet Prosperitas and for this the Navy is proud. The Battlefleet are a nobility of sort within the Crusade thanks to this, which while beneficial for recruitment can often be a social wedge between them and the ground forces of the Imperial Guard.

*'''It pressgangs its armsfolk and ratings from brutal worlds.''' The Battlefleet Prosperitas is often called upon to send its arms folk into close-quarters combat, to this end it draws much of the crew that man its lower decks from brutal walks of life such as penal colonies, under hives and asteroid settlements where those used to living in cramped conditions filled with violence serve as ruthless fighters when it comes to board enemy vessels or rebel boarders.

=== Battlefleet Prosperitas ===

Proud, noble and often considered to be backwards by their peers, Battlefleet Prosperitas is a bastion of the highest Imperial Culture in the Prosperitas Sector. Maintained by those of good breeding, the Battlefleet sneers with disdain at the ‘ground pounders’ of the Crusade and often believes itself a separate entity from the Crusade’s ‘lesser’ forces.

In truth the Battlefleet is one of the worst equipped in the Imperium, with many vessels being ancient long before the start of the Prosperitas Crusade; they are old venerable models of vessels, but with their own severe limitations. For example, the “Iron Lady”, an ancient Gloriana-class Hull, is a potent and deadly Battleship, but due to the long-distant failure of her maneuvering thrusters, she is now unable to turn under her own power – dependent on assistance from other vessels, or the pull of stellar bodies to alter her course.

Though it is easy to dismiss the Navy as hiding behind the hulls of ships and the gigantic guns of its vessels, Naval Officers and Armsfolk are no less deadly in a fight than a member of the Imperial Guard. Often they make excellent close quarters fighters, and are incredibly dangerous melee opponents.
 

=== Rank and Status in the Imperial Navy ===

Much like the Imperial Guard, the Imperial Navy is divided into officers and enlisted ranks, the latter often referred to as “sailors”, “rates”, “ratings” or simply “crew”. The system is designed to provide the vast mass of humanity required to operate a warship with oversight, leadership and discipline from a highly-trained cadre of expert commanders. At its best, the courageous, self-sacrificing and diligent officer corps work tirelessly to hone their subordinates into a perfectly cohesive and pious crew who demonstrate absolute loyalty to their peers and commanders; such a crew will fearlessly overcome privation, isolation, the horrors of the Void and the depredations of the Enemy. At its worst, the system of patronage, nepotism and privilege means that the younger sons and daughters of wealthy houses enjoy the luxuries of the Officers’ Wardroom in idle bliss while the miserable half-starved and semi-literate wretches of the underdecks toil ceaselessly in unspeakable and often lethal conditions to keep the ship afloat.

With many ships employing pressed or penal ratings among their crews, often negotiated or purchased from colonies such as Lubyanka, mutiny is always a danger aboard such vessels. The Captain of even the most loyal crew will rarely leave her quarters without a bodyguard, and the work of the Ship’s Commissar and Security Officer is an unending struggle against the criminals, cowards, would-be mutineers and lurking horrors of the darkholds.

The precise names for different ranks can vary from vessel to vessel – much like Guard regiments, every ship has its own ancient traditions. The one constant, however, is that the commander of a vessel is always referred to as its '''Captain'''; the title is always correct, even if the commander’s actual Naval rank is different. Below are some examples of the most common ranks.


==== Officer Ranks ====

An '''Admiral''' oversees fleets of warships, often deputising individual actions to '''Vice-Admirals''' and '''Rear-Admirals''' under their command and as a part of their staff.

Beneath the Admiral, '''Commodores''' command squadrons of several ships often assigned to specific tasks around the sector as smaller formations are more common.

The '''Captain''' is the master of a Voidship, and absolute ruler of all they survey aboard. Their word is law, and the hold powers of summary execution aboard their vessel. When serving on detached duty away from the main fleet, the elevated rank of '''Flag-Captain''' (sometimes, confusingly with the Rogue Trader title, '''Lord''' or '''Lady Captain''') may be granted.

'''Commanders''' and '''Lieutenant-Commanders''' serve as subordinate officers aboard large capital ships, or command their own smaller Frigates or other escort vessels (rarely found apart from their Capital-class mothership.

'''Junior officers''' in their hundreds attend to the day-to-day leadership and command of the vessel’s crew. '''Lieutenant''', in a variety of grades and designations is the most common, while younger junior officers still in training for their role might be called '''Midshipman''', '''Ensign''' or '''Sub-Lieutenant'''.

'''Flying officers''', in charge of a carrier ship’s deadly waves of small attack craft, often have their own parallel rank structure, and might be called '''Flight Lieutenant''', '''Squadron Leader''', '''Group Captain''', '''Wing Commander''' etc.

The Captains and Bridge officers of Imperial Navy ships are often augmented, either through the efforts of their ship’s assigned Magos Biologis – aboard larger vessels – or from personal funds. These augmentations can range from variations on the typical cosmetic enhancements found amongst terrestrial nobility, to complex and substantial nervous system modifications which allow the officers to interface directly with their vessels through a Mind Interface Unit. Whether such direct interface substantially improves one’s ability to helm a Voidship, or comes at the cost of reducing situational awareness and a dangerous reliance on the Machine-Spirit over good old-fashioned human intuition and Naval training, is a matter for vigorous and heated debate in a hundred clubs and wardrooms across the Sector.


==== Enlisted Ranks ====

The Warrant Officers of the Navy are senior and experienced enlisted crew, using their decades of technical expertise to guide and advise the vessel’s most senior officers. While not Commissioned, these subject matter experts attract substantial respect even from the officer classes.

Petty Officers (including grades such as Chief Petty Officer, Master Chief &c.) sit in the same space as Non-Commissioned Officers in the Guard, providing leadership and oversight for groups of tens or hundreds of junior ratings. Some ships call these ranks “Crewboss”; specialists might be called Boatswain, Yeoman, Caulker etc.

Ratings, often called “Voidswoman”, “Voidscrew” or “Voidsman” – with designations such as “Ordinary” or “Able” appended based on seniority and expertise. Crew specifically trained in close-quarters combat and boarding actions are often called “Arms-crew” or “Armsfolk” (Armsman, Armswoman) and may be led by a Sergeant-at-Arms.


==== Specialist Crew ====

Every Ship has a number of personnel who sit slightly outside the Naval hierarchy, but who are vital for its continued function. These include the Astropathic Choir, the Navigator, the Enginseer and her staff, the Chaplaincy, the ship’s senior Chirurgeon and medicae staff. Larger vessels will also have a bevy of Administratum and Munitorum staff to ensure the smooth running of the vessel, and record births, marriages, ident changes and deaths. These attachments are usually granted courtesy ranks and treated with the same respect as senior Naval officers. While etiquette varies with ship, most Naval officers find they can overcome their natural squeamishness around Navis Nobilite and Psykers when reminded that it is only by the good offices of the Navigator and Senior Astropath that a void craft enjoys reliable communication in the deep void, and safe travel in the warp.


=== The Ships of the Imperial Navy ===

The vast cathedral-like edifices of Imperial Navy ships mare machines dedicated to two overriding tasks of awesome difficulty: to bring the Imperium’s terrible firepower to bear against the Enemies of Humanity, and to keep the thousands of human souls within safe from the hostile Void and the even deadlier depredations of the Warp. Most Imperial Ships are hundreds or thousands of years old, born in the shipyards of distant Sectors or even the Rings of Iron around Holy Mars itself. Designated HIMVS (His Imperial Majesty’s Voidship), they often bear grandiose, pious or boastful names commemorating Imperial saints, famous victories or phrases from Ecclesiarchy scripture.

'''The ships of the Navy fall into three broad categories:'''

* '''Battleships''' and their smaller cousins '''Battlecruisers''' and '''Grand Cruisers''', usually between 6 and 8 kilometres in length, with crews usually over 100,000 souls. These ships are usually escorted by a mass of escort and tender vessels; while they are astonishingly powerful fire platforms, or carrier bases for vast fleets of attack craft, they rarely travel anywhere alone – with rare exceptions such as the Exorcist class Grand Cruiser, optimised for deep-void solo missions.

* '''Cruisers''', usually 5-6 kilometres long, optimised for firepower and durability, with a usually complement of 50-100,000 souls. A Cruiser Group is a deadly void force in its own right, often enough to quell most pirate incursions or enemy raids.

* '''Escorts''', usually 3 kilometres long or smaller, are rapid and aggressive vessels which protect and screen the slower Capital Ships to allow the larger vessels to get into position and use their devastating heavy weapons. Escorts almost always operate in squadrons, sometimes called “Wolf Packs”, and are vulnerable alone. Frigates and Destroyers are the most common, but this category also includes Scout Sloops, Corvettes and other specialist vessels.


=== Combat Craft of the Imperial Navy ===

It is the sacred duty of the Imperial Navy to command all flying military vessels, small combat craft be they airborne or voidborne fall beneath the command of the Navy's '''Flying Officers''' the Naval's Attack craft divisions are divided between the atmospheric craft of the '''Aeronautica Imperialis''' and the large void-based attack craft of the '''Cosmonautica Imperialis''':

==== The Aeronautica Prosperitas ====

The Aeronautica is the High Gothic title for the Navy's dedicated atmospheric combat aviation division. Often working closely with the soldiers of the Imperial Guard, the Aeronautica provides aerial transportation for ground forces as well as tactical and strategic air support for ground forces moving across the surface of a planet. 

The Aeronautica has shrouded itself with an air of romanticism, as squadrons of aircraft darken the skies armoured fighter craft piloted by their noble pilots fight duels with Heretic and Xenos craft while providing cover for immense bombers whose devastating payloads ruin whole battlefronts from the skies, filling the air with the howl of plummeting ordnance.

Though their void bound brethren of the Cosmonautica might claim to require more technical talent and aptitude, it is the romantic image of an Aeronautica pilot that often cuts across the traditional divide between the Navy and the Guard and serves as a popular face for Naval propaganda.

'''The aircraft of the Aeronautica Prosperitas:''' 
The Prosperitas Crusade makes do with a combination of the famous aircraft found across the Imperium and a number of locally-made models of aircraft supplied by various forges and manufactorums across the Prosperitas Sector.

* '''Lightning''' Interceptors are common across the Imperium. These nimble one-pilot crafts are the dogfighters of the Imperium favoured by fighter aces with something to prove as their lightly armoured airframes are vulnerable and require intense skill to survive in for long.

* '''Gadaiche''' Ground Attack Craft are locally produced in the Prosperitas Sector, their name drawn from the Gair word for 'bandit'. These heavy aircraft, produced on [[Ferraeus]] and manufactorums licenced by the Forge to do so are designed to circle above battlefields like carrion, raining fire upon the enemy from numerous ground facing weapons platforms and wing-mounted missile pods.

* '''Lugvervoer''' Autogiro Transports are a relatively primitive form aircraft known as the gyrocraft that uses rotary blades to achieve lift. Locally developed on [[Korimesta]], the Lugvervoer is far less adapted to the battlefield then the Valkyrie, Lugvervoer's are loathed by the Guard forced to rely on them and the Naval pilots forced to fly them. These cramped craft are famously said to only fly 'because they are so ugly the ground repels them.

*'''Valkyrie''' Assault Carriers are VTOL (Vertical Takeoff and Landing) aircraft used to transport Imperial Guard units into the thick of battle, mounting heavy armament and armour the Valkyrie is a craft of which many patterns are produced across the Imperium, the [[Ferraeus]]-pattern Valkyrie for example has a bubble-shaped canopy.

*'''Vulture'''  Gunships are a close relative to the Valkyrie in terms of design aspects and the two compliment each other, a VTOL class like its sister-transport the Vulture is a dedicated weapons platform crewed by a team of two it has adaptable payloads for numerous weapons.

*'''Qarsan''' Bombers fulfill a role where the Marauder aircraft fits in the wider Imperium, though Battlefleet Prosperitas possesses marauders it has far greater numbers of the smaller locally produced Qarsan which originates from the forgeworld [[Naximus Prime]]. Qarsan bombers are swept wing craft designed to carry conventional and atomic armaments lacking the defences of the flying fortress that is the Marauder it makes up for this with speed but requires extensive escort.


==== The Cosmonautica Prosperitas ====

In the vast scale of void warfare in the 41st Millennium, the attack craft of the Cosmonautica Prosperitas are very different to their Aeronautica brethren, where Aeronautica craft are sometimes adapted for void war on the frontier of Imperial space, they are miniscule compared to the true Starfighters, Void Bombers and Assault Boats of the Cosmonautica the smallest such craft can be just over fourty meters long.

Though they share the reputation of their colleagues in the Aeronautica for being hot-shots, the Cosmonautica pride themselves on being 'the thinking mans career' as a pilot. Where the Aeronautica are keen on hot-shots, Cosmonautica crews are as much specialist astronavigators as they are fighter jocks, their missions often requiring them to travel hours from their carrier vessels to find targets in the vast void. Much like the Astronauts of old, the Flying Officers of the Cosmonautica are used to spending long hours in cramped silence within their craft.

Sometimes called the 'predators of the void' imagery of predatory aquatic beasts as well as more common void-creatures are popular amongst the Cosmonautica crews and many, especially in the Cosmonautica Prosperitas have a reputation for being fairly chilling individuals with predatory focus upon their duties.


'''The voidcraft of the Cosmonautica Prosperitas:'''

*'''Fury''' Interceptors are the workhorse of the Cosmonautica an attack craft with anti-ship capabilities against lighter capital craft as well as interception duties against other attack craft the Fury comes in many patterns. The patterns found in the Battlefleet Prosperitas are forty meter long voidcrafts crewed by a crew of four or two in a Servitor assisted craft. Armed with a compliment of lascannons and anti-ship missiles an individual Fury packs an incredible punch and deployed in a squadron of three to six such craft can pose a significant threat to other attack craft and light vessels.

*'''Starhawk''' Bombers are the primary anti-ship attack craft of the Cosmonautica at nearly sixty meters these massive lumbering craft are vulnerable to enemy voidfighters and despite fortress-like armaments require Fury escorts to make it safely to their destination where they can unleash immense payloads of anti-ship missiles and plasma bombs against their targets from within their shield envelopes enabling them to deal crippling strikes. Crewed by a crew of ten to fifteen Cosmonautica, each Starhawk is its own small community who treat their immense bomber like a home.

*'''Shark''' Assault Boats are the primary boarding craft of the Cosmonautica, each one a powerful engine behind a massive armoured troop section that carries fifty troops be they Naval Armsfolk or Imperial Guard the Navy have deigned to allow to assist them in boarding operations. Effectively a giant ram the front end of the Shark is loaded with melta charges and cutting beams that chew through armoured hulls to deploy their compliment into the heart of an enemy vessel. Return journeys are rare for such vessels which often need to be dug out of the hulls of captured ships like particularly persistent parasites.

*'''Carnivore''' Drop Ships are the mass transporters used by the Cosmonautica to transport ground forces to the surface of worlds, though Valkyries are void-capable, these massive craft are capable of carrying entire companies of troops and supporting vehicles to a planet descending from the sky with powerful retrojets firing before they slam to the ground and disgorge their compliments they require assistance to return to the void. The perceived divorce from the void that is the Cosmonautica's home make these vessels unpopular postings reserved for rookies who don't know better and those out of favour with Command.

* '''Alkesh''' Gun-Cutters are a class of vessel that hybridises attack craft, planetary lander and shuttle, well armed and capable of limited dogfighting these are one of the few craft commanded by the Cosmonautica Prosperitas that are capable of true atmospheric flight. Responsible for transporting Naval personnel into combat zones and providing security in the processed they are favoured as the 'Captains shuttle' on most ships and often are used on the Prosperitas frontier to make exploratory landings. The Alkesh is a locally produced variant utilised extensively by the Battlefleet Prosperitas, produced on [[Amenophis IV]] these guncutters combine traditional combat designs with the ostentatious aesthetics of that world.


=== Naval Traditions and Slang ===

You can find out more about these [[Naval Traditions and Slang]]


=== Ships of Note ===

There are many vessels that serve and have served an important role in the histories of the Prosperitas Sector, not all of them are of Naval providence, some serve the mighty Rogue Trader Houses of the Sector and others are beneath of the the command of other masters.

===== Ships of the Navy =====

* Iron Lady, a Gloriana-class Battleship once the flagship of the Regency fleet. The hulk was found following Warmaster Jacinta Durovera’s disappearance and rehulled, losing its old name the Manifest Destiny. Its maneuvering thrusters permanently damaged and off-line, it was recently removed from Salient command and re-tasked to the defence of Polarnus Station.


* Stormchaser, Warmaster Jacinta Durovera’s Nemesis class fleet carrier. Still On Patrol with all hands as of the Warmaster’s disastrous final voyage hunting the Manifest Destiny, when it translated into the Empyrean without its escort vessels and was never seen again.
 

* '''Lion of Terra,''' Warmaster Ulian’s flagship, an Emperor class Battleship. Still On Patrol since the Lash of the Eye and the loss of Subsector Tenebris.


===== Rogue Trader Vessels =====

* '''Will of Iron''', a Mercury-class Battlecruiser and the flagship of the Durovera Rogue Trader Warrant holders. Currently Captained by Lady-Captain Hermione Durovera, the Sector Governor’s sister.


* '''Exile of the Void''', a rare and luxurious Orion-class Star Clipper which serves as the flagship of the Di Firro Rogue Trader house.


===== Other Vessels =====

* '''Word of Despite''', an Exorcist class Grand Cruiser recently fully refitted by the shipyards of Ferraeus. Serves as Warmaster Armelius Durovera’s Flagship.