Xenian Navy

The Xenian Navy (previously Xanthian Navy) is the official naval might of the crew and port of Xenia. Founded by Maximus_Terragon (Maxy) in mid-2018, it has grown to become one of the largest navies on Piratecraft.

Its main naval port is Xenia, in which all of its ships are located.

History

The Xenian Navy was the successor to the moderately successful Xanthian Navy, following the dissolution of The Xanthian Order, with the latter being the successor to the sparse naval force owned by the Xenon Empire back in 2015-16.

Xenon Empire

When the Xenon Empire was first founded, plans were drawn up for some basic defensive ships to be used to protect the capital. This 'first phase' plan to introduce 4 small 4-gun sloops. This plan was revised with the outbreak of the first and Second Verussian War and included the commissioning of a 24-gun 6th rate named Shadow Atlas. Due to lack of experience, these ships had varying degrees of success in the wars.

Once the wars ended in early 2016, plans were drawn up for 'phase 2'; a more comprehensive shipbuilding program, including the construction of an 80-gun 2nd-rate Voyager, and a new 24-gun 6th rate Cormoran that would become the Cormoran-class which itself evolved into the Atlas class in late 2017. The previously constructed phase 1 ships were largely scrapped, with Shadow Atlas being sold off to the British Empire but running aground on its journey to Aeos Island.

The new phase 2 shipbuilding program introduced in early 2016 proved successful, improving on all aspects over designs of the first phase. So much so that in its final days, the Xenon Empire had constructed over a dozen ships both for its own naval force as well as foreign navies such as the 13 Colonies. Issues remained, however, including lack of stability due to top-heavy designs, and poorly designed portholes and rigging system.

Capacity of the Xenian Navy in mid-2016 (end of phase 2):

• 1 80-gun ship of the line; XNS Voyager(old)
• 2 24-gun 6th rate ship of the line; Shadow Atlas (now XNS Atlas), XNS Cormoran
• 4 4-gun sloop-of-war

Total: 7 ships with 144 guns

Xanthian Order

When the Xenon Empire chose to merge into The Xanthian Order, it contributed 90% to the total fleet capacity of the new empire. The third phase of ship construction started with new 24-gun (Cormoran-class), 34-gun (Pacific-class), and 50-gun (Neptune-class (old)) designs, and old designs being upgraded. It bought the salvage rights to the Shadow Atlas from the British Empire, and converted her to a 30-gun 6th rate based off British and French designs of the 1780s. The previous 80-gun flagship Voyager was rebuilt to hold 90-guns.

Upon the creation of the Commonwealth of Nations, the successor to the League of Nations, the Xanthian Navy agreed to loan 2 ships; a 24-gun 6th rate XNS Cormoran, and the unfinished 50-gun 4th rate XNS Neptune to the cause. The Neptune, missing masts was used as a floating battery and towed by the smaller Cormoran. After a breakdown of diplomacy between the Commonwealth and Xanthian Order in June 2017, it was chosen to move both ships back to Xenia for completion. However in the morning before the ships were due to depart, an accidental magazine explosion onboard Cormoran caused it to sink, damaging Neptune. Now without a tow, it was chosen to scuttle Neptune as a blockship in the harbour to disrupt trade into the Freeport.

Once relations were restored in late 2017, several older phase 2 ships were sold off to various nations, including a new Pacific-class 5th rate Atlantic, with the 4 larger ships (Voyager, Pacific, Atlas, and Aries) remaining in-port to be upgraded to improved phase 4 designs. This involved lengthening of the hulls, the rebuilding of the stern galleries, and improvements to portholes for better visibility.

Capacity of the Xenian Navy in May-2017 (end of phase 3):

• 1 90-gun 2nd rate ship of the line; XNS Voyager(old)
• 1 50-gun 4th rate ship of the line; XNS Neptune(old)
• 2 34-gun 5th rate ship of the line; XNS Pacific (later rebuilt into 36-gun XNS Centaurus), XNS Atlantic
• 4 24-gun 6th rate ship of the line; XNS Atlas, XNS Aries, XNS Cormoran, unknown
• 1 12-gun frigate; XNS Templar
• 3 4-gun sloop-of-war

Total = 11 ships with 294 guns

Xenia

Once the end of the Xanthian Order was near, all remaining ships were decommissioned as part of a comprehensive review of the ships, kickstarting phase 5. During this phase, it was decided to scrap the damaged 90-gun Voyager, and convert the 3 remaining 4-gun sloops for commercial use. At this point, the two remaining 24-gun 6th rates, XNS Atlas and XNS Aries were drydocked for conversion into 30-gun 6th rates of the Atlas class in accordance to new building protocol that required upgrading any design from previous years. This involved substantial widening of the hull to improve stability, modernizing of the stern galleries, and re-rigging the ships. Mast configurations were also slightly changed to give greater efficiency and for a more realistic look. XNS Atlas remains the oldest ship in the navy to date.

The other remaining phase 3 ship in the Xenian Navy XNS Pacific, was sold off to The Coalition in early 2018, but later brought back to Xenia for conversion into the 36-gun Cerberus-class XNS Certaurus, and remains the second oldest ship in the navy, dating back to early 2016.

Large scale plans for a new navy were drawn up to coincide with the reconstruction of the port, Xenia. These included the addition new 30 and 26-gun 6th rates, 36-gun 5th rates, 54-gun 4th rates, 74 and 80-gun 3rd rates, 98-gun 2nd rates, and 120-gun 1st rates.

Capacity of the Xenian Navy in early-2019:

• 1 120-gun 1st rate ship of the line; XNS Orion
• 3 74-gun 3rd rate ship of the line; XNS Pegasus, XNS Phoenix, XNS Perseus
• 1 54-gun 4th rate ship of the line; XNS Hercules
• 2 36-gun 5th rate ship of the line; XNS Cerberus, XNS Centaurus (previously XNS Pacific)
• 3 30-gun 6th rate ship of the line; XNS Atlas (previously Shadow Atlas, XNS Aries, XNS Asterion
• 3 26-gun 6th rate ship of the line; XNS Andromeda, XNS Aquarius, XNS Aranea
• 1 20-gun frigate; XNS Templar
• 2 10-gun brig; XNS Lynx, XNS Lacerta

Total: 16 ships with 676 guns

Structure

The naming procedure of the Xenian Navy follows that all ships of the same class receive names beginning with the same letter. All ships names are based either off constellations of the night sky (Leo, Orion), Greek and Roman mythology (Pegasus, Neptune), or have names related to their history (Templar).

Virtually all ships are constructed based on original French and British ship designs from the 1770s to 1790s, and adjusted to fit onto minecraft. With the exception of the XNS Orion, all ships are able to sail within the 5000 block limit. The designs aim to find the perfect balance between simplicity of construction and realistic detail, resulting in very 'neat' and 'ordered' ship designs. A 74-gun ship can, therefore, be constructed within 3 hours if needed.

Currently operated classes:

• Orion-class 120-gun 1st rate ship of the line; 1 in service
• Pegasus-class 74-gun 3rd rate ship of the line; 3 in service, 4 planned
• Hercules-class 54-gun 4th rate ship of the line; 1 in service, 2 planned
• Cerberus-class 36-gun 5th rate ship of the line; 2 in service, 6 planned
• Atlas class 30-gun 6th rate ship of the line; 1 in service
  • Aries sub-class 30-gun 6th rate ship of the line; 2 in service, 1 under construction, 6 planned
  • Andromeda sub-class 26-gun 6th rate ship of the line; 3 in service
• Taurus class 20-gun frigate; 1 in service, 2 planned
• Lynx class 10-gun brig; 2 in service, 1 under construction, 4 planned

Planned classes

• Voyager-class 112-gun 1st rate ship of the line; 1 planned
• Neptune-class 90-gun 2nd rate ship of the line; 2 planned
• Solarium-class 60-gun 4th rate ship of the line; 3 planned

Total planned: 35 ships with 1600 guns

Previously operated classes:

• Voyager-class(old) 90-gun 2nd rate ship of the line; 1 broken up
• Neptune-class(old) 50-gun 4th rate ship of the line; 1 scuttled incomplete as blockship
• Pacific-class 34-gun 6th rate ship of the line; 1 converted into Cerberus-class 5th rate, 1 broken up
• Cormoran-class 24-gun 6th rate ship of the line; 2 converted into Atlas class 6th rates, 1 lost following magazine explosion
• Ariadne-class 4-gun sloops; 1 lost, 3 broken up

Plans are to increase the number of ships to 24 and total number of guns to 1000 by end of 2019, permitting the construction of new docks in Xenia. This would make it the largest navy, besting the next-best British Empire by an estimated 200 guns.