[OOC] OPTEVFOR JDF-1 [Naval][Ship-Based][Modern]

[Wernher]

Gunther said
The advantage of nuclear power is, cheap energy that lasts for extended period of times. It is not necessarily designed for speed or any other benefit. Aircraft rely on speed and low weight in order to perform effectively. Placing a nuclear reactor in an aircraft undermines its potential. Sure the thing can fly for 30 days without stopping to refuel, but who wants that? Who needs that? The components that make up a nuclear reactor small enough to fit into an airframe would be very heavy. I wonder if it could get up off the ground? Sure, this is fantasy, science fiction, but a line should be drawn somewhere. Reading that only makes me groan.

Like others said, it has been done in the 50s, since then it is certain that reactors were made more compact, size of planes larger, engines more powerful and shielding more efficient, still. The point in my case would to have made a long term observation craft for situations such as a test missile launch in a country but the exact location not being known. In the airplane you thus have a substential crew relaying each other on stand-by either for the launch or for more information as to relocate, which would be done faster still than with a ship. In game, this would be a constantly airborn AWAC with a team which finds its competance in analyzing any kind of new generation weapon system the fleet encounters.

I think it would have its reason to be there because like the OP said, this is a fleet of wtf experimental crafts or slightly insane captain that couldn't find its place in the 'real' navy. Obviously there wouldn't be much, maybe it would be the only model of this plane, the fruit of some research division with people going: Why are we financing these guys? But, still finding themselves with this plane after saying 'Hell no' to if there would be more than this prototype made to show the concept, while perhaps flawed or redundent, worked. Thus the navy groans and sent it with its other weird toys.

Or, if no one wants any of this, I'll drop it. Still, a shame. I like to place one or two doomsday atomic punk devices in a RP or another.

[Queen Raidne]

Announcement: Gunther is now Co-GM. Being more knowledgable about military affairs than I am, he'll serve as "military advisor" (note all the useful fleet-composition things that he's already pointed out), and will take over this RP in the event of my sudden absence. Any questions about this can be PM'ed to me.

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And while these are all good arguments against having a nuke-powered aircraft, I'll reiterate that I'm fine with someone having a nuke powered hybrid airship (it's got to be some variant of airship, though, for reasons I've previously stated). You'll just have to be creative with your arguments for how something came to be, answering all (or most) previously-stated arguments. Why am I okay with that? Because it's awesome and I want one (just personally, not specifically for this RP). It would also fit with one of the themes of JDF-1 - ships and captains that shouldn't really be in the Navy but are for various extenuating circumstances. I could see a nuke-powered AWACS airship getting through because of some consortium of congressmen that need to increase the jobs in their state, or something equally political.

If anyone would like to continue this discussion, please take it to PM. While we're not arguing horribly and killing each other (yet), I've seen lesser issues explode. Let's not do that in the OOC, please.

As for the tone, I'm aiming for a more realistic tone than a wacky comedic tone. Yes, we may have railguns and a massive submarine, but that's just because this fleet is for the designs and ships that fell through the cracks of the Naval bureaucracy (and for legitimate experimental designs that need "additional testing").

And as for an IC post, some of you still need to finish your ship sheets - specifically the character bios for the ones that I recall. I'll update the first post with a list of accepted ships and pending ships. I'm also going to close the RP to new ships: if you haven't posted (even if it's just to say you're potentially interested) in the OOC or Interest Check before this post, then this RP is closed to you.

However, if you are feeling particularly impatient, then I can start up the IC, and people can join as they finish their sheets.

TheEvanCat & Slypheed: Feel free to make a second ship. We may start the IC without them (once everyone's first ships are ready), depending on how impatient everyone is.

[Rhona W]

Thanks for the answer, I appreciate it. I'd definitely like to join then, if you'll have me?

The idea for a character and ship(s) I have was a bit of a 'different' one - I was thinking of a modern take on the 'torpedo boat' concept. A group, about three, most likely, of small, fast and well-armed (especially for their size) ships. Able to operate in blue sea as well as 'brown water' and some riverine environments, they'd be about 100ft with a relatively shallow keel. Something a bit like the Shaldag Class.

If that's an acceptable idea, I'll come up with sheets shortly. I'm a little busy at the moment and over the next few days, but I'll get the beginnings of something up soon, at least.

[Queen Raidne]

Alfhedil said
Got an idea for this, though I would like to ask what kind of missions the fleet would be seeing in this RP. The OP says it's strictly modern, but the Int.Check was tossing around the idea of giant monsters and aliens?Assuming the aliens and kaiju are not a thing, I have an idea for a sort of battleship brought into the modern age. =D

Haha, whoops! I never answered this. Here's what I'll be going with. To quote the interest check:

Interest Check said My favorite, though, is a business-as-usual scenario, with anti-piracy missions, maybe an encounter with some rogue Chinese forces (or something), military exercises against more conventional fleets to prove the worth of the program (and therefore your jobs), disaster relief first response, being deployed to assist an actual "professional" carrier battle group, "cooperation" with USSOCOM's mysterious orders (and being turned into glorified transport ships for said special forces, under strict orders not to interfere as things seem to go increasingly wrong with their mission [as best you can tell what their mission actually is]), and blatant communication snafu's. I think a fun angle would be the contrast between JDF-1 and the conventional Navy and armed forces, with hilarity ensueing.

And an over-arcing plot involving rising tensions between the US, Russia, and China. It'll be episodic, like episodes of Stargate SG-1 (for example). Some missions will be straight-up anti-piracy or military exercises with no greater meaning, some will reveal a source of rising tensions, and others will be actual conflict (maybe).

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Silverwind Blade: I'm consulting with Gunther; be back to you shortly.

[Slypheed]

Second ship inbound! All characters are female :P

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|Ship Name: USS Hermes
|Ship Class: Falchion-Class Corvette
|Ship Hull Classification Symbol: FS-V
|Ship Role: Main role as EW ship
|Armament:
20 VLS Tubes
155mm Advanced Gun System
|Defense:
1 30mm Shield CIWS
3 25mm Mk3 Rapier Defense Autocannons
3 .50-cal Dagger ROADS (Remote Or Automated Defense System)
2 NRAM-32 Longsword (24 Missiles each)
10 Active Anti-Torpedo Decoy-Explosives
1 Active SONAR Decoy, towed
4 .50-cal Machine gun posts
|Aircraft:
1x AH-64E Apache
1x MQ-8C (As the AH-64E has UAV control capabilities)
|Dimensions:
Length - 341 ft
Beam - 55 ft
Height - 81 ft (from waterline) 94 ft (full)
Draft - 13 ft
|Speed: 68 knots full speed, 24 knots cruising
|Crew: 32
|Motto: Damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead
|Other: Full Command Electronic Warfare & Deterrence Suite.
This ship does not have the RHIB bay as the picture depicts. Half was converted into crew service spaces, the other half was converted into an expanded engineering space. Due to this change, it is being called the Falchion-Class Block II

Skye Selene

|Captain's Name: Skye "Falcon" Selene

Personality: Skye is a rather thoughtful girl, thinking things out strategically. But can think on her toes, giving split second and tactical commands. She tends to have a sharp eye for detail.
Bio: Skye grew up in the Capital, her father working for Civil-Military Relations. Skye never knew her mother, as she had died a year after giving birth. She grew up with her father being in and out of the house a lot, thus she was around babysitters more than her own father. But she never let that anger her, she knew he was quite the busy person, and knew it stressed him enough to know he couldn't be around his daughter all the time as she grew up. But once she hit 16, her father stopped hiring babysitters, realizing she could look after herself in his absence. She was like that for 3 more years as she studied many subjects. Then she enlisted into the Navy, climbing the ranks for another 17 years, being transferred to a few ships as her career when on, before she was given command of a ship, the USS Hermes, an experimental EW corvette.

Skye is not your typical thinking girl. She will think of every possible solution, even if it appears to be way outside reality. She keeps multiple journals on multiple subjects, and has 2 bonsai trees in her personal quarters that she tends to.

Adriana Tessaro

|Name: Adriana "Poker" Tessaro
Rank: Commander
Role: XO

(Yes, its my avi :P)
Personality: Adriana is cool-headed. Never allowing anything to phase her, giving her a "Don't care" attitude. But under the right circumstances, she will lose her cool.
Bio: Adriana comes from a sizable family, and was firstborn. So once her younger siblings were born, less and less attention was paid to her, and more was paid to her brothers and sisters. Its first angered and irritated her, but she grew to not care. Getting a job at 16, and moving out shortly after graduating high school to live with a friend. After a few years, she joined the Navy, and became the XO for the USS Hermes.

Catrina Sykora

|Name: Catrina "Valkyrie" Sykora
Rank: Lieutenant
Role: AH-64E Pilot

Personality: Can be snobby at times, will even think she's more than the higher-ups in command. But is also a very generous person, trying to help out when ever possible. Will fight with Cystin when playing music.
Bio: Catrina was born and raised in a very rich family. Why she ever wanted to join the military baffled everyone. But she did it because it felt more interesting than sitting around letting people do things for you. Doesn't mean that state of mind left her, and will expect things done for her every now and then. She first joined the Air Force as a helo pilot. Flying an assortment of helos, both attack and transport. Then was transferred to the USS Hermes when a pilot was needed.

She plays a violin during downtime, and her nickname "Valkyrie" was given to her due to her briefly listening to "Flight of the Valkyries" before taking off.

Crystin Vaughan

|Name: Crystin "Lullaby" Vaughan
Rank: Lieutenant Junior Grade
Role: AH-64E Co-Pilot/Gunner

Personality: Crystin is a free spirited and determined girl. Acting how she wants without much restriction, occasionally showing restraint in certain surroundings or scenarios, but will other wise acts how she wants to. Will fight with Catrina when it comes to playing music. But otherwise, they get along fine.
Bio: Crystin grew up in an artistic family. Both her mom and dad had careers that involved art. So they promoted her to express herself, and how she felt. While she did take this a bit too far, her parents were still proud either way. She learned to play the guitar, and released an album before finding herself drafting into the military. First it was the Army, then Air Force, then finally the Navy. Meeting Catrina when she was placed aboard the USS Hermes and became her Co-Pilot/Gunner. The two fight over who plays music, but that is the only times they fight.

Has both an acoustic and electric guitar, but has only been given clearance to play the acoustic guitar/or can play the electric without an amp. But she never does, she wishes for the day she can play it with an amp. For the time being though, she plays the acoustic guitar.

[TheEvanCat]

Reposting with added information:

|Ship Name: USS Navassa Island
|Ship Class: Battlecruiser
|Ship Hull Classification Symbol: CB-4
|Ship Role: Heavy battlegroup escort, strike force vessel leader
|Armament:
- 1x BAE 90mm railgun
- 4x 5"/54 (Mk. 21 family) naval guns
- 140x VLS tubes
- 4x Mk. 30 launchers
- 4x Phalanx-C CIWS
- 2x RAM launchers
- 6x Mk. 40 torpedo launchers
- 4x M242 25mm cannons
- 2x LaWS
|Aircraft:
- 1x V-22 Osprey
- 2x MH-60S Seahawk
- 4x MQ-8 Fire Scout
- 12x ScanEagle (2x launchers)
|Boats:
- 12x RHIBs (4x berthings)
- 2x Fleet USVs
|Dimensions:
- Length: 927 ft 9 in
- Beam: 152 ft 6 in
- Draft: 42 ft (mean), 50 ft 3 in (maximum)
|Speed: 45 kn maximum, 30 kn cruising
|Crew: 789 (73 officers, 716 enlisted)
|Motto: Liberation through Dominance
|Other: Designed in anticipation of conventional conflicts with powers in the Pacific, the Navassa Island is an experimental "large cruiser" that focuses on using overwhelming firepower to defeat increasingly-advanced vessels from, say, China. The resurgence of naval guns reflects a new shift to frugality in the Navy, using gunfire support as opposed to expensive Tomahawk missile strikes (even if the ability is still found on the ship.) As such, sensors and countermeasures are considered to be top-notch to counter new and anticipated designs from foreign nations. The Navassa Island's primary focus of strike group command allows it to lead a flotilla to engage and destroy enemy targets in extreme offensive measures, while its armament suffices for carrier group escort as well. Now comes in snazzy dazzle camouflage.

- I'm just doing the CO/XO because others will be introduced later through ICs. -

|Name: Richard Sinclair
+Rank: Captain (O-6)
+Role: Commanding Officer
+Appearance: Caucasian, 5'9, 45 years old, fit, buzzed black hair with specks of grey, clean shaven - described as intimidating in that experienced sort of way.
+Personality: Analytical, careful, protective of the ship in a more professional way.
+Bio: Sinclair was born to a police officer and his wife in Omaha, Nebraska. He spent his life in the city before deciding to leave and join the Navy after figuring that it would be a good way for him to get out of the state. Seeing that he did well in school, he applied for and was accepted into the US Naval Academy. He graduated from the Naval Academy in the middle of his class after four years (excluding a year spent at NAPS after highschool) and went to SWOS in Newport, Rhode Island for surface warfare training. His four years spent in the Navy convinced him that it was indeed a good choice, and so Sinclair decided to make it his career. His career was characterized by positive reports by superiors, noting his excellent performance as he acquired various qualifications over a twenty-year period. There was no sort of special treatment for him as he was promoted at a fairly average pace, until he studied at the Naval War College in Newport for his career. There, he piqued the interest of his teachers in classes on conventional war and Chinese relations, proving to have an excellent insight into the subject. His papers - many of them drawing parallels between strategies used by navies during conventional conflicts like WWII and the Falklands - drew the attention of strategists at the Pentagon. They figured he, a relatively obscure and largely unimpressive officer, was someone they were looking for to begin experimental strategies involving new conventional warfare techniques. With his high academic status granting him a review by the Admiralty, a surprised Sinclair was quickly placed in command of his second ship - the Navassa Island. Here, he was granted the leeway to refine techniques proposed at War College, and develop strategies for use against modern conventional enemies.

|Name: Mark Flowers
+Rank: Commander (O-5)
+Role: Executive Officer
+Appearance: Caucasian, 6'0, 39 years old, athletic (more so than Sinclair), longer black hair - more mellow and less "intense" than Sinclair.
+Personality: Similar to Sinclair, but is focused more on the welfare of the crew to balance out the command.
+Bio: Flowers is the son of a DoD intelligence analyst and his wife, who live in Reston, Virginia. Flowers, similarly to Sinclair, opted to join the military as an officer but was rejected by the Academies and instead trained through ROTC at the University of Virginia to commission in as a surface warfare officer. He, too, went to SWOS and emerged as another cog in the Navy machine. He pursued a career through the years as a riverine boat officer and had the privilege of "playing in the sand" during the Invasion of Iraq. In 2003, his boat squadron was assigned to secure the Haditha Dam after US Army Rangers seized it. He spent several tours in the desert before finally reaching the end of that career path. While it seemed he would be stuck in a dead-end job with no opportunity for advancement (and, likely, a forced retirement), luck smiled upon him when it appeared that the Navy had an opening other than the restrictive "big Navy." This opening to new command and a potential future was the Navassa Island and OPTEVFOR. Seeing the romanticism of being a sailor on an experimental warship and subtly wishing for an actual conventional conflict instead of the confusing and frustrating insurgencies he fought, Flowers took the job and was assigned as the executive officer.

[Wernher]

|Ship Name: USS Unknown Soldier
|Ship Class: Zumwalt-S Class
|Ship Hull Classification Symbol: (T-AGS-55)
|Ship Role: Avionics Instrumentation Ships
|Armament:
-10x MK-57 VLS Modules
--RIM-161, 1 per cell
--RIM-9999 Electromagnetic Pulse Missile, 1 per cell
-Cray Collosus Super Computer
-GLARE laser.
-2 VTOL UAVs
|Dimensions:
-Displacement: 14,798 Tons
-Length: 600 ft. (180 m)
-Beam: 80.7 ft. (24.6 m)
-Draft: 27.6 ft. (8.4 m)
|Speed: Greater than 30 Knots (56 kmh/35 mph)
|Crew: 140
|Motto: I spy, with my high definition eye...
|Other:
Was made as a replacement for the aging tracking ship after one was destroyed in a terrible 'Accident' involving an Iranian missile launch, a speed boat filled with explosives and a lot of diplomatic tensions. The general idea was that, looking back at the old tracking ships, they were too civilian in nature and not as much suited in military espionage as they were in international watch. The frame of a stealth ship was addopted and the Zumwalt was selected and reconverted as to insure both economies in ship conception and give this ship a military frame that could be confused if it was ever concealed. In this frame they added quantities of Radar equipment, a sonar with pings powerful enough to kill any whales in a 20 miles radius and map the bottom of the sea but in adition to all these 'Standard equipment', a super computer was added for Code (Especially IFF) breaking and analysis as well as a low power laser to blind cameras and sensors from aircraft and satellites but most of all, a new prototype of EMP missile powerful and agile enough to shut down missiles and planes (Probably hamper some ships as well, although a conventional missile would do more damage), this to allow the recovery and analysis of such items with less damage than by destroying it with a conventional explosive. All the aditional equipment, especially the computer, have left the ship much less armed, most of its guns being decoys so as for it to seem like any other DDG. Remain however some RIM-161 that can serve anti-air purposes as well as anti-satelite ones.

Less technical details include 'Who's in command' of this ship. Naturally, naval intelligence proposed itself as the rightous operator. As did the airforce, CIA, NASA and even army. The army was shut down quickly and the NASA was determined to be too civilian, it could have whatever information was captured, but after. The air force was eventually rebuked to have only some guys on board but not the command. This left the navy and CIA. Ultimately both agreed to compromise that while the imediate operation of the ship would be the navy's duty, it would be someone in intelligence that would head it and the CIA officer had the right to propose that the next step should be at his discretion while the navy officer had the ultimate right to determine, considering the security of the ship and likelihood of success, if what the CIA suggested would be done. The officers they would put in place would ultimately prove to be this ship undoing which only a few weeks after its launch learned the reputation to be a diciplinary hell hole where everyone hates everyone.

|Captain's Name: Katarina Siegmeyer
+Appearance:

+Personality:
Kind of a Yeswoman, she rules by the book and always refer to said book for every situation and while she is incredible at reacting as long as she was told how to react, she often fails if the book didn't tell her how to deal with a situation. It could also be said that she kinda lacks initiative and creativity. She doesn't know how to deal with crews as this is her first real command and so tends to go with drastic diciplinary measures, making most of her own crew hate her guts.
+Bio:
Youngest of the Siegmeyer sisters, she was as academically successful as her oldest sister although since she always looked up to her tended to be more of the shadow type. Good at dealing with details but not so good at dealing with the main events. The tests failed to see that however and so she was put in command and she found herself dealing with others to the same standard she did herself, only accepting perfection, 'Good enough' being considered a failure.

|Name:
+Rank:
+Role:
+Appearance:

+Personality:
+Bio:

[Queen Raidne]

Silverwind Blade: Go for it! Quoting Gunther:

Gunther said I absolutely love Silverwing's idea. He asked for three of those boats. I would let him have five or six if he wanted to run with it. I would advise him to have boats that different primary roles and then overlap in the secondary roles. This is my suggestion to Silverwing. Take 1x Shaldag-class fast patrol boat (ASW primary; AAW secondary), and 2x Sa'ar 4.5-class missile boat, one of each subclass (ASuW boats). Now if he would like to take weapon systems from other ships in existence and create his own mock ups on a ~100 - 130 foot hull to have ASW, ASuW and AAW platforms that would be great. I love those small Israeli missile boats too.

Slypheed: Of course, all-female again. Haha! I find that way more amusing than I should. It's like Girls und Panzer, only with ships. ...Girls und Scharnhorst? A couple of comments: 3 years is a very short time for Skye to get a command, especially since she enlisted rather than going in as an officer. Secondly, I haven't really researched it, but there might be recreational bands on board Navy ships. I know that happens on carriers, but carriers are very large. Just something to keep in mind.

At any rate, if you fix the captain's experience/age/timeline, then it'll be accepted.

TheEvanCat: Accepted!

Wernher: Looks good so far, just finish the other crew sheet(s) [by the way, that second image is broken].

[TheFake]

Must say that this interests me.

I was thinking of playing a modern take on the Q-Ship concept. Similar to the original concept during WWi and WWII, it would have been designed to bait pirates and raiders.

[Slypheed]

Queen Raidne said Of course, all-female again. Haha! I find that way more amusing than I should. It's like Girls und Panzer, only with ships.
3 years is a very short time for Skye to get a command, especially since she enlisted rather than going in as an officer.

A. I love GuP :D

B. I wanted to keep Skye young, to fit her picture, didn't want to say 12-18 years and have the confusion of her picture being of someone who is in their early to mid twenties. But I understand what you mean, and I'll fix it right away :3

[TheEvanCat]

Typically a command for a smaller patrol ship would be less than someone else (who typically is a career officer of twenty years or so), but not three years. Three years enlisted is * maybe * a petty officer. However, she could be in her mid to late twenties because a smaller ship would have a more junior officer.

[Rare]

So when is the IC going to be posted?

[Rare]

Also, how many paragraphs do we have to post?

[TheEvanCat]

Someone do an intro.

[Rare]

Queen Raidne is on, maybe you can pop him/er) a PM.

[Gunther]

If we don't hear from Queen Raidne, I'll post an introduction later today.

[Wernher]

I'd also post an introduction, but the thing is I don't know what our GM had as plot idea.

[Gunther]

Wernher said
I'd also post an introduction, but the thing is I don't know what our GM had as plot idea.

The one thing she told me she intended to do was to not have an admiral or TF/JDF-1 commander. Since the only condition that would precipitate such an event is the death of the previous commander, Admiral Dumas is dead and now Captain Krol is speculating over who will take command of JDF-1. You don't have to agree with him. You all can make your own speculation since Admiral Dumas never mentioned a succession of command.

[TheFake]

Since nothing has kicked off and i never got a reply to my previous post, do you feel stepping in and giving me the go ahead for a character/ship sheet?

TheFake said
Must say that this interests me.I was thinking of playing a modern take on the Q-Ship concept. Similar to the original concept during WWi and WWII, it would have been designed to bait pirates and raiders.

[Gunther]

TheFake said
Since nothing has kicked off and i never got a reply to my previous post, do you feel stepping in and giving me the go ahead for a character/ship sheet?

I'm going to have to defer that decision to Queen Raidne. She has been pretty liberal with the types of ships she allows in here. I would say the Q-ship concept is obsolete today given Aegis Combat System, stealth aircraft and the ranges of Air and surface radars. On another note, that idea would be brilliant given a 1940s or 50s setting.