Imperial Naval Fleet

The Imperial Naval Fleet (Latin: Classis Imperialis), also known as the Caphirian Navy, or the Navy of Caphiria, is the naval warfare service branch of the Imperial Armed Forces of Caphiria, serving as the navy of the Imperium of Caphiria. With a budget of $748 billion and 2.6 million active crewmen, along with several thousand officers, the navy of Caphiria is the smallest branch of the Imperial military by personnel, despite boasting over seven hundred ships of varying sizes and classes. In the past few decades, the Imperial Aerial Defense Force has taken on many of the duties of the navy, namely their most important one of patrolling Imperial waters. Nevertheless, its importance to the Caphirian economy can not be overstated due to its necessity for controlling Caphiria's assets at sea.

Founded in the heat of the First Thyriasian War, the Caphirian Navy has been instrumental in the Caphirian conquest of the Ecinis Sea, but it never enjoyed the prestige of the Imperial Legion. Throughout their history, the Caphirians remained a primarily land-based people and relied partially on their more nautically inclined subjects, such as the Cartadanians and the Chimor, to build their ships. Because of that, the navy was never completely embraced by the Caphirian state, and deemed somewhat "un-Caphirian". In antiquity, navies and trading fleets did not have the logistical autonomy that modern ships and fleets possess. Unlike modern naval forces, the navy even at its height never existed as an autonomous service but operated as an adjunct to the Caphirian army. The Navy would not become its own separate branch until after the Second Civil War.

Following the First Great War, during which the Imperial Navy was a crucial player, the Kiravians emerged from relative isolation and began to put their newly built industry to churning out ships to protect their trade routes. By the end of the 20th century, the Kiravian Maritime Executive had greatly surpassed the Imperial Navy and are even now the foremost navy on the planet. Whilst still behind the Kiravians, the Caphirian Navy continues to lead the world in naval technologies, particularly in the fields of robotics and emergent technology.

The Navy retains a special sense of prestige within the culture of the Imperium which has largely been diluted in the air force and the lower rankings of the Army. Similarly to Army officers, naval personnel are considered a type of modern chivalric order, with a lesser sense of nobility attached to service in the navy due to institutional pressure placed on sailors to maintain the Navy’s legacy. Of the various lobbies in the Navy, many saw Caphiria’s performance during the Great Wars, particularly the Second, as shameful, leading to an intense need to curry the favor of the Imperators and portray the navy as a national symbol. =Mission= The INF's main roles consist of the projection of Imperial prestige, the defense of the metropolitan Empire, the deterrence of potential attacking forces, and mine/submarine warfare. To perform these roles, the Navy emphasizes large numbers of frigate and corvette-class vessels in the 2000-6000 ton range. As a result, it fields a great number of smaller destroyers and similarly-sized craft reliant on swarm tactics to allow the navy to outmatch any attacking force, easily provide overlapping defenses at sea, and theoretically absorb severe losses while remaining combat effective. In addition, the Navy maintains a large wing of submarines of all types, while a small core of prestige ships and carrier-type vessels provide the capacity for long-range sealift scaled to the Imperium’s scattered colonial possessions.

Strategic Doctrine
Caphirian naval planning consists largely of a four-layered defensive strategy: proactive engagement of enemy forces, prevention of entry into the Urlazian and Talion Seas (‘Home’ Seas), contest control of the Home Seas, and prevent landings (or securing of beachheads, failing that). Generally, the Caphirian Navy plans for phase 1 and 2, with 3 and 4 being emergency contingencies. Proactive engagement heavily involves larger destroyers and capital ships, including the fleet carriers and cruisers, supported by land-based air wings and missile sites where possible. Prevention of entry to the Home Seas engages the majority of the surface fleet as is the most robustly planned layer of defense, with eight dedicated squadrons of destroyers permanently on standby to counter enemy battlegroups. In the case of an invasion of the Home Seas, it is expected that the Navy will have consistent land-based support even if the entirety of Urlazio has fallen to enemy forces. In this phase, mass expenditure of missiles makes the survival of enemy naval assets mathematically unlikely, effectively stalemating a conflict.

Imperial submarine doctrine is mainly thought out in terms of sea denial around the Home Seas and potentially the Sea of Canete depending on the opposing forces. In this role, Caphirian attack submarines individually harass enemy battlegroups, ideally delaying and distracting task forces during attacks by surface vessels to overwhelm command and control abilities and create gaps in an enemy response for exploitation. Nuclear submarines, on the contrary, prowl worldwide, providing 24-7 short-range nuclear strike capability in conjunction with land-based nuclear strike capabilities. Functionally, Caphirian cruisers are also capable of launching lower-yield nuclear warheads, but whether they do so is not known.

Operational Doctrine
Modern Imperial naval battle doctrine mainly relies on the use of massed missile salvos to overwhelm counter-missile and CWIS defenses, typically with a number of cheaper, lighter missiles screening for heavier munitions staged to strike simultaneously or momentarily after the first wave impacts. Caphiria was the first country to develop coordinated-fire systems for use with missiles launched from multiple platforms, with the first system, ORACLE, put into use in the 1980s. The current ORACLE-VII system remains ship-mounted but is capable of coordinating missile fire from aircraft and ships alike.

Caphirian warships favored arm-mounted missiles on its ships late into the 70s, investing in rapid-reload systems fitted to batteries below the deck for a continuous barrage capability until it became clear that tube launchers were too resource-efficient to ignore. Until the early 2000s, Caphirian ships still featured arm launchers on auxiliary ships and as stowable tertiary armaments.

In 1986, following live Burgundine tests of the first Vertical Launch System, Caphiria, like Urcea, began development of its own VLS. The Pilum ‘90 system proved unreliable, with two incidents of hot-launching missiles leading to early detonation of munitions onboard. Caphiria went on to employ the first cold-launch VLS in 1996 (the Pilum ’95), and would go on to be the first widely-deployed VLS system, seeing use in several classes of missile cruiser and destroyer until the introduction of Pilum ’11.

In an offensive situation, the Imperial Navy bases its strike groups around a fleet carrier or auxiliary carrier, similarly to most nations capable of fielding carrier assets. However, Imperial strike groups abroad have a larger contingent of resupply ships to account for the shorter ranges its ships are designed for, as well as several cruisers instead of one command cruiser to alleviate the need for a larger baggage train that numerous destroyers would require. This has lead to the practice of stationing partial squadrons of small craft at Caphirian overseas bases to provide local bubbles of defense rather than rotating ships between long-range postings as needed, creating conditions for both local shakedowns and a geopolitical desire for ‘base chains’ linking Caphirian possessions globally.

Top-level Leadership
The Navy of Caphiria is administered through the Office of the Navy, itself a function of the Ministry of War. Militarily speaking, the highest position in the Navy is Admirallis (Admiral). Although still subordinate to the Prime Minister of the Navy, the Admirallis has total command over all officers of the Navy and is usually the one to lead important naval movements. Furthermore, the Envoy of the Navy (Nuntius Nauticus) attends virtually all Caetus Legati, representing the Admiral and thereby giving direct influence over affairs in the Legion. The Imperial Commander is however his superior, and is actually superior to all other military positions in the Imperium. On the global scale, there are the four Fleet Commanders (Magistrassis) who each lead one of the High Fleets of Caphiria. These fleets are classed as Omnium, Levantine, Odoneru, and Aquilonem. Although militarily speaking all four Magistrassis are of equal ranking, the Magistrassis Omnium is the second most prestigious military position in the Navy. Though Fleet Commanders rarely attend the Caetus Legati, they do have their own informal military council where they coordinate global affairs and discuss maritime strategy as well as represent Caphirian interests in international seas.

Below the Fleet Commanders are the 32 Fleet Prefects (Praefectus Classis), officers who lead the individual fleets of the High Fleets. A Fleet Commander is responsible for the operation, resourcing and training of the ships, submarines and aircraft, and personnel, of his fleet. The position is highly coveted and considered one of the most obtainable and prestigious ranks within the Navy. A Fleet Prefect may also be responsible for a dozen more commands, depending on the location of the fleet.

Operational Leadership
Subordinate to the Fleet Prefect are the 200+ Squadron Commanders (Nauarchi), who controls anywhere between 8 to 14 ships of varying types. The Squadron Commander is considered the first active-duty commanding officer as they are usually always on the front lines giving practical orders. A Squadron Commander may command his own ship or simply control the squadron from the prima navis (First Ship). While the prima navis is not the crown jewel of a particular fleet in theory, in practice it is one of the most vital components to a fleet. All of the orders from the upper command is relayed to the ship, who then relays the information to the rest of the fleet. Individual ships are led by a Naval Captain (Trierarchus). Captains are promoted by Fleet Commanders and no more than 50% of eligible commanders are able to be promoted to captain after serving a minimum of three years at their present rank and after attaining 21–23 years of cumulative commissioned service, although this percentage may be appreciably less, contingent on force structure and the needs of the service. There are variations to Captains, some may command a nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine while others may command aircraft carrier strike groups or expeditionary strike groups. Regardless of their ship type and size, Captains are of equal ranking, with their only commanding officer being the Fleet Prefect.

A mid-rank officer onboard a ship, regardless of specific rank, is called a Classiarius. A Classiarius is responsible for the command of groups of sailors and petty officers in various divisions including the deck department, engineering, and others. These are essentially officers aboard the ship and do not perform the more menial duties. Navy lieutenants are eligible to receive the position of First Lieutenant, a special billet that provides exceptional officers with enhanced leadership and responsibilities. A First Lieutenant often serves as second in command aboard small naval ships, including frigates and destroyers, or as the senior Division Officer on a larger vessel. The base rank for a soldier in the Navy is Remex, essentially the crewmen on board the ship.

Personnel Structure
Unlike the other branches of the IAF, every member of the Navy (exc. Fleet Commanders), regardless of their ranking, would usually find themselves "on the field", so to speak. The Admiral assumes Captain of the Flagship, the largest and most powerful ship in the Caphirian armada. A Fleet Commander will usually command the largest battleship in their High Fleet, though they usually did not act as the captain. Another way in which this contrasts with the Admiral is that whilst the Fleet Commanders were in a battleship, the Flagship of the Admiral has long been an aircraft carrier. Although the fleet structure varies from Fleet to Fleet, the individual fleets themselves are virtually identical, and the general structure of the entire Navy is:
 * (General of the Imperial Armed Forces)
 * (Ministry of War)
 * (Ministry of the Navy)
 * Ministry of Maritime Affairs (Praeministrum Nauticum) - administers the overall administrative functions of the Navy
 * Admiral of the Navy (Admirallis) - leads the entire naval forces
 * Envoy of the Navy (Nuntius Nauticus) - represents the Admiral in administrative and political situations
 * 4 High Fleet Commanders (Magistrassis) - each leading one of the High Fleets of Caphiria: Omnium Fleet, Levantine Fleet, Odoneru Fleet, Aquilonem Fleet
 * 32 Fleet Prefects (Praefectus Classis) - leading each individual fleet within a High Fleet
 * 224 Squadrons (Nauarchus) - commanding 8 to 14 ships of varying types
 * 2688 Naval Captains (Trierarchus) (+250 Officer Flagships) - leading individual ships
 * 53,760 Helmsmen ('Classiarii) - mid ranking naval officers
 * 1,140,000 Crewmen (Remiges) - basic crewmen

Vessels Operated

 * 2 battleships
 * 4 fleet carriers
 * 1 light carrier (training vessel)
 * 9 helicopter carriers/amphibious support carriers
 * 28 heavy landing craft
 * 48 cruisers
 * 153 destroyers
 * 131 frigates and corvettes
 * Approx. 230 missile boats
 * 34 replenishment ships
 * 84 mine warfare/countermeasure vessels
 * 73 diesel attack submarines
 * 17 nuclear-propulsion attack submarines
 * 32 nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines


 * 98 auxiliary ships

Squadrons
The INF operates a total of 56 squadrons: