Royal Sealift Company
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The Royal Sealift Company (RSC) is a major Urcean shipbuilding and engineering company, with its primary shipyard located in Beldra on the coast of the Odoneru Ocean. Founded in 1861, RSC has built private, commercial, and military vessels, most of which have been ordered by the Royal Navy. The RSC has been responsible for many of the pioneering developments in the history of the Royal Navy, such as its first dreadnought class, the Archduchy-class battleship, as well as its first aircraft carrier class, the Canaery-class aircraft carrier. The Royal Sealift Company is the largest shipbuilding corporation in Urcea. It is a member of the Aerospace and Defense Guild.
| Industry | Shipbuilding |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1861 |
| Headquarters | Beldra, Urcea |
| Number of locations | 4 |
| Area served | Levantia |
| Key people | Michael Grathal Scarra (Founder) |
| Website | sealift.com |
History
The Royal Sealift Company was one of many shipbuilding enterprises opened during the reign of King Aedanicus VIII, who started a massive project of construction and modernization of the Royal Navy. Michael Grathal Scarra, an engineer and one-time manager at a whaling shipyard in Carolina, saw the potential profits to be made from Royal Navy contracts and quickly purchased land to build drydocks as quickly as possible. After acquiring the land, Scarra reached out to his network of naval engineers and managers to form the Royal Sealift Company in 1861. The diversity of experience and backgrounds of his network of contacts proved invaluable, as the Royal Sealift Company's corps of engineers were soon considered to be one of the most pioneering in Urcea. This reputation allowed it to survive the end of the shipbuilding boom in the 1870s as the market began to contract to a few companies. Briefly doing business as the Regal Sealift Company during the regency of Gréagóir FitzRex, the company was in contact with the Legitimist movement during the Red Interregnum and intentionally slowed production of ships for the Regal Navy. Scarra, a committed monarchist, also provided details of orders and the specifications of the ships he constructed during the conflict to the Legitimists and their allies. Receiving a full pardon from King Patrick III for any collaboration with the Regency, Scarra received several decorations from the King before his death in 1904. Scarra's son, Lucás Scarra, became the head of the company on his father's death, and he began to work closely with many of the radical naval theorists from Burgundie that the King kept close by. The second shipbuilding boom led to a massive expansion of the company as it became one of the largest shipbuilding firms in Levantia. The "golden era" of the company, the Royal Sealift Company designed and constructed Urcea's first dreadnought, the HMCMS Royal Hound, earning it international fame. The Royal Sealift Company eclipsed its competitors to become the largest naval contractor in Urcea by 1915, and it had an initial public offering in 1923. The Royal Sealift Company played an instrumental role in the expansion of the Royal Navy just prior to the Second Great War and was responsible for producing hundreds of ships during the conflict, earning it the admiration of the public and the Government of Urcea. During the war, it became one of Urcea's largest corporations, a position it maintains through the present.