Grayson Space Navy

The Grayson Navy are the space forces for the planet Grayson, a space nation in the Honor Harrington universe created by the science fiction author David Weber.

In the internal history of the Honorverse, Grayson was settled by emigrants from Earth motivated by their religion, which called for a withdrawal from the technocratic society of Earth, a society the future inhabitants of Grayson believed to be subversive of true human potential and spirituality. The planet picked for the settlememnt was one very rich in heavy metals; local life had adapted, but human settlers suffered a very high death rate as well as a high rate of non-lethal, but debilitating poisonings from the high environmentyal levels of lead, mercury and antimony. The settlers' biology has partially adapted since, but to this day, agriculture on Grayson remains a chancy undertaking, and food Graysonites eat with safety can still poison an outsider.

Until Grayson joined the Manticoran Alliance, the Grayson Navy was hopelessly obsolete, and most of it was destroyed during a brief war with its neighbor Masada, just before it officially joined the Manticoran Alliance (Two Manticoran destroyers were also lost during the incident, with two cruisers badly damaged.)

After joining the Alliance, Grayson received massive technological boosts from Manticore, and quickly rebuilt its navy with the new technology. Grayson ships are different from Manticoran, Havenite, and Andermani ships in that they mount fewer weapons, but the weapons themselves are much larger. Later Manticoran and Grayson ship designs were designed in concert and are largely similar in design and function., and newer manticoran designs have been influenced by the success of Grayson-designed ships.

Due to difficulties developing fusion technology, the Graysons continued to use fission reactors long after other nations had switched to fusion power. This meant that the Graysons developed fission reactors that were far smaller, safer, and more efficient than almost anyone else in the galaxy. This technology was taken by Manticore, and used to develop more advanced recon drones, LACs, and, eventually, missiles. Also, in developing their own version of the internal compensator, the Graysons used a method that "everyone knew wouldn't work," but which actually did. Manticore perfected this technology once the Grayson's demonstrated that it was practical, giving the alliances ships a decided advantage in acceleration over the Havanites.

The Grayson Navy has no Marines. All shipboard troops are from the Grayson Army. Grayson Steadholders (roughly equivilant to Manticoran Dukes) are required to keep at least three of their armsmen (personal bodyguards) with them, even while on duty.

The Grayson Navy consists of its main navy, with its regular chain of command, and the Protector's Own Squadron, which answers directly to the Protector, ruler of Grayson, currently commanded by Admiral Steadholder Honor Harrington, the Protector's Champion, with Admiral Alfredo Yu as her second-in-command. The Protector's Own is an oddity in itself, since a large portion of its personnel are expatriates and former prisoners of the People's Republic of Haven, which the Manticoran Alliance is currently at war with.

Grayson ships have the prefix "GNS" (Grayson Navy Ship)

Grayson Navy ship classes and ships
Superdreadnoughts LAC Carriers Battlecruisers Heavy Cruisers Light Cruisers Destroyers
 * Manticore's Gift-class - this class is composed by eleven captured People's Navy superdreadnoughts.
 * GNS Manticore's Gift
 * GNS Courageous
 * GNS Furious
 * GNS Glorious
 * GNS Magnificent
 * GNS Terrible
 * GNS Vengeance
 * Benjamin the Great-class
 * GNS Benjamin the Great
 * Honor Harrington-class
 * GNS Honor Harrington
 * GNS George Hanson *
 * GNS Hector Ferelli *
 * GNS Abraham Honeywell *
 * GNS Isaac Santorini *
 * GNS Barbara Bancroft *
 * GNS Jason Mueller *
 * GNS Andrew Massengil *
 * GNS Mason Luttrell *
 * GNS Seneca Gilmore
 * Covington-class
 * GNS Covington
 * GNS Austin Grayson
 * GNS Judah
 * GNS Glory
 * GNS Saul
 * GNS David
 * Raoul Courvosier-class
 * GNS Madrigal
 * GNS Raoul Courvosier
 * Raoul Courvosier II-class
 * GNS Bernard Yanakov *
 * GNS Janice Yountz *
 * GNS Alice Manwairing *
 * GNS Michael Riaan *
 * GNS Randolph Candless *
 * Jason Alvarez-class
 * GNS Jason Alvarez
 * Austin Grayson-class
 * GNS Austin Grayson
 * GNS Covington
 * GNS Glory
 * Nathan-class
 * GNS Nathan
 * Ararat-class
 * GNS Ararat
 * GNS David
 * GNS Saul
 * GNS Judah

Those ships marked with a (*) were mentioned in a post by David Weber as forming part of Honor Harrington's fleet during the Second Battle of Marsh, see