Royal Manticoran Navy

The Royal Manticoran Navy (abbreviated RMN) is a fictional space navy in the Honorverse, a long-running series of novels and stories written by David Weber and published by Baen Books.

The RMN is the navy of the small but wealthy commercial power, the Star Kingdom of Manticore, a interstellar power with striking resemblances to the United Kingdom. The RMN itself is a thinly-disguised copy of the United Kingdom's Age of Sail-era Royal Navy. Many parallels can be drawn from Honor Harrington to CS Forester's Horatio Hornblower series.

The Royal Manticoran Navy traces its origins to the early days of the Manticore Colony. The original colonists had left a considerable amount of money on Earth to guard its interests before they arrived to Manticore (a voyage that took seven centuries). Amongst other things, with the invention of safe hyper travel (which reduced the journey time to months rather than centuries) the Manticore Colony Trust used this money and the accrued interest to acquire four small frigates which were dispatched to protect the system from claim jumpers; when the colony ship Jason arrived these formed the start of the Manticorian Navy. For the next decades the Manticoran System Navy remained a small system defense fleet. Under the command of Commodore Edward Saganami, the RMN became a force to be reckoned with, and the following discovery of the Manticore Wormhole Junction changed the RMN, as the fleet expanded to protect Manticore's growing merchant marine. As the threat of the People's Republic of Haven loomed, King Roger III and Prime Minister Allen Summervale began a naval buildup program which placed the RMN as one of the largest fleets in human space.

Command Structure
The King or Queen of Manticore is the Commander-in-Chief of the Manticoran armed forces. The civilian head of the Royal Manticoran Navy is known as the First Lord of Admiralty, who handles the overall coordination of naval policy as directed by the Cabinet. Another civilian official, the Second Lord of Admiralty, is responsible for the budgetary and fiscal management of the RMN. The Third Lord of Admiralty concerns with health and manpower.

Below the Lords of Admiralty are the Space Lords, the senior uniformed officers in the RMN. Each Space Lord handles a specific branch, or bureau, of the RMN:


 * First Space Lord: The senior active-duty officer in the Royal Manticoran Navy, responsible for overall strategic direction, force structure management and deployment.
 * Second Space Lord: Handles operational and tactical planning and is the head of the Office of Naval Intelligence. Heads the Bureau of Planning (BuPlan)
 * Third Space Lord: Oversees construction and maintenance of warships in accordance with directions from the Second Lord of Admiralty. Heads the Bureau of Ships (BuShips)
 * Fourth Space Lord: Responsible for research and development of new systems for the Navy. Heads the Bureau of Weapons (BuWeaps)
 * Fifth Space Lord: Manages recruitment and manpower, and oversees transfers and placement of naval personnel. Heads the Bureau of Personnel (BuPers)
 * Sixth Space Lord: Responsible for the training and education of Manticoran naval personnel in accordance with the Third Lord of Admiralty and the Fifth Space Lord. Heads the Bureau of Training (BuTrain)
 * Seventh Space Lord: In charge of the health and medical treatment of all Fleet personnel, and administers Naval Hospitals. Heads the Medical Bureau (BuMed)

Ranks
Flag Officers

Flag officers of Rear Admiral or higher are "of the Red" or "of the Green" (for example, "Rear Admiral of the Red Mark Sarnow" or "Admiral of the Green Hamish Alexander"), indicating seniority. Being a flag officer of the Red indicates recent promotion to the rank, while the Green is the senior division. The rank of Commodore is excluded from this system.

Historically the RMN was divided into 'Manticore' (Green) and 'Gryphon' (Red) squadrons. This is retained in that the senior half of each flag rank is in the Green division and flies a green flag. The junior half flies a red flag. Commodores have black broad pennants (swallowtailed) as they are not properly flag officers. Fleet Admirals and the Admiral of the Fleet are not split in this way either.

Commissioned Officers

The rank of Captain (Senior Grade) is also known as "Captain of the List", as they are on the official Captain's List, a list of every serving officer who has reached the rank of captain (SG), ranked in order of seniority which is determined by the date that an officer reaches the rank of Captain (SG). Once a Captain of the List, an officer is guaranteed promotion to the rank of Admiral as they gain seniority.

Warrant Officers

Non-commissioned Officers

Enlisted Personnel

(The NATO standard ranking system has been applied as used in the Military Rank articles. OF=Officer, OR=Other Ranks.)

The RMN has "Warrant Officers"; these are non-commissioned officers who have been promoted but not given a commission. In terms of seniority their ranks are equivalent from Lieutenant (JG) to Commander, but they are not in the chain of command. A Warrant Officer would then occupy a specialist position normally held by an officer, such as in engineering.

Midshipmen follow the Royal Navy pattern, to a point. They do not fill the role of Ensign; otherwise they are nearly identical, to the point of being some form of Warrant Officer.

Historical Basis

This rank structure is clearly based on the old Royal Navy. The distinction between senior and junior-grade Captains is similar to RN captains historically wearing one epaulette if they had less than three years' seniority. Promotion to flag rank was on the basis of seniority on the Captain's List. The RN also split flag ranks into Blue, White and Red divisions (in ascending order) on the basis of seniority. See Admiral for an article dealing with this.

This is only based on history, and there are some differences, especially in the seniority rules. For example, in the RN of the day, Commodore was an appointment rather than a rank, and was conferred on Captains lacking the seniority for promotion to flag rank. In the RMN, Commodore is a substantive rank, and the promotion any Captain of the List is guaranteed if they live long enough. Alice Truman was jumped directly from Captain of the List to Rear Admiral, while Honor Harrington was promoted from Commodore to full Admiral in the RMN.

Technology
Like all navies in the Honorverse, the RMN uses starships which are designed remarkably like Age of Sail men-of-war, with a moderate "chase" armament mounted in the bow and stern of the ship, and the main firepower of the ship concentrated in its broadsides. A typical broadside for a light cruiser might contain several laser or graser (a gamma-ray laser lensed by artificial gravity) cannon and seven to ten missile tubes; a typical broadside for a super-dreadnought (the largest class of capital ship in the Honorverse, over three kilometers in length and massing over eight million tons) might have a dozen or more times as many weapons in raw numbers, each individual weapon mount also being much more powerful than the light cruiser's battery. Because of the nature of Honorverse propulsion, "fighters" are presumed to be unworkable; the smallest possible effective warship is the light attack craft (LAC), massing 20,000-30,000 tons (LACs cannot travel through hyperspace, however, they must be towed through it by tenders or carried in aircraft carrier-like ships called CLACs).

There are also two major schools of tactical thought in the RMN: the Traditionalists, led by Admiral of the Green Hamish Alexander, and the jeune ecole, led by Admiral of the Green Lady Sonja Hemphill. Admiral Hemphill and her faction is dedicated to developing new hardware, like the grav lance.

Consistent with the napoleonic-era theme, there are a number of modern technologies and inovations which are not present. Given the military setting, missile staging (allowing terminal guidance), missile buses (allowing one missile to cary many warheads), and cruise missiles (optimised for system wide range at low speed) are especially notable in their absence. On at least one occasion readers are asked to believe the RMN build ships with only one radio, or at least only radio room. Computer technology also seems antiquated, as on many occasions the only link between Control A and Equipment B is severed; indicating the RMN is unfamiliar with packet-switching technology. Judging from how easily they are damaged, the radar sets fitted to RMN ships do not appear to be phased-array sets, which could be spread out over the entire hull and hence relatively invaulnerable. The author states that 'fighters are impractical in the antiwarship role' but does not explain they are impractical in all the other roles they are used in today. Official diagrams show that while anti-ship missiles are very large, the warheads are roughly man-sized, and hence could be carried and deployed by non capital ships. Hence pinance sized craft should in theory be capable of acting in the strategic-bomber role (against large fixed targets; like planets) or a very limited anti-shipping role (by dropping warheads in a ships path if nothing else). RMN task forces do not appear to routinely include fleet-tender vessels, which is common practice today.

There seems a substantial gap between what the characters say is possible, and what technology would imply is possible. An analogy could be made with pre-tank trench warfare, or pre-Perl Harbour naval warfare. There were no fumdimental rules that prevented the existance of the tank, but no one had built one yet. The author seems aware of this gap, and has on at least one occcasion exploited it as a plot device.

RMN space ship classes and ships
The RMN has a "List of Honor". Ships whose crews distinguish themselves in combat may be placed on this list; the ship's name is then kept on active duty in perpetuity. Any time a ship with a name from that list is destroyed in combat or scrapped (due to obsolescence or damage too expensive to repair), a new vessel is commissioned with the same name. Ships on the List of Honor include HMS Nike and HMS Fearless.

Superdreadnoughts The Harrington class is a series of ships with the same design as the Medusa but deployed by Grayson. When it was believed that Honor Harrington was dead, as a sign of respect Manticore decided to call their ships the Harrington class. When Honor Harrington was discovered to be alive, Manticore changed the class name back to Medusa. Manticore never deployed an HMS Honor Harrington.
 * King William class
 * HMS King William
 * HMS King Roger
 * HMS King Michael
 * HMS Queen Caitrin
 * Manticore class
 * HMS Manticore
 * Sphinx class
 * HMS Sphinx
 * Gryphon class
 * HMS Gryphon
 * Medusa class (formerly known as the Harrington class)
 * HMS Medusa
 * HMS Belisarius
 * HMS Troubadour
 * HMS Thunderer
 * HMS Trevor's Star
 * HMS Yeltsin's Star
 * HMS Barnett
 * HMS Hancock
 * Samothrace class (obsolete)
 * HMS Hercules

Dreadnoughts
 * Unidentified class &mdash; these ships were mentioned in a post by David Weber as forming part of Honor Harrington's fleet during the Second Battle of Marsh, see
 * HMS Horatius
 * HMS Minerva
 * HMS Romulus
 * HMS Starcrest
 * HMS Highlander
 * HMS Prince Charles
 * HMS Admiral D'Orville
 * HMS Yawata
 * HMS Winton
 * HMS Duke of New Madrid
 * HMS Prince Malachai
 * HMS Duke Winter Mount
 * HMS Prince Royal
 * HMS Harrier
 * HMS Conquest
 * HMS Nicator
 * HMS Kathryn Howard
 * HMS Challenger
 * HMS Revenge
 * HMS Ibrahim
 * HMS Defender
 * HMS Morning Star
 * HMS Excalibur
 * HMS Macedonian
 * Invictus class
 * HMS Invictus
 * HMS Intolerant
 * HMS Intransigent
 * HMS Imperator
 * Majestic class
 * Bellerophon class
 * HMS Bellerophon

LAC Carriers Battlecruisers
 * Unidentified class &mdash; these ships were mentioned in a post by David Weber as forming part of Honor Harrington's fleet during the Second Battle of Marsh, see
 * HMS Grendelsbane
 * HMS Prince Nicholas
 * HMS Scepter
 * HMS Matador
 * HMS Earl Sydon
 * HMS Baroness Bellisle
 * Minotaur class
 * HMS Minotaur
 * HMS Chimera
 * HMS Cockatrice
 * HMS Werewolf
 * HMS Centaur
 * Redoubtable class
 * HMS Defiant
 * HMS Invincible
 * HMS Intolerant
 * HMS Onslaught
 * Homer class
 * HMS Achilles
 * HMS Agamemnon
 * HMS Cassandra
 * Reliant class
 * HMS Nike (BC-413 - Renamed Hancock Station)
 * HMS Reliant
 * Agamemnon class
 * HMS Achilles
 * HMS Agamemnon
 * HMS Ajax
 * HMS Hector
 * HMS Patrocles
 * HMS Priam
 * Nike class
 * HMS Nike (BC-562)

Heavy Cruisers Light Cruisers Destroyers Royal Yachts Museum Ships
 * Unidentified class &mdash; these ships were mentioned in a post by David Weber as forming part of Honor Harrington's fleet during the Second Battle of Marsh, see, or have been named in published Honorverse works but not identified by class.
 * HMS Repulse
 * HMS Retaliation
 * HMS Royalist
 * HMS Athena
 * HMS Atropos
 * HMS Victorious
 * HMS Vengeance
 * HMS Valiant
 * HMS Relentless
 * HMS Mars
 * HMS Shiva
 * HMS Triumphant
 * HMS Glory
 * HMS Furious
 * HMS Dresden
 * HMS Ishtar
 * HMS Hecate
 * HMS Viper
 * HMS Venom
 * HMS Truculent
 * HMS Implacable
 * HMS Champion
 * HMS Hector
 * HMS Braveheart
 * Crusader class
 * HMS Crusader
 * Prince Consort class
 * HMS Prince Adrian
 * Star Knight class
 * HMS Alchemist
 * HMS Cantrip
 * HMS Circe
 * HMS Conjurer
 * HMS Druidess
 * HMS Enchanter (Destroyed)
 * HMS Fearless (CA-218)
 * HMS Magician
 * HMS Magus
 * HMS Merlin
 * HMS Necromancer
 * HMS Oracle
 * HMS Runebearer
 * HMS Santander
 * HMS Seeress
 * HMS Shaman
 * HMS Sorcerer
 * HMS Star Knight (Destroyed)
 * HMS Star Ranger (Destroyed)
 * HMS Thaumaturge
 * HMS Warlock (Scrapped)
 * HMS Vigilant
 * Edward Saganami class
 * HMS Edward Saganami
 * Edward Saganami B class
 * HMS Gauntlet
 * Edward Saganami C class
 * HMS Hexapuma
 * Unknown class
 * HMS Jessica Epps
 * Courageous class (obsolete)
 * HMS Audacious
 * HMS Defiant
 * HMS Fearless (CL-56 - Scrapped)
 * HMS Gallant
 * Apollo class
 * HMS Apollo
 * HMS Agni
 * HMS Amaterasu
 * HMS Adonai
 * HMS Arethusa
 * HMS Athena
 * Avalon class
 * HMS Aegis
 * HMS Arrowhead (class unknown)
 * Falcon class (obsolete)
 * HMS Hawkwing
 * Linnet class
 * HMS Linnet
 * Chanson class
 * HMS Balladeer
 * HMS Madrigal
 * HMS Oracle
 * HMS Plain Song
 * HMS Troubadour
 * HMS Windsong
 * HMS Rondeau
 * HMS Aria
 * HMS Queen Adrianne
 * HMS Duke of Cromarty
 * HMS Unconquered