Operation Dyre-Storm 87

Operation Dyre-Storm 87
Alduro-Wechua & Constancian corvettes on convoy escort duties, 1687 AN
Date 19.I.1687 AN–08.III.1688 AN Location North Raynor Sea, Dyre Straits, Sea of Storms, Jaris Result Transfer of ESB personnel to the International Mandate; Consolidation of beachhead around Ijubicastagrad Harbor; Transfer of Ijubicastagrad Harbor to Alduro-Wechua armed forces.
Belligerents
Raspur Pact  Alduria-Wechua  Constancia  Floria  Unified Governorates	Krasnocoria (fmr.)	Pirate clans Vanic Remnant
Units involved
Trans-Euran Command Aqabah Command Fleet Command Aqaba Fleet Togafaga Station Nivardom Command Task Force 1687-01 General Service Corps Maritime Armada Task Force 1687-01  Kerularios & Company	9th Corps (Elmaovo)
Strength
1 x aircraft carrier 1 x missile cruiser 2 x helicopter carriers 3 x arsenal ships 15 x missile corvettes 40 x cargo vessels 54 x armed auxiliary vessels 71 x logistic support ships 100 x operator directed torpedoes 200 x guided munitions (piloted) 8,520 x Constancian troops various aviation assets
Casualties and losses
1 x naval rating (missing)

A large scale naval operation organised by the Trans-Euran Command and supported by the Maritime Armada to escort a convoy marshalled by Kerularios & Company, sailing from Aqaba to Punta Santiago for its first leg to deliver raw materials and capital goods exchanged for scheduled oil deliveries made by Alduria over the previous year. After a brief layover to permit the change of command from Constancian to Alduria-Wechuan naval forces the convoy would proceed thence from Punta Santiago to Nivardom carrying consumer produce and foodstuffs for the Principality of Molivadia, before finally concluding with a third and final sailing from Nivardom to the Port of Jirishanca to deliver construction materials and labourers on behalf of the Honourable Company. The third leg of the convoy's journey would however never be completed as the assembled naval force and merchant shipping was re-tasked to Elmaovo in order to support the evacuation of the Honourable Company's brokerage which had been imperilled by the failure of the Krasnocorian state.

Background

For the three decades after the War of Lost Brothers maritime trade between the members of the Raspur Pact, particularly where it involved the transit between ports located in different continental theatre commands, were conducted exclusively via escorted convoys. For the longest time these convoys were organised as trade fleets by the Natopian maritime trading company SATCo, with onboard security for merchant vessels provided by the contracted Maritime Support Group and a strong force of escorting corvettes typically provided by the continental theatre command from whence the convoy made its outbound journey.

The greatest peril for allied mariners during that time had been that faced by coastal shipping, which had not been obligated for the most part - excepting in instances ordered by local or national maritime authorities - to sail in convoy. These then faced the full fury of unrestricted yet flimsily denied Bassarid piracy where those merchantmen and trading companies who could not afford onboard security teams were obliged to rely upon the response times of coastal patrol vessels and land based aviation to avoid being extorted or having their cargo seized. This situation increasingly favoured those corporations who could rely upon their own resources or state patronage - the two most notable of these being the Honourable Company, no stranger to privateering itself, and Kerularios & Company. The latter of the two in particular was able to leverage the strength of its shipping fleet and its favourable connections with the court of the Autokrator in Astérapolis to dominate the coastal carrying trade in Euran littoral waters.

First leg: Aqabah to Punta Santiago

• 19.I.1687 - convoy departed Aqaba.
• Uneventful. Narrative to follow.
• 04.II.1687 - convoy shadowed by Task Force 1687-1
• 10.II.1687 - convoy arrived Punta Santiago.
• Cargo unloaded - TBC.
• 12.II.1687–02.III.1687 - Logistic Support Vessels adapted with ramps and storage for F-11GM Florentine taken onboard from Togafaga Station. CSAF-FAF pilots and maintenance crews taken onto strength of ships companies. Familiarisation drills conducted for Rocket Assisted Catapult Launcher system.

Second leg: Punta Santiago to Nivardom

• 02.III.1687 – 05.III.1687 - loading of cargo.
• 06.III.1687 - convoy departed Punta Santiago.
• Uneventful. Narrative to follow.
• 17.III.1687 - convoy turned to the north to evade off-season hurricane.
  • Naval rating lost overboard from the Logistic Support Vessel, the KP Haurvatat.
• 19.III.1687 - convoy returns to south-south-westerly course.
• 10.V.1687 - convoy arrived Nivardom.
• Cargo unloaded TBC.

Re-tasking: Nivardom to Elmaovo

• V–VII.1687 - merchant vessels assigned to local shipping movements in Gulf of Zinjibar. Convoy escort groups assigned to concurrent anti-piracy sweep.
• 05.VII.1687 - merchant vessels & escort forces reassembled in anchorages off the Nivardom Roads.
• 11.VII.1687 - Krasnocorian government falls.
• 14.VII.1687 - Sylvanian National Awakening.
• 16.VII.1687 - convoy and escort groups placed under Task Force 1687-01.
• 17.VII.1687 - loading of cargo and passengers halted.
• 20.VII.1687 - disembarkation complete.
• VIII–XI.1687 - ship maintenance (Nivardom & Bandar-e Saghi), naval drills in Gulf of Zinjibar.
• 07.X.1687 - Task Force 1687-01 re-tasked to support evacuation efforts for Constancian nationals and Black Travellers from Jaris.
• 10–13.X.1687 - embarkation of Expeditionary Force (19^th Moíra, 4^th Syntagma (Merarhia Pezonauton),4^e Demi-Brigade de Légion Étrangère (Constancian Foreign Legion), 97 Taxiarhia, 6^th Army (Home Guard)).
• 17.XI.1687 – off-shore from southern coast of Jaris.