Emergency Shipbuilding Program
Template:SANE Article The Emergency Shipbuilding Program was a major initiative launched by the Department of Defense of Nouvelle Alexandrie to address immediate naval requirements for the Federal Navy and Raspur Pact navies in the Wars of the Dispossessed. The initiative was directed at the Pontecorvo Firm and ESB Susa, instructing them to halt all ongoing work and refocus on the urgent naval needs of the nation.
Initial Plans
The initial order issued under the program was for the construction of sixty ships, to be split evenly between the Pontecorvo Firm and the Honourable Company shipyards in Nouvelle Alexandrie. The directive was to have these vessels launched by the end of the year. Fitting out of armaments, sensors, and command and control systems was to be undertaken by Javelin Industries and partners, utilising off-the-shelf systems available for use. The program explicitly prohibited research and development activities, mandating that only existing technologies be utilised.
Deployment of Commissariat Agents
Commissariat agents from the National Ordnance and Procurement Board were dispatched in the fourth month of 1719 AN to establish a Department of Defense presence at the following shipyards:
- Pontecorvo Shipbuilding Yards (Pontecorvo, Alduria)
- Rothborne Shipbuilding & Offshore Industries Complex (Rothborne City, Alduria)
- La Fortaleza de Melusina Yard Complex (La Fortaleza de Melusina, South Lyrica).
- Port Tablot Shipyards (Port Tablot, Isles of Caputia)
- Aldurian Shipbuilding Yards (Alkhiva, Alduria)
- ESB Armada (Alkhiva, Alduria)
Each of these shipyards was tasked with laying down and launching ten hulls within a year. The feasibility of this ambitious task was met with scepticism in the industry and by trade press publications. As a result, left-leaning national news outlets began speculating about the feasibility of the programme and the potential trade-offs required to achieve the stipulated number of hulls within the designated time.
Controversies and Scandals
The depth of the scandal surrounding the Emergency Shipbuilding Program was realized in VII.1720 AN, when it was revealed that instead of the planned sixty vessels, work had only commenced on two and even these were not yet launched. Furthermore, as these ships took shape, it was noted that they shared commonalities with the Andronikos-class auxiliary cruiser of the Constancian Navy, which had been built off the pattern set by the SS Andronikos, a Babkhan merchant ship.
Ironically, a part of the delay in the shipbuilding programme had been occasioned by jurisdictional conflicts between the National Ordnance and Procurement Board under the Department of Defense and the Joint Production Accelerator Cell within the Office of Procurement, which reported directly to the Office of the President. Both entities also reacted against attempts by the Naval Forces Office and Military-Industrial Relations Bureau of Keltia Command to reorientate New Alexandrian shipbuilding towards launching escort corvettes capable of escorting transoceanic trade fleets, whilst also contending with the continuous entreaties of Trans-Euran Command for a focus instead upon landing craft and minesweepers capable of operating within the Gulf of Zinjibar.
