Navy of God

The Navy of God was the seagoing military force of the Church of God Awaiting, created in the Year of God 894 for the Holy War on Charis.

Its ships used the prefix NGS, for "Navy of God Ship".

History
When the combined fleets of Dohlar, Tarot, Emerald, Chisholm, and Corisande were defeated at the Battles of Rock Point, Crag Reach, and Darcos Sound, the Group of Four were confronted with a Charisian Navy with unchallenged possession of the seas. Captain General of the Temple Guard Allayn Magwair began a program to build a massive fleet of galleys capable of challenging Charisian dominance. The Temple Lands were landlocked save for the perenially frozen Hsing-Wu's Passage and had virtually no maritime capability or infrastructure. Magwair used the Temple's considerable wealth to begin importing the necessary material and expertise. (BSRA)

The Earl of Thirsk had written a report after returning to Dohlar which warned that galleys had been rendered obsolete by the new Charisian artillery and ship design innovations, but Magwair ignored this report due to the disgrace Thirsk suffered from the defeat. It was only after the Charisian conquest of Corisande that Magwair realized his mistake and reluctantly admitted to his peers in the Group of Four that the galley fleet which had been built at great expense was effectively worthless. The Church's massive wealth allowed the rapid construction of a new model war galleon fleet, though this delayed an offensive against Charis. (BHD)

Finally in November Year of God 894, after the Church had declared Holy War, the fleet was strong enough to challenge Charis and put to sea. The Group of Four was wary of Charis' intelligence capabilities, and so directed the fleet to sail for one location before using the Semaphore system to rapidly change its orders after it had embarked. This tactic managed to fool even Merlin Athrawes, and a battle was forced at the Gulf of Tarot against an understrength Charisian fleet under the command of High Admiral Lock Island.

Lock Island, who had been brought into the inner circle, used Merlin's reconaissance technology to organize a hugely effective surprise night attack, and the introduction of explosive shells proved key to the Navy of God's decisive defeat, though Lock Island was killed in a boarding action. Almost all of the Navy of God's ships were destroyed or captured, leaving Charis once again with total mastery of the waves. (AMF)

Known ships

 * See here for a list of Navy of God warships.