Lodamun

[imperialpearl]

Lodamese Coast Guard to build sail ship, first in four centuries

In the missile age, the construction of a sail ship seems backwards, but for the Lodamese Coast Guard, the decision is less about its practicality in war and more about helping to rekindle long-lost maritime traditions.


ⓘ: An artist's rendering of the proposed LCGS-Andalay sail training vessel

In the modern era, it would not be unreasonable for one to conclude that, amidst the steel and titanium fabricated hulls of the various navies of the world, of the gargantuan cargo ships and the even more enormous aircraft carriers, a nation seeking to field a functioning sailing ship might not have its priorities right. Yet, for the Lodamese Coast Guard, the desire to field such a vessel is less about its usefulness in naval combat in the missile age and more about breathing life into maritime traditions, which, as a result of decades, if not centuries, of technological evolution, have been seemingly lost on many seamen. Via a press statement issued earlier this week, the Lodamese Coast Guard announced that it had contracted Dodson Shipyards to design and construct a new purpose-built sail training vessel, the first sailing ship to enter Lodamese service in more than four centuries. “This decision builds on work that has been underway for decades prior, as part of a much larger joint effort with the Harrington Company to reconstitute sail training capabilities within the Coast Guard and among HC sailors,” the Coast Guard’s statement read. “The approval reflects the completion of preliminary design studies and early material trials conducted in close coordination with the HC and the shipbuilder: Dodson Shipyards.” According to the Coast Guard, the programme has been organised as a phased development model intended to reduce technical risk and ensure design maturity prior to keel-laying, especially given that a ship of this nature had not been constructed in a Lodamese shipyard in centuries. “The effort has been structured as a progressive crawl-walk-run approach, which would allow for both the Coast Guard and Dodson Shipyards to validate construction techniques, refine rigging and hull integration methods, and build out institutional expertise before moving to full-scale production,” the statement noted. Significant assistance from the Kalistani Navy, alongside some sailing clubs operating out of the country, is reportedly being rendered to the programme, owing to the fact that Kalistan maintains significant acumen in the area of sailing and the construction of sailing ships, albeit of the catamaran type. “I am certain this is going to be new for some shipbuilders, as the ‘skill’ has been lost to the wind. If the rumours of Kalistani technical assistance are to be believed, then I think we should not have any major issues,” Frank Payne, a prominent shipbuilding commentator, noted.

For the Lodamese Coast Guard and perhaps Lodamun as a whole, the return to sail carries significant historical resonance. The last sailing vessel to operate under a Lodamese flag, the Aldington, entered service more than five centuries ago, prior to the dramatic modernisation undertaken during the Neilson Administration, where maritime forces were still organised around coastal patrol, trade protection and the training of junior officers in navigation and ship-handling. With records related to the Aldington’s exploits lost to time, Naval Historians such as Captain Darryl Long of the Lodamese Navy War Museum postulate that the vessel had likely served a dual role, acting both as an extremely outdated patrol craft in littoral waters and more importantly as a platform where earlier generations of sailors were introduced to seamanship and the management of men and material at sea. “It was not something unusual for the time. Being a patrol vessel back then did not mean that the Aldington was being used to pursue drug traffickers or anyone of the sort. It simply meant that, like much of the more modern vessels of the time, the Aldington had to do patrols to both ensure it remained fit for service, despite its advanced age when compared to the missile-toating guided missile cruisers then and still fielded by the Lodamese Navy today,” Captain Long explained. The chapter in Lodamese maritime history came to an abrupt end following the Aldington’s catastrophic voyage during the typhoon season to Keymon. Caught in severe weather from sheltered waters, the vessel sustained extensive structural and rigging damage, which rendered her unmanageable. With repairs deemed impossible under the prevailing conditions, the decision was made to deliberately scuttle the ship once her complement had been evacuated. It has sunk some nautical miles off the eastern coast of Keymon, where it reportedly still lies to this day, in an advanced state of decay according to the Coast Guard, who conducted seismic tests in the area three decades ago. In the aftermath of her loss, sail training gradually disappeared from the Lodamese Navy and Coast Guard. As the Harrington Company had not been created at the time, and there was now interest among citizens for sailing, as their thirst had been thoroughly quenched by Kalistan’s sailing competitions, plans to construct a replacement were shelved and eventually forgotten.

The vessel, which is to be known as the Andalay, is expected to begin construction in the coming months. Some have noted the absence of the Lodamese Navy’s involvement in the project, noting that sailing ought to be an acumen within the Lodamese Navy as well. However, in a brief statement issued earlier this morning, the Lodamese Navy noted that it did not view the project as a diminution of naval competence, but rather as a complementary initiative aligned with the existing priorities of the Coast Guard, which rest separately from those of the Lodamese Navy. “In a very practical sense, the Lodamese Coast Guard often interacts with vessels of varying forms, from power boats to sailing pressure craft. It is therefore necessary that its sailors maintain a degree of competency related to piloting these vessels, should the need arise. As the Lodamese Navy does not operate in littoral waters in peacetime, and does not fulfil the constabulary role the Coast Guard does, it does not view its involvement in the projects as necessary,” the statement read.