Thus Spake Zargrabowski/NavalPower
> GUTB > I seem to recall that figures for around 1,500 warships in each of the five Realm fleets, plus thounds more once you include the all the navies of Lookshy and a hundred other minor and middle costal powers. Consider that the United States, the largest naval power in the history of the world, has only a few hundred fighting ships of all types.
You do realize you're comparing a navy with dozens of cruiser class vessels displacing thousands and thousands of tonnes and armed with cruise missiles against a navy that has little sail-and-oar-powered ram-armed triremes, right? The US Navy is the most powerful fighting force in the history of the world because it has a dozen aircraft carriers armed with nuclear weapons. Look at the numbers of small surface combatants in a primarily coastal navy like the Chinese, or the number of missile and torpedo boats the Russians field. Creation has some very long coastlines -- I don't think anyone is feeling overmanned.
> GUTB > Even at the pinnacale of US naval suprememcy, the number of combantants in the US Navy doesn't come close to the number of just one of the Realm fleets. I belive even Lookshy, one damn city, out-numbered any naval power in the history of the world.
Lookshy's fleet is listed as 279 vessels. The US Navy had about 600 hulls during the Regan administration which was, as I recall, the largest is has ever been.
Geoffrey C. Grabowski\\ Exalted Developer, WWGS\\ raindog@white-wolf.com
> GUTB > C'mon lets get real how many blue water naval power did Rome have? Did China have at any point? But around 7,500 ships...just warships, forgetting about the pleasure boats, fishing boats, merchant boats, etc...where do you berth that many vessels? Are they constantly rotated out?
They certainly don't have a central fleet anchorage, guy. They're wind powered vessels, how would they get to their station. I reckon they're spread out in squadrons all across the Threshold coastline performing constant patrols and interdiction. You'll notice that the majority of imperial vessels are either triremes or biremes, drafwing about 3 feet of water and suited for costal patrol. I can't imagine they hazard crossing the Great Inland Sea unless they have sorcerers or other highly capable seagoing Exalted with them, and I bet they spend most evenings pulled up on shore or in the company of a trireme tender.
Geoffrey C. Grabowski\\ Exalted Developer, WWGS\\ raindog@white-wolf.com
Comments
>Lookshy's fleet is listed as 279 vessels. The US Navy had about 600 hulls during the Regan administration which was, as I recall, the largest is has ever been.
594, 295 now, but just to comment, the US Navy at its peak had some 6,768 ships, including 99 aircraft carriers and was still gearing up production. for the invasion of Japan. No insignificant fleet, that (the invasion of Normandy, IIRC, involved some 33,000 total craft).
- Xeriar
And something like the Normandy invasion or the planned invasion of Japan is the relevant comparison, here. Lots of the hulls in those operations were LVTAs, DUKWs, and the like: small landing vessels that were designed to cart a lot of fighting men around and put them in a position to fight. Much like a trireme/bireme.
~
Don't forget the Coast Guard, State and local waterborne police, et cetera. -MeiRen
Seems to me that one of the best parallels would be the Royal Navy at the height of the British Empire but before the serious implementation of steam powered ships. Based on a very cursory Google, the British Empire supported a fleet of just over nine hundred ships of all sizes. Now, given that the Realm is a damn sight larger and more developed than the United Kingdom + colonies, and that the fleets have no ships of the line but rather focus on triremes, I think the numbers give in Savage Seas are reasonable. -- JesseLowe
One thing I'd like to point out is that there is no real world equivilence for the *need* for Naval power. The Roman empire had a fairly weak Navy after Marc Anthony was defeated by Augstus, because once Egypt had been whipped, there were no other Naval powers anywhere near Rome. Not only do nations in Exaltted fight eachother they also fight Fair Folk, Deathlords and Monsters, oh my! There is no flight, so all goods and communication across the waters have to be done be ships. JesseLowe's right. The need for ships, and the sheer scale of the nations makes it plausible. - ImaginalDisc
Not that naval history is my thing, however, I must point out that you must take into account that Lookshy is a city fortress. It is considered to be a high-tech level, no where near what the First Age was but still a major power. So, if you want to think of it, it is around the same as the current post cold war United States Fleet size. Not exactly to bad for one small little country the size of Ohio. And if you would like to see the current fleet of the US, check this out: http://www.nvr.navy.mil/nvrships/FLEET.HTM -- Savare
