Water Tribe Main Fleet

After the Hundred Years War, most of the world powers immediately turned their attention to the task of preparing for another war that did not come for many years. The chief concern was the remaining Fire Nation fleet which still enjoyed superiority on the tides. The Water Tribes immediately began development on a design which had been made available to them during the war, courtesy of the Mechanist and the Northern Air Temple. With the Mechanist's sub designs, the leaders of the two tribes decided to entrust the creation of a shadow fleet to the Northern Water Tribe. At the time, only they were in a position to build the fleet. The Southern Water Tribe was far too busy repairing their lands to put resources into the project. The North was far better positioned to do it.

In secret, they constructed a shipyard deep in the ice of the Eastern Reaches of the North. There, they began designing a new breed of ship. Over the course of the next fifty years, seventeen new classes were designed, tested, and redesigned. Eventually, the La-class Attack Sub evolved. Seventy years after the fall of Ozai, the hidden fleet was one-hundred strong. The ships were hidden in secret harbors all over the North.

At the start of the War of Tipped Scales, this hidden fleet was revealed. With it, the Northern Water Tribe was able to achieve unparalleled surprise against the Fire Nation forces at the Battle of the Western Air Temple, the inaugural battle of the war. The tactical advantage afforded by these new ships instantly made the Water Tribes a true military contender against the vast surface navies of the Fire Nation.

The Water Tribe Main Fleet is broken up into four main battle groups -- Main Fleet North, Main Fleet South, Main Fleet West, and Main Fleet East. These are not indications of the operating regions of the fleet, but rather are references to the warehouses in which the subs of each fleet were kept. Before the submarine fleet was revealed, the four warehouses scattered around the coast of the North Pole were simply referred to as North, South, East, and West, and the development project as a whole referred to as Compass. All four main battle groups operate inside the Central Sea and the areas surrounding the Alliance territories.

Crewed by individuals from all three Alliance nations, the fleet has become the most diverse in the war and generally is tasked with the riskier missions by the Alliance council. Most battles started by the Alliance generally begin with a Water Tribe torpedo striking its mark.

Commanded by Chief Kanoei from the Seawolf, flagship of the battle group in addition to the fleet as a whole, Main Fleet North consists of an armada of twenty-eight La-class Submarines, two Tui-class Subs (not including the Seawolf), and a plethora of support vessels including almost a half a dozen North-class Heavy Cruisers. Main Fleet North was chiefly responsible for the Water Tribe contribution to the Battle of the Western Air Temple and has continued to spearhead most major battles the Tribes are involved with.

Commanded by Admiral Koda aboard the battleship Brinea, a North-class heavy, Main Fleet South is the largest of the four groups. Its chief responsibility is to support the Earth Kingdom Navy during major engagements and help to guarantee the security of the central sea from Fire Nation naval incursion. Commanding about 40% of the Water Tribe Navy, Main Fleet South is a force to be reckoned with.

Only technically a part of the Water Tribe Navy, Main Fleet East is actually the naval force loaned to the Air Nomads for the duration of the war. Main Fleet East has the remaining two Tui-class submarines and some twenty La-class subs in addition to a fair sized coalition fleet of loaned Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe surface ships.

The so-called Guardians, Main Fleet West comprises the largest single force of submarines in the fleet. Chiefly responsible for maintaining the blockades in conjunction with the surface fleets of the Earth Kingdom, Main Fleet West has very few surface vessels and acts more in the capacity of a support fleet to the Earth Kingdom Navy. Many of the subs of Main Fleet West have been outfitted to act more in the capacity of medical and supply support vessels rather than warships.

The flagship of the Water Tribe Main Fleet and the personal ship of Chief Kanoei, the Seawolf is the largest ship in the Water Tribe fleet. The last vessel built in the Tui-class, the Seawolf is the only Yue Variant ship built and was intended to be the diplomatic barge of the tribes in addition to being their principal warship. In addition to the twenty broadside cannons and four forward torpedo launchers of the standard vessels in the class, the Seawolf sports an additional ten broadside cannons and a full rotation turret which deploys from the deck and an additional two torpedo launchers to aft.

However, with increased scale comes diminished maneuverability. To counter this, additional maneuvering props were added to vessel's array, giving it the ability to control turns through the use of a more direct engine power. The Seawolf is easily spotted in the fray owing to her silver hull. It is said that she is the floating sister to the Blue Palace in the North, such is the quality of the facilities aboard. The top three decks are primarily designed to put a lavish, diplomatic foot forward. Top of the line amenities are available to the V.I.P.s and layers of armor protect key rooms from damage in the event of battle...

Designed and constructed in the wake of the La-class development project, the Tui-class dwarfs the La-class and represents the one of the most powerful classes of submersible vessels ever constructed. With an impressive array of artillery and an impressive cruising speed, the Tui-class is a formidable class of ships and does not easily yield. However, owing to the enormous expense of the class, only four of the standard variant were built.

The last of the five vessels built in the Tui-class line, the Seawolf is the only Yue Variant ship in the class. Designed to serve the dual purpose of diplomatic barge and military flagship, the Seawolf is considerably larger and more powerful than its smaller sisters. While she sacrifices maneuverability for power, she can still outrun many a ship and is by no means an easy target.

The result of a seventy year trial and error development project stemming from the submarine designs provided by the Mechanist, the La-class is the workhorse of the Water Tribe's submersible fleet. With over one-hundred built, the mass production capable vessel was stockpiled like grain for quite some time. Predecessors to the class provided valuable design insight into perfecting this class, but the result is one of the most maneuverable, dependable, and durable vessels in the world. Unlike its larger cousins of the Tui-class which are a sort of slate gray in color (or silver, in the cast of the Seawolf), the La-class ships are black, though they share a certain degree of the Tui-class's streamlined hull design. All in all, however, the La-class represents the best in engineering...