The Third Fleet of the Star Army of Yamatai is a veteran warfighting formation that is currently assigned to support duties. It is headquartered at Virginia Fleet Depot and commanded by Taisho Shizuka Endo. This fleet primarily works with the Star Army Reserve, with members of the Reserve often undertaking their yearly training aboard Third Fleet craft. As a reserve unit, most of the Third Fleet's warships perform core system patrol duties, and it is currently undergoing new refits at its two Zodiac-class Star Fortresses while helping Star Army Logistics in peacetime.
The Third Fleet has a long and storied history stretching back to the foundation of the Grand Star Army. During the Chaos Hive War of YE 21 the Third's infantry regiments fought on the war-torn planet Ayenee, marking the fleet's first major engagement. As the Second Draconian War raged on in YE 24, with Chujo Zaitsev in command, the fleet was ordered to remain at Ayenee to watch for hostile forces and new aliens.1)
Before the Nepleslian Star Empire broke away from the Yamatai Star Empire in YE 28, the fleet garrisoned Nepleslian systems. It participated in the First Mishhuvurthyar War and fought at the Battle of Nepleslia in YE 26, where it was nearly destroyed during the engagement.
During the Second Mishhuvurthyar War, the Third Fleet was destroyed in battle with the NMX. At that time it was commanded by Taisho Anzai Saya. It was reactivated again before the Battle of Yamatai in YE 33 and filled with recently-decommissioned ships that were en route to Virginia Fleet Depot when the fight broke out. Following the war, the fleet had no commanding Taisho and was based at Virginia Fleet Depot until Hokusai-taisho was reassigned from the Ninth Fleet in YE 36.
In YE 39, a Lorath civil conflict resulted in rebel encroachment upon the territory of Yamataian allies in the Kikyo Sector's northeast, and the Third Fleet was sent in as a preventative measure to keep open hostilities from erupting between the minor powers. Its mission was quickly successful with rebel Lorath forces retreating away upon the Third Fleet's arrival.
By the time the Kuvexian War broke out, the Third Fleet was still composed of its aging collection of old Ayame-class Cruisers and Irim-class Gunships, and had been consigned to reserve duties in the aftermath of the Battle of Yamatai. Following the Seventh Fleet's struggle to wrest control of the Separa'Shan homeworld Essia from the Interstellar Kingdom Of Kuvexia, the Third was bolstered with 220 new ships of the line and ordered2) in YE 41 to retake the occupied star system alongside the Ninth Fleet. The two fleets performed Operation Sovereign Commitment3) and retook the system's space from the Kuvexians over the course of several hours.
During the Kuvexian Invasion of YE 41, the Third initially spread out4) to secure systems between the Ketsurui Military Sector and the Samurai Sector. Within days, however, the fleet retreated to the Virgo Defense Sector5) to fortify the Fleet Depot, Star Army Intelligence, and Star Fortress there.
Throughout the Kuvexian Advance of YE 42, the Third Fleet held its lines in the Samurai Sector and did not participate in the subsequent Third Battle Of Nataria, having only recently launched a joint Uchuugun-Rikugun task force to the Kuvexian frontier.6) Around this time, Virgo Star Fortress was put under Third Fleet administration. Otherwise still recuperating after Operation Sovereign Commitment, Hokusai-taisho focused her fleet with an eye toward modernization and added several new-pattern gunship squadrons, destroyer groups, and replaced a handful of cruisers and battleships lost during previous engagements.
Toward the year's end, Yui-taisho revealed a plan7) to strike at the heart of Kuvexia and ordered the Third Fleet to join her multinational strike group. As part of this force, the Third Fleet fought at the Battle Of Glimmergold. Although originally assigned to act as a rearguard, the Third ended up participating in heavy fighting against their Kuvexian enemies while protecting Essai superweapons so they could do their work to defeat the Interstellar Kingdom. The fleet sustained 36.32 percent unrecoverable combat losses during the battle,8) which led Hokusai-taisho to formulate a new fleet plan to be implemented after the war's end.
After the Kuvexian War's end, the Eighth Fleet was merged into the Third Fleet and Taisho Shizuka Endo became its new commander.9) Under Endo-taisho, the Third Fleet works very closely with Personnel Command, the Reserves, and assists with Logistics transport and protection.
In YE 44, the Third Fleet participated in humanitarian operations necessitated by the Arrival of the Norians.
The Third Fleet is comprised of 994 warships from two main elements: the core of the Third Fleet as it stood at the end of the Kuvexian War plus additional ships transferred over when the Eighth Fleet was disbanded and merged with the Third in YE 43. As of YE 45, the fleet is undergoing refit and force integration while having reverted to its status the Star Army's reserve fleet.
Before the Battle of Glimmergold, about half of the Third Fleet was made up of older warships with designs dating back to the First Mishhuvurthyar War. After its reactivation in YE 33, the fleet had usually been relegated to reserve or support duty, but was pressed into active service more often during the Kuvexian War. Modernization efforts starting in 3月 YE 42 focused on replacing losses of the fleet's legacy vessels with new gunships and destroyers. Approximately 36 percent of the fleet's ships, mostly old Ayame-class Cruisers and Irim-class Gunships, were destroyed at the Battle of Glimmergold.
This article was created sometime before 2011/10/07. The current revision was written and submitted by raz on 12/25/2020 and approved by Wes on the same day. Raz further updated its history on 2023/01/15.
