- Fleet recruitment slogan.(src)
The Dominion Fleet[1] (a.k.a. "Dominion Armada"[2] or "Dominion Navy")[3] is the space naval arm of the Terran Dominion military. A portion of the Armada's initial strength derived from former Terran Confederacy units.[4]
History
Upon its inception, the fleet's Behemoth-class battlecruisers were retrofitted with Yamato cannons. Some of the older vessels were not upgraded due to cost and limited supply.[5]
Shortly after the establishment of the Dominion elements of the fleet traveled to Char due to Sarah Kerrigan's psionic emanations. The fleet was led by General Edmund Duke and contained elements of Alpha Squadron.[6] It engaged zerg and protoss forces in orbit but was defeated. Many ships were either overrun by the zerg or destroyed by the Protoss Expeditionary Fleet that arrived shortly after. With the ground forces suffering disaster as well the fleet fell back from Char,[7] and later another fleet was defeated by the protoss.[8]
The Brood War
- Main article: Brood War
Duke led the fleet against the United Earth Directorate fleet at the Dylar Shipyards but was defeated.[2] The fleet was also defeated at the siege of Augustgrad.[9] The remnants of the fleet were rescued by Raynor's Raiders.[10] Emperor Arcturus Mengsk scraped together a new fleet[11] but was once again defeated by Kerrigan's forces at Char Aleph[12] and retreated to Korhal.[13]
Interbellum
In the years following the Brood War, credits that might have been better spent on expanding the fleet were instead spent by Mengsk in his hunt for Jim Raynor.[14] Even so, by the time the Second Great War broke out, the Dominion had been able to construct several large fleets with advanced technology.[15]
In 2503,[16] a squadron aided Valerian Mengsk in his endeavour to find and secure archaeological materials.[17][18]
The Second Great War
In 2504, the fleet was put on alert when Satellite 1 reported unusual activity in the Char system.[19] When the zerg invasion began soon afterward, Mengsk pulled the fleet back to protect the core worlds.[20][21]
The Dominion was unwilling to help the massive flow of refugees. The fleet was ordered to turn away refugee ships arriving in the Core Worlds.[22]
First Fleet participated in Operation Burnout.[23] Second Fleet regrouped at the Dylarian Shipyards following the zerg attack on Tyrador VIII.[24] The two fleets combined to protect the core worlds.[25]
Crown Prince Valerian Mengsk took half the fleet to Char, where it engaged the zerg.[26] The battlegroup suffered heavy losses[27], but with the aid of Raynor's Raiders and a xel'naga artifact the attack succeeded and Kerrigan was made human again.[28]
After the battle, Emperor Mengsk demanded custody of Kerrigan; as leverage the emperor travelled to Char aboard the new flagship, White Star, at the head of the Dominion's remaining battlecruisers. The prince refused. The prince's now-renegade battlegroup and Raynor's Raiders fled and were pursued by the Dominion fleet. The renegades suffered near total losses, but managed to escape with Kerrigan to the Umojan Protectorate.[27]
Heart of the Swarm
The fleet attacked the Hyperion above Phaethon. They continued firing even when Captain Matt Horner told them that Valerian was aboard, as Mengsk was willing to sacrifice anything to kill Kerrigan.[29]
When the Swarm assembled above Korhal, the fleet responded to Mengsk's call to return and defend it. They were held off by leviathans under Broodmother Kilysa.[30][31]
Organization
By the Battle of Char, the Dominion Fleet had around 50 battlecruisers. 25 were taken by Valerian Mengsk to Char, where 11 were lost in the battle that followed. A later confrontation with Arcturus Mengsk left all the remaining ships except Valerian's flaghip, the Bucephalus, destroyed or crippled, as well as a number from the other side.[27]
Known Branches
- Dominion Fleet Command (commanding body)
- Dominion Navy Medical Corps
- First Fleet
- Second Fleet
Known Flagships
This is a list of the starships which at one time have become the flagship of the Dominion fleet, and thus of the Terran Dominion.
- Norad III (2500) (Behemoth-class battlecruiser; Norad-series)
- Bucephalus (?—2504) (Gorgon-class battlecruiser)
- White Star (2504—) (Gorgon-class battlecruiser)
Known Members
- Crown Prince Valerian Mengsk (affiliated)
- Fleet Admiral Hector Santiago
- Admiral Gaskaville
- General Edmund Duke
- General Horace Warfield
- Colonel Alexander Davidoff
- Captain Jon Dyre
- Captain Robert Mason
- Commander Hunicutt
References
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