Battle of Lesser Baskay Bay

Battle of Lesser Baskay Bay
Location		Lesser Baskay Bay, Baskay
Result		{{{treaty/outcome}}}
Belligerents
Strength
Casualties and Losses

The battle of Lesser Baskay Bay was an air to surface conflict of very short duration between the KSKM and the Sanctum Sovereignty, as a result of poor communication regarding Troakex '54

At a total time from the first engagement to defeat of a little over one hour, it is the shortest recorded conflict. With approximately 1000 tonnes worth of tonnage sunk in less than twenty minutes, it is also the most deadly naval battle by tonnage sunk by time.

The battle involved only air units from the KSKM and both air and surface units from Sanctum. It was also both countries' first engagement.

Background

Unknown to all but a few in the international community due to secrecy, the Commonwealth of Laythia, KSKM and SFR Troakia had agreed to hold an exercise over Troakian ground, under the name "Troakex '54". The premise was a Laythian attack on Troakian soil, and the situation was presented as serious declaration of war to gauge international reaction.

Aftet news of the "invasion", the Sanctum Sovereignty showed its intention to deploy its fleet in assistance to Laythia. The KSKM warned the earlier that, should they go past the island of Spearka, their fleet would be engaged.

Although logistical difficulties with surrounding nations and engine problems with the Aurora class cruisers retarded deployment, which utilized other nation's harbors and ports in order to reach the Lesser Baskay Bay. The Sanctum navy detachment reached Laythian seas with the help from Erusea, Aquaria and Basil by opening ports and providing refueling assistance to the ships.

The Sanctum fleet sailed in direction of Baskay soon later. The ship detachment was composed of five (5) Aurora ships which included four (4) Cruiser Carrier variants and one (1) standard Cruiser. The strike force was composed of aviation battleships carrying fighters and light tanks for a landing on Left Hook Island. Ironically, half of the fighters sent were of Kalban manufacture.

Shortly after, the KSKM sent a message to Sanctum revealing the true nature of the conflict. However, no direction change being observed in the fleet's course, both sides prepared for conflict. After a last ultimatum on the verge of Baskay Island, the order was given to the 243rd Fighter Regiment to engage the Sanctum force, and for Balgred 202 "Port Gorika" and its two accompanying submarines to sail towards the enemy fleet.

Air combat phase

When the Sanctum fleet stopped approximately 700 kilometers off Baskay for refuelling, ten fighters of the 243rd regiment were ordered to assure air superiority over the Sanctum ships. They were opposed by four Sanctum fighters. This battle was the first combat deployment of the F-25 "Fencer, the LF-18 "Novi Avion" (ironically deployed by a foreign nation against the KSKM before the latter did) and the "Shark" interceptor. The ensuing air battle was a total victory for the KSKM fighters.

The Sanctum planes extended past their motherships' aerial cover range in an attempt to use their maneuverability in short range combat, but were engaged before that by the KSKM fighters' long-range missiles. Even though the battle got as close as 20 kilometers to the Sanctum fleet, advanced stealth technology on the "Fencers" prevented them from being radar "locked". Due to this, the KSKM shot down all four defending planes while sustaining no casualties.

Naval combat

After reports of the air victory, the KADAF ordered its five bombers to take off from airbase Pecovina, each tasked with engaging one ship. The ships' positions were obtained by a spy satellite and confirmed by the present fighters' radars. Within ten minutes, all bombers had taken off and were within engagement range of Sanctum ships. Between 40 and 30 kilometers from the ships, each bomber fired a salvo of ten cruise missiles before starting their evacuation. Their radar warning receiver detected some missiles incoming, but the bombers were able to escape due to their very high speed.

Less than thirty seconds after firing, a hit was confirmed visually by the bombers. No anti-missile missiles were fired by the enemy ships, and it is unknown if they contained other CIWS defenses. As the first hits were recorded, the fighters flying 20 kilometers away reported a large explosion from the ships' direction, probably from a magazine explosion, a report confirmed by a frigate thirty kilometers away.

Aftermath

All events happened before eithet Port Gorika, MS-1001 or MS-1002 could get within combat range of the Sanctum ships, and thus neither played a significant role in the battle. However, all three were ordered to stay on course to rescue possible survivors.

As it was feared Port Gorika's high-temperature turbines could ignite fuel leaked by the ships, both MS-10 submarines were ordered to switch to electric propulsion and shuttle survivors between the wrecks and the frigate. They noted that one ship was broken in half and noticeably sinking, two were listing heavily, and could not spot the two other ships. After rescuing survivors, they were ordered to scuttle the remaining ships as their recovery would be near impossible. The latter sank after a volley of three torpedoes to each.

534 survivors were rescued from the estimated 1600 crewing the attack force. Many had to be towed by improvised means behind the three ships, as only about 400 could fit be fitted across all three. For reference, a Balgred II class frigate has a crew of 40, while the MS-10 is a single-pilot submarine, albeit a large one.

The outcome of the Battle of Lesser Baskay Bay is considered the largest environmental disaster up to date due to large amounts of fuel, ammunition and other chemical products spilled.

Casualties and Losses

The Sovereign Navy lost almost two thirds (2/3) of it's naval forces during this incident. The Sovereign military lost almost 1500+ personnel and crew during the battle (including pilots and tank crew) it was such a demoralizing event for the Sovies dubbed it the "Big Blunder of Baskay"

There were recorded survivors of the incident and was rescued by various nations. Some rescued survivors were repatriated others were detained and some lived on to tell the story.