Pinnace
A pinnace is a type of auxiliary craft, carried by ships to transport personnel to and from the ship.
In the Honorverse canon, a hyper-capable warship carries a complement of auxiliary craft, including pinnaces, shuttles, and cutters in their boat-bay. Since the ship is incapable of atmospheric flight or landing on a planet, the auxiliary craft are used to transport personnel and materiel to and from planetary surfaces, as well as between ships, or between ships and stations in situations where it is not practical for the ship to dock with the station.
Pinnaces in TRMN
In The Royal Manticoran Navy: The Official Honor Harrington Fan Association, Inc. (TRMN), a pinnace is a chapter type available to members who wish to start a chapter, but who have not yet recruited enough members for a larger ship type. The pinnace is sponsored by an existing chapter and takes its name from the sponsoring ship's name, eg the first pinnace sponsored by HMS Merlin would be called "Pinnace Merlin-01" (or "Pinnace Merlin-One"). The parent chapter (HMS Merlin, in this example) lends support to the pinnace in order to ensure that the pinnace will be ready to operate as a full independent chapter.
When the pinnace chapter meets the crew complement and training requirements for a larger chapter type, BuShips then commissions the chapter as a larger ship, and the pinnace is then considered "returned to the boat-bay" of the parent ship.
Since 2014, pinnaces have been commissioned by the authority of fleet commanders.[1] Before that, BuShips issued orders to launch pinnaces.
As Fleet COs also launch Light Attack Craft (LACs), the fleet order commissioning the LAC will also order return of the pinnace to the parent chapter's boat-bay. If the pinnace upgrades to a hyper-capable ship, the BuShips commissioning order for the hyper-capable ship will also order return of the pinnace to the parent chapter's boat-bay.
Pinnaces are meant to be temporary chapter types. There is a time limit for their operation, and they must either commission as a LAC or larger ship by the time limit, or be decommissioned.
Pinnaces by parent chapter type
The number of pinnaces that any hyper-capable ship may have at any time is based on the ship type:[2]
| Ship type | maximum pinnaces |
|---|---|
| Light Attack Craft (LAC) | None |
| Destroyer (DD) | One |
| Light Cruiser (CL) | Two |
| Heavy Cruiser (CA) | Three |
| Battlecruiser (BC) | Three |
| Dreadnought (DN) | Four |
| Superdreadnought (SD) | Four |
| LAC Carrier (CLAC) | Five |
Civilian chapter
In the Royal Manticoran Merchant Marine, the equivalent to an RMN pinnace is an Inter-System Shuttle.
Marine Corps Assault Shuttle
Royal Manticoran Marine Corps personnel may launch an assault shuttle chapter, also sponsored by a parent RMN ship.
List of TRMN Pinnaces
| Name | Launch Date | Returned to boat-bay | Upgraded to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pinnace Ajax-01 | 19 August 2016[3] | 13 May 2016[4] | HMS Hellhound (DD-446)[5] |
| Pinnace Broadsword-01 | 23 August 2012[6] | 2 October 2015[7] | decommissioned |
| Pinnace Buddenbrock-01 | 14 January 2016[8] | decommissioned | |
| Pinnace Chaos-01 | 15 March 2012[9] | ||
| Pinnace Claymore-01 | 4 July 2015 [10] | 28 September 2016 [11] | decommissioned |
| Pinnace Claymore-01 (second launch) | 1 June 2017[12] | 01 September 2017 [13] | HMS Wolf (CA-429) |
| Pinnace Death Claw-01 | 28 August 2012 [14] | 7 May 2013 [15] | HMS Windsong (DD-119) |
| Pinnace Demon-01 | 6 June 2016[16] | 26 May 2017[17] | HMLAC Tiger's Pride (LAC-022) |
| Pinnace Drake-01 | 04 November 2012 [18] | 13 February 2013 [19] | decommissioned |
| Pinnace Gryphon-01 | 30 August 2012 [20] | [21] | |
| Pinnace Gryphon-02 | 15 July 2013 [22] | 04 May 2014 [23] | HMS Sabrepike (CA-417) |
| Pinnace Hexapuma-01 | 5 November 2014[24] | 13 May 2016[25] | decommissioned |
| Pinnace Intrepid-01 | 05 August 2014 | 21 September 2015[26] | GSNLAC Green Knight (LAC-011) |
| Pinnace Invictus-01 | 01 July 2019 [27] | ||
| Pinnace Invictus-02 | 9 December 2015 [28] | HMS Kay (DD-483) | |
| Pinnace Invincible-01 | 01 September 2012 [29] | 27 September 2012 [30] | HMS Kodiak Max (CA-413) |
| Pinnace Invincible-01 (second launch) | 9 May 2013 [31] | 4 May 2016 [32] | |
| Pinnace Medusa-01 | 25 March, 2016 | HMS Chainshot | |
| Pinnace Merlin-01 | 11 February 2012[33] | 23 April 2012 [34] | HMS Galahad |
| Pinnace Merlin-02 | 09 March 2012[35] | 25 March 2012 [36] | HMS Gryphon (SD-153) |
| Pinnace Roland-01 | 23 January 2014[37] | 15 April 2014[38] | HMS Artemis (BC-592) |
| Pinnace Sabrepike-01 | 26 January 2015[39] | 13 May 2016[40] | HMLAC Stiletto (LAC-018)[41] |
| Pinnace Valkyrie-01 | 3 April 2016 [42] | HMLAC Sgian Dubh (LAC-012)[43] | |
| Pinnace Wolf-01 | 22 May 2015[44] |
References
- ↑ Admiralty Order 1403-02
- ↑ Admiralty Order 1511-02
- ↑ Second Fleet Order 1608-F
- ↑ Second Fleet Order 1605-B
- ↑ BuShips Directive 1705-01
- ↑ BuShips Directive 1208-04
- ↑ BuShips Directive 1510-01
- ↑ BuShips Directive 1601-02
- ↑ BuShips Directive 1203-03
- ↑ BuShips Directive 1507-03
- ↑ Eighth Fleet Order 1609-01
- ↑ Eighth Fleet Order 1706-01
- ↑ BuShips Directive 1709-02
- ↑ BuShips Directive 1208-06
- ↑ BuShips Directive 1305-05
- ↑ Second Fleet Order 1606-B
- ↑ Second Fleet Order 1705-D
- ↑ BuShips Directive 1211-02
- ↑ BuShips Directive 1302-02
- ↑ BuShips Directive 1208-07
- ↑ The crew later formed the cadre for the second commissioning of HMS Hotspur (DD-02), see BuShips Directive 1704-05
- ↑ BuShips Directive 1307-02
- ↑ BuShips Directive 1405-02
- ↑ Second Fleet Order 1411-C
- ↑ Second Fleet Order 1605-B
- ↑ Second Fleet Order 1509-A
- ↑ 6th Fleet Order 1907-01
- ↑ BuShips Directive 1512-04
- ↑ BuShips Directive 1209-01
- ↑ BuShips Directive 1209-07
- ↑ BuShips Directive 1305-06
- ↑ Second Fleet Order 1605-A
- ↑ BuShips Directive 1202-01
- ↑ BuShips Directive 1204-03
- ↑ BuShips Directive 1203-01
- ↑ BuShips Directive 1203-07
- ↑ BuShips Directive 1401-04
- ↑ BuShips Directive 1404-03
- ↑ Second Fleet Order 1501-B
- ↑ Second Fleet Order 1606-A
- ↑ Second Fleet Order 1606-A
- ↑ Second Fleet Order 1604-A
- ↑ Second Fleet Order 1604-A
- ↑ BuShips Directive 1505-05