Battle of Kakhovka

The Battle of Kakhovka, also known as the First Battle of the Asteroid Belt, was a naval confrontation on 3 April, 2613 between warships of the Circadian Federation Navy and United Worlds Stellar Navy ships escorting convoy Sol-02-C to the Roma System. The battle took place on the inner limits of the Asteroid Belt, near the asteroid Kakhovka. The Circadian battlecruisers failure to successfully destroy the convoy lead to more heavily armed convoys and the subsequent use of torpedo boats for convoy raids. However, the presence of Circadian capital ships in the Solar System lead to an increased panic of United Worlds civilians and halted convoy operations, allowing the Circadian Federation to secure convoy routes of their own in the Solar System.

Background
Sol-02-C

Convoy Sol-02-C was one of the first convoys from Roma to Earth to retrieve weapons of devastation, notably picking up a number of agility frame tech. The convoy comprised twenty-one (twenty-five depending on sources) merchant vessels carrying weapons of devastation to Roma, namely all eight of the Pequod Frames, four Lovecraft Frames and two Sephiroth Autoframes. The convoy was protected by the three destroyers SS Huston, Albrecht Essen, and Sherbrooke, the Brighton-class frigates SS Brighton, Juneau, Oberweisston, Oterma City, New Marinette, and Highwater, and the Minesweeper Goshawk. The escort commander was Captain Mark Hobcapp (Flag on Huston).

Operation Phoenix Slayer

A counter-operation made up by the Circadian Navy to destroy the convoys en route from the Solar System with weapons of devastation, with the goal of either acquiring the weapons or destroying them along with their convoys. With Counter Admiral Piotr Kamov in charge aboard the CFS Nefarious, the battlecruiser and her sister ship, the CFS Notorious, set sail to execute the operation.

Battle
Towards the end of the Solar System star date, around 10:30 on Earth, the battlecruisers spotted the convoy on Lidar, and flew into the asteroid belt to avoid detection from the convoy, and at 10:50, the convoy came within firing distance, waiting a few minutes, Kamov brought his battlecruisers out slowly to give the illusion of a greater fleet in the hopes the convoy would jettison some cargo or possibly surrender, though neither happened, and at 11:15, the lead battlecruiser opened fire on a merchant vessel damaging it severely.

Seeing to make sure the convoy did not scatter after the initial attack, Captain Hobcapp ordered his destroyers to launch all available torpedoes at the battlecruisers, none of which hit their target, though its indicated that two, likely fired from SS Albrecht Essen, were on target but prematurely detonated due to the Notorious ' LAWS defense.

With a failed torpedo attack, Kamov felt confident in the convoy's lack of skill and ordered the Notorious to break pattern from the line and engage directly. Nefarious continued firing onto the convoy, and a successful shot at a merchant ship's engines left it vulnerable, and at 11:23, after the combined firepower from both the Nefarious and Notorious, the targeted merchant ship, MV County of Finnmark, split in two.

After the loss of the merchant ship, Hobcapp ordered his destroyers and frigates to guide the convoy into the Asteroid Belt and to cease firing, while his own destroyer, SS Huston, split off to engage the battlecruisers directly, opening fire with rockets and missiles at 11:30. With most missiles and rockets being shot apart by CIWS and LAWS weapons on the Nefarious. Aware of what he must do, Hobcapp ordered his gunners to aim at the Nefarious ' forward anti-projectile weapons and to prepare another missile strike. And after firing, two of Nefarious ' forward CIWS and the forward LAWS inoperable, he again commenced a missile strike at the ship's forward medium turret.

With the ship's bow much more vulnerable to attack, more missiles hit their target, and the forward-most gun turret on the Nefarious was disabled. However still very much heavily armed, the Nefarious fired her entire broadside at the small Huston, ripping apart the Huston 's only two naval guns and severely damaging her hull. With no true weapons left, Hobcapp then turned his destroyer at the Nefarious, and at full speed ahead, rammed the battlecruiser's hull. The impact ignited the Huston 's forward gun magazine, and the resulting explosion incinerated the front half of the destroyer, and severely damaged the ''Nefarious. ''

With the Huston destroyed, and the Nefarious heavily damaged, the Nefarious slunk back into the Asteroid Belt with the Notorious to receive repairs, in no position to pursue the fleeing convoy.

Aftermath
Analysis

The MV County of Finnmark was a key merchant ship, as it was the first to be transporting Autoframes, Sephiroth Keter and Sephiroth Netzach. They would have likely been used during Operation Tertius and the Battle of New Troy. They would have likely made the battle much easier and less destructive. The two autoframes still remain in the solar system, with Keter and Netzach still held within the wreck of the ship's forward half. No attempts have been made to recover the autoframes.

The battle acted as a red alarm for the United Worlds, now aware that Circadian ships were stalking the convoy routes and present in the Solar System