⚓ Kul Tiras Marines Field Manual, Chapter V: Naval Technology

Grobbulus
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Excerpt from the Kul Tiras Marine Field Manual

I. Foreword from the Editor

Kul Tiras is widely regarded as the premier naval power in the world, boasting the largest and most powerful fleets, the largest and most capable shipyards, as well as the most disciplined and battle-proven crews of sailors and marines anywhere on Azeroth.

This Technical Publication is intended for enlisted and officers to better understand the capabilities and limitations of their respective vessels, and apply this knowledge for optimal effect against enemy forces. This manual will be revised as new technologies arise and supersede existing methods and designs.

Table of Contents
I. Foreword from the Editor
II. Fundamentals of Naval Engineering
III. Fundamentals of Shipbuilding
IV. Surface Ships
V. Submarines
VI. Aerial Units
VII. Enemy Vessels

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II. Fundamentals of Naval Engineering

Naval Engineering is the discipline of designing, building and operating ships to perform a particular function - in this case the destruction of enemy military assets and the survival of the ship’s crew. Naval Engineers will design the ship so that it is able to maintain proper balance and buoyancy in a wide array of ocean conditions, while also retaining the speed and maneuverability to defeat enemy vessels.

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1. Bow
The forward section of the ship, including the Forecastle and Prow.

2. Prow
The Prow is the forward-most feature of the ship which cuts through water. Some ships will also include an ornamental wood carving along the prow or an extension for attaching a longitudinal headsail for maneuverability (most commonly featured on destroyers or fast frigates).

3. Forecastle (or Focsle)
The Focsle is a raised part on the bow, typically with an upper deck where crew can operate from and living quarters for the ship’s crew on the forward main deck. This space may also be used for forward-facing canons, giving the ship forward raking fire capability.

4. Midship
The middle section of the ship, also the most stable part of the ship and where the main mast will attach to the ship’s structure. On most Kul Tiran vessels, the forecastle and poop deck are typically accessible from midship. The midship will also have platforms to facilitate boarding and unboarding from Port Side (the left side of the ship when facing forward) and Starboard Side (the right side of the ship when facing forward).

5. Mast
Long vertical posts with cross members from which the ship’s sails are suspended. Masts may be arranged at different locations, but most capital ships will have at least two, with the largest one being referred to as the main sail. This is also usually the tallest of the masts and may feature a “crow’s nest” at the top which serves as an observation platform or sharpshooter’s position.

6. Crow’s Nest
A platform on the top of a mast where the surrounding area can be observed. Also useful as a sniper position during combat.

7. Poop Deck
Elevated part of the aft superstructure. Kul Tiran vessels will usually have the captain’s quarters and the messdeck within the poop deck, and the quarterdeck topside with the Ship’s Helm near the stern.

8. Messdeck
The part of the ship containing the eating and serving space, typically adjacent to the Captain’s quarters on most Kul Tiran vessels, with stairs leading down to the lower decks.

9. Quarterdeck
The uppermost level of the poop deck, typically features the ship’s helm.

10. Stern
The aft section of the ship. The rear-most part of the ship is referred to as the Stern.

11. Gun Deck
The deck just below the main deck, typically houses canons along Port and Starboard for broadside fire, and on larger ships may have canons on the bow and stern for raking fire. The deck will also have a powder magazine for storing canonballs and kegs of black powder.

12. Bottom Deck
Usable space on the bottom deck is usually fairly limited as the space is mostly used for the ship’s stores, and during emergencies may also be used as a sickbay. Fresh water is also stored at the bottom deck and can be repositioned as ballast to keep a balanced weight distribution between port, starboard, aft and stern.

13. Bilge
A small crawlspace below the Bottom Deck where waste and trash tends to accumulate and mix with salt water to produce a particularly disgusting toxic sludge.

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III. Fundamentals of Shipbuilding

Shipbuilding is the art and science of designing, building and launching ships into the oceans of Azeroth. Kul Tiras has long been recognized as the most capable shipbuilders in the world, rivaled only by the shipwrights of Quel’thalas. Although Thalassian shipbuilders were excellent shipwrights, their vessels were primarily designed to face off against swift Amani Troll destroyers and focused more on speed and maneuverability rather than the ability to support amphibious assaults and attack fortified land targets or large fleets of enemy vessels.

Ships are built in specialized facilities called Shipyards, where the ships are painstakingly constructed one at a time ontop of wooden blocks which have been spaced out to fit the final contour of the ship’s bottom.

The first section to be built is the keel, the spine of the ship that runs longitudinally along the bottom and anchors the frames of the ship together. Each frame works like a rib, changing very slightly along the length of the ship as the contour of the outer shell (the hull) must be shaped to allow the ship to slide swiftly through the water. The decks, bulkheads (walls), and overheads (ceilings) are then all built within the structure and form a web which adds strength and rigidity to the entire vessel. The masts are built from only the highest quality timbers as these must withstand the winds which will propel the ship forward.

Finally, all joints and seams on the ship are coated with specialized sealants to give the ship it’s watertightness. A thick, gelatinous paste made from mixing blubber (Seals and Ogres are excellent sources) with the grounded tusks and bones (Seals, Orcs, Trolls and Tauren have been found to be particularly effective) - and so it is recommended that any of these parts which can be recovered from animalistic Horde species be immediately extracted and stored in the ship’s stores. (Site Note: The meats from Tauren also salt well and make for excellent stews while at sea, while troll and orc remains are useful as chum while fishing in deep waters. Waste not - want not!)

Once construction is completed, it must be blessed by the Tidesages of the Stormsong Monastery before the ship can be considered seaworthy. These Tidesages also aid in the navigation of our fleets and it is in part thanks to their blessings that Kul Tiras boasts the mightiest Navy the world has ever seen.

The ship is launched by pulling it backwards from the blocks and letting it gently side into the Great Sea, ready to bring riches and glory to Kul Tiras, and destruction to the greenskins and their minions the world over.

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IV. Surface Ships

Kul Tiran surface ships can be classified into a few categories, which we will explain here along with their main Horde counterpart and a comparison of the two.

Battleship
The main ship of the line for the Kul Tiras Navy, battleships are heavily armed and armored, also including a full complement of Marines ready to board enemy vessels or transfer to amphibious transports for a ground assault. The Kul Tiran battleships faced their greatest threat during the Second War against Ogre Juggernauts, however the superior design and performance, as well as the excellent seamanship of Kul Tiran sailors ultimately prevailed. To this day there is no surface ship capable of standing toe to toe against a Kul Tiras Battleship.

Destroyer
Kul Tiran Destroyers are smaller than battleships, but still heavily armed and well suited for battle in the open ocean. On par with the strongest capital ships from other navies such as the Stormwind and Gilnean Navies, the Kul Tiran destroyer is often used as a command ship along side the battleship. It easily out performs the sloppily built Orcish cruisers which make up the largest capital ships of the brutish Horde Navy, due ito a combination of superior shipbuilding design, superior craftsmanship, and better trained crews. For Kul Tiras!

Frigate
Kul Tiran Frigates are the smallest of the capital ships constructed for the Navy, and are on par with Elven Destroyers. Designed for speed and maneuverability, these ships are built for quick strikes and hunting down enemy submarines. Though they are on par with the Elven Destroyers of old, the quality of Elven craftmanship has been noted by Kul Tiran shipwrights to be in decline over the past decade or so. Most experts believe this to be due magical withdrawal by elven shipbuilders, diminishing their ability to perform precision tasks as their hands develop uncontrollable shaking due to their desperate need to sate their magical addiction. It should be noted that elven shipbuilders who form the Silver Covenant and rejected the use of Fel Magic have not exhibited this symptom, a testament to the superior willpower and self control of those who refuse to bend the knee to the brutality of the Orcs.

Icebreaker
Icebreakers are specialized vessels built to break through sheets of ice on the ocean surface in arctic climates. The bow, prow and keel are typically reinforced with corrosion resistant metal to break apart the ice as the ship passes through. These vessels are usually used as transports rather than as surface combatants as the heavy metal cladding makes these types of ships much slower and less maneuverable. The exception to this rule are Kul Tiran Battleships, which also function as Icebreakers due to the light weight yet high strength of the Storm Silver and Monelite cladding on the bow, allowing the ship to function as an Icebreaker while retaining all it’s surface combatant capabilities thanks to superior design and materials used in Kul Tiran shipbuilding doctrine.

Landing Craft
Often the last thing many Horde coastal defenders will see is the sight of a swarm of Kul Tiran landing craft rushing ashore, the bow ramp deploying with all the ferocity of Neptulon’s storms to unleash the might of the Kul Tiras Marines. Ready to separate Orcish heads from their bodies and show them the true meaning of Blood and Thunder, the Marines are all the armament a transport ship needs.

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V. Submarines

The ingenuity of our allies in Gnomeregan gave Kul Tiras a great advantage over the Horde during the Second War, and was instrumental in the recovery of many Kul Tiras Sailors and Marines who would have otherwise been killed during attacks by the Scourge. Superior submarine technology continues to surpass anything the little green turds from Kezan (or any other polluted goblin trash heap for that matter) can conjure up. Armed with an array of guided torpedos and highly advanced sonar equipment, the gnomish submarine is an engineering marvel that has earned gnomish submariners the respect of Kul Tirans the world over. No doubt that the keen intellect, expansive mind, creativity and unrivaled ingenuity of gnomes has been unfairly overlooked by much of the Alliance - but definitely not by Kul Tiras! For Kul Tiras and

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VI. Aerial Units

Kul Tiras does not posses the mighty airships now utilized by Stormwind, as we find that our fleets at sea work best when escorted by swarms of fast air units rather than a large lumbering airship. To this end, Kul Tiras employs only specialized aerial units for specific missions.

Gnomish Gyrocopter
The Gnomish Gyrocopter is a staple from the Second War. Fast, light, maneuverable and armed with machine guns, the Gyrocopter is yet another valuable gnomish contribution to the Kul Tiras Navy. Units upgraded with guided missle launchers or vertical torpedo tubes are capable against air, ground and submarine forces as well. Though not as capable as the Gryphon Riders of Aerie Peak, the Gnomish Gyrocopter fills an important duty as a scout, combatant and surveillance unit. The Gnomish Gyrocopter is also capable of landing and taking off from the Aircraft Carrier design which was recently developed by Stormwind in conjunction with Gnomish Engineers.

Sea Scout Gryphon Riders
The loss of the Third Fleet during the Second War was an important lesson in the need for effective air defense. The Wildhammer Dwarves are credited with saving the lives of thousands of Kul Tiras Sailors and Marines by providing aerial defense for our fleets, and those lessons have now been integrated into our military doctrine through the training and deployment of Sea Scouts.

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VII. Enemy Vessels

Up until Forsaken shipwrights joined the ranks of the Horde, their vessels mainly consisted of crudely cobbled together floating death traps designed by insane Goblin tinkers, mostly featuring as many canons as they could tie to the bone frames without sinking the “ship”. What the orcs, ogres and trolls lack in intelligence, ingenuity and common sense they made up with sheer dumb luck and the ability to throw more cannon fodder into the fray to deplete Alliance ammunition stores.

Nowadays, with the help of their allies, the Horde is able to field ships which are still woefully inferior in both design and construction, but definitely capable of limited combat on the high seas.

Some of their more notable designs are as follows:

Ogre Juggernaut
Some would describe the Ogre Juggernaut as a “floating fortress”, while any shipwright worth his salt would recognize this abomination for what it truly is: a glorified barge barely able to stay afloat from the excessive number of canons clumsily attached to the deck. Every single Ogre Juggernaut that was launched by the Horde in the Second War was hastily sunk - and it is rare to see this failure in ship design be attempted again on any shipyard save for the Ogres in Draenor who have clearly not learned the lesson of the first Horde who foolishly attempted to conquer Azeroth.

Troll Destroyer
Troll Destroyers were built by the Amani trolls with speed in mind, in order to keep up with the vastly superior Elven Destroyers of the time. Much like their decision to join with the Orcs, this large floating mistake has been mostly wiped out with only a few ships still sailing the seas - mostly manned by pirates who would sooner piss their own britches then face off against a Kul Tiran task force.

Forsaken Destroyer
A virtual copy of the Kul Tiran destroyer, this vessel is one of the most capable Horde warships around today, though they do not enjoy the benefit of experienced shipwrights overseeing the construction, nor the blessings of the Tidesages. Nevertheless, these vessels are capable, but they provide Kul Tiran ships the opportunity to finally put the souls of their lost and misguided brothers and sisters of Lordaeron to rest at the bottom of the sea where the Banshee Queen will be unable to work her vile magics upon them once more.

Orc Frigate
Really just a bunch of spikes on wooden planks with cannons attached. Comparable in capability to a Kul Tiran frigate, though weighed down by the inexplicable use of huge iron spikes throughout the construction that only serve to weigh down the ship and require significantly more ballast to keep the ship from capsizing. A laughbable design choice best relegated to the bottom of the sea along with it’s greenskin crew.

Goblin Submarine
A shoddy attempt to duplicate the effectiveness of a gnomish submarine, Goblin submarines typically do not survive any naval engagement as the torpedoes do not have any safety mechanisms that prevent them from detonating before they exit the torpedo tube. Many a goblin has met their well deserved doom within these metal coffins.