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The DNS Sudca undergoing sea trials in the Majatran Sea last month.
First Sudca-class DAPV commissioned
Vavřinec Hanák
May 5, 5210
The first Sudca-class 'dedicated anti-piracy vessel' of seven currently on order has been commissioned by the Deltarian Navy. The DNS Sudca was launched from Majatranská Modrá's yards in Branovice in a ceremony led by the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Navy, Vice Admiral Vratislav Dolina. The Sudca now reports to the Home Fleet as a part of the 3rd Squadron, pending transferral to a proposed Mercantile Security Command to be composed of she and her sister ships; she has not been transferred to the Navy Reserve. Speaking at the ceremony, Admiral Dolina offered praise for the Sudca and its builders.
The Navy, make no mistake of it, is not a stranger to embarrassment. Incompetents can fail to do their duty properly in battle and lose hundreds of good men to the depths in the process, in all manner of ways. But outside of the Academy's dormitories, it is rare for embarrassment to not be marred by and entwined with tragedy; after all, what else could the loss of loyal and patriotic sailors mean?
Pure embarrassment is hard to come by in the Navy...until a band of pirates comes along. Every ship seized in every place where our fleets ought to be able to extend their tendrils of strength and freedom by ragtag bands of miscreants on glorified canoes, until one innocent mariner is shot for the mere trouble of wanting to provide for themselves or their family, is a pure embarrassment, and so is every second that such a ship is able to float while under the control of such scoundrels. But no more.
The Sudca, which is behind me, represents the beginning of the end to the state of embarrassment that clouds this Navy. She is judgement; over a hundred years since a ship flying the Deltarian flag seized by foreign-sponsored barbarians was chaotically and, indeed, incompetently retaken in the name of the Deltarian people, the leading culprit is finally having justice handed down to him. With the Sudca's commissioning, sailors - no matter how few - whose calling in life they have not found to be serving in our Navy can rest easy, and the Navy's honor and glory is restored.
The Sudca-class DAPVs, DNS Sudca included, are 62.4 meters long and have a relatively high top speed of 37.5 knots (69.45 km/h). In accordance with the contractual stipulations, which mandated that proposed designs needed to be able to respond to piracy at all points of the hijacking process (before, during, and after boarding), the Sudca is armed with water cannons (to discourage approaching pirates) and long-range acoustic devices (also to discourage approaching pirates both before and after boarding their target, as well as to communicate with them in the process of negotiations). Notably, beyond the typical 60 mm dual-purpose cannon, the Sudca also boasts a specially designed 90 mm cannon designed by Ushalande Defense Corporation. Built for precision, this cannon is combat-grade and will likely be equipped by more conventional warships in the future, but on the Sudca-class is intended for use in the way of firing warning shots and disabling key components of hijacked vessels with degrees of precision that may be necessitated by the situation.