View source for Serpentes

{{infoBoxIndividualVessel
| image      = 
| vesselname = Serpentes
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| type       = [[WarShip]]
| class      = [[Potemkin]]
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The ''[[Potemkin]]''-class cruiser CSV '''''Serpentes''''' was a [[WarShip]] within the [[Clan Steel Viper]] [[Clan Steel Viper Touman|''touman'']] serving alongside her sister ship, the [[Ophidian|CSV ''Ophidian'']] as of [[3061]].<ref name="FM:WCp138+">''Field Manual: Warden Clans'', pp. 138–139: "Naval Assets"</ref>

==History==
When the Steel Vipers made an opportunistic move against the last [[Clan Snow Raven]] convoy to try and leave the Homeworlds, the ''Serpentes'' was one of the Steel Viper WarShips directly involved. The Snow Raven convoy consisted of the [[Hellgate Battle Star (Clan Snow Raven)|Hellgate Battle Star]] and no less than one hundred and nine [[JumpShips]] all traveling slowly away from [[Hellgate]]. Anticipating that the Snow Ravens would move via the Snow Raven guidepost at [[Ghent]], the Steel Vipers arranged to work with [[Clan Star Adder]] to seize or destroy the convoy.<ref name="WORp102+">''The Wars of Reaving'', pp. 102–104: "Raven's Dirge"</ref>

On 29 July [[3072]], the Steel Viper force, consisting of the ''[[Leviathan Prime]]''-class battleship [[Perigard Zalman (Individual Leviathan-class WarShip)|CSV ''Perigard Zalman'']] escorted by the ''[[Essex]]''-class destroyer [[Martial Legacy|CSV ''Martial Legacy'']] and the ''Serpentes'' jumped into the system, arriving in the middle of the vast Snow Raven convoy, and announced their [[Trial of Possession]] for the entire fleet, declaring all of the forces at the disposal of [[Star Commodore]] [[Terrence Moffat]] as their bid.<ref name="WORp102+"/>

[[Star Admiral]] [[Anta McKenna]] accepted the Viper bid as-was and declared all of her forces in defense. What Admiral McKenna hadn't realized was that [[Clan Star Adder]] had assigned a naval Star of their own to the command of Commodore Moffat, a naval Star consisting of the ''[[Black Lion]]''-class battlecruiser [[Admiral William S. Preston|CSA ''Admiral William S. Preston'']], the ''[[Fredasa (WarShip class)|Fredasa]]''-class corvette [[Arcadian Asp|CSA ''Arcadian Asp'']], the [[York (WarShip class)|''York'']]-class destroyer [[Exodus Crusader|CSA ''Exodus Crusader'']] and the ''[[Lola III]]''-class destroyers [[Hagar|CSA ''Hagar'']] and [[Warlock (Individual Lola III-class WarShip)|CSA ''Warlock'']]. Moffat neglected to inform McKenna of the additional forces, communicating their presence less than a minute before the Steel Viper vessels began firing on the Ravens.<ref name="WORp102+"/>

Moffat didn't limit his targets to the four Raven WarShips defending the convoy and their attached escorts. Instead, he had the ''Perigard Zalman'' open fire on whatever targets were in range, with the first Raven ships destroyed being fifteen JumpShips before the Ravens could close. The ''Martial Legacy'' proceeded to work in tandem with the ''Serpentes'' against the Ravens, first targeting and destroying the ''Lola III''-class [[Sagitta|CSR ''Sagitta'']], which had still been carrying the damage inflicted on it from the Trial of Possession in which the Ravens had acquired the Hellgate Battle Star from [[Clan Goliath Scorpion]]. In response, the ''Potemkin''-class [[Enceladus|CSR ''Enceladus'']] managed to inflict some damage on the ''Serpentes'' before the ''Perigard Zalman'' blocked both the ''Serpentes'' and the ''Martial Legacy'' from fire from the heavier Raven ships.<ref name="WORp102+"/>

Despite the best efforts of the Ravens, the battle was effectively a foregone conclusion once the Star Adder forces jumped in. The Ravens still managed to cripple the ''Serpentes'' when the ''[[Congress]]''-class frigate [[Garlon|CRS ''Garlon'']] intercepted the ''Serpentes'' as it attempted to close on a group of JumpShips. The ''Potemkin''-class [[Prometheus (Individual Potemkin-class WarShip)|CSR ''Prometheus'']] was destroyed quickly by the Star Adders, although her sister vessel the ''Enceladus'' worked with several Raven DropShips to gut the ''Admiral William S. Preston'' before being destroyed in turn by the ''Asp'', and the ''Perigard Zalman'' accounted for the ''Garlon''. None of the Raven AeroSpace or combat DropShip forces answered Moffat's single call to surrender, instead fighting until they had all been destroyed.<ref name="WORp102+"/>

Moffat's actions secured the Steel Vipers and the Star Adders a total of fifty Raven JumpShips and almost eighty full DropShips of cargo as ''[[isorla]]''. At least sixteen Raven JumpShips managed to escape, although only thirteen were eventually reclaimed by the Ravens. The ''Serpentes'' was scuttled, although the Vipers claimed the ''Garlon'' as salvage. The Star Adders tagged the various other Raven hulks and marked their courses with a view to later stripping the hulks for their materials. The Star Adders and Steel Vipers then spaced any Raven civilians considered unnecessary before moving their booty back to their holdings.<ref name="WORp102+"/>

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''[[Field Manual: Warden Clans]]''
* ''[[The Wars of Reaving]]''

[[Category: Individual WarShips]]
[[Category: Individual Cruisers]]
[[Category: Individual Potemkin-class WarShips]]