The Magical, Mystical Fox-class Corvette

There is little question that the Federated Commonwealth's Fox-class corvette is the most-produced 31st century Inner Sphere (or any other region) WarShip. Started in 3051, the FCS Fox launched around 3058 (Technical Readout: 3057 Revised, page 118.) By the time of the FedCom Civil War in 3063, the Federated Suns half of the Commonwealth was in possession of 9 of these vessels, with a tenth having been lost at Huntress (Field Manual:Federated Suns, p. 25.) Also noted in the same place are five more on the slipways, ready to deploy through 3065. The Lyran Alliance had 3, with 3 more under construction, bringing the total original production run of the Fox-class to some 21 vessels.

So here's our class inventory as of 3063:

Completed:
FCS Fox
FCS Indomitable
FCS Intrepid
FCS Indefatigable
FCS Antrim
FCS Murmansk
FCS Brest
FCS New Syrtis
FCS Robinson
FCS Rostock
LAS Katrina Steiner
LAS Robert Marsden
LAS Angela Franks

Building:
FCS Kathil
FCS Bryceland
FCS Kentares
FCS Admiral Corinne Donnings
FCS Admiral Michael Saille
LAS Robert Kelswa
LAS Katherine Steiner
LAS Ian Mcquiston

We know a number these get chewed up by the FedCom Civil War, so who's left for Field Manual: Update? The Federated Suns is left with 12 of their 14, having apparently lost Fox and Kentares to enemy action. The Lyran Alliance still has six (Angela Franks was renamed to Arthur Steiner-Davion and destroyed, to be replaced by Melissa Steiner), although two that were under construction in at the beginning of 3063 (Ian Mcqustion and Katrina Steiner) are still under construction at the end of 3067. The real trick is that apparently Katrina Steiner and Katherine Steiner have traded names, although given the history of renaming Fox-class corvettes, this is perhaps not surprising.

The Missing Foxes

Things get more complicated when we start reading a few other sourcebooks. The destruction of the lead ship of the class, FCS Fox, is never discussed, which is somewhat surprising, but more so is the abrupt appearance of FCS Illustrious, a Fox-class corvette, over Hesperus II to engage the Simon Davion on 28 June 3065! In the company of Indefatigable, the mystery Fox covers the landing of 22nd Skye Rangers, and is promptly destroyed. Could Illustrious be the missing FCS Fox?

And then there's FCS Admiral Corinne Donnings. She makes the list in FM:U, but she's rather explicitly destroyed in the novel Endgame (p183). So where did this new FCS Admiral Corinne Donnings come from? In the same vein (and the same battle), Murmansk was on the Loyalist side, but according to page 170 of Fedcom Civil War, she jumped out-system after the battle and was not heard from again as of the time of printing. Interestingly, the FCCW account matches the casualty count from the novel, listing three ships lost (which we presume to be Alexander Davion, Kentares, and Donnings), and two surrendered (Lucien Davion and Antrim), with Murmansk running for the hills and Melissa Davion, Robinson, and Intrepid victorious. Now, FCCW carries an in-Universe date of 30 October 3067, and FM:U's Federated Suns section is dated 16 September 3067. The Battle of New Avalon took place in November of 3066. What's worse? Both the FedSuns section of Field Manual: Updates and the FedCom Civil War report were written by Rainer Wolfgram. He lists vessels active in Field Manual:Updates that he knows for a fact to be missing or destroyed. So we know that the Federated Suns had 10 corvettes, not 12.

Finally, we also know of one other Fox that was injured during the closing stages of the FedCom Civil War. On page 139 of the novel Endgame, an unnamed Fox assists the Yggdrasil in trying to hold back Werewolf and her armada. It fails badly, but is only disabled, not destroyed. Knowing that Katrina Steiner and Ian Mcquiston are incomplete, and Angela Franks/Arthur Steiner-Davion is missing (FCCW, p85), the mystery corvette can really only be Robert Kelswa, Robert Marsden, or Katherine Steiner. We know Marsden and Steiner were operating near Tikonov in early 3065 (FCCW, p126), so it makes sense for the mystery corvette to be Kelswa. Indeed, Field Manual: Updates p. 165 states that Kelswa was damaged at Tharkad.

And what of the Fox in the Jihad? In chronological order of their actions:

Galen Cox confirms the destruction of Angela Franks/Arthur Steiner Davion by Immortal Spirit (Blake Documents, p38.) We've believed this to be the case for a long time, but it was first explicitly confirmed in a Sourcebook here.

(6 February 3068) Katrina Steiner engages Percival at Skye (DotJ,p45)
(13 April 3069) Robert Kelswa is stolen from Alarion (JHS3070, p45)
(20 April 3069) Intrepid defends Galax (JHS3070, p43)
(6 February 3070) Melissa Steiner lost at Hesperus II (BD, p24)
(27 February 3070) Ian McQuiston abandons Donegal (JHS3070, p91, BD, p24)
(January 3072) Ian McQuiston is destroyed (Jihad Turning Points Tharkad, p5)
(13 August 3072) Admiral Michael Saille and Brest take Blakist ship at Markesan (JHS3072, p99)
(22 May 3075) Robert Marsden signals destruction of Implacable (JHS3076, p37)
(2 July 3075) Kathil destroyed over Brusett (JHS3076, p39 & 55)
(2 October 3076) “New Syrtis, Vendetta Battle it Out”, a headline in the background(JHS 3076, p87)

That gives us ten Fox-class corvettes we know were operating during the Jihad, and confirms the destruction of two (Kathil and Melissa Steiner) and strongly suggests the destruction or capture of another (Intrepid.)

We also know of several engagements that Fox-class corvettes were likely to have participated in. Dawn of the Jihad, page 25 describes a brief naval engagement over New Avalon between its defenders and the Word of Blake assault force. Given that Melissa Davion and had both been badly damaged there, and at least Melissa had been withdrawn to Galax for repairs, its probable that Fox-class corvettes were on watch that day. Reportedly, two FedSuns WarShips were lost (Dawn of the Jihad, p57), and we know Melissa Davion was at Galax, Simon Davion was at Kathil, and Lucien Davion resumed the defense of New Avalon in 3075, meaning both ships must have been Fox-class.

We know five of the Fed Suns corvettes survived the encounter, so that means that the two lost at New Avalon had to be in the set of Bryceland, Indomitable, Indefatigable, Antrim, Robinson (Murmansk was still missing.) Given that Antrim was severely damaged at New Avalon, we can probably narrow it to the other four.

So What's The Question?

The mystery surrounding the Fox-class lies in their number. We know or can derive a few facts about their construction. First, only two shipyards built the Fox-class; Galax (Handbook: House Davion) and Alarion (Handbook: House Steiner). Apparently Galax had sufficient facilities to simultaneously construct five, while Alarion could construct three at a time. In the 3063 Field Manuals, we have described to us a class of 21 ships, the names laid out at the top of this article. We know that Angela Franks was renamed to Arthur Steiner-Davion, and it seems Katherine Steiner and Katrina Steiner switched names sometime during the FedCom Civil War. If we presume that the mysterious Illustrious over Hesperus II was simply Fox herself under a different name, then we can account of all fifteen of the Federated Suns corvettes. But there's still one missing piece.

Field Manual: Updates springs one surprise on us, one that's not immediately apparent if you're just counting numbers of ships, but is very important; Melissa Steiner just appears out of the clear blue sky. She's not on the list of ships building, nor could any of the other vessels been renamed to be her. With the loss of the Arthur Steiner-Davion, the Lyran fleets should be down to five ships including those building in 3067, but they're not, so obviously seven Fox-class corvettes were produced in the Lyran Alliance before 3067.

While a secret shipyard is within the realm of possibility, it is a tremendously unlikely circumstance, especially considering the hammering the Lyrans would take in 3068. We might, though, explain her existence and the abrupt delays on Ian Mcquiston and Katherine/Katrina Steiner. The Steiner was estimated to launch in 3066, but it is possible that, for political reasons, she was renamed Melissa Steiner on the slipway, and a seventh Fox-class corvette was ordered and the name Katrina was bestowed upon that ship. Of course, Alarion was in Victor's hands from relatively early on, and while he might order a name change, it seems extremely unlikely he would compel the shipyard to build another corvette, it is possible the order came from the loyalist authority before he landed in 3064. Unfortunately, the Alarion invasion falls neatly between the events of Patriots and Tyrants and Storms of Fate, so the fiction is of no help to us here.

This theory provides some very strained logic in swapping ships around for no readily apparent reason, as well as the sudden ordering of another WarShip during a war in which they server only the most marginal of roles (FCCW, p171), but it seems the most likely of explanations for where Lyran Fox #7 might have come from.