Editing Fire Fang (Individual Whirlwind-class WarShip)

{{infoBoxIndividualVessel
| image      = 
| vesselname = Fire Fang
| prevname   =
| type       = [[WarShip]]
| class      = [[Whirlwind]]
| prevclass  = [[Davion I (WarShip class)|Davion]]
}}

==History==
The '''''Fire Fang''''' was a ''[[Whirlwind]]''-class destroyer that survived the [[Amaris Civil War]] and the [[Pentagon Civil War]]. The ''Fire Fang'' was serving in the [[Clan Ghost Bear]] [[Clan Ghost Bear Touman|''touman'']] as the CGB ''Fire Fang'' during the era of the [[Clan Invasion]].<ref name="THp191">''The Hunters'', p. 191, "Chapter 22"</ref>

===Task Force SERPENT===
====Trafalgar====
On the 15th of December [[3059]]<ref name="THp191"/> the [[Second Star League]] task force known as [[Task Force Serpent|Task Force SERPENT]] was following a covert route to the [[Clan Homeworlds]] when it encountered the ''Fire Fang'' in the [[Deep Periphery]].<ref name="THp191"/><ref name="TOTCp18">''Twilight of the Clans'', p. 18, "Defender"</ref> Task Force SERPENT was in a system some four jumps - 120 light years - past the system the [[Explorer Corps (ComStar)|Explorer Corps]] had named [[Meribah]] when the ''Fire Fang'' and the other ships accompanying her arrived in the same system.<ref name="THp191"/>

First detected by the ''[[Lola III]]''-class destroyer [[Ranger (Individual Lola III-class WarShip, ComStar)|ISS ''Ranger'']],<ref name="THp192">''The Hunters'', p. 192, "Chapter 22"</ref> the ''Fire Fang'' was under the command of [[Star Captain]] [[Manfred Snuka]]<ref name="THp237">''The Hunters'', p. 237, "Chapter 27"</ref> and was accompanied by a sister ship, the [[Ursus (Individual Whirlwind-class WarShip)|CGB ''Ursus'']], as well as the ''[[Congress]]''-class frigate [[Shining Claw|CGB ''Shining Claw'']] and the ''[[Invader]]''-class [[JumpShip]] [[Winter Wind|CGB ''Winter Wind'']]. While the other three ships were all transporting assorted [[DropShip]]s, the ''Fire Fang'' was transporting a full complement of [[aerospace fighter]]s.<ref name="TOTCp17">''Twilight of the Clans'', p. 17, "Scenario 1: Trafalgar"</ref>

The Inner Sphere forces led by the [[Com Guards|Com Guard]] ''[[Cameron (WarShip class)|Cameron]]''-class battlecruiser [[Invisible Truth|ISS ''Invisible Truth'']] were the victors in the engagement, subsequently dubbed Trafalgar, and the ''Shining Claw'' was destroyed; the ''Ursus'' was also lost, and the Task Force claimed the intact ''Fire Fang'' as ''[[isorla]]'', along with some three hundred warriors and more than a thousand civilian caste members. The ''Winter Wind'' was unable to jump out before being boarded and captured, leaving the Clans unaware of the existence of Task Force SERPENT.<ref name="TOTCp10">''Twilight of the Clans'', p. 10, "Beyond The Periphery"</ref>

The ''Fire Fang'' had attempted to protect the ''Winter Wind'' during the battle; the ''Winter Wind'' was transporting scores of civilians that the Ghost Bears were relocating to the [[Inner Sphere]], and was disabled early in the battle by the ISS ''Ranger''.<ref name="THp203">''The Hunters'', p. 203-207, "Chapter 23"</ref> The ''[[Kyushu]]''-class frigate [[Haruna|DCS ''Haruna'']] had been tasked with delivering several [[DEST]] boarding parties aboard the ''Winter Wind'',<ref name="THp209">''The Hunters'', p. 209, "Chapter 24"</ref> and ended up taking damage from repeated volleys from the ''Fire Fang''; the ''Fire Fang'' was damaged in turn by the ''Haruna'', the ''[[Fox (WarShip class)|Fox]]''-class corvette [[Antrim|FCS ''Antrim'']] and a pair of ''[[Achilles (DropShip class)|Achilles]]''-class DropShips, the [[Dojo|DCS ''Dojo'']] and [[Hainan|DCS ''Hainan'']].<ref name="THp216">''The Hunters'', p. 216-218, "Chapter 24"</ref> Despite the damage taken, the ''Fire Fang'' was actually the least damaged of the three Ghost Bear WarShips by the time she surrendered, but had lost two weapon bays as well as both of her autocannon batteries.<ref name="THp240">''The Hunters'', p. 240, "Chapter 27"</ref>

Task Force SERPENT performed repairs to the ''Fire Fang'' as best they could using volunteers and Clan personnel considered trustworthy;<ref name="THp250">''The Hunters'', p. 250, "Chapter 28"</ref> she then served as an active part of Task Force SERPENT, crewed by a prize crew leavened with trusted bondsmen.<ref name="THp253">''The Hunters'', p. 253, "Chapter 28"</ref> The computer core aboard the ''Fire Fang'' was captured intact, and the records contained within it allowed Task Force SERPENT to develop tactics and procedures for using WarShips to provide tactical support to ground combat, something no-one in the Inner Sphere had been able to practice in centuries; those new doctrines were tested with practice fire against one of the uninhabited planets in the system.<ref name="THp264">''The Hunters'', p. 264-265, "Chapter 29"</ref>

====Huntress====
The original plan for the Task Force SERPENT attack on the [[Clan Smoke Jaguar]] homeworld of [[Huntress]] in February [[3060]] used intelligence suggesting that the system had a defense force consisting of a pair of corvettes and a cruiser or other larger WarShip, and called for the ''Fire Fang'' and the ''Invisible Truth'' to engage the cruiser, provisionally tagged as a ''[[Liberator (WarShip class)|Liberator]]''-class WarShip, while all of the SERPENT lighter WarShips engaged the corvettes, with the exception of the ''[[Essex]]''-class destroyer [[Starlight (Individual Essex-class WarShip)|CSV ''Starlight'']], which had taken heavy damage at Trafalgar. Assuming that the Smoke Jaguar WarShips were successfully destroyed, the ''Fire Fang'' was to join the ''Ranger'' in escorting the Task Force DropShips down to the surface of Huntress and provide fire support if needed.<ref name="S&Fp111">''Sword and Fire'', p. 111, "Chapter 11"</ref>

The WarShips in the Huntress system were actually discovered to be a pair of ''[[Vincent (WarShip class)|Vincent Mk. 42]]''-class corvettes and a ''[[Sovetskii Soyuz]]''-class heavy cruiser; although other ships were lost, the ''Fire Fang'' survived the battle and worked with the ''Ranger'' to escort the transports as originally planned.<ref name="S&Fp156">''Sword and Fire'', 156-157, "Chapter 16"</ref> She then went on to provide tactical support from orbit at least once, savaging the Smoke Jaguar forces located near Bagera.<ref name="S&Fp226">''Sword and Fire'', 226-227, "Chapter 22"</ref>

When elements of the Smoke Jaguar [[Clan Smoke Jaguar Touman|Clan Smoke Jaguar ''touman'']] retreating from their Occupation Zone arrived in the Huntress system in March 3060 the ''Fire Fang'' was called into action again, along with the other Task Force SERPENT WarShips. This time, the ''Fire Fang'' was facing a ''Liberator'', the [[Korat (Individual Liberator-class WarShip)|CSJ ''Korat'']], under the command of [[Star Commodore]] [[Clarinda Stiles]]<ref>''Shadows of War (novel)'', p. 76</ref> along with three ''Vincent''-class corvettes, [[Azov (Individual Vincent-class WarShip)|CSJ ''Azov'']],<ref> ''Shadows of War'' p. 69</ref> [[Ripper (Individual Vincent-class WarShip)|CSJ ''Ripper'']]<ref name>''Shadows of War'', p. 50</ref> and [[Simas Osis (Individual Vincent-class WarShip)|CSJ ''Simas Osis'']].<ref>''Shadows of War'', p. 70-72</ref> Operating alongside the ''Invisible Truth'', the ''Fire Fang'' helped to destroy the ''Korat''.<ref>''Shadows of War'', p. 60</ref>

The ground forces on Huntress came under mounting pressure, and nearly called on the ''Fire Fang'' and ''Invisible Truth'' to perform saturation bombardment on areas of Huntress in late March 3060;<ref>Shadows of War'', p. 158 "Chapter 17"</ref> fortunately, the arrival of the forces from [[Operation BULLDOG]] relieved at least some of the pressure on Task Force SERPENT.<ref>Shadows of War'', p. 230 "Chapter 23"</ref>

===ComStar Service===
Passed to [[ComStar]] after Operation BULLDOG ended, in [[3062]] the ''Fire Fang'' was a part of the Com Guard [[1st Fleet (ComStar)|First Fleet]], operating from the [[ComStar]] fleet base at [[Luyten 68-28]].<ref name="FM:CSp44">''Field Manual: ComStar'', p. 44, "The WarShip Fleet"</ref> She remained in service with ComStar until at least [[3067]].<ref name="FM:Up83">''Field Manual: Updates'', p. 83, "ComStar Naval Assets"</ref>

===The Jihad===
Captured by the [[Word of Blake]], the ''Fire Fang'' formed a part of their black water navy until she was destroyed in the [[Dyev]] system in [[3076]] along with two other former ComStar WarShips which had been co-opted by the Blakists, the ''[[Aegis]]''-class heavy cruiser ''[[Righteous Fury (Individual Aegis-class WarShip)|Righteous Fury]]'' and the ''Congress''-class ''[[Hollings York (Individual Congress-class WarShip)|Hollings York]]''.<ref name="J:FRp128">''Jihad: Final Reckoning'', p. 128, "Captured Ships"</ref>

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''[[Field Manual: ComStar]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Updates]]''
* ''[[The Hunters]]''
* ''[[Jihad: Final Reckoning]]''
* ''[[Shadows of War]]''
* ''[[Sword and Fire]]''
* ''[[Twilight of the Clans]]''


[[Category: Individual WarShips]]
[[Category: Individual Destroyers]]
[[Category: Individual Whirlwind-class WarShips]]