Editing Mulhacén

{{infoBoxIndividualSpacecraft
| image      = 
| vesselname = Mulhacén
| prevname   = Architeuthis<br>Marseilles
| type       = [[WarShip]]
| class      = [[Essex]]
| prevclass  = 
| servicesince = 
| serviceuntil = 
}}

==History==
===SLDF and Operation EXODUS===
The ''[[Essex]]''-class destroyer SLS '''''Marseilles''''' was a [[Star League Defense Force]] [[WarShip]] that survived the [[Hegemony Campaign]] to liberate [[Terra]] from the forces of [[Stefan Amaris]], and subsequently followed [[Commanding General of the Star League Defense Force|General]] [[Aleksandr Kerensky]] on the [[Operation EXODUS|Exodus]].<ref name="WORp172"/>

Following the Exodus, the ''Marseilles'' languished in mothballs as part of a small naval cache in the [[Babylon]] system for centuries. The naval cache with the ''Marseilles'' in would ultimately fall under the control of [[Clan Diamond Shark]], but while many of the ships within the various Diamond Shark naval caches would be restored and added to the [[Clan Diamond Shark Touman|Diamond Shark''touman'']] before [[Operation REVIVAL]], the ''Marseilles'' remained in mothballs until the [[Wars of Reaving]].<ref name="WORp172"/> 

===Wars of Reaving===
Despite the ejection of the Diamond Sharks from the Clan Homeworld systems, the Sharks inserted a Watch team back into homeworlds space in [[3075]]; the Watch contingent consisted of two small [[JumpShip]]s, a dozen ''[[solahma]]'' warriors, two salvage teams, technicians and merchants. The mission undertaken was twofold; to infiltrate the remaining Clans still in homeworlds space and to visit the only remaining Diamond Shark naval cache—namely, the cache in the Babylon system containing the ''Marseilles''—and restore any ships they could to operational status. The naval cache contained just two WarShips by this point, of which only one would prove to be in good enough condition that the small party could restore it, the ''Marseilles''.<ref name="WORp172">''The Wars of Reaving'', pp. 172–173: "Clan Diamond Shark"</ref>

Having restored the ''Marseilles'' and staffed it with a skeleton crew, the bulk of the Watch contingent then traveled to the edge of the [[Lum]] system and began searching for the remains of the ''Potemkin''-class [[Snowflake|CSR ''Snowflake'']] using information provided by [[Clan Snow Raven]]. The party found the ''Snowflake'' and confirmed that the K-F jump drive was in working order despite the ''Snowflake'' having lost large portions of its hull during the battle in the system. After emergency repairs, the ''Snowflake'' managed to execute a successful emergency test jump; this led the Diamond Sharks to rename the ''Snowflake'' to ''Titanic'', in honor of the ship destroyed at York. The Sharks also renamed the ''Marseilles'' to the '''''Architeuthis''''' and proceeded to make a cautious journey back to the Inner Sphere, with both salvage and work teams continuing to conduct what repairs they could en route.<ref name="WORp172"/>

Both the newly-renamed CDS ''Titanic'' and CDS ''Architeuthis'' journeyed back to [[Ramora]] in the [[Outworlds Alliance]], arriving in [[3076]] and promptly taking advantage of the Snow Raven repair bays there, which the Diamond Sharks had recently secured rights to use. Each ship underwent repairs at Ramora, although neither stayed any longer than was necessary, and both ships traveled to [[Twycross]] in [[3080]].<ref name="WORp172"/><ref name="FR:Cp8">''Field Report: Clans'', p. 8: "Clan Diamond Shark - Fleet Assets"</ref>

===Dark Age===
In or around [[3090]], the [[Raven Alliance]] found its need for a dedicated transport fleet of WarShips lessening, and Diamond Shark Khan Nagasawa saw an opportunity for a beneficial trade. In [[3091]], he proposed to [[Clan Snow Raven]] that four Diamond Shark WarShips be exchanged for four Snow Raven WarShips. This proved a contentious proposal for the warriors of the [[Clan Snow Raven Touman|Snow Raven ''touman'']], but ultimately the trade was agreed. The Diamond Sharks transferred four WarShips to the Snow Ravens—the ''[[Nightlord]]''-class battleship ''[[Terror of the Deep]]'', the ''[[Essex]]''-class destroyers ''Architeuthis'' and ''[[Tracy]]'', and the ''[[Fredasa (WarShip class)|Fredasa]]''-class transport ''[[Kutkh|Swift Strike]]''—and in exchange received three ''[[Potemkin]]''-class cruisers (the ''[[Epimetheus (Individual Potemkin-class WarShip)|Epimetheus]]'', ''[[Treachery]]'', and ''[[Wild Swan]]'') and the ''[[Volga]]''-class transport ''[[Scavenger (Individual Volga-class WarShip)|Scavenger]]''.<ref name="ER:3145p74">''Era Report: 3145'', pp. 74–76: "Alliance Naval Star"</ref><ref name="FM:3145p166">''Field Manual: 3145'', p. 166: "The Alliance Fleet"</ref><ref name="FR:Cp18">''Field Report: Clans'', pp. 18–19: "Fleet Assets"</ref>

The Raven Alliance renamed the ''Architeuthis'' and ''Tracy'' to the '''''Mulhacén''''' and ''[[Marshal Ney (Individual Essex-class WarShip)|Marshal Ney]]'', respectively, and they formed two of the ships of the [[Alliance Naval Star (Raven Alliance)|Alliance Naval Star]] based out of the [[Dante (system)|Dante]] system. By [[3101]], the bulk of the Raven Alliance WarShip fleet had been mothballed, including the ''Mulhacén'', and she would remain in mothballs for a generation. When [[Star Admiral]] [[Iqbal Lankenau]] was elected [[saKhan of Clan Snow Raven|saKhan]] in [[3132]] his successor was Star Admiral [[Loretta Gilmour]]. Under Admiral Gilmour the Alliance Naval Star was a key part of the Raven Alliance defenses against the Draconis Combine and the [[Federated Suns]]; when the Raven Alliance began bringing their WarShip fleet out of mothballs the ''Mulhacén'' and the ''Fredasa''-class ''[[Kutkh]]'' returned to active service, bringing the Alliance Naval Star up to four active WarShips. The Alliance Naval Star then increased to five WarShips when the ''[[Whirlwind]]''-class destroyer ''[[William Adams (Individual Whirlwind-class WarShip)|William Adams]]'' was added to the Star, but the reintegration of the three mothballed ships with the Star didn't go well. The Raven Alliance responded by sending the Star to the spinward frontier of the Alliance for more than a year to conduct training exercises before returning them to active duty and assigning the Star to pirate-hunting missions.<ref name="ER:3145p74"/>

The ''Mulhacén'' and the Alliance Naval Star active pursued pirates throughout the spinward frontier of the alliance before vanishing mysteriously; after a sixteen-month absence the Star reappeared in the Dante system just in time for the launch of the Draconis Combine's invasion of the Federated Suns.<ref name="ER:3145p74"/>

==Notes==
It was confirmed via a question in the "Ask The Writers" forum of the official [[Catalyst Game Labs]] forum that the ''Architeuthis'' had been renamed the ''Mulhacén'':

{{quote|The Diamond Shark fleet (what survived from the Jihad) was turned into ArcShips or traded to the Snow Ravens for vessels to turn into ArcShips.

Terror of the Deep --> traded to CSR (Lynn McKenna)<br>
Nagasawa --> Talismantia (Spina Beta)<br>
Space Hunter --> Caleuche (Tiburon Gamma)<br>
Tracy --> traded to CSR (Marshal Ney)<br>
'''Architeuthis''' --> traded to CSR ('''Mulhacén''')<br>
Swift Strike --> traded to CSR (Kutkh)<br>
Devourer --> severely damaged and scuttled over Twycross circa 3085<br>
Kraken --> Fox ArcShip<br>
Poseidon --> Spina ArcShip<br>
Titanic --> Tiburon ArcShip<br>
Tsunami --> ilKhanate ArcShip<br>|[http://bg.battletech.com/forums/ask-the-writers/diamond-sharksea-fox-fleet-post-3085/msg979617/#msg979617 Roosterboy, Catalyst Game Labs "Ask The Writer" Forum, 26 Oct 2014]}}

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''[[Era Report: 3145]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: 3145]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Warden Clans]]''
* ''[[Field Report: Clans]]''
* ''[[The Wars of Reaving]]''

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