Editing Sundermann Liao (Individual Du Shi Wang-class WarShip)

{{otheruses|the WarShip|the eponymous character|Sundermann Liao}}

{{InfoBoxIndividualSpacecraft
| image        = 
| vesselname   = Sundermann Liao
| prevname     = 
| type         = [[WarShip]]
| class        = [[Du Shi Wang]]
| prevclass    = 
| servicesince = 
| serviceuntil = [[2789]] (destroyed)
}}
The '''''Sundermann Liao''''' was a ''[[Du Shi Wang]]''-class [[destroyer]] in service with the [[Capellan Confederation Navy]].

==History==
The ''Sundermann Liao'' was active since at least [[2765]], but was likely constructed closer to [[2380]] when the ''Du Shi Wang''-class was launched.<ref>''Field Report 2765: CCAF'', p. 5</ref><ref>[http://www.masterunitlist.info/Unit/Details/4103/du-shi-wang-battleship-standard MUL Profile for the Du Shi Wang - Includes Introduction Year.]</ref>

===First Succession War===
Following on the heels of the massacre conducted on [[New Delos]] in [[2788]], a strike at [[Calloway VI]] was intended to break the [[Free Worlds League]]'s morale and willingness to fight. The task force raised to assault Calloway IV, dubbed Task Force Devlin, consisted of thirty [[WarShip]]s, fifty attack [[DropShip]]s, fifty-six transport DropShips, numerous transport [[JumpShip]]s and seven regiments of 'Mech forces. The overall command of the Task Force fell to Colonel [[Jacen Devlin]] aboard his flagship, the ''Du Shi Wang''-class CCS ''Sundermann Liao''.<ref name="FSWp58">''First Succession War'', pp. 58–60: "Debacle at Calloway"</ref>

When the Task Force jumped into the Calloway system, it found the [[First Oriente Provincial Squadron]] waiting for it at the zenith [[jump point]], while waiting on Calloway VI were four provincial regiments—the [[First Fusiliers of Oriente]], the [[3rd Oriente Hussars|Third]] and [[Eighth Oriente Hussars]], and the [[Helm Cuirassiers]]—complete with an attached group of attack DropShips and a number of [[Wing (Formation)|wings]] of aerospace fighters. The First Oriente Provincial Squadron didn't waste any time attacking, but despite being outnumbered, deliberately did everything they could to target transport ships, rather than escorts. By the time the four ''[[Atreus (WarShip class)|Atreus]]''-class battleships and the four ''[[League (WarShip class)|League II]]''-class destroyers had been destroyed, Task Force Devlin had lost a quarter of its transport JumpShips and more than a regiment each of aerospace fighters and 'Mechs. Wounded in the engagement was [[Barnabus Liao]], whose ''[[Overlord]]''-class DropShip had been crippled in the battle.<ref name="FSWp58"/>

Barbara Liao insisted on the attack going ahead, with Task Force Devlin burning towards Calloway VI—a two-week journey—unaware that the [[Free Worlds League Navy]] [[3rd Fleet (Free Worlds League)|Third Fleet]] was waiting in two large groups at [[Holt]] and [[Oriente]], and had been made aware of the attack. Twelve hours out from the surface of Calloway VI League assault craft and fighter carrier DropShips were waiting, and swarms of League aerospace fighters threw themselves at the lighter Capellan fighters. The resulting battle lasted two days, and by the time Task Force Devlin had managed to secure orbital supremacy above the planet the Task Force had lost seven more transport DropShips and two regiments of aerospace fighters.<ref name="FSWp58"/>

The Capellan landings went ahead, with the Task Force mustering roughly five regiments of 'Mechs—a number almost equaled by the defenders, who had spent two weeks fortifying positions, creating redoubts and evacuating civilians from the major cities on the planet. For ten days the Capellan ground forces fought a war of attrition against the defenders, hampered by the need to protect the Chancellor; when Barbara Liao finally announced a withdrawal from the planet only a third of the Red Lancers remained to evacuate her, and Barnabus Liao was killed along with the other members of the Ares Titans while attempting to fall back. Even as the Capellan forces evacuated from Calloway VI, they learned that their transport JumpShips had been destroyed. The FWLN Third Fleet had jumped to Calloway a week into Task Force Devlin's two-week approach to the planet; arriving close enough to the transport JumpShips to engage immediately, the Third Fleet had destroyed all bar two of the JumpShips, along with their small WarShip escort, and were burning towards Calloway VI, determined to avenge New Delos.<ref name="FSWp58"/>

Colonel Devlin assigned six WarShips to evacuate Barbara Liao, while his remaining forces acted as a rearguard against the vengeful League forces. By the time the Chancellor's ships were away, Devlin was dead, and the ''Sundermann Liao'' had been destroyed, along with the bulk of Task Force Devlin. Of the original Task Force Devlin ships and forces, the survivors who managed to escape mustered just twelve WarShips, six attack DropShips, five 'Mech transports and three fighter carriers, transporting away the remnants of the ground forces—of which only the Red Lancers, Third Confederation Reserve Cavalry and Fifth Liao Lancers had managed to survive in any numbers. Lost during the naval battle was Baltazar Liao, aboard the ''[[Essex]]''-class destroyer [[Calseraigne (Individual Essex-class WarShip)|CCS ''Calseraigne'']], destroyed by the ''[[Aegis (WarShip class)|Aegis]]''-class heavy cruiser [[Pleiades (Individual Aegis-class WarShip)|FWLS ''Pleiades'']].<ref name="FSWp58"/>

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''[[First Succession War (sourcebook)|First Succession War]]''


[[Category: Individual WarShips]]
[[Category: Individual Battleships]]
[[Category: Individual Du Shi Wang-class WarShips]]