OFS Kestrel

The OFS Kestrel was a Nimitz Class aircraft carrier and flagship of the 3rd Osean Naval Fleet. It served in both the Belkan War and the Circum-Pacific War.

Early years and The Belkan War
It is unknown exactly when the Kestrel was under construction, but it and the rest of the Third Fleet took part in the the Belkan War, which was probably it's first action. Their only known operation was during the Battle of Futuro Canal. During the breifing the ship is discribed as being state-of-the-art and making a trial voyage. Under the command of Captain Weeker at the time, their part during the offensive was to pass through the canal was called Operation Costner. As they passed through the canal, the fleet was attacked by Belkan Fighters, but their escorts sucessfully shot them all down and saved the fleet. With the canal and inland sea secured, the fleet spent the rest of the war maintaining an air corridor and played no other confirmed action during the war.

The Circum-Pacific War
Sometime between 1995 and 2010, the Kestrel received and new command, Captain Nicholas Andersen and a new air group leader, Captain Marcus Snow. Also, her sister carriers, the Vulture, Buzzard, and Barbette, were complete and the Third Fleet was re-based at Port St. Hewlett. On September 27th, 2010, the Union of Yuktobanian Republics declared war on the Osean Federation and opened with a suprise air attack on the port. Most of the ships were caught unprepared and were destroyed while docked. However, the 108th Tactical Fighter Squadron, better known as Wardog, arrived to help and the few remaining ships escaped the harbor, the Kestrel among them. Once out to sea, they were able to break through a Yuktobanian blockade and sucessfully escaped to open waters.

Once the initial blitz attack ended, it was realized that the Yuktobanians had filed to destroy any of the Osean carriers. The Kestrel, Vulture, and Buzzard were moved to the Bennion Sea through the Eaglin Straits in order to re-build a counter-strike force during Operation Whalebird. Escorted by the destroyer Finch and a huge mass of planes, including the Wardog Squadron,they made their way to the sea. However; due to bad weather, the Yuktobanians somehow mannaged to launch several fighter jets at the fleet forcing them seperate to attempt to rendevous at the sea. After the situation was under control and things seemed to calm down, the remaining planes and ships regrouped. But just when they seemed in the clear, a ballistic missile seemed to come out of nowhere and stuck the Vulture, destroying it and most of the air defense. The remaining planes were forced to climb above 5,000 feet while the ships attempted to evade. A second missile came in and hit the Buzzard while the Finch was caught in the explosin and sank. After the attack, only the Kestrel, Captain Snow, and the Wardog squadron remained. The remains of the fleet were quickly relocated to Kirwin Island in the North to protect them from damage. Since the air group had been reduced to Snow, the carrier and its fleet stayed inactive for some time.

Secret activities
Also with the Kestrel at Kirwin was the intelligence-gathering vessel Andromeda. This vessel began to intercept transmissions from the Belkan group known as the Grey Men. Soon, Andersen knew the truth about the war. When it was heard that the Wardog Squadron, along with Pops, journalist Albert Genette, and the squads mascot Kirk, had been betryed in order to keep the war going and were attempting to escape, he sent Captain Snow to rescue them. He sent Wardog a secret message telling them to bail out, which they did, while he shot down the empty planes, thus faking their deaths. The squad was rescued by a helicopter from the carrier. Once back on the ship, it was decided that the former Wardog members would be renamed the Razgriz Air Command Squadron and Snow would take the place of the fourth member. With the Kestrel as their base, they would work together to stop the Grey Men. Their first combat operation was to rescue the kidnapped President Vincent Harling from Stier Castle, Belka. After his rescue, the squad flew to Mt. Schirm in Belka to seal off the mine that contained several V2 nuclear weapons. Though most were sealed inside, three managed to escape. One was capture by a group of Yuktobanian rebels who tried to disarm it. The Razgriz launched to help and destroyed several special forces before being attcked by the Grey Men's Ofnir Squadron, whom they destroyed in a running battle through the canyon. They then discovered that the Grey Men had taken over the Arkbird and placed one of their nukes on it, planning to use it to destroy the Yuktobanian city Okchabursk. The Razgriz scrambled and shot down the craft. Around this time the president decided to leave the carrier and return to the capital to (sucessfully) reveal the truth to the people. Also, it was revealed that the original Wardog squadron commander, Captain Bartlett, was alive and had freed the Yuktobanian Prime Minister, Nikanor, who had nothing to do with the war. They succeeded in rescuing them from Yuketobania and returning them to the carrier, shooting down the other Grey Men squadron, Grabacr.

Greatest battle and sinking
With the Grey Men almost defeated, the Kestrel and it's fleet left Kirwin Island and headed to the Ceres Ocean, where they encountered a Yuktobanian fleet led by the carrier Admiral Tsanev. After the Prime Minister attempted to convince them not to fight, the frigate Pitomnik attempted to stop the battle. In turn, it was sunk by the Yuktobanians. Three Sovremenny class destroyers, the Gumrak, Chuda, and Dub, refused to follow a commander willling to sink his own ships and defected to the Kestrel fleet. The Razgriz were launched and managed to protect the defectors and sink the Yuktobanian fleet. As the fight was progressing, Captain Andersen played a record over the radio. Meanwhile, an Osean fleet entered the area led by the Kesterl's sister, Barbette. The Osean fleet had been listening in on the communications and called the Kestrel fleet traitors and commenced an attack. The Razgriz quickly destroyed them as well.

With the situation under control, the Razgriz landed and prepared to launch them at Sudentor to finish the Grey Men. But before they could launch the Kestrel was struck by a Silkworm missle fired by a submarine, followed quickly by a second hit. Despite a list and heavy damage to the catapult, the crew sucessfully launched the Razgriz off and abandoned ship. After the enemy submarine was sunk, the crew, including Pops, Captain Andersen, and Genette, watched from their liferafts as the ship sank, giving her a final salute. Captain Andersen commented on how he "lost time and time again, but had finally won" and began to hum the same song he played in the battle. The Kestrel had served a critical part in war and is probably quite famous after the war.

Trivia

 * If all is taken into account, the Kestrel saw more action than any other known ship in the Ace Combat world.


 * According to Genette in the cutscene before the mission Ancient Walls, the ship hadn't suffered a single hit since the war began. The only time it was in battle after this was in the battle of the Ceres Ocean and no enemy ships or planes actually fired on her (though it depends on the players speed). This means that the hits that sunk her were the only hits she suffered during the war.


 * Kestrel is probably based on the USS Enterprise (CV-6) which served during WW2 and became the most decorated ship in the U.S. Navy. It could have also been based on her successor, USS Enterprise (CVN-65).

Quotes
"No body wants an aircraft carrier without aircraft"- Captain Andersen to Pops

"This ship may be unharmed, but it paines me to see fewer and fewer pilots come back each time we launch them out on combat sorties."-Captain Andersen

"Take them up."-Captain Andersen ordering the launch of Razgriz despite the ship's damage.