| Battleship Oblique | |
 | |
| Owner | |
| Gallic Royal Navy | |
| Status | |
| Wreck | |
| Location | |
| 6D, Provence |
CLASS: Charlemagne
CREW: N/A
ARMAMENT: N/A
The Charlemagne battleships were designed around 676 AGS (760 AS), specifically for defensive and support purposes. Battleships of this class were configured to hold and maintain large numbers of fighters and cover them with powerful point defense turrets. By the time of the Gallic invasion of Bretonia, the dated Charlemagnes were used as the rearguard for advancing forces and for protecting vulnerable supply lines.
The Battleship Arles was long considered the best position an officer of the Royal Navy could ask for -- assuming they wanted to be as far from combat as possible. First participating in operations against The Council in Burgundy, the Arles was tasked in 726 AGS (810 AS) with the defense of Marseille and Cannes. The infrequency of pirate raids against the resorts -- likely due to the Unione Corse's affiliation with both operations -- left the Arles' sailors with little to do for the better part of twenty years. Shore leave was freely authorized, and many of the garrison's senior roles were gifted to the sons and daughters of favored nobles. The remainder were filled by officers that had not served adequately on the front, but the Royal Navy were unable to dispose of for political reasons.
In 741 AGS (825 AS), The Council surged into Provence from Languedoc, spearheaded by the Battleship Oblique. Commanded by the Duke of Provence himself (Auguste-Henri Hennequin d'Avignon), the pride of Provence's garrison met the forces of The Council in Planet Marseille's orbit. During the so-called "Clash of the Titans", both the Arles and the Oblique were destroyed outright. The Council's depleted forces retreated to Champagne, and the crippled Royal garrison fell back to Ile-de-France -- creating the power vacuum later exploited by The Minarchy. The wreckage of the Arles, however, remained -- its unspent ordinance and molten hull plating raining down upon the former resort planet. EFL is now working to salvage the Arles' wreckage, however progress has been glacially slow.