| Battleship Betheny | |
 | |
| Owner | |
| Gallic Royal Navy | |
| Status | |
| Wreck | |
| Location | |
| 4D, Cortez |
CLASS: Charlemagne
CREW: N/A
ARMAMENT: N/A
The Charlemagne battleships were designed around 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. After the destruction of the Oubli fleet in 822 AS, the Gallic Royal Navy dispatched the Betheny to garrison Leeds and provide support for the Carcassonne fleet's blockade of the Independent Worlds.
In 824 AS the Betheny received orders to advance into Magellan as the rearguard of the Carcassonne's continued assault into California. Its primary task was to maintain the "Starvation Strategy" blockade that prevented Libertonian supplies reaching Bretonia. An Allied invasion of Cortez in late 825 AS forced a rapid redeployment to prevent the re-opening of this route during the critical Siege of New London. After weeks of probing feints and skirmishes, the Betheny cunningly divided its forces to draw away the Bretonian Battleship Harlow, before committing itself to an attack on Liberty's Battleship Yukon.
The Betheny possessed a decisive edge in tonnage and armament, and quickly overran the elderly Yukon. Despite this, the veteran Liberty ship tenaciously clung on, inflicting damage and fighting a delaying action until the Harlow could arrive. While the Yukon was destroyed during the engagement, the combined Bretonian and Liberty fleets ultimately dispatched the Betheny and its escorts in turn. The wreckage of the battle eventually formed the Aruba Debris Field -- work to scrap the Betheny's broken hulk began in 828 AS.