The Navy does not practice mandatory conscription, it is a completely voluntary force due the nature of it's vessels, though this does not mean that the Navy is understaffed it employs fourteen thousand five hundred active seamen. However the one thing that makes the Newfoundland Navy completely different to most other Navies is that it consists almost exclusively of U-Boats. The only other vessel type in the navy is battleship, of which there are only two employing a thousand men each, the rest crew the 290 U-boats that make up the bulk of the Navy, having a crew of fifty each.
The Navy has two U-Boat classes: Subcap and Subpref, 'Submerge Capable' and 'Submerge Prefered' respectively.
Subcap: These make up the bulk of the fleet, numbering at 200 of them. Subcaps tend to stay on the surface and use submerging as a tactic to evade enemy ships; for this reason they carry less torpedoes then Subprefs and can only remain submerged for a maximum of 12 hours. However, they have faster dive rates then Subprefs, being able to dive a staggering 2.5 meters a second and are armed with guns on the deck. The deck guns are so: a 9cm naval gun on the forward deck, a 40mm gun on the rear deck and two anti-aircraft machine-guns at the top of the conning tower. They have a maximum speed of 16 knots surfaced and 4 knots submerged, with a maximum range of 16,000km at 10 knots when surfaced; They have a maximum dive depth of 300m.
Subpref: 50 of these are in service with the navy, each also housing a crew of 50. The Subprefs are advanced U-Boats that were specifically designed to remain underwater for a prolonged period of time, having the ability to remain submerged for three days before rising up to recharge battery cells. It also has a more hydrodynamic shape that allows for faster submerged movement compared to the Subcap and faster descent rates (7 meters per second), coincidentally, the shape also gives it a smaller sonar profile making it harder to spot. The Subpref has three sets of engines: diesel, electric and silent running electric. The diesel engine is used when surfaced due to oxygen requirements, however this is only in open ocean when enemies are not near; the electric engines run off banks of batteries and are recharged by the diesel engines, the Subpref only needs to rise to periscope level to recharge as a snorkel on top feeds oxygen to the engine; the silent running motors produce very little noise and help make the ship stealthier when in enemy waters, however they are massive power drains. Is armed with 24 torpedoes; has a maximum speed of 12 knots surfaced and 16 knots submerged, with a maximum range of 28,000km at 10 knots surfaced (3000km submerged and 1000km if silent running); has a hydraulic torpedo loading system so is very quick to fire compared to the Subcap.
SubCarrier: Are retrofitted Subprefs, made to be longer then Subprefs by adding additional segments and thus making them less maneuverable; they number 40 and have a crew of fifty. SubCarriers carry no torpedoes or torpedo tubes, only having the armaments on deck as the Subcaps have; this is to make space below deck for the five Autogyroes. On the deck, there are 3 ports that the Autogyroes are risen through (by hydraulic lifts) once up the rotor blades that are folded to the sides are extended and the tail is bolted on before giving the all clear for take off (the vessel has similar speed/depth/endurance as the Subcap). The most common Autogyro is the NRA-M3 Autogyro, it is 3.5m long and 0.8m wide at it's thickest; the main body consists of a sphere like compartment that is shaven flat on either side, it is made of steel tubing and doped fabric; From the rear by 2m is the tail, it follows the same construction as the main body, made of tubing and doped fabric. The engine is mounted behind the cockpit and is the only part of the vehicle that is plated; it has two transmittions, one leading to the counter rotating blades fixed to the end of the tail and the other upwards to the three-blade main rotarblade. It carries 2 .30 caliber machinegun mounted under the nose in a side by side configuration; it has a maximum speed of 150km/h and superb maneuverability but only a range of 250km at maximum speed.
Tactics: Unrestricted Submarine Warfare; as non signifiers of the London Naval Treaty, the navy is nor bound to any laws on targets or how to engage them, giving submarines the ability to fire on, sink, cripple and capture civilian and military vessels alike. Wolfpacks; U-Boats almost never travel alone (especially not Subcaps and SubCarriers), a usual pack consists of one SubCarrier and five Subcaps, There are currently 40 of these packs patrolling the oceans.
