Fleet Modernization

The "fleet modernization" was a process began in mid-April of 2018. It was aimed at arming Valmar with a fleet of combat-ready ironclads, in order to combat the percieved threat of Nova Balreska's own ironclad fleet and its allies.

History
After the First Spark at Perth, Valmar was excited yet on edge. Knowing that the Nova Balreskan Navy had access to ironclads - possibly in large numbers - was worrying to the Council. Due to this, an order was initiated by TrveMetalhead to encourage the "modernization" of the Valmar fleet. This was an attempt to have most - if not all - Valmar members who were capable to build an ironclad do so, in order to produce an effective ironclad fleet for the Rebellion. Though this is considered an ongoing process, as the building up of Valmar's ironclad fleet is always encouraged (especially to members of the Council), it has largely been successful.

Outcome
The Valmar fleet was quickly armed with a large number of ironclads less than a month after encouragements for modernization were made. Nearly all members of the Council have at least one ironclad, and a notable amount of normal crewmen have - at the very least - a ship with a steam engine.

Despite the preparations involved, it is worth noting that Nova Balreska did not possess as many ironclads as Valmar first thought. In fact, compared to the Valmar fleet, it is believed that Nova Balreska possesses far less ironclads than the Rebellion after modernization. Nonetheless, the ironclad fleet has shown to be extremely effective in combat compared to fleets solely of sailing ships.

Trivia

 * The ironclad fleet that Valmar possesses uses a worryingly high amount of coal to run. However, the group is able to afford the fuel due to the coffers run by the Production and Distribution Department, which is able to make sure any ironclads in need of coal can receive it.