Battle off Airgialla (1929)

The Battle off Airgialla was a naval confrontation between the Tiperyn Realm Armada and Chezzetcook Marine Nationale in the North Iapetus Ocean in 1929.

Background
Since the end of the Grand Campaigns, Tiperyn has continuously refused to recognize the newly formed state of Airgialla and claimed sovereignty over the archipelago. During the late 1920s and early 1930s in particular, this manifested in periodic naval and air blockades to cut Airgialla off from foreign aid, bringing it into conflict with the League of Free Nations and those aligned to it on several occasions. This is because Airgialla was created with the aid of League military forces, headed mainly by Brigantica, which invaded western Tiperyn and enabled the break off during the Grand Campaigns. Chezzetcook, who at the time was aligned with the League of Free Nations but not a member, recognized the new state of Airgialla and viewed Tiperyn's blockades of the island country as illegal. This brought the two nations into conflict, as the Chezzetcook Marine Nationale attempted to exercise its right to travel unimpeded to Airgialla.

Geopolitical implications
The treaty between Tiperyn and Chezzetcook following the confrontation ended Chezzetcook's challenging of Tiperyn's sovereignty over Airgialla. As Airgiallan independence was one of the League of Free Nation's first policy platforms, this overtime created a rift between Chezzetcook and the League as the former ceased to actively support the latter in the North Iapetus region.

Implications for Tiperyn doctrine
To the Tiperyn Admiralty Board, the Battle off Airgialla reinforced the value of aircraft as maritime strike assets, raised the need for aircraft to conduct fleet defense, and pointed to the obsolecence of the. Although a tactical draw overall, Realm Armada leadership was moreso influenced by results during different phases of the battle. During the surface combat phase where Tiperyn and Chezzetcook formations of roughly similar composition directly engaged one another, Tiperyn lost a battleship and four cruisers while inflicting no serious losses on the Chezzetcook fleet. Aircraft carriers only played a minor part in the surface fight, with Tiperyn torpedo bombers inflicting minor damage on a Chezzetcook cruiser. However, following the sinking of the TNV Luidruktyk and the temporary withdrawal of the core of the Tiperyn blockade, the Realm Air Service in Western Tiperyn deployed five heavy bomber squadrons to target the Chezzetcook fleet in concert with the remainder of Tiperyn's Task Force West. The ensuing bombing and surface battle led to the sinking of two Chezzetcooker battleships and two cruisers. Chezzetcook's aircraft carrier was not targeted because it had been withdrawn from the area for fear that it would be damaged as the Chezzetcook fleet advanced further east. While this left the fleet with no air cover, its presence likely would not have turned the tide of the battle as the only aircraft remotely capable of fleet defense were a very small complement of fighters and reconnaissance aircraft.

The outcome of the battle resulted in the Tiperyn Empress Fede sacking Cardinal of the Fleet Laurens fan Antverpen in favor of Lydia Aldrik, who acted as the Admiral of the Fleet Air Service during the battle. From the battle, Tiperyn took away that aircraft were the superior maritime strike tool and that evidence of Realm Armada operations in the 1920s had shown that the battleship was facing obsolesence. This resulted in two developments. First, the Realm Armada was given the rights over land-based long-range maritime strike capability, which had previously been the purview of the Realm Air Service on account of them being the only service branch with heavy bombers. This resulted in the transfer of heavy bombers from the nascent Realm Air Service to the more senior Realm Armada and inspired the development of dedicated maritime strike aircraft, maritime patrol aircraft, and anti-submarine warfare aircraft through the 1930s. Further, the Fleet Air Service believed that in future wars, Tiperyn would need far more carriers than it fielded at the time. This was due to the fact that Tiperyn's expeditionary Zuidema doctrine pictured Tiperyn projecting its military power unto its enemies through naval strength, marine forces, and naval aviation. With imagined future wars ideally taking place far from Tiperyn, there would be the threat of them being outside the range of any air bases from which Tiperyn could stage an airborne attack. Additionally, marine forces would likely be subject to intense air attack from their enemies who could make use of land air bases. Thus, the Admiralty Board feared in the future that Tiperyn would fall into the trap of Chezzetcook. Thus, the battle resulted in a similar perspective shift as in Chezzetcook that accelerated the development of a competent carrier-based fighter aircraft to fill the fleet defense and bomber escort roles. However, the battle also reinvigorated a push to develop and adopt heavier and more capable carrier-based torpedo, level and dive bombers which naturally necessitated larger and more capable carriers. This would in theory convey many of the benefits Tiperyn saw vis-a-vis air power during the Battle of Airgialla, but at great distances from Tiperyn. This was a key shift from Grand Campaigns-era aircraft carrier usage which was centred on scouting, anti-submarine warfare, and torpedo bombing within the narrow context of naval combat. It formed a key pillar of Zuidema's Sea-Land Operation concept, whereby naval, air and land forces were integrated in one continuous operation.