House of Steel: The Honorverse Companion
Page 31
Neufsteiler, Willard
CFO, Grayson Sky Domes, Ltd.
Willard Neufsteiler was originally Honor Harrington’s financial manager. By 1912 PD, he moved to Grayson and took over as Grayson Sky Domes’ full-time chief financial officer.
Oversteegen, Michael
Rear Admiral of the Red, Royal Manticoran Navy
Michael Oversteegan, fourth in the line of succession for the Barony of Greater Windcombe, is son to Baron High Ridge’s second cousin. In 1918 PD, as a captain (jg), he commanded the heavy cruiser HMS Gauntlet at the Battle of Tiberian, for which he was promoted to captain (sg) and received the Manticoran Cross. After repairs, his ship was deployed to Erewhon to “show the flag.” In early 1920 PD, he and his crew took part in the liberation of the planet Verdant Vista (aka Congo) and assisted in establishing the Kingdom of Torch. In 1921, he received command of HMS Nike (BC-562) and participated in the Battle of Solon.
Ramirez, Jesus
President, Republic of San Martin
Jesus Ramirez, as the senior surviving officer of the San Martin Navy, inflicted three times his own losses on the People’s Navy during his ultimately unsuccessful defense of his home system when People’s Republic attacked Trevor’s Star in 1883 PD. He was believed to have been killed in the battle until Harrington’s escape from Hades brought him home, along with over a quarter-million other prisoners.
On his return to San Martin he was drafted without consultation into running for president. All but one opponent withdrew from the race and he received eighty-six percent of the vote.
Ramirez, Tomas Santiago
Major General, Royal Manticoran Marine Corps
Tomas Santiago Ramirez, a native of San Martin, is the son of President Jesus and Rosario Ramirez. He, his mother, and siblings escaped on the last transport before San Martin was conquered by the PRH. As a result, he grew up with a deep and abiding hatred of Haven. Ramirez has led an exemplary career, including positions as assault commander for the Blackbird Raid in 1903 PD and later as executive officer of the Allied occupation forces on his homeworld of San Martin, following its liberation from the People’s Republic.
After his father’s return from Hades, Ramirez resigned his Marine commission to become the commander of his homeworld’s reconstituted army. Following Jesus Ramirez’s election as president and San Martin’s admission to the Star Kingdom of Manticore and the integration of its armed forces into the Star Kingdom’s, Tomas Ramirez returned to the Royal Manticoran Marine Corps with the rank of major general. In 1920, Major General Ramirez was assigned as chief of staff to the Commandant of the Corps.
Reynaud, Michel
Admiral, Astro Control Service
Commanding Officer, RMAIA
Michel Reynaud, as a captain in the Royal Manticoran Astro-Control Service was CO, Basilisk Traffic Control, in 1900 PD at the time of the Basilisk Incident. In 1903, he was promoted to rear admiral, and in 1910 he was promoted to vice admiral, continuing to command Basilisk ACS. Promoted to admiral in 1915, he became the first commanding officer of the Royal Manticoran Astrophysical Investigation Agency in 1916, where he continues to serve after the successful navigation of the Lynx Terminus of the Manticore Wormhole Junction.
Sarnow, Mark
Admiral of the Red, Royal Manticoran Navy
Mark Sarnow commanded Battlecruiser Squadron Five in 1903 PD. During the First Battle of Hancock Station, Rear Admiral of the Red Sarnow was severely wounded. He was the only flag officer in the task force to survive the battle, but he lost both legs at the knee and suffered internal injuries. After an extensive medical rehabilitation period on Manticore, during which he served as an instructor at Saganami Island, Sarnow returned to fleet duty as the commanding officer of Grendelsbane Station. In 1911, he was promoted to vice admiral and became the CO of the RMN’s Naval War College, where he was responsible for major revisions in RMN convoy and commerce protection doctrine following HMAMC Wayfarer’s Silesian deployment. In 1913, Sarnow was relieved at the War College and selected to command the diversionary attacks designed to clear the way for Hamish Alexander’s Operation Buttercup, in which role he performed brilliantly. In 1915, he was placed on half-pay by the Janacek Admiralty but was one of the first flag officers recalled by the Alexander Admiralty. He is currently CO of 9th Fleet and governor of the Silesian Sector in the Queen’s name.
Summervale, Lord Allen, Duke Cromarty (deceased)
Prime Minister, Star Kingdom of Manticore
Allen Summervale was the longtime leader of the Centrist Party. The Duke of Cromarty served as King Roger III’s Prime Minister and continued in that role for Queen Elizabeth III. Over the course of his fifty-eight T-years as Prime Minister, he worked with both Roger III and Elizabeth III to prepare for what he realized would be a long, difficult war against the People’s Republic of Haven. Gifted at balancing the interests of opposing political factions and possessed of great personal charisma, he managed to guide the government through the successive crises of the most dangerous periods of the First Havenite War.
He and several other influential political figures were killed on 19 February 1915 in the destruction of HMS Queen Adrienne in an attempt to assassinate Queen Elizabeth III. Because much of his governing coalition was based on personal loyalty, it fell apart and was replaced by the High Ridge Government.
Summervale, Denver (deceased)
Denver Summervale, a distant cousin of the Duke of Cromarty, was a former Marine captain who was cashiered from the Corps for killing a brother officer in a duel. In 1905 PD, he was hired by Lord Pavel Young to induce first Paul Tankersley and then Honor Harrington into challenging him to a duel. Tankersley died, but Summervale was killed during his subsequent duel with Harrington.
Tankersley, Paul (deceased)
Captain (SG), Royal Manticoran Navy
Paul Tankersley began the war as a junior grade captain and the executive officer of the repair base at Hancock Station, where he and then-Captain Honor Harrington became lovers. After the Battle of Hancock Station, he was promoted to captain of the list and returned to Manticore, where he was assigned as a deputy constructor on HMSS Hephaestus. He was killed in a duel by Denver Summervale, a hired duelist in the employ of Pavel Young.
Terekhov, Sir Aivars Aleksovitch
Commodore, Royal Manticoran Navy
Aivars Terekhov began his career in the RMN, but after eleven T-years moved to the Foreign Office where he served for twenty-eight T-years. He returned to active duty at the start of the war and, as captain of HMS Defiant, was taken prisoner in the Hyacinth System after a convoy under his light cruiser division’s escort was ambushed. After the truce, he returned to Manticore as part of a prisoner exchange and spent an extended period at Bassingford Medical Center rehabilitating and regenerating.
In 1920 PD, he was assigned to command HMS Hexapuma and directed to join the Manticoran squadron in the Talbott Cluster. He and his crew intercepted and captured several pirates and, in the course of suppressing terrorist activities in the Split and Montana Systems, uncovered an interstellar conspiracy to sabotage the Constitutional Convention. Terekhov assembled an ad hoc squadron and led an unauthorized incursion into the Monica System, which was clearly implicated in the conspiracy, to disrupt the delivery of modern warships to the Monican Navy. Although his squadron sustained serious losses, he destroyed three operational Monican battlecruisers and all those still being refitted for Monican service at Eroica Station. For his actions he was awarded the Parliamentary Medal of Valor, promoted to commodore, and given command of CruRon 94, attached to Tenth Fleet in the Talbott Quadrant.
Tremaine, Prescott David
Captain (SG), Royal Manticoran Navy
David “Scotty” Tremaine was assigned to HMS Fearless (CL-56) in 1900 PD as a boat bay control officer. During Fearless’ deployment to Basilisk, Ensign Tremaine first met PO Horace Harkness when the two of them were assigned to customs enforcement. Tremaine provided primary air support for Fearless’ Ma
rines on Medusa. Promoted to lieutenant (jg) in 1901, he was assigned to HMS Troubadour in 1902 and survived that ship’s destruction during the Second Battle of Yeltsin. Following Second Yeltsin, he was assigned to HMS Prince Adrian and promoted to lieutenant (sg) in 1905. In 1910, he was transferred to HMAMC Wayfarer as flight operations officer. In 1911, promoted to lieutenant commander, he served as Honor Harrington’s staff electronics officer in CruRon 18 and was among the POWs who accompanied her to Cerberus. After serving as CO, ENS Krashnark, in the Battle of Cerberus, he returned with Harrington to Trevor’s Star and was promoted to full commander in 1914, when he was assigned as COLAC in HMS Hydra. Promoted to captain (jg) in 1917, he served as COLAC for HMS Werewolf in Task Force 34 for the Battle of Sidemore in 1918. Promoted to captain (sg) in 1920, he served as COLAC of CarRon 3 in Eighth Fleet.
Truman, Dame Alice
Vice Admiral of the Red, Royal Manticoran Navy
Alice Truman was born into a family with a long and distinguished history in the RMN. By 1902 PD, Commander Truman was the commanding officer of HMS Apollo and served as Honor Harrington’s second-in-command at the Battle of Blackbird, where her ship was severely damaged. After the engagement, she evacuated Manticoran wounded and nationals and alerted the Admiralty of the desperate need for reinforcements at Yeltsin’s Star. In 1910, she accepted command of the armed merchantman Parnassus and participated in Commodore Harrington’s anti-piracy operations in the Silesian Confederacy. In 1912, she received command of HMS Minotaur and proved the LAC carrier concept at the Second Battle of Hancock Station. She then commanded the LAC-carriers assigned to Eighth Fleet for Operation Buttercup. Like many, she was placed on half-pay by the High Ridge Government Admiralty, but on Harrington’s insistence, she was returned to command the LAC-carrier task group in Task Force 34 during the Second Battle of Marsh. Once more designated to command Eighth Fleet’s LAC-carriers in 1920, she became Harrington’s second-in-command when Harrington assumed command of that fleet.
Van Dort, Bernardus
Minister without Portfolio, Talbott Quadrant
Bernardus Van Dort, a native of Rembrandt, was the founder, majority shareholder, and chairman of the Rembrandt Trade Union, as well as the primary moving force behind the Talbott Cluster’s request for annexation by the Star Kingdom of Manticore. Van Dort is currently a minister without portfolio in the new Talbott Quadrant government.
Venizelos, Andreas (deceased)
Commander, Royal Manticoran Navy
Andreas Venizelos, as a lieutenant in 1900 PD, was the tactical officer on HMS Fearless (CL-56) and commanded the RMN personnel assigned to Basilisk Traffic Control. In 1902, as a lieutenant commander, he served as the executive officer on HMS Fearless (CA-286), and in 1905 was promoted to commander and served as CO, HMS Apollo. In 1911, as Honor Harrington’s chief of staff in CruRon 18, he was one of the officers captured and taken aboard PNS Tepes and was killed during the escape from that vessel.
Wanderman, Aubrey
Senior Chief Petty Officer, Royal Manticoran Navy
Aubrey Wanderman joined the RMN after leaving Mannheim University, where he was a physics major. He finished second in his training class and was assigned to HMAMC Wayfarer as an electronics technician. In 1920, SCPO Wanderman was assigned to HMS Hexapuma at the time of the Battle of Monica. He is currently assigned to HMSS Weyland’s fabrication and materials division.
Webster, Lord Sir James Bowie, Baron New Dallas (deceased)
Fleet Admiral, Royal Manticoran Navy (retired)
Ambassador to the Solarian League
James Webster took command of Home Fleet as First Space Lord in 1903 PD. As one of the many officers placed on half-pay by Sir Edward Janacek, Admiral Webster became a military analyst for the Opposition. The Grantville Government named him ambassador to the Solarian League, where he orchestrated a remarkably successful public relations campaign on behalf of the Star Kingdom and the annexation of the Talbott Cluster until his assassination in 1921 PD.
Webster, Samuel Houston
Rear Admiral of the Green, Royal Manticoran Navy
Samuel Webster began his career as a communications officer, serving alongside Honor Harrington on multiple occasions, including his first hyper-capable command, HMAMC Scheherazade in 1909. As a Rear Admiral of the Red, he commanded Battle Squadron 16, TF 34, at the Battle of Sidemore in 1918. Promoted to Rear Admiral of the Green in 1920, he is currently attached to BuWeaps as Admiral Sonja Hemphill’s senior departmental commander.
Winton, Elizabeth Adrienne Samantha Annette
Queen Elizabeth III, Star Kingdom of Manticore
Empress Elizabeth I, Star Empire of Manticore
Elizabeth Adrienne Samantha Annette Winton is the sixteenth monarch of the Star Kingdom of Manticore. Born the year Basilisk was annexed, she was named Duchess of Basilisk in 1867 PD on her first birthday. She became Queen at age eighteen, after the untimely death of her father. Although there have been rumors for many years that the death of King Roger III was more than a simple grav skiing accident, no proof has ever been made public. Ably assisted by her Aunt Caitrin (serving as her regent), the Duke of Cromarty (as her prime minister), and her Uncle Jonas (at BuWeaps), Elizabeth continued and expanded her father’s labors to prepare the Star Kingdom for war against the People’s Republic of Haven. From 1905, with the outbreak of active hostilities, until Operation Buttercup in 1914, Elizabeth led her star nation to a point of decisive military superiority over the PRH.
Following the destruction of HMS Queen Adrienne and the death of Allen Summervale in February 1915 PD, she was unable to convince the Opposition to agree to an all-parties government to fight the war to a conclusive victory. Despite her opposition, Baron High Ridge formed a coalition government which excluded the Centrists and Crown Loyalists and accepted Saint-Just’s offer of a truce. When hostilities resumed with Haven in 1918, High Ridge asked her permission to form an all-parties government after all, in a bid to spread the blame for the disaster. Elizabeth, in an unprecedented decision, refused his request. Following the High Ridge Government’s inevitable fall, she summoned William Alexander to form a new government and agreed to the division of the Silesian Confederacy between the SKM and Andermani in order to bring Emperor Gustav XI into the Manticoran Alliance against Haven.
Elizabeth Winton was adopted as a teenager by a treecat that she named Ariel. The treecats refer to her as “Soul of Steel.” Elizabeth Winton’s fiery temper is famous (or infamous, depending upon one’s perspective), and she has a long memory for those who have wronged her, her family, or those she holds dear. She is also extremely loyal to people who serve the Star Kingdom well.
She is married to Justin Zyrr-Winton, a common-born native of Gryphon. Their children are Crown Prince Roger and Princess Joanna. She and Prince Consort Justin are two of Raoul Alexander-Harrington’s godparents.
Winton, Crown Prince Roger Gregory Alexander Timothy
Roger Winton is the Crown Prince of Manticore and the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth III and Prince Consort Justin. He is currently engaged to Rivka Rosenfeld.
Winton, Lady Judith Newland, Duchess Winton-Serisburg
Judith Newland Winton is the daughter of Grayson merchants who were killed when their ship was taken by Masadan pirate Ephraim Templeton. She was taken by Templeton as his youngest “wife” at age twelve. She kept her literacy a secret out of fear, but Templeton’s eldest wife, Dinah, realized she was literate and inducted her into the Sisterhood of Barbara, a secret resistance organization among Masadan women. Judith routinely hacked into the computers on Templeton’s ships and taught herself to operate a starship. To save the life of her unborn daughter, she and Dinah led their “chapter” of the Sisterhood in the capture of one of Templeton’s ships and escaped from Masada to Manticore in 1892 PD, with the assistance of Midshipman Michael Winton, then crown prince of Manticore and serving in HMS Intransigent. In 1894, Michael married her and adopted her daughter Ruth. Her past became public only after Grayson and
Manticore became allied, at which time she became a national heroine on Grayson.
Winton, Prince Michael, Duke Winton-Serisburg
Rear Admiral of the Red, Royal Manticoran Navy
Michael Winton, the younger child of King Roger III and Queen Consort Angelique, was crown prince until the birth of Elizabeth III’s children. He entered Saganami Island, the Royal Manticoran Navy’s academy in 1888 PD, specializing in communications. In 1892 he was assigned to HMS Intransigent for his midshipman’s cruise and was part of the diplomatic team sent to Masada. He assisted the members of the Sisterhood of Barbara, led by Dinah Templeton and Judith Newland, in their escape from Masada. Two years later, he proposed to Judith and married her, adopting her daughter Ruth. He continued his active service career, specializing in R&D with occasional diplomatic assignments. In 1914 he was promoted to commodore and became the commanding officer of BuShips Cyber and Communications Command. Although not placed on half-pay by the Janacek Admiralty, he refused to serve the High Ridge Government and voluntarily went on inactive duty, serving primarily as his sister the Queen’s personal envoy to members of the Manticoran Alliance. In 1919, promoted to Rear Admiral of the Red, he returned to Cyber and Communications, which he currently commands.
Winton-Henke, Lady Caitrin, Duchess Winton-Henke, Dowager Countess Gold Peak
Caitrin Winton-Henke, younger sister of Roger III and wife of Edward Henke, the Earl of Gold Peak, is the mother of Calvin and Michelle Henke and Queen Elizabeth III’s aunt. She served as Queen Elizabeth’s regent from the time of her brother’s death until Elizabeth’s twenty-first birthday and was instrumental in Elizabeth’s continuation and expansion of Roger’s program of naval expansion. Upon the termination of the regency, she served as one of Elizabeth’s senior councilors. When her husband became Foreign Secretary in the Cromarty Government, Caitrin was often selected as one of Elizabeth’s personal diplomatic representatives. Following Gold Peak’s death aboard HMS Queen Adrienne in 1915 PD, Caitrin largely withdrew from any official government role, although she remained one of Elizabeth’s most trusted personal advisors. As Dowager Countess Gold Peak, she acts as her daughter Michelle’s representative in the House of Lords and steward in Gold Peak, but the majority of her time is devoted to her role as CEO of the Edward Henke Memorial Trust, a charitable foundation set up by the House of Winton in her late husband’s memory to assist and support the children and families of personnel serving in the Manticoran armed forces.