Editing Admiral William S. Preston

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| vesselname = Admiral William S. Preston
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| type       = [[WarShip]]
| class      = [[Black Lion]]
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==History==
The '''''Admiral William S. Preston''''' was a ''[[Black Lion]]''-class battlecruiser serving as the CSA ''William S. Preston'' within the [[Clan Star Adder]] [[Clan Star Adder Touman|''touman'']] at least as early as the 3050s. During the [[Trial of Absorption]] fought against [[Clan Burrock]] the ''Admiral William S. Preston'' was drawn into battle against the forces of [[Clan Blood Spirit]], which was trying to absorb a number of Burrock holdings. The ''Admiral William S. Preston'' was acting in support of the Star Adder [[Gamma Galaxy (Clan Star Adder)|Gamma Galaxy]] and fought against the Blood Spirit flagship, the [[Carmine Justice|CBS ''Carmine Justice'']], which was providing naval support for the Blood Spirit [[Beta Galaxy (Clan Blood Spirit)|Beta Galaxy]]. The ''Carmine Justice'' was destroyed in the resulting battle, killing the senior naval officer within the Blood Spirits, [[Star Admiral]] [[Phen Johns]].<ref name="FM:WCp30">''Field Manual: Crusader Clans'', p. 30: "Blood Guard Keshik and the Naval Reserve"</ref>

Still serving alongside Gamma Galaxy as of [[3059]],<ref name="FM:CCp119">''Field Manual: Crusader Clans'', p. 119: "Naval Assets"</ref> the ''Admiral William S. Preston'' remained an active part of the Star Adder ''touman'' for the next decade<ref name="FM:Up50">''Field Manual: Updates'', p. 50: "Naval Assets"</ref> and into the [[Wars of Reaving]].

===Wars of Reaving===
When the [[Khan]]s of [[Clan Steel Viper]] and the Star Adders resolved to make an opportunistic strike against the last [[Clan Snow Raven]] convoy to try and leave the Homeworlds, the ''Admiral William S. Preston'' was one of the Star Adder WarShips directly involved. The Star Adders assigned a [[Star]] of naval vessels to the strike; the ''Admiral William S. Preston'' was the lead vessel, accompanied by the ''[[Fredasa]]''-class corvette [[Arcadian Asp|CSA ''Arcadian Asp'']], the [[York (WarShip class)|''York'']]-class destroyer [[Exodus Crusader|CSA ''Exodus Crusader'']] and the ''[[Lola III]]''-class destroyers [[Hagar|CSA ''Hagar'']] and [[Warlock (Individual Lola III-class WarShip)|CSA ''Warlock'']]. Overall command of the Star Adder and Steel Viper forces was given to [[Star Commodore]] [[Terrence Moffat]], who brought three Steel Viper WarShips with him; the Steel Viper flagship, the ''[[Leviathan Prime]]''-class battleship [[Perigard Zalman (Individual Leviathan-class WarShip)|CSV ''Perigard Zalman'']], and two escort vessels, the ''[[Essex]]''-class destroyer [[Martial Legacy|CSV ''Martial Legacy'']] and the ''[[Potemkin]]''-class cruiser [[Serpentes|CSV ''Serpentes'']].<ref name="WORp102+">''The Wars of Reaving'', pp. 102–104: "Raven's Dirge"</ref>

The Snow Raven convoy consisted of the [[Hellgate Battle Star (Clan Snow Raven)|Hellgate Battle Star]]—a Star of four WarShips captured from [[Clan Goliath Scorpion]] by the Snow Ravens: the ''Potemkin''-class [[Enceladus|CSR ''Enceladus'']] and [[Prometheus (Individual Potemkin-class WarShip)|CSR ''Prometheus'']], the ''Lola III''-class [[Sagitta|CSR ''Sagitta'']], and the ''[[Congress]]''-class frigate [[Garlon|CRS ''Garlon'']]—and no less than one hundred and nine [[JumpShips]] all traveling slowly away from Hellgate. Anticipating that the Snow Ravens would move via the Snow Raven guidepost at [[Ghent]], the Steel Vipers arranged to seize or destroy the convoy there.<ref name="WORp102+"/>

On 29 July 3072, the Steel Viper force jumped into the Ghent system, arriving in the middle of the vast Snow Raven convoy, and Commodore Moffat issued his [[Trial of Possession]] bid to [[Star Admiral]] [[Anta McKenna]], claiming all of the ships at his disposal as his bid. Admiral McKenna accepted the Viper bid as-was and declared all of her forces in defense. What Admiral McKenna hadn't realized was that Star Adder Star of vessels was waiting to join the Steel Vipers; skirting the boundaries of honor, Moffat neglected to inform McKenna of the additional forces and only communicated their presence less than a minute before the Steel Viper vessels began firing on the Ravens.<ref name="WORp102+"/>

Moffat didn't limit his targets to the four Raven WarShips defending the convoy and their attached escorts; instead, he had the ''Perigard Zalman'' open fire on whatever targets were in range, with the first Raven ships destroyed being fifteen JumpShips. The ''Martial Legacy'' proceeded to work in tandem with the ''Serpentes'' against the Ravens, first targeting and destroying the ''Sagitta'', which had still been carrying the damage inflicted on it from the Trial of Possession in which the Ravens had acquired the Hellgate Battle Star from the Scorpions. In response, the ''Enceladus'' managed to inflict some damage on the ''Serpentes'' before the ''Perigard Zalman'' blocked both the ''Serpentes'' and the ''Martial Legacy'' from fire from the heavier Raven ships.<ref name="WORp102+"/>

Despite the best efforts of the Ravens, the battle was effectively a foregone conclusion once the Star Adder forces jumped in. The Ravens still managed to cripple the ''Serpentes'' when the ''Garlon'' intercepted the ''Serpentes'' as it attempted to close on a group of JumpShips. The ''Prometheus'' was destroyed quickly by the Star Adders, the ''Warlock'' and the ''Admiral William S. Preston'' destroying the ''Prometheus'' on their first pass; her sister vessel ''Enceladus'' then worked with several Raven DropShips to gut the ''Admiral William S. Preston'' before being destroyed in turn by the ''Arcadian Asp'', and the ''Perigard Zalman'' accounted for the ''Garlon''. None of the Raven AeroSpace or combat DropShip forces answered Moffat's single call to surrender, instead fighting until they had all been destroyed.<ref name="WORp102+"/>

Moffat's actions secured the Steel Vipers and the Star Adders a total of fifty Raven JumpShips and almost eighty full DropShips of cargo as ''[[isorla]]''; at least sixteen Raven JumpShips managed to escape, although only thirteen were eventually reclaimed by the Ravens. The ''Serpentes'' was scuttled, although the Vipers claimed the ''Garlon'' as salvage; the Star Adders tagged the various other Raven hulks and marked their courses with a view to later stripping the hulks for matériel. The Star Adders and Steel Vipers then spaced any Raven civilians considered unnecessary before moving their booty back to their holdings.<ref name="WORp102+"/>

==Notes==
The name ''Admiral William S. Preston'' is likely a reference to the pop culture figure William "Bill" S. Preston Esq. from the movie [http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0096928/ Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure]. The other lead character from the same film, Theodore Logan, is referenced via another former [[SLDF]] WarShip, the ''Black Lion''-class [[Theodor Logan|SLS ''Theodor Logan'']] detailed in another [[BattleTech]] sourcebook, ''[[Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1]]''.

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''[[Field Manual: Crusader Clans]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Updates]]''
* ''[[The Wars of Reaving]]''
[[Category: Individual WarShips]]
[[Category: Individual Battlecruisers]]
[[Category: Individual Black Lion-class WarShips]]