Operation Stranglehold

Operation Stranglehold was a naval sortie into the Shazabi Ocean conducted by five Ta'arohan submarines in November 1941. Their objective was to evade detection, round the Koranelan peninsula, and destroy or otherwise incapacitate the Riyatic Task Force North, thereby clearing the blockade of the !Northern Passage. The operation was conducted in autumn and was timed so that the pack ice would become problematic shortly after the submarine force entered, preventing any Riyatic reinforcements from quickly arriving. The mission was not successful, as the Ta'arohan Navy underestimated the size and capabilities of the Riyatic force, which was outfitted with advanced sonar and radar equipment. The operation was a failure and resulted in the sinking of all five submarines. The entire situation was an embarrassment to the Ta'arohan Navy and was a major morale boost to Riyatic and allied forces, especially after the Fall of Riyata. However, it was not completely unsuccessful, as the Ta'arohan force managed to sink two destroyers before being destroyed, one of which lost all its crew to the arctic waters. Additionally, the event alerted the Imperial Riyatic Navy to the extent of Ta'aroha's desire to dislodge the blockade. Estimating that a Salian force might arrive in the area the following year, the Riyatic government-in-exile negotiated an agreement with Salia, leaving Nanmaunaktuk under the condition that Salia would not supply Ta'aroha through the !NorthwestPassage anymore.

Background
In the years preceding World War II, Salia had diplomatically aligned itself with Ta'aroha and had started to openly support them financially. They had begun to supply Ta'aroha with military equipment through the !Northern Passage starting in 1937. Although this was greatly distressing for Riyata, who saw it as a serious threat to national security, it was unable and unwilling to intervene because doing so would be an act of war. However, once Ta'aroha initiated the Summer War in mid 1940, Riyata made it a priority to stop the influx of military supplies to Ta'aroha from Salia. To this end, the Imperial Navy occupied Nanmaunaktuk, which was located in a strategic position to control the entire !Northern Passage. Although this directly led to war with Salia, which had previously controlled the country, the Riyatic government correctly anticipated that Salia would be too occupied with the developing conflict in Alutra to undertake any major action in Vatupaya.

From the experience gained during World War I, Ta'arohan high command was fully aware of the disadvantageous geographical position they were in due to Riyata's position at the mouth of the Vatupic Sea. A relatively small blockade at the !Channel or !GIUK Gap could cut off the entirety of Ta'aroha from the global ocean, as had occurred in the previous war. Recognizing that Riyata, despite having been defeated on land, still possessed naval supremacy and was the only naval force in the region that was sufficiently powerful to enforce such a blockade. Therefore it was of critical importance to Ta'aroha that they fully incapacitate the Imperial Riyatic Navy. Their failure to destroy the Riyatic Navy during the Fall of Riyata had effectively placed them in the exact same situation as in World War I, logistically speaking. While the Concert Powers did not control the !Channel itself, they were still able to prevent Ta'aroha from exiting the Vatupic Sea by controlling the !GIUK Gap between Koranel and Citelota.

Being unable to dislodge the Riyatic fleet in the Shazabi Ocean for the time being, Ta'arohan naval command began to consider alternative options. In particular, the Riyatic task force in the !Northern Channel had not surrendered after the Fall of Riyata, and was still fully operational. Because they had not planned to return to Riyata for several years anyway, the Fall of Riyata had not impacted the task force considerably. However, it was small fleet, consisting of less than ten vessels, none of which were capital ships. The Ta'arohan Navy estimated that a small submarine force could breach the !GIUK Gap undetected and contest Riyatic control of the !Northern Passage, at least for the winter of 1941-1942. However, Ta'arohan intelligence was somewhat faulty, and they were unable to take into consideration some key factors. They were unaware of the second cruiser present in Task Force North, which was equipped with modern sonar and radar systems. Also, they were under the impression that the Riyatic force consisted of 6 vessels, when in reality there were 10. Ta'aroha was not aware that two Koranelan destroyers, the RKS Westrum and RKS Velde, had joined Task Force North in July. Because several of the Riyatic destroyers were of the same class and almost physically identical to one another, the remaining two uncounted ships can be explained by Ta'arohan spotter planes mistaking similar ships as each other.

Operation Stranglehold
The five submarines departed from Citana Naval Arsenal at 1:19 AM on November 6, 1941. From there, they successfully used the cover of darkness to cut past the most patrolled part of the Concert blockade, which was the area directly between Koranel and Riyata. By TBD, they had exited the continental shelf and escaped into the open ocean.