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| “ | Lord Balon's Great Kraken and the warships of the Iron Fleet were made for battle, not for raids. They are the equal of our lesser war galleys in speed and strength, and most are better crewed and captained. The ironmen live their whole lives at sea. | „ |
| ~ Aurane Waters, bastard of House Velaryon |
| “ | Euron: It is a fearsome thing to sail beyond Valyria. Victarion: I could sail the Iron Fleet to hell if need be. |
„ |
| ~ Euron and Victarion Greyjoy |
| “ | I defeated your uncle Victarion and his Iron Fleet off Fair Isle, the first time your father crowned himself. I held Storm's End against the power of the Reach for a year, and took Dragonstone from the Targaryens. I smashed Mance Rayder at the Wall, though he had twenty times my numbers. Tell me, turncloak, what battles has the Bastard of Bolton ever won that I should fear him? | „ |
| ~ Stannis Baratheon boasting his achievements to Theon Greyjoy. |
The Iron Fleet are supporting antagonists in the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series and its television adaptation, Game of Thrones. They are a private naval fleet/armanda from the Iron Islands, and unlike the other ironborn ships of the Iron Islands, this specific fleet belongs to the ruling house of the Iron Islands, House Greyjoy. The Iron Fleet was constructed by the order of Lord Balon Greyjoy upon his ascension to power after the death of his father, Lord Quellon Greyjoy.
The naval fleet, in addition to being one of the largest groups of ships in Westeros, is the Iron Islands' primary military naval force and one of the three most powerful Westerosi fleets, the others being the Redwyne fleet of the Arbor and the royal fleet of the Crownlands. In the ASOIAF novel series, the Iron Fleet is under the leadership of the Lord Captain, Victarion Greyjoy, who is also the captain of his flagship Iron Victory. However, in Game of Thrones, they were led by King Euron III Greyjoy, whose flagship is Silence.
The Iron Fleet number 100 huge longships, with the ships being closer in size to galleys than the standard ironborn longships. It was formerly surpassed in numbers by the Iron Throne's royal fleet of the Crownlands, which is usually around 150 ships but currently requires a new one, and by King Stannis I Baratheon's own royal war fleet of 200 ships which was mostly destroyed or abandoned. The Iron Fleet is currently surpassed in numbers by the Redwyne fleet of the Arbor, which is the largest fleet in Westeros, as it consists of 200 warships, plus five times as many merchant carracks, wine cogs, galleys, and whalers.
While the Iron Fleet is not the largest in Westeros, they are the most vicious, and their sailors are the best armored, due to them wearing heavy armor as they have no fear of drowning. By gathering all their fleets into one, the Iron Islands can muster approximately 500 ships.
Biography[]
After ascending the Seastone Chair, Lord Balon Greyjoy, who desired to restore independence and the Old Way to the ironborn, reversed the reforms made by his father, Quellon Greyjoy, and began construction on the Iron Fleet, whose ships are built to be close in size to galleys while their decks are armed with war machines, which are scorpions and spitfires.
During Greyjoy's Rebellion, the Iron Fleet, led by their Lord-Captain, Victarion Greyjoy, earned an early victory by burning the Lannister fleet while it was anchored at Lannisport. However, off Fair Isle, they are defeated by the royal fleet and the Redwyne fleet, which were led by Lord Stannis Baratheon and Lord Paxter Redwyne.
Despite this defeat, the Iron Fleet became an inspiration to ironborn boys, and, according to Victarion, they dream of having the privilege to row for the fleet someday.
A Clash of Kings[]
During the War of the Five Kings, soon after Balon was crowned King of the Iron Islands and he launched an attack on the North, the Iron Fleet, led by Victarion, was sent to capture Moat Cailin, an ancient stronghold that defends the North from invaders. The fleet sailed up the Saltspear and the Fever River so that they could march on the stronghold from the west. As Moat Cailin was lightly defended, this allowed the ironborn to easily capture it.
A Feast for Crows[]
When the unexpected death of Balon Greyjoy is made known and a kingsmoot has been called, the Iron Fleet returns to the Iron Islands, leaving behind a small garrison to defend Moat Cailin. When Balon's exiled brother Euron was chosen as the new king of the Iron Islands, Baelor Blacktyde, the Lord of Blacktyde, tried to return home as he refused to accept Euron as king, but his ship was captured by Victarion and the Iron Fleet.
During the Taking of the Shields, the Iron Fleet led the other ironborn ships in capturing the Shield Islands. In an ensuing naval crash, the fleet lost six of its ships. Under Euron's orders, they and Victarion are then sent to Slaver's Bay to claim and return with Daenerys Targaryen and her three dragons, as Euron plans to conquer all of Westeros and take the Iron Throne.
A Dance with Dragons[]
The small number of ironborn ships left behind in the Fever River were destroyed when Houses Roswell and Dustin put them to the torch. Meanwhile, 93 ships of the Iron Fleet are sailing towards Essos from the Shield Islands, as Victarion was ordered by Euron to claim Daenerys Targaryen. They captured a merchant ship while on the voyage and added it to the fleet. Along the Dornish coast in the Redwyne Straits, the Iron Fleet captures five more ships, which consist of three cogs, a galleas, and a galley. After taking supplies from the Stepstones, the Iron Fleet was split into three squadrons before sailing to Slaver's Bay. They would reunite at the Isle of Cedars.
At Volantis, Victarion learns that the Volantene fleet will soon sail against Daenerys. After the Iron Fleet purchased food and water, they were ordered by Victarion to set sail immediately. However, when he and the squadrons arrived at the Isle of Cedars, only half of the ships had arrived, which includes 24 ships of Victarion's squadron, 14 of the bigger but slower squadron (captained by Ralf the Limper), which had sailed from the Free City of Lys, and only nine from the swifter squadron (captained by Ralf Stonehouse). Several straggled back, but some had been lost to storms.
When the Iron Fleet captures nine additional ships, they are only merchant vessels and fishing boats, which are not built for war. The 54th ship Grief managed to return to Victarion with a Red Priest named Moqorro, who was swept overboard trading cog Selaesori Qhoran, which Tyrion boarded to get to Meereen. Shark, one of the longships in the fleet, was left behind due to damages sustained by violent storms. Though Victarion and the Iron Fleet left it to be repaired at the rendezvous point, it was also to alert stragglers of their plan to continue onward to Meereen.
As they continued their voyage, they captured more cogs and galleys along the way as additions to the Iron Fleet. With Moqorro's aid, in which they made sacrifices to the Lord of Light, R'hllor, the Iron Fleet made fast progress and should reach ahead of the Volantene fleet. As of now, the fleet has 61 longships.
The Winds of Winter[]
Victarion Greyjoy and the Iron Fleet arrived in Slaver's Bay just as the Second Siege of Meereen was about to resume.
While the ironborn that came ashore were occupied with attacking the Yunkish forces, the Iron Fleet began clashing with the Quartheen fleet.
Affiliated Ally Fleets and Ships of the Iron Islands[]
In some battles and sea voyages, the Iron Fleet can be accompanied/aided by other ally forces sworn to the Iron Islands but not to the Seastone Chair itself, meaning they are not owed by their rulers.
Ally captains/leaders from other fleets and ships[]
- Lord Quenton Greyjoy
- King Balon IX Greyjoy
- King Euron III Greyjoy
- Urrigon Greyjoy
- Aeron Greyjoy (formerly, before becoming the priest "Damphair")
- Princess Asha Greyjoy (formerly)
- Prince Theon Greyjoy (formerly)
- Lord Rodrik Harlaw
- Lord Dunstan Drumm
- Lord Gorold Goodbrother
- Quenton Greyjoy (formerly, sided with Asha)
- Dagmer Cleftjaw
- Lord Maron Volmark
- Nute the Barber, invader Lord of Oakenshield
- Andrik the Unsmiling, invader Lord of Southshield
- Red Oarsman
- Left-Hand Lucas Codd
- Harren Half-Hoare
- Pinchface Jon Myre
- Rogin Salt-Beard
- Torwold Browntooth
- Stonehand
- Rymolf Stormdrunk (loaned by Victarion to Theon)
- Cragorn (Euron's mute from Essos)
- Numerous other captains and ship crews
Ally ships and fleets[]
- Great Kraken (Balon Greyjoy's)
- Silence (Euron Greyjoy's, pirate galley and warship; non-ironborn crew entirely made of foreign mutes, including many slaves, sorcerers, and warlocks)
- Black Wind (Asha Greyjoy's, formerly; lost; destroyed or taken by Alysane Mormont)
- Sea Bitch (Theon Greyjoy's; built by Sigrin, formerly)
- Salty Wench (Quenton Greyjoy's; part of Asha's followers, formerly; lost; destroyed or taken by Alysane Mormont))
- Foamdrinker (Dagmer Cleftjaw's)
- Thunderer (Dunstan Drumm's)
- Sea Song (Rodrik Harlaw's)
- Nightflyer (previously Baelor Blacktyde's)
- Swiftfin (previously Sawane Botley's)
- Silverfin (owned by House Botley)
- Esgred (built by Sigrin)
- Numerous other ships (mainly longships, and some captured other types of ships)
Gallery[]
ASOIAF[]
.jpg "Iron Fleet (ASOIAF).jpg (150 KB)")
Game of Thrones[]
.jpg "Iron Fleet (GOT).jpg (31 KB)")
Trivia[]
- Two longships of the Iron Fleet, Lord Dagon and Dagon's Feast are named after Dagon Greyjoy. The longship Hardhand is presumably named after King Harwyn Hardhand. The longships Lord Quellon and Lord Vickon are presumably named after Quellon Greyjoy and Vickon Greyjoy, the latter having been the first Lord of the Iron Islands during Aegon's Conquest. The longship Ravenfeeder may have been named after King Regnar Drumm, who was known as Raven-feeder. A Myrish cog captured by Victarion and added into the Iron Fleet during the sea voyage to Meereen was renamed Shrike, presumably after the Shrike. A Ghiscari slaver galley captured by Victarion during the same voyage was renamed Red God's Wroth in honor of R'hllor and the red priest Moqorro, as Victarion currently follows both the Drowned God and the Lord of Light.
External Links[]
- Iron Fleet on the A Wiki of Ice and Fire.
- Iron Fleet on the Game of Thrones Wiki.
