Desecrator-class Battleship

The Desecrator-class battleship, The Treacherous, was first encountered during the Gothic War. This was the first new Chaos battleship design recorded by the Imperium in a millennia. Serving as the flagship for the Warmaster Heinrich Bale, this vessel was a Desolator-class Battleship modified by the removal of the forward lance batteries which were replaced with attack craft hangars, and the addition of weapons battery turrets to the dorsal spine.

Known to be a former disciple of the Young School before turning to the fell hand of Chaos, it is believed that Warmaster Bale sought to combine the hard-hitting lances of a Desolator with the versatility provided by attack craft. It is unknown when or how these extensive modifications took place, but Bale's war fleet in general, and his flagship in particular, proved to be a menacing foe. He successfully maintained a blockade of Acre for more than three years and attacked many Imperial ships in the Port Maw sub-sector. His was one of the very last warfleets to withdraw in defeat in the closing stages of the Gothic War, only doing so whilst engaging in a titanic series of running battles during which many of the ships under his command were destroyed.

Sporadic reports of a Desecrator battleship conducting raids throughout Segmentum Obscurus have persisted in the centuries following the Gothic War. One such raid against the Imperial Naval base at Junta IV resulted in the boarding and capture of three Imperial escort vessels, which were all caught whilst still in dock. Whether or not these were The Treacherous or other converted Desecrator battleships has not been determined.