| abstract | - Port Maw is an ancient artificial world that has been turned into one of the great harbours of the Imperial Navy by human ingenuity. Located in ancient times at the very border of the Segmentum Obscurus and the Ultima Segmentum in what was then known as the Manachean Commonwealth, today Port Maw lies within the famed Gothic Sector of the Segmentum Obscurus and even has given its name to an entire sub-sector. Since its inception during the Great Crusade, Port Maw has always belonged to the Imperial Navy, or rather to the Armada Imperialis which preceded it. With the tactical need to establish second-line defence forces to protect the heavily industrialised and populated regions of the Manachean Commonwealth and the Cyclops Cluster Sub-sector, Port Maw was rapidly established as a great mustering and supply point for Imperial vessels heading to the Imperium's northern border. Over the millennia, Port Maw has grown into one of the biggest starports of the Imperium, being perhaps only surpassed by the great Segmentum Naval Bases of Bakka, Hydraphur, Kar Duniash and Mars itself. It still serves as the main port of attachment, Segmentum fortress and headquarters of Battlefleet Gothic -- itself one of the Bastion Fleets -- while Segmentum Headquarters lies on Cypra Mundi. It is also at Port Maw that most of the reserve ships of Battlefleet Gothic are located, mothballed until events dictate their return to the frontlines. Through its proximity with the Eye of Terror and the need to defend the Cadian Gate, Port Maw is nearly perpetually on a war-footing, despatching relief convoys to the other Bastion Fleets stationed at Agripinaa and Belis Corona, patrolling along the edges of the Eye of Terror, answering countless planetary distress signals and generally trying to keep the Forces of Chaos at bay. Through its long and glorious history, Port Maw has come under attack several times, most notoriously during the Horus Heresy-era during the infamous Treachery at Port Maw incident and far more recently during Abaddon the Despoiler's 12th Black Crusade, more commonly known as the Gothic War.
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