I'm going to assume that at least a few of the members here are at least familiar of Axis Powers Hetalia: All of the nations of the world are people, and exhibit national stereotypes. For sometime I have continplated applying a similar concept to ships, but rather than a simple comedy series, the mood and tone would be set by the story of the individual ship. Therefore, this thread is more about us naval buffs working out this concept in relation to their favorite ships (do keep in mind that while this concept is 'Sea queens, depending on the country they could be guys [French convention is that all ships are male, while in Poland and Russia it depends on the sex of the name]). For example, my story rotates around the Olympic-Class Ocean Liners, because their story is perfect for a Greek Tragedy, especially the Olympic. The Sisters All three, as triplets, look more or less the same (red hair, green eyes, as befitting their Irish origins) and somewhere in their later teens, but dress differently depending on their situation and their personal tastes. RMS Titanic; Tiffany O'Shae Everyone knows her story so I won't bother. Personality-wise she's an excited young lady of Proper society, very eager for her maiden voyage under the command of the White Star Line's highly esteemed Captain Smith*. Given how Ireland and celtic culture is seen in Great Britain, she tries to quash any sign of her irish origins. This causes something of a strain on the closest thing she and her sisters have to a father, Thomas Andrews, instead fixating on J. Bruce Ismay (owner of the White Star), and Captain Smith. During the sinking, with Smith rendered almost useless due to shell shock and Ismay abandoning her for his own life, Tiffany seeks out Thomas in the 1st Class Smoking Room, tossing aside any English Trappings she has, finally breaking down in tears as she clings to 'Dah.' They hold onto each other until the breakup. Of the Hecate Sisters story device, Tiffany would fit in with The Virgin. *Yes yes yes. Before anyone remarks on it I will: Maiden Voyages are played as a girl losing her virginity. No, I don't want to think about just how litteral that analogy goes, and neither should you. HMHS Britannic, Formerly Gigantic; Brianna (formerly Georgiana) O'Shae The historical Britannic never served as a passenger ship. When WWI broke out and the Eastern Campaigns in the Middle East going bad, the Admiralty needed hospital ships to transport the massive number of wounded back home, so they commandeered the Britannic for that purpous, of which she completed a number of voyages. In November 1916 on her way east in the Agean Sea, Britannic struck a German mine and sank in 55 minutes (as opposed to Titanic's 2 hrs 40 minutes) due to the explosion warping bulkheads (making it impossible for those doors to close) and portholes being open (most likely to air out the rooms for the upcoming influx of patients). After the Titanic Disaster, Olympic made every effert to warn Brianna of the dangers of the sea, and treated her like a fragile china doll. When she was conscripted, Brianna went freely in a combination of duty, a chance to get out of Olympic's embrace (for the latter's own good in the name of closure of course), and compassion for all the wounded. She spent each of her return trips with the other nurses tending the wounded soldiers. Brianna would be The Mother. ...And if I ever made a Massive Cross-over, non-canon movie, Brianna would kick ass with a shotgun. RMS Olympic; Ophelia O'Shae Since Olympic lived out her full career, she has the most events to draw from before finally being scraped in the mid-1930's with the White Star Line and the Cunard Lines were merged by order of the British government. As the lead ship of the class, Ophelia saw it as her duty to Titanic and Gigantic to be the example they should follow. Her first stab into disillusionment came when in early 1912 (under the command of Captain Smith) she collided with the HMS Hawke, flooding two compartments and breaking a propellor shaft (which needed to be replaced with one of Titanic's, delaying the latter's maiden voyage a good two weeks). Convinced that Smith's age and experience was working against him (as the Olympic-Class was the largest ship in history at the time, and thus there wasn't much experience concerning how to handle them), Ophelia warned Tiffany about Smith and his cockyness. Tiffany, practically lost in the dream the press had crafted around her, called her silly and ignored her. Heartbroken by the death/sinking of her sister, Ophelia made every effort to do better with Brianna, to be a better sister than she was with Tiffany. The only thing that stopped her from raising hell about Brianna's conscription was the thought that, as a Hospital ship, Brianna would be safe, whereas Ophelia/Olympic would be taking up the riskier job of a Troop Transport. Ophelia wouldn't know what became of Brianna until 1917, when a letter she sent to her sister was returned with a telegram from the Admiralty offering condolences in the death of "Nurse Brianna O'Shae" in the sinking of the HMHS Britannic. After hearing the news, something inside broke, and the World Weary Lead Ship died, replaced by an increasingly bitter young woman who grew more and more disgusted with the world, and at once begged the Powers that Be sink her as well, and yet was determined to perserveer for the sake of those who were aboard her, to prove that her Class was not cursed. With time she took up the trappings of the Flappers in America: Smoking cigars, cutting her hair short and taking to shorter dresses. Stories spread of her sleeping with any man willing in the search for solace for the deaths of her sisters. In 1936 Olympic was scrapped, and all that remains of the Three Dream Ships are the 1st Class lounge fittings, sold at auction and set up in a hotel in England. -------- So, any Naval buffs out there want to take a whack at personifying their favorite ships?
If you want some comic relief in the story, I recommend the K-Team! The K-Boats were a set of enormous submarines designed by the British in WWI to double as battleships. They should have left well enough alone. K-1 sank off Denmark after hitting K-4, which ran aground. K-2 caught on fire during its first launch. K-3 sank with the Prince of Wales aboard; although it was rescued, it was later rammed by K-6, causing both to sink into the seabed. K-5 sank in the Bay of Biscay. K-7 and K-17 crashed into each other. K-14 was leaky when it first left port, and was later rammed and sunk by K-22; K-22 was initially named K-13 until it tipped over in Loch Gare, Scotland. K-22/13 was later run over by the HMS Inflexible; the same military exercise resulted in K-17 going haywire and smashing both HMS Fearless and K-7 before sinking. K-4 had enough sense to stop its engines and shift course after seeing the accidents, naturally colliding with K-6 in the process and causing it to nosedive to the bottom. K-15 sank in Portsmouth while still in the harbor. In the end, the British discontinued the line, but not after the K-class had killed over 250 sailors- all British. I imagine them being a posse of girls with K-names (Katherine, Kimberly, Kelly, Kadence, Kaelyn, Kamilla, Kitty, etc.) who have a tendency to bumble. Much like a large group of Three Stooges.
A interesting Sibling piece could be the story of the Bismark-Class Battleships. There was only 2 ever built, the Bismark, and the Tripitz. Maybe have the older brother, Bruno's death serve as a impetus for Tabatha's enlistment?
Hmm.. How about the Tragedy of the Admiral-class Battlecruisers? Four sisters concieved, but three are stillborn when their ships are cancelled, leaving the fourth sister Herimone/Hood to sail on alone with her older and younger cousins, growing old and weary before dying a proud Warrior's Death against Bismarck?
*sniff, sniff* I almost cried. You should write this. You should freaking write this. If I can, I would freaking throw money at you to make you write this. Write, now.
So... kinda like what Arpeggio of Blue Steel is doing, without the whole "annihilation of mankind by AI" thing going on? I can dig it.
...Oh my word. That would be the blackest Stooge Short ever. ...So. Who's the Moe? The only one that didn't sink? Well, I'd still need to look up the Gender Traditions for ships in the German Navy (my Google Fu is failing me at the moment). As to Tripitz, she didn't really do much in the war other than stay in port, especially after the Bismark sank. It might be more accurate to say Bismark's death scared her off of her duty. ...I would read the crap out of that. And what a death it is, since I would think that the personification would get the same wounds as the ship itself. Which means something quite messy. OOH! And I just realized something awesome/heartwarming. After that first battle, it was no longer about sinking Bismark to protect shipping, but it was all to avenge the Hood. And since most of those ships that participated in Bismark's sinking were newer than Hood, that must mean that they all adored their Big Sister Herimone. Oh I will. It'll just be a while in coming. To be honest however, I'd think that this story might work best as a comic/manga. That way the audience can see the soul-crushing sadness in Ophelia's eyes, and see the agonizing pain in Tiffany's face as she screams as the increadible forces of her stern being lifted out of the water breaks her spine, and Andrews' impotant horror as all he can do is hold her. Yes, I've thought on this some.
I'm not sure. From the sound of it, all of the ships had trouble to some degree. A couple of ships like K-8 only caught on fire instead of sinking. The best chance would probably be K-26, the last one produced in 1923. Being the last, it was significantly improved. Most were scrapped between 1921 and 1926, but K-26 actually survived until 1931, when it proved too big to comply with Britain's London Naval Treaty and had to be broken up.
With regards to comic relief (which by the sounds of things we're really going to need), I'll like to mention the USS William D. Porter, which was possibly the most derpy ship ever to have existed. It's list of derpiness includes wrecking a friendly ship just pulling out of port, nearly blowing up the president's boat with a depth charge, accidently launching a Torpedo at the president's boat shortly after the depth charge incident, firing a shell at a base commander's house while 'exiled' to Alaska, riddling a sister ship with gunfire, and finally managing to be sunk by a kamikaze plane that had already crashed, although in its defence it did so without the loss of a single crewmember.
I was working on some plans with the Fleet of Fog creating the Royal Navy division deployed in the Atlantic. The basic idea was that as the various MM begin to experience more and more humanity they become drawn to the nations that made their original warship forms. This starts to cause a rift as the German and Japanese ships fall into one camp while the British and American ships fall into the other. Drama eventually ensues when the RN and USN models break away and ally with their human nations. So far have plans for- Queen Elizabeth- (Liz) Appears with red hair and brown eyes dressed in elaborate Tudor gowns inspired by her historic namesake. She would be the leader of the rebellion and prone to giving grand speeches and defiant gestures. Like the original Queen she has declared herself protector of the British Isles and will confront anyone who challenges her declaration. Warspite- Sister to Liz but almost the exact opposite. She is punkish with spiky blonde hair and doc Martens. However she too is firmly on the side of protecting the humans from her more destructive comrades. Warspite prefers to do things the direct way and has seen a lot of fights. She's short tempered but loyal and will never surrender of give up. Hood- Elegant and graceful Hood is the style icon of the group. Dressed in fine evening wear with rich black hair and blue eyes she is the face of the fleet, the diplomat and ambassador to human kind. While her main task is coordinating with humanity she is also a formidable warship, though with a glass jaw. Has an old score to settle with Bismarck. Nelson- Slightly more fun in personality, Nelson is a dainty brunette who dresses in the style of her namesake, complete with sabre. She isn't as serious as Liz or as eager for a fight as Warspite, but she does pack the most firepower of the RN fleet masked by her small model. Slightly big headed because of this she is daring in combat and cheerful about the future. Georgie- (King George V)- The thoughtful member of the group, Georgie is a designer and planner. She fills the role of scientist and dresses in fairly normal business wear, though she prefers trousers to a dress. Hopelessly scruffy compared to Hood she also spends most of her time working with humanity developing technology to enhance human built ships but if needed can take to the sea herself. She is the most advanced ship and the toughest despite her quiet and demure attitude. Dreadnought (Nought)- Older and wiser than her sisters, Nought is a brunette who dresses in formal Edwardian ladies attire with parasol. While not as strong as the others she is one of the more intelligent and concerned members of the Fleet of Fog. She served as Admiral and tactician and with Liz first considered the idea of turning away from the war. While she can fight and is still superior to many ships Nought spends most of her time planning and negotiating with humanity. Missouri (Missi)- Leader of the USN, Missi was brought around to the idea of helping humanity instead of fighting it. She eventually convinced the formidable US Fleet of Fog to join her though there was some dissension. Missi has wavy blonde hair and prefers to dress in a civil war era USN uniform, with classic Cavalry Stetson topping the look. While fairly young she is among the most powerful warships in the world and one of the few Yamato is wary of. More yet to develop, though I probably will wait until we have more info on the fleet and its origin before I commit. Plus I'm hoping to see some canon RN and USN ships in the Manga. It'll either be AU or a cross with Valkyria Chronicles, because superpowered nano tech engines of doom that take the form of girls fighting superpowered nordic inspired demi goddesses who are girls is too fun to pass up. EDIT- Somewhat related, there was an artist who created some amazing pictures of aircraft and their 'spirits' flying alongside. http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=79018 The Spitfire is an all time favourite
In case you were wondering, the four Admiral-class battlecruisers were Hood, Anson, Howe, and Rodney; hence becoming, let's say, Hermione, Angela, Holly, and Rowena.
LC, are you willing to write K9's story out? Because I am a fan of your works, like 'The Dilgar War' and man...I freaking, fucking love it. Also, what happened to 'A Fighting Chance'?
I couldn't write somebody elses idea It is an excellent idea and I wish him very well with it, I'd read it if it gets done The idea of taking the personification of a ship and having it interact with or fight another is intriguing. My initial thought is to have both the ship and personification exist side by side, something like Andromeda or Blue Steel, you talk to it, pass orders through it, it hurts when the ship is hit, commands the vessel alone if necessary etc. It is a good exercise to give them characteristics based on their traits, so Hood would be tall, thin and fast but would wear say brigantine armour while a true battleship would wear steel plate. Or have battleships fight each other medieval style with melee weapons while Carriers use long bows or primitive guns representing their specialisation in ranged attacks. You could in theory rewrite every major battle in naval history as groups of ghostly warriors duelling each other, gradually going from armour plated knightly battleships to the missile throwing snipers of the modern world. And I admit that idea is very striking. I might give one a quick try as a proof of concept, Battle of the Denmark Strait perhaps, something quick and small scale but dramatic to see if it works EDIT- No inspiration on Chance at the moment, so it's just sitting there. I'm sure it'll pick up eventually
Oh, by the way, Lightning_Count, in regards to what you planned up there, would Hood be bookended by the heavy cruisers Suffolk and Norfolk? Or even Prince of Wales? The original plan to fight Bismarck was to have the two cruisers link up with Hood and Prince of Wales, and take advantage of numbers.
If it stays historic I'd suppose the cruisers weren't able to catch up in time, forced to watch from a distance unable to help. But I'd have the PoW and Priz Eugen in too, bit of a four way duel but with Hood at the centre. If I go with the theme of them duelling then I suppose Hood falls to a lucky hit, say the point of Bismarcks blade catching a major artery or a gap in her armour to symbolise the magazine hit.Though we'd also have PoW give Bismarck a wound forcing her to return home, deep cut to the leg or something similar. I can see the Ark Royal as an archer, it's airstrikes largely bouncing off Bismarck until one arrow pierces her knee hindering her mobility, perhaps a shot to the Achilles tendon At that point I'd guess the characters of KGV and Rodney arrive and just beat Bismarck down, but can't quite end her. Dorsetshire then arrives carrying an executioners axe to finish the job, though perhaps Bismarck stabbed herself through the heart before the axe fell. So I suppose if battleships are sort of pseudo knights, their main weapons would be swords and maces, while a Carrier airstrike would be a rain of arrows, and a torpedo attack would be some form of double handed weapon. Very powerful but slow. For the future perhaps upgrade carriers from bows to muskets to show the increasing ability of the aircraft the operate, turn Midway into more of a gunfight
Hmm, I'd say have the Bismark, seeking death on her terms, stabs herself in the heart. IIRC, THAT's what took her down, not the British.
And, if we want to keep up the historical comparisons then, would the first major skirmish between the Allied Fog ships, and the Axis Fog ships be a re-enactment of the Battle of the River Plate?
probably, or maybe further back, say the battles over the Falklands in WWI. We've only seen WWII ships so far, or at least ships as they appeared in WWII, but if it turns into a full scale civil war they might end up drawing on older units, or newer ones. You could have a Pre-Dred taking on a Sovremenny for instance Have to wait and see for more info on the Fog ships, but may try something more in line with the OP and use actual manifestations hacking away at each other as a seperate shorter piece
Speaking of, what about the slight issue that they only show ships of Heavy Cruiser weight and above having Mental Models? Will you be re-writing that?
Not.... quite what I had in mind for this idea, especially since I hadn't heard of Arpeggio Blue Steel until this morning. Still.... *snort* I would think she'd be a little clumsy. Considering a little accident she had in 1950. Speaking of the Iowa-Class, one idea I had for the Lead Ship is that Iowa (Ivy?) is just one of the guys: A beer swilling, head-can crushing sailor guy, with a really crude personality. How crude? You know how lots of people have a preffered Battle Cry when starting a battle? Here's Iowa's: "SUCK MY NINE 16-INCH THICK DICKS!!" And finally, as this is based on Hetalia, a Japanese franchise, and since no show made in, based in, or based on something made in or based in Japan is complete without fan service: Here's my idea of how to include it. Battleships have busts based on the caliber of their main batteries. This means that the Yamato class, the Iowa class and the Bismark class are the top three biggest girls, in that order. The idea amused me.
Yeah, anything that can stand in a fleet line works, so destroyers and above. Plus I want to see Carriers and how they slot in, flying off drones or something
Uh, Point of order, K9? You skipped the Nelson-class Battleships; they had 16-inch guns as well, so shouldn't they be in place of the Bismarcks?
A few thoughts on the Olympic Class premise: -It might be a good idea to include the Cunard liners Lusitania and Mauretania in some capacity. One of the driving forces for the construction of the Olympic Class (besides J.P. Morgan's bankroll) was the need by White Star to challenge Cunard's dominance. There's also potential between Olympic and Mauretania after World War I over the common experience lost siblings through Lusitania's destruction by U-boat. -I like the idea of exploring Olympic's transition into the 1920's. You might also be able to have Olympic interact with celebrities of the period. She was apparently a favorite of Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks among others. -It might be interesting to do something with the Nantucket Lightship. In May 1934 Olympic rammed and sank the Nantucket Lightship killing seven of her eleven crew members. It could serve as an exploration of Olympics reaction, having lost two sisters to disaster, to being the direct cause of a sinking herself. Also, have some 1920's commercial footage of Olympic:
Idea: Have the Nantucket Lightship's personification (perhaps before the news breaks) charge into a bar when she (or he) finds out Ophelia is there drinking in the aftermath of the accident. Cue an angry rant by the NL ("You killed seven of my crew!"), which gets cut off by a drunken rant from Ophelia ("YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT? I LOST BOTH OF MY SISTERS YEARS AGO, AND SWORE I'D REDEEM THE FAMILY. I FAILED! OF COURSE I KNOW WHAT I DID!").
