Remember when I talked about what a shipgirl based on the
first USS Iowa, rather than the ww2 one, would probably look like? Of course you don't, it was over on SB and wasn't even in the general ideas thread. But the idea of pre-dreadnaught vessels as doddering grannies is one that simply won't leave me be. And so, because the inner processes of my brain are as bizarre as they are horrifying, I have come up with a classification system for grandma-boats. It's a 2 axis system, but instead of good vs evil and lawful vs chaotic, you have Oblivious vs Aware and Active vs Calm.
The Oblivious/Aware axis refers to both general self-awareness as well as how up-to-date they are on modern events and technologies. Ships on the Oblivious end will embarrass their decedents without really meaning to, but being on the Aware end is no guarantee that embarrassment won't occur, just that any which DOES occur will be entirely on purpose. On one end you have ships like the
Armored Cruiser HMS Minotaur (Electric lighting! Marvelous!), while on the other you have vessels like
Japanese battleship Mikasa (Oh, baby pictures of Kongou? I have an entire album!
).
Meanwhile, the Active/Calm axis refers to how they express their concern and protectiveness for the younger generation. Because they may be old biddies, but they're still WARSHIPS damn it! And If there's one thing a warship can be counted on to do, it's protect those they care for! Even if the person in question is twice their size and has nearly triple the firepower. A warship heavily on the active side will combine the worst aspects of a Drill Sargent and a tiger mom, demanding 110% all day, ever day, as seen with the previously mentioned
BB-4 (Do you have any idea how much I worry when you go out on those sorties?! Your training will continue until you can out-run, out-maneuver, out-gun, and out-THINK any other TWO ships in the pacific!). Meanwhile, a boat more on the calm side will not intrude upon the lives of younger vessels to nearly such an extent, but don't think for one moment they're not looking out for them, as seen with
SMS Deutschland (Ah, so you're the fellow Prinz Eugen has been over the moon for. Oh? No, don't mind me, I'm just putting a fresh coat of oil on my Zweihänder so that it doesn't get rusty...).