I've been thinking recently about maybe writing a Kancolle fic that would center around the Royal Navy, as I haven't seen many written about it. I've already got some ideas for the characterizations of the main kanmusu characters, but since at least the first act/section of the story would be set in the UK I'll need to populate the base they're stationed in with other British or European shipgirls. (Though I'd probably have a couple Japanese girls stationed there as well.) So I figured I'd ask on here for tips from those of you who've characterized ships that don't/didn't have a pre established character in KC/AL/etc, especially ones that had unremarkable/uneventful service histories, as I feel those are the hardest to characterize.
especially ones that had unremarkable/uneventful service histories
Unremarkable can be a bit subjective, since any ship that saw combat can have their story blown up.
Remember, a lot of IRL 'hero' ships famous got their status in large part through luck and strategic planning, not necessarily the individual ship itself or crew playing the biggest role.
A lot of it is being blown up through propaganda, since IRL even the 'greatest ship' isn't going to perform that much better or worse than the average in a standardized military.
And even ships that didn't have combat service histories can be decisive in a support role, like logistics or repair. Akashi or some supply ships like oilers in the game didn't have intense histories, but did make a difference.
They can have personalities and become more capable fighting Abyssals even if IRL they didn't really fight too, or can make a difference against Abyssals without fighting in many ways.
And as I said, unremarkable can be a bit subjective. Not all military historians agree what ships were major or even what events were major. New information can come in, or a new analysis method on old info can cause ideas to change.
Plus different authors will treat events different. Azur Lane has USS Washington and USS South Dakota being friendly for the most part, with Washington being a bit competitive but overall they work together. IRL the ships had crew members that liked each other and cooperated off duty and on duty from known records.
Warship Girls however has Wash and Sodak be more adversarial with a fiercer rivalry. This was also true, some crew members on both ships disliked or even blamed each other too.
It depends on what aspect an author wants the emphasize, and how that author interprets that aspect.
Take Shinyo as well. Carrier Shinyo in Warship Girls brags she's an ASW ace and her stats reflect this as true, so game mechanics make her capable and her bragging justified. For the Japanese, she was a relatively good ship. However, she wasn't a great ASW ship compared to ships from some other nations (at least according to some historians). She didn't manage to get any sub kills and was even sunk by a sub. However, a different POV says she was good, relative to most other IJN ASW of the time, and that her presence did deter sub attacks to a degree. So in this view she is an 'ace', and perhaps in a different situation, could have proven herself more.
Or take USS Albacore. The WSG version brags a lot of her career. However there are ships that sunk more than her, especially German ones. However a diff POV says she was good, just didn't have a chance to sink more due to current situations.
It's also possible to dig into ship history. Many ships in AL and KC and other series have a single or few incidents emphasized or perhaps exaggerated (just like IRL propaganda exaggerated a few ships).
It's possible to do this yourself diving into history a bit. USS Omaha CL4 for example has an unremarkable career in the opinion of some, but others note she captured a German blockade runner, one of the few ships to capture at sea, and the last one to do this. That could be emphasized. A pirate capturing a ship. Perhaps a cop pulling someone ever. Or other ways to emphasize the personality through that act.
She also participated in landing operations, as her low draft and high rate of fire made it easier for her to get close to a shore and provide direct fire support.
And of course engagements with subs doing vital convoy duty.
So even if she never fought big battles against massive cruisers or battleships, there would still be elements that could be emphasized.
There's ways to build legend even in ships that never saw active combat against other ships. Musashi for example never really got to engage naval targets and by some measures didn't have a notable career at all, but still has many ways to take her personality, especially as the ship that had a lot of IRL propaganda for and against it. Yamato is similar, by some historian research never even hit a target with her guns, and KC sort of leans into that, but sort of not.
Mutsu for example is a bit one note by some writers due to emphasizing the errors that caused her to detonate while in dock, but there's other aspects of her career/design/crew and potential personality that could be emphasized instead or along with that. Mutsu and Nagato by some measures didn't see much surface combat at all.
Most battleships and heavy ships in WW2 didn't, but have personalities attached to them in various games, so there's always a possibility.
In fact, the WW2 BB that saw the most activity for the IJN (and suffered the most attrition early on), were the Kongo class BB because they were seen as more expendable while also being good enough to have a chance to accomplish the mission.
Actually, were these kind actually easier, because you kind of have blank canvas to work with? 'There's no mistakes, just happy little quirks' or something like that.
I agree with this. A ship personification with not much known pop culture history can have the history dug into and point emphasized or interpreted different ways. A single point can have different writers at differing times inspired to write vastly different personalities/abilities/quirks/others.
If no history can be easily found, feel free to make personality on your own.
And remember, even a ship with no combat history can accomplish things.
And even a ship that was unbuilt or didn't serve can get a career fighting Abyssals successfully. Their personality and ability doesn't have to be tied entirely to their past. The point of Kancolle the Anime emphasizes this, though not all of the series do.