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Greetings! This is a story I finished writing today, based on my in-game experiences & Sabaton's song "Dreadnought." The more astute of you might recognize something about the battle in this story. This is a rough draft, so please leave comments about improvements I could make. Otherwise, enjoy! In Fear of Nothing A shadow moves across the water in pursuit Gunnery Officer Nakahara Youji felt the wind in his face: cold, salty, unrelenting. He could have ducked within the fire control tower midway up the pagoda of his ship, a dreadnought named Mountain Palace, but he was too lost in thought. Land had been spotted about 10 minutes ago. If all navigation had been done correctly, the fleet was nearing the enemy harbor of Lion’s Gate. Nakahara couldn’t believe they had gone undetected for so long, but that was about to end. It splits the waves, commands the sea, and defies the wind. They had to have been spotted by now, with the Mountain Palace’s castle-like bridge stretching 51 meters above the water. The smoke from 2 dozen ships should also be a dead giveaway. Nakahara wondered if any of the harbor defense crews were wearing brown trousers, smirking at the thought. He ducked within the cramped fire control room, ordering one final check on the twin 127 millimeter cannon under his command, then went back outside. Instilling fear among its prey, feels nought for itself. Ahead the sea lies calm, awaiting the storm. One of the deckhands shouted & pointed at a column of water spraying up from the depths, roughly in the middle of the fleet. A black-and-white shape leapt from the depths, splashing back down in a cascade of droplets. Other identical shapes darted playfully between water & air. Orcas! Attracted by the threshing of propellors & humming engines, the pod spread out, darting through the bow waves of the fleet. Intelligent beings, making sure to never drift too close to a ship, they brought a smile to the face of many a worried sailor. Surely the presence of these beautiful hunters meant a successful mission! But for Nakahara the delight was brief, followed by a pang from the past that made him wince- Delicate fingers, toying with a carved orca sculpture. A high-pitched shout on a pitching boat, a young face pointing to a broaching whale. Long hair, wet and dripping, a laughter as they raced up the beach. A cute bashful smile after she’d tripped on her kimono. “You’d...have won...if you hadn’t helped me up!” said Nakahara Akiko breathlessly. “It doesn’t matter,” Nakahara Youji remembered saying. “I’m older, I’ll always be waiting at the end.” How infuriatingly, gods-darned WRONG that had turned out to be. More recent memories: His bunkmate catching him as he reeled back from a shocking letter. Cursing the Mountain Palace’s engines, why did she go so slow? The cute smile, but on a face too pale, too sweaty, and her fingers too limp. Half listening, half grieving, as the doctors explained the forsaken word, “cancer.” Screaming, was it his? Akiko’s? Their parents’? Family paying their respects in a field of graves-BANG! Loud blasts as the Mountain Palace released her 2 Reisen fighters snapped Nakahara out of his daze. All across the fleet, ships were launching their aircraft. The carrier Furious sent aloft her flock of Skuas, the hybrid dreadnought/carrier Militant Fortitude sending her flock of Seiran torpedo bombers. The cruiser Red Caucasus launched a Beriev-2 seaplane that whizzed by Nakahara’s post. He could see the tail gunner waving as he went past. Displace the water in its path A siren blared, and Nakahara instinctively held on to something. All around the fleet, main cannons elevated, trained towards the harbor entrances, and fired. In just a few minutes the weapons under his command would be in range... Reveal the cannons Align the guns Unleash their wrath! His guns snapped out at an offending fort. Shells whistled in the air as the fleet closed the range. Other ships were taking hits, but nothing on Mountain Palace...yet. Something broke deep inside one of the forts, and it detonated, throwing up an orange fireball. The sun came over the horizon at that moment, bathing the clouds in shades of purple, gray, and red. Unopposed under crimson skies Immortalized, Over time their legend will rise The outer defense forts were finished now, and the fleet split in perfect coordination. Admiral Henry Cavendish, in the Furious, had predetermined that his ship, the cruiser Huang He, the tanker MacDuff, and the destroyer An Shan would take the central entrance. Commodore Jessica Caruthers in battleship Royal Sovereign would attack the northern entrance with tanker Tynwald. Commodore Andrius Klimov, Red Caucasus, would command Militant Fortitude, Mountain Palace, and tanker Alverton in an attack on the southern entrance. All groups also had 5 escort ships that would take station at the entrances. The south was reported to have the strongest resistance. And their foes can’t believe their eyes Believe the size As they fall And the dreadnoughts dread nothing at all! Militant Fortitude took the lead. Mountain Palace sailed astern & to starboard. Red Caucasus joined the port. Alverton brought up the rear. A hull of steel & all big guns to serve the fleet Unrivaled firepower riding the waves to war Like bees swarming the wasps violating their hive, enemy aircraft came upon the 4 ships. Nakahara ordered his gun crews to load timed-fuze ammunition. As soon as the weapons were loaded he swung the weapons toward a plane-American, by the look of its huge radial-and gave the order to fire. All around him, Mountain Palace became a cornucopia of smoke & noise. A steady “madow-madow-madow-madow” from the autocannon above his station, the twin BANG of his cannons, a whiff of gun smoke, an occasional vibration as something from the onslaught hit home...it was almost like music. Unbelievably harsh music, but a rhythm that turned up Nakahara’s adrenaline. He barely registered a plane crashing into the water between them & Red Caucasus, but subconsciously noted it as a P-26 fighter. Alverton was burning forward, but that thought was lost in the symphony of war. Trails of burning aircraft crisscrossed across the morning sky. Mantras from family monks came to Nakahara’s head. War was a terrible thing, but could there not also be moments of beauty in something terrible? What a time to be alive! Alive... Alive. Exactly what his sister wasn’t. Was this really where he wanted to be, enjoying himself without her to welcome him home? She had passed on. And here he was, forcing others to pass on. If this is life, did he even want to be alive? A huge column of water sluiced over the fire control director. Nakahara shook his head. Now was not the time. He was starting to get queries from his subordinates. No time for philosophy, now there was only time to fight. Now, where had all that water come from? The siren for Mountain Palace’s main battery gave home the answer. A devastating blow will send their foes down below Fearless armada now bombarding the shore An Adolfkanone was situated on an island facing the southern entrance. The attacking ships fired upon it, but the thing’s heavy armor caused several shots to ricochet. A shot from the huge weapon crumpled back Militant Fortitude’s bow with a horrible clang. But eventually the dreadnoughts’ fire overwhelmed the fort, and it pancaked onto itself. And with that, the battle lulled. Light up the night with cannons’ roar In fear of nothing, they lead the navy INTO WAR! The intercom crackled. A transmission from a scout, slightly marred by static. “...light cruiser & destroyer off to your starboard side, accompanied by what might be a battleship or heavy cruiser. All unidentified. Over.” “Peak 2, this is Palace. Anything on the port side?” “Nothing in your range yet, but 3 Cimarron support vessels & a Kaiser battleship are attempting to force their way past Tang & Song. Over.” Unopposed under crimson skies Immortalized, Over time their legend will rise And their foes can’t believe their eyes Believe the size As they fall And the dreadnoughts dread nothing at all! Well. That wasn’t good. Could Huang He & An Shan(Tang & Song)hold that? As it sounded, their own chances weren’t so good. Almost no intel except that it would be 3 vs 3, with all other forces being preoccupied. Alverton was a damaged oil tanker, all she could do was sit & wait. The north sea has drawn them near. The fleets of the high seas approach. As the battle lulled, Militant Fortitude took the opportunity to launch some more Seiran floatplanes. All weapons of the 3 warships trained out to starboard. Stuck on the port side, Nakahara could only order his gun crew to load high-explosive ammunition & wait. A contest of titans commence. These days will dictate their fate! The grand fleet prepares their guns, Militant Fortitude fired all her guns at something unseen. As soon as she was clear of the channel, Red Caucasus accelerated, firing as she went. Suddenly Mountain Palace heeled sharply to starboard. And now Nakahara could see what lay ahead. A small destroyer was racing between shell splashes towards them. Ridges in the water-torpedo tracks-sliced towards Militant Fortitude, who frantically turned to avoid them. A cruiser, far away, was raining fire upon Mountain Palace. But the hulking shape of a Nassau-class dreadnought dominated Nakahara’s view. Bristling with cannons, belching thick smoke, the monstrosity’s attention was focused on Red Caucasus...for now. Nassaus were an old design, but to fight one this close would still be a challenge. Unleashed as the dreadnoughts clash at last! Enough sightseeing. Nakahara ducked back inside his director & aimed at the destroyer. He grinned in exhilarated satisfaction as it took multiple hits. But another ridge of water shot towards his ship... Unopposed under crimson skies, Immortalized Over time their legend will rise A column of water thundered up her bow and the deck pitched. But Mountain Palace continued to surge forward. The destroyer was slowing down, her engines smashed in Nakahara kept his weapon trained on the little ship until she disappeared under Mountain Palace’s bow. He saw sailors leaping off & frantically swimming away before KRONG!- Mountain Palace had her revenge. And their foes can’t believe their eyes Believe the size Nakahara shifted his crew’s aim to the cruiser in the distance, which was still landing shots on his ship. He felt them, but the damage must have been slight, because they only registered as small vibrations & no alarms were blaring. No, wait-one fire alarm on the starboard side aft. But nothing more would come out of the enemy, because at that moment he recognized the firework tracers of flak. Four Seirans flew across his vision, and a few seconds later the cruiser was engulfed by water. And then, fire. As they fall Without needing to be told his gun crew began firing at the Nassau, which was valiantly fighting all 3 ships at once. At this range it was practically harder to miss than hit. Nakahara’s earlier musings goaded his curiosity, and with little regard for his own life, he stepped outside to get a closer look. Red Caucasus was listing to starboard. Neither of the pagoda dreadnoughts had taken serious damage. The beleaguered Nassau was burning in multiple places. Chunks of metal had been carved out of the superstructure, and Nakahara doubted anyone was left to command. But her guns still worked, and one of the main turrets prepared to fire at Mountain Palace. Nakahara’s blood chilled. It was pointing right at him. A strange sense of satisfaction swept over him. No more musings about whether he should be alive. No more conflict that caused death. He had become part of the machine since Akiko’s death. He would miss his crewmates, yes, but there was one person he missed more. The cannon fired. He was slightly off, at 3 kilometers away the gun just looked like it was pointed at him. The shot hit the casemates below Mountain Palace’s pagoda, but the explosion was big enough, and threw Nakahara high enough- That it was the day when brother & sister met again. And the dreadnoughts dread nothing at all!

Overestimating WG's ability to adding new ships to the game, here's some Canadian light cruiser line suggestions (then again, a commonwealth line would be easier to do probably but idk). This is a bit of a pipe dream as most of these ships are fictional. Anyone with more experience can hop in and give input of you want. Saw some people proposing lines and thought it would be fun to try adding my proposal ideas. Gimmicks (gimmicks are average and subject to change, the higher the tier) Basic Stats: Low detectability Average speed High maneuverability High HE pen Mediocre AP pen Poor armor Consumables: Torpedo Tubes [available at III and beyond] Crawling Smoke [available at VI and beyond] Hydroacoustic Search [available at VII and beyond] Fighter and Defensive AA Fire [available at VIII and beyond as options over Hydro] Surveillance Radar [available at VIII and beyond as an option over Smoke] Repair Party [available at IX and beyond] Specialized Repair Teams [available exclusively to premium IX Edmonton] Spotting Aircraft [available exclusively to premium VII Quebec] Ships (w/ main battery armaments) {reimagined = adjusted armament to fit the line) I Sackville (reimagined) (4x1 120mm) II Niobe (reimagined) (8x1 152mm) III Aurora (reimagined) (8x1 152mm) IV Moncton (3x2 152mm) V Ottawa (4x2 152mm) VI Montreal (4x2 152mm) VII Ontario (3x3 152mm) VIII Halifax (4x3 152mm) IX Vancouver (5x3 152mm) (similar turret layout to Mogami) X Victoria (4x4 152mm) (similar to Plymouth) Premiums: II Rainbow (reimagined) (8x1 152mm) VI Toronto (4x2 203mm) (imagined CAN CA of the UK County-class heavy cruisers) VII Quebec (3x3 152mm) (Surveillance Radar is available as well as Spotting Aircraft, but no Smoke) IX Edmonton (3x4 152mm) (Victoria with one less turret, but with exclusive Specialized Repair Teams) It's really late as I'm making this post so add and take what you want from this. IMAGES OF EXISTING SHIPS: I Sackville II Niobe III Aurora VII Ontario Premium II Rainbow Premium VII Quebec