ARP Kirishima

Kirishima (kanji: 霧島, katakana: キリシマ) Fast battleship of the Second Oriental Fleet. Later, guardian of Makie Osakabe and member of Blue Steel.

Voiced by: Yumi Uchiyama

Arpeggio of Blue Steel: Ars Nova

In 2038, a mysterious fleet of warships, who have lurked around the world in the decades decades before, goes on the offensive against humanity. Modelled after ships that appeared in World War II, but possessing weaponry far superior to those in humanity's possession and protected by an indestructible barrier immune to whatever we have to throw at them, humanity quickly loses control of the seas and our military forces are annihilated in the desperate battles against them. The result was a world where humanity's presence in the oceans was no more, with communication via the seas cut off and humans isolated from each other, blockaded by the "Fleet of Fog".

In 2054, a change became across the Fleet of Fog. The ships of the Fog, impersonal and faceless, started developing "Mental Models", human avatars capable of thinking in ways similar to human beings, with personalities unique to each Mental Model. One of these was the I-401, or, Iona, who made contact with Gunzō Chihaya to become his ship. Gunzō, with Iona and a small band of friends who now crew the I-401, as Blue Steel seek to create a balance to this lopsided status quo with the Fleet of Fog, to bring a peace where humanity and the Fleet of Fog can happily coexist together.

Kirishima is a Fog battleship who joined Haruna’s effort to sink the I-401 in Yokosuka. Despite being able to combine with Haruna to form an even stronger vessel, both were defeated by I-401, with only her core surviving her destruction. It is later hidden inside a Teddy bear belonging to Makie. She then slowly gets adjusts to using the Teddy bear as her stand-in Mental Model over the course of the series and assists the Blue Steel Fleet alongside Haruna and Makie.

Historical

Kirishima (霧島, "Misty Island", named for Mount Kirishima) was a warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War I and World War II. Designed by British naval engineer George Thurston, she was the third launched of the four Kongo-class battlecruisers. Laid down in 1912 at the Mitsubishi Shipyards in Nagasaki, Kirishima was formally commissioned in 1915 on the same day as her sister ship, Haruna. Kirishima patrolled on occasion off the Chinese coast during World War I, and helped with rescue efforts following the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake.

Starting in 1927, Kirishima’​s first reconstruction rebuilt her as a battleship, strengthening her armor and improving her speed. From 1934, a second reconstruction completely rebuilt her superstructure, upgraded her engine plant, and equipped her with launch catapults for floatplanes. Now fast enough to accompany Japan's growing carrier fleet, she was reclassified as a fast battleship. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Kirishima acted primarily as a support vessel and troop transport, moving army troops to mainland China. On the eve of World War II, she sailed as part of Vice-Admiral Chuichi Nagumo's Kido Butai as an escort for the six carriers that attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.

As part of the Third Battleship Division, Kirishima participated in many of the Imperial Japanese Navy's early actions in 1942, providing support for the invasion of the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) and in the Indian Ocean raid of April 1942. During the Battle of Midway, she provided escort to Nagumo's four carriers, before redeploying to the Solomon Islands during the Battle of Guadalcanal. She escorted Japanese carrier fleets during the battles of the Eastern Solomons and Santa Cruz Islands, before sailing as part of a bombardment force under Admiral Nobutake Kondō during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. On the evening of 13 November 1942, Kirishima engaged American cruisers and destroyers alongside her sister ship Hiei. On the night of 14/15 November, in one of only two battleship duels of the Pacific War, Kirishima heavily damaged USS South Dakota (BB-57) before being crippled in turn by the battleship USS Washington (BB-56). Kirishima capsized and sank in the early morning on 15 November 1942 in Ironbottom Sound.

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  Kirishima docked at Sasebo in December 1915.

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  Kirishima at Tsukumo Bay on May 10, 1937.

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  Kirishima off Amoy, China, in 1938.

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  Kirishima in 1932, following her first reconstruction.

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  Kirishima and the fast carrier Akagi off Tsukumo, April 1939.

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  Takao (center) and the Kirishima steaming for Guadalcanal, 14 November 1942.

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  Washington fires on Kirishima during the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on 15 November 1942.