Fusou

"Of the two Fusou-class super-dreadnought battleships, I am the elder, Fusou. Please take care of me and my younger sister Yamashiro."

Fusō (扶桑?, a classical name for Japan) was the lead ship of the two Fusō-class dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Launched in 1914 and commissioned in 1915, she initially patrolled off the coast of China, playing no part in World War I. In 1923, she assisted survivors of the Great Kanto Earthquake.

Fusō was modernized in 1930–35 and again in 1937–41, with improvements to her armor and machinery and a rebuilt superstructure in the pagoda mast style. With only 14-inch guns, she was outclassed by other Japanese battleships at the beginning of World War II, and played auxiliary roles for most of the war.

Fusō was part of Vice-Admiral Shōji Nishimura's Southern Force at the Battle of Leyte Gulf. She was sunk in the early hours of 25 October 1944 by torpedoes and naval gunfire during the Battle of Surigao Strait. Some reports claimed that Fusō broke in half, and that both halves remained afloat and burning for an hour, but according to survivors' accounts, the ship sank after 40 minutes of flooding. Of the few dozen crewmen who escaped, only 10 survived to return to Japan.

Appearance
The Fusou-class ship girls wears a miko-like outfit with detached sleeves, a hair ornament resembling the class' massive pagoda mast which is held with a small braid (only drawn clearly with the second remodels) as well as massive ordnance on their back. Both girls also have black hair and red eyes.

The few features that distinguishes her from her sister ship, Yamashiro, is her long hair and the hair ornament is on the left side of her head. Other select features are also featured to her left side.

For her second remodel, Fusou gains a floral pattern on select parts of her shirt and sleeves. Her skirt's golden floral pattern and metallic epaulettes (which were present on her original art but were pratically inexistant in fanart) have been heavily emphasized as well. Her pagoda mast hair ornament is even more ornate, and a white headband is added. She also gains two heavy triple guns where two (unremodelled) or one (first remodel) heavy twin guns were previously, bumping her firepower (which was gimped in her first remodel) higher than her unremodelled form's.

Personality
She is very attached to her little sister Yamashiro and vice-versa and often sulks about being unlucky.

Trivia

 * Fusou is a classical title for Japan.
 * 扶桑 (fusou) sounds similar to 不幸 (fukou) or 'misfortune', & 不相応 (fusouou) or 'misplaced' or 'unsuitable'.
 * Japan's first Super-Dreadnought & the first to be completely indigenous as opposed to the, at the time, Kongou-class battlecruisers.
 * Super dreadnoughts are an era within the battleships.
 * Finished in 1915. As time passed, her design showed numerous faults that outweighed her merits despite initially high expectations, especially given her name, & led to endless modifications.
 * Due to poor maintenance, sailors considered assignment to the Fusou-class to be the worst sea postings possible.
 * The remodeling into an Aviation Battleship stems from a plan for the Fusou-class after the carrier losses during the Battle of Midway. However, it was performed on the Ise-class instead.
 * Sunk, by possibly USS Melvin, during night battle in the Battle of Surigao Strait, October 25th, 1944.
 * There is a conflict in the accounts of her sinking:
 * 1) Torpedoes caused progressive flooding, upending & capsizing her within forty minutes.


 * 1) Torpedoes struck a magazine, causing a spectacular explosion & splitting in two with each half remaining afloat & burning for an hour. This seems to be increasingly discounted.