A Bulldog's Legacy (USS Oregon in Azur Lane)

Chapter 6: Once Upon A Time

Oregon POV

"My story begins when I was first launched. In my world, we didn't have human bodies like you. We were just sentient ships. Anyway, I was built by the Union Iron Works in San Francisco and launched in 1893."

The shipgirls were shocked. "18...93?" Hornet echoed. "Then that would mean..."

"Yes. I think it's safe to say that I am the oldest ship here," I replied.

"Back to my story. About three years later, after undergoing test runs, shakedowns, and final check-ups, I was officially commissioned. I learned that I had two sisters in the Atlantic. Their names were Indiana, the lead ship of my class, and Massachusetts."

"Why were they built on the East Coast but you on the West Coast?" asked Enterprise.

"The order calling for the construction of the three of us stated that one had to be built on the West Coast to support the Pacific Squadron," Oregon replied. "I just so happened to be the one chosen since I was the third and last of my class built.

"For a year nothing of importance really happened, other than news of increasing issues with Spain's caretaking of Cuba. But in 1898 an armored cruiser named Maine exploded in Havana Harbor."

"E-Exploded?" Some of the shipgirls were nervous, even afraid at the thought.

I nodded solemnly. "Yes. In the heat of the rising issues with Spain it was assumed that a Spanish naval mine had been the cause of her seemingly spontaneous explosion. However, much later it was discovered that a mine was not the actual cause."

"What was it?"

"A spark had started a fire in her coal bunkers. The fire exploded her boilers, and that in turn blew Maine practically in half. Needless to say, she was sunk."

The shipgirls shuddered. The thought of being blown in half seemed to be unimaginable to them. They should be glad that they run on liquid fuel.

"I was in drydock at the time, and the day after Maine died I was refloated and recrewed. We received orders to travel to the Atlantic and join the fleet there, which meant traveling around South America as there was no Panama Canal yet."

"Around South America? Isn't that dangerous?" Wales asked.

"You have no idea. Towering waves to constantly fight, heavy storms and rain, you name it. And this was during the south hemisphere's winter, which meant that all the storms, waves, and such would be even worse.

"We first got ammo for me in San Francisco. To save time my captain decided to skip the scheduled coaling stop in Valparaíso, Chile, to save time. Instead, we went on to Punta Arenas to coal. There I joined a gunboat named Marietta, who had traveled there earlier to arrange for my coaling. She accompanied me on the long and arduous journey down the coast and back up to Rio de Janeiro. We stopped briefly in Salvador, then coaled in Barbados, Brazil.

"I finally reached Jupiter, Florida, on the 24th of May, after a record journey of 66 days.

I smiled, remembering what came next.

"Oh, you should have seen me that day. The Atlantic Squadron was having a ship parade, and all the ships were a beautiful creamy white, as was our custom at the time.

"And then there was me, a small dirty battleship. To save time my crew had loaded my decks with extra coal so we wouldn't have to stop as often, so by the time we reached the East Coast I was almost completely black from the coal smeared all over me.

"The other ships received me with mixed opinions. Some were relieved that a new battleship had arrived to help, while others were...less welcoming.