Selected Quotes

Creators' Notes November: Burn burn burn! I knew about the General Belgrano, but before this I never made the connection between the famous sunken ship of the Falklands War and her - the Phoenix. The overall inspiration of the character came from the Sisters of Battle of Warhammer 40K. With light blonde hair and purple-red eyes, I personally think the Phoenix has the most personality out of all the ships! Morgan When designing the Phoenix, I actually thought we dug a little too deep. But the fiery connotations of phoenixes in western culture and the flamethrower troops that covered the landings at Leyte...I didn't want to miss these two elements interacting. ZeroFire Initially she was going to wear a mask, but that made her look too much like (a genderswapped) Bane from Batman so it was taken out after talks. But to emphasize that it's the Phoenix, the flamethrower was added. The wedge-shaped darts on the skirt's hem are of course the phoenix's pinions.

Trivia * The "Lucky Phoenix" isn't just a nickname. Veterans who served on the ship recalled that when Japanese planes flew too low for the Phoenix's instruments to detect them, they had to aim blindly with the MKI Eyeball. Even so, she still shot down 5 planes. * Another nickname for the Phoenix was the "Phoo Bird." But only her crew called her that. (And that's where her Poked quote comes from) * Not only did the Phoenix cover General MacArthur's command of the amphibious campaign, she also directly saved his life. When the broadcaster called the "Tokyo Rose" directly and openly threatened MacArthur in a broadcast, claiming that he has been located and will be executed imminently, MacArthur immediately moved to the Phoenix. A few minutes later, the kamikaze badly damaged the Nashville, his original transport.

Summary CL-46 Phoenix, reporting! I'm the luckiest light cruiser on this side of the Pacific. What are your orders, sir? The Phoenix is ready to go! My Brooklyn-class and St. Louis-class sisters are all named after American cities. MY name is of mythological origin though, since the city of Phoenix was founded under the imperishable spirit of the mythological phoenix. I've heard Helena say that the phoenix is a great fiery creature, full of spirit and joy. She thought the navy named me well, and I certainly hope I lived up to the name!

I don't think you're very familiar with my abilities, sir. Think of me as a guardian! We Brooklyn-class ships don't have the raw power to go head-to-head with bigger ships, but we make great escorts. Besides, we light cruisers get saddled with all kinds of work like transporting materiel, supporting amphibious landings...that's basically my WWII career. After luckily avoiding Pearl Harbor, I immediately got busy in the South Pacific. You would have found me anywhere from Java Sea to the Indian Ocean. Of course, I also worked closely with ground forces. Leyte, Mindoro, Bataan, Corrigidor, if you can think of it, I've been there.

Oh oh oh oh, right sir. I thought of something when I was watching the GIs land on Leyte. Sometimes I think we all need a little more passion. Permission to play with fire in the HQ, sir? Because I want you to see my newest invention~

STEC's Comments: On 7 December 1941, the Phoenix was anchored southwest of Leyte. Some of her AA gunners were to first to spot strange attacking aircraft with Rising Sun markings. As the first USN vessel to open fire, although the enemy concentrated fire on her, after-action reports found her completely unharmed. Throughout the entire attack on Pearl Harbor, only a single bullet found its way into her hull. The Phoenix set sail the very next day and began her legendary 4-year service. Because she fought valiantly at every major battle and only ever lost 2 sailors during the entire War, she was nicknamed the "Lucky Phoenix".

Courageous and foolhardy, the Phoenix excelled at independent operations and possessed excellent anti-air ability. At the same time, her luck was extraordinary. The weapons she jury-rigged without the approval of the Ordnance Department were not only usable, but also didn't manage to get anyone killed. It was a miracle. Please see Incident Report 1920935-1920946 for details.