I feel like her personality changed quite a bit with the official English translation; though I don't dislike it, it's still interesting to read this and then read the new version.
Northampton-Class Heavy Cruiser, USS Louisville, Sir! Loo-ah-ville, sir! Not Loo-Loo, and definitely not Loo-a-vul--ah, darn it, sir, call me whatever you like.
Sir, you may have noticed that we Northampton sisters are a bit philosophical. But, seriously, sir, after I've grown into a fair maiden, I've thought about a lot of things. I thought maybe I was too naive about the war. Sometimes, I wonder if it'd be better if I'm just a weapon like I was before...
You know, when I was born, the Northampton-Class was restricted by the Washington Naval Treaty. Like a fool, I thought at the time: "these treaties probably mean that we're never going to see combat, right?" Hey, you probably thought my ideas naive, sir, because when the War started in Europe, I still thought we could stay out of it. As a result, I'm not too happy about the assignments I got. Even though I didn't complain, I thought it's not something we were supposed to get involved it. What does the gold in Britain have to do with us? Why do we need to keep it for them?
But, when Japan attacked, when I heard what happened on December 7th, I was stunned. How dare they do this... I thought innocently that I was dreaming. I believed the "peace, peace, peace" garbage that came out of their mouth! I thought it was just a rumor from the hawks, but when I returned to Pearl Harbor, when I saw my battered home... it made me grow up overnight. Maybe I'm a bit harsh with my words now, sir, but there's no defending that cowardly attack. It doesn't matter how they attempt to blacken our history, they can't distort the truth. To stop the US from destroying their slaughterhouse, they could only commit to this lousy move.
Relax, sir. I hold a strong opinion to the past, but that doesn't mean it'll affect my present. The present is the present, after all. Also, when the war began, my equipment was outdated, but I luckily survived. The war may have changed me forever, but it's not completely a bad thing. The War showed me the best and the worst of humanity. The trial of iron and blood made me recognize that there was a group of madmen who would sacrifice everything for their prejudices and their so-called "honor".* Historically, USS Louisville began her service in World War 2 before Pearl Harbor. When she was decommissioned in 1946, she had 13 battle stars, the most among her sisters of the same Class.
* USS Louisville's debut in the Pacific Theater is during the assault of Marshall and Gilbert Islands. She was the fire support unit for the USS Yorktown. After that, she also participated in many fire support actions. However, she lost her aircraft in her debut. (This is the source of her "replenishing" line.)
* During WW2, she moved millions of tons of gold bricks from Britain to the US under the risk of being sunk by U-boats. (This is the source of her "brick carrying" lines.)
* Many Americans still have a headache over how to pronounce "Louisville".Creators' comments:
- November: Louisville is the first of the 3 cruisers to finish designing. Due to her personality set as impish, treating her as the youngest sister is the only option. In an overall sense, She is the most serious among her sisters, and the most reliant on her eldest sister Northampton. She vowed to seek revenge after her sister was sunk, and finally fulfilled her wish in Surigao Strait. She cordially bowed to the direction of the wreckage of Northampton afterwards.
- Morgane: She has the most achievements among the trio, but somehow I feel that Loo-Loo, uh, Louisville had most of her experiences gained from making mistakes. But that's what this ship in history is - more done than said.
- Zeroblaze: Her earliest attitude represented the majority view of Americans before involving in the war, since in WWI America was involved in a war that didn't belong to itself, and the majority were unwilling to directly involve in the war. So America initially used trade and diplomatic means, but Pearl Harbour changed everything.