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Silvana
Silvanascreen
The Silvana in the Grand Stream
Career
(Anatoray)
AnatorayCoat
Name Silvana
Ship ordered G.D652
Nickname Kill-'Em-All Silvana
The Safest Ship In The World
Sunk G.D664, Dragon's Fangs
Raised G.D664
Captured G.D665, Grand Stream
General characteristics
Class and type Silvana-class battleship
Displacement 49,200 tons standard
51,600 tons full load
Length 147 m (482 ft 3 in)
Beam 61.5 m (201 ft 9 in) between armor plates
46.5 m (152 ft 7 in) between bulges
Propulsion 182,200 hp
330,000 hp after releasing limiter
Speed 160.3 knots (297 km/h; 184.5 mph)
Power Vertical five-stage compound Claudia Unit
Complement 248 (full 777)
Armament 2 × 305 mm (12 in) (1×2)
8 × 203 mm (8 in)
8 × 254 mm (10 in)
10 × 203 mm (8 in)
24 × jet-propelled shell launchers (6×4)
Armor 240mm (9.5 in) on turrets
400 mm (15.8 in) external side armor
250 mm (9.8 in) cloudline belt
60 mm (2.4 in) flight deck
300 mm (11.8 in) conning tower
50 mm (2 in) deck
Aircraft carried 6 combat vanships
2 spare vanships
2 jumbo shuttle vanships
Aircraft facilities 1 dual-level vanship lift

The Silvana is a one-of-a-kind prototype warship developed in Anatoray. The ship would later be succeeded by the Silvius. Two years after the events of Last Exile, it eventually comes to Earth commanded by Sophia Forrester herself with the Anatoray battle fleet to join the allied fleet against the Grand Exile activated by Luscinia Hāfez.

History[]

The story of the Silvana begins with the defection of Prime Minister Marius Bassianus along with at least 6 members of the Guild, who fled to Anatoray with a stolen Guild ship. These elder Guild members used their advanced technical know-how to design super-advanced vessels for the Anatoray Navy in return for sanctuary. Their first design was for the Silvana, which would be a high-speed attack vessel that used superior firepower and vanships to overwhelm a potentially superior opponent with speed. To make the vessel even more dangerous, it would be the first ship in history whose Claudia Unit could not detach, making it impervious to interference by the Guild.

Through a series of careful maneuvers within the military, Captain Alexander Row gained command of the Silvana ahead of many peers from the military academy. Though none knew it at the time, his reasons for doing so were to gain command of a non-Guild-controlled Unit so that he could see out his longstanding vengeance against Maestro Delphine. Being a one-of-a-kind vessel, the Silvana did not fit in with any engagement style of the existing fleet, and was thus resigned to solo duty. This suited Alex fine, as he quickly turned the ship and its crew into essentially officially-recognized privateers. The Emperor of Anatoray became concerned with the level of power Alex Row was gaining, and thus Sophia Forrester offered to join to him to serve as his vice-captain. However, in deference to her role there to essentially spy on Alex, she became his trusted aide and confidant.

The pair of them gradually phased in a hand-picked crew. Most were misfits, but all were consummate professionals with the skills that Alex needed to carry out his revenge. Alex was the first to become aware of the Guild's intention to pit the Disith against Anatoray, and started his own personal war against them.

Any ship that crosses the Silvana is quickly sunk, giving the ship its well-earned moniker, the "Kill-'Em-All" (jap. "皆殺し" ,"Minagoroshi", lit. mean "All-Killer", "Massacre") Silvana. This combat record has earned Row and the Silvana a reputation for being invincible. In "Takeback", the morale of Charles Knowles and the crew of the Goliath is broken at the mere sight of the Silvana.

Given that the ship's Claudia Unit is the same one that was aboard Prime Minister Marius' vessel, as well as the fact that the Guild will likely be unwilling to part with any more units, the Silvana looks like it will continue to be a one-of-a-kind vessel for some time to come. With his penchant for independent action beyond the control of the military and the imperial throne, this reality sits quite well with her captain.

Description[]

The construction of the Silvana is unlike that of any vessel in the Anatoray fleet. Most of this owes to the fact that the Silvana's Claudia Unit is permanently integrated into the ship, not requiring the room to detach from the vessel (which it won't as it is not under Guild control). This makes the Silvana much smaller than regular warships, and also enables it to carry heavier armor and weaponry while still maintaining its high speed.

Bridge[]

The top of the vessel is dominated by twin conning towers. Each has a matching bridge, one fore, one aft. The ship can be commanded totally from either bridge, though is normally done so from the fore. The aft bridge is used in emergencies. Extending above the bridge is a high mast which has a listening post with numerous sounding horns as well as a lookout post. The bridge itself has two levels: the battle bridge and the navigation bridge. Combat is controlled from the battle bridge. The navigation bridge itself has stations for helm, weapons control, damage control, and listening officer. Alex Row's high-backed captain's chair dominates the center of the rear of the room. There is also a navigational table to the side of the room. Below that is the night warfare bridge with the officer's lounge, ready rooms, signal cabin, and chart room. There is also a lower listening post. Unlike the bridges, both the fore and aft listening posts are manned at all times in order to have tactical data of the area surrounding the Silvana.

Weapon System[]

The weapons on the Silvana are as unique as the ship itself. The ship's armament employs a propellant fluid system - instead of steam - that was developed in secret. In comparison to Anatoray line vessels, the penetrating force of Silvana's weapons is over three times as much, and its range is about five times.

The primary weapons of the Silvana include ten long-range cannons in nine turrets. The forward weapon is two 12" 45-cal guns on a single turret. On either side of the conning towers are eight 8" 50-cal rapid-fire gun turrets. The broadside weapons on the ship are eight 10" 45-cal cannons and ten 8" 45-cal cannons, evenly divided between the left and right broadsides. The broadside cannons have a limited aiming range.

An experimental weapon added to the vessel is the jet-propelled shell launchers, a weapon that provides the majority of its acceleration and penetrating power post-firing. As such, the cannons that fire them are very small. Hidden behind the rear armor wedge of the Silvana is twenty-four of these impressive weapons, mounted into six quad-mount arrays. Later on, Alex Row has an identical array of twenty-four jet-propelled shell launchers installed behind the fore armor wedge. Heavy motors open the armor wedge, exposing these weapons. They are used sparingly in combat for several reasons: 1) the jet-propelled shells are very expensive due to their complexity of function, as well as the fact that they are usually fired in volleys, 2) the cannons do not have the auto-loading mechanisms of the rest of the ship's weaponry, having to be reloaded manually, making them a one-time-use weapon, 3) the jet-propelled shells tend to fly in somewhat erratic paths along their original trajectory, making it difficult to hit precision targets or anything at range, and 4) using them removes some of the Silvana's armor protection, and thus the commanding officer needs to wait for the right moment to open the armor plating and fire the cannons.

In the final battle against the Guild, it was revealed that the Silvana has one last surprise weapon system. Concealed beneath the dorsal bow armor is a diminishing-caliber heavy anti-aircraft cannon, larger than any cannon or turret weapon aboard the ship. The cannon barrel tapered as it neared the end, thus the "diminishing-caliber", causing shots to be accelerated to even greater speeds as they exited. The resulting shell would have the kinetic energy to penetrate even heavy armor, allowing the interior warhead payload to detonate inside the target. A single shot from this cannon at close range was enough to destroy Maestro Delphine Eraclea's ship. Similar to the jet-propelled shell launchers, this weapon was saved for critical moments, as evidenced by the final battle of the Guild war, due to its low firing rate and that revealing the weapon also robbed the Silvana of some of its protective armor.

Supporting this impressive array of weaponry is a squadron of six vanships, each equipped with twin machine guns, as well as numerous ports on the ship from which the crew can fire hand-held weapons at targets that get too close to the ship.

Armor[]

The Silvana boasts extensive armor, more than twice as much protection as that of an Anatoray line ship. Once again, this is owed to the significantly smaller hull of the Silvana. The entire ship is covered with at least 9" armor plating. What gives the Silvana incredible survival capability is its enormous sidewalls, 15" armor plates that extend over the entire port and starboard sides of the ship. They are quite solid, only having openings for the nine cannons spread along its length. With these armor plates, the Silvana can deliver a rather devastating broadside attack while surviving almost anything short of a capital ship grade torpedo strike.

Launch Decks[]

Extending behind the two conning towers of the ship is the upper launch deck. This deck is used to deploy and recover combat vanships. It has an elevator that goes down to the hangar bay. There is also a set of retractable cables embedded in the decking that allow vanships to be tethered to the ship in flight. This enables the vanships to remain close to the Silvana, even during combat and dangerous maneuvers, as well as maintain communication.

Down the main lift shaft is the cavernous hangar bay, where the vanships are stored and maintained. The lift continues down to a lower launch deck where ships can be deployed or recovered if it is too dangerous to use the upper deck. This is often the case when the ship is in a firefight, and the top of the ship is dominated by cannon fire. However, landing on the lower deck is also hazardous, as it is dangerously close to the magnetic field generators of the Claudia Unit. Too close to the unit and a vanship is torn to pieces.

Specifications[]

Weapon Performance
Gun Ammunition
(standard armor piercing shell)
Range Velocity Penetration
0yd 6000yd
(5,486m)
9,000yd
(8,230m)
Main Forward Guns (12") 870lbs/394.6kg 30,000yds (27,430m)
@ 45deg elevation
2,850fps - 16.6"
(422mm)
12.2"
(310mm)
Side Guns (10") 500lbs/227kg 15,000yds (13,720m)
@ 13.5deg elevation
2,656fps - 12"
(304.8mm)
10"
(254mm)
Rapid-firing Guns (8") 260lbs/118kg 32,000yds (29,260m)
@ 45deg elevation
2,805fps 12"
(304.8mm)
8"
(203.2mm)
6"
(152.4mm)

Crew[]

The crew of the Silvana is largely misfits, hand-picked by Alex Row for their skills. The nominal crew for the Silvana's operation is 248, although it can accommodate a crew of up to 777. To further stand out from the rest of the Anatoray fleet, the crew of the Silvana does not wear the standard blue-and-white uniforms of the navy, but a custom black-and-gray ensemble. All uniforms, including duty uniforms, dress uniforms, mechanic jumpsuits, and flight suits, have this color scheme. The ship insignia is three silver bars arranged to resemble bird wings with the word "Silvana" etched on the middle.

Ranks and Insignias[]

Insignia Airmanbasicinsignia Airman1stinsignia 1stltinsignia 2ndltinsignia Ltcolonelinsignia Colonelinsignia
Title Private Airman First Class Chief Warrant Officer

Second Lieutenant

Lieutenant Lieutenant Colonel Colonel
Japanese 二等兵 上等兵 兵曹長 少尉 中尉 中佐 大佐

Crew Roster[]

Spelling[]

The Silvana's name is romanized in the show's bumper as Silverna, though not pronounced as such in either Japanese or the English. The official romanization, given in the show material, is Silvana.

External Links[]

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