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Description

Here’s everyone’s favorite hospital ship, HMHS Britannic, in all her humanized glory! I got the colors to show up pretty well in this piece, although the green belt is a bit on the bright side. Her legs look a bit unreasonably long, too: I normally give all my drawings longer-than-normal legs, a technique I picked up from one of my sister’s art books, but this piece turned out a little… elongated. But no matter; she looks great anyway, regardless of my struggles with proportions.

Design Notes:

-Her outfit is based on a Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse’s uniform, but with the colors changed around a bit. The red dress is meant to evoke her antifouling paint (and, as an added bonus, it ties in nicely with the red cross on her chest), while the green belt (actually part of the apron) represents those green stripes down her sides.

-The little cap she’s wearing is a “Sister Dora” type, which I picked based on that one picture of Violet Jessop but which is, in fact, a little bit anachronistic. That type of hat was already falling out of favor by around 1915, replaced by veils (which can actually be seen in pictures of nurses on Britannic) and other such head coverings, but I liked how it looked so I used it in her design anyway.

-Her hair is cut short to keep it out of the way, although the veils nurses of the time wore served to keep long hair, worn in a bun, out of the face; bobs existed at the time, but they didn’t really come into fashion until after the war had ended. This, too, was a wholly stylistic choice, as I liked the slightly defiant vibe.

-Her gold eyeshadow and nail polish are also anachronistic, but in this case it’s related to her character: she’s horribly insecure about her appearance, so I gave her a lot of makeup to suggest that she’s trying to make herself feel prettier. I also wanted a way to tie in the gold of her funnels and gantry davits, so the makeup is pulling double duty here.

-The beauty mark by her left eye wasn’t my idea; it was actually thought of by my sister, who has a beauty mark of her own in the same spot and loves characters who share that detail. In Britannic’s case I think it kind of makes her look like Franziska von Karma from the Ace Attorney series, which is fitting given her history and personality!

-Her collar has her hospital ship number - G618 - printed (or embroidered, or maybe painted; I’m not sure what the best way to put neat lettering on a starched collar would be) on it. Evidence seems to suggest that her number was originally G608, but that she got a new one after being released from war service and subsequently re-requisitioned, and as such she wears the second one as a human.

-It’s subtle, but her skin is slightly more tanned/less deathly-pale than her sisters, a reference to her time in the Mediterranean. Aquitania and Mauretania have the same thing going on compared to Lusitania, as does Traffic compared to Nomadic.

Personality:

Most people wouldn’t expect a hospital ship to be abrasive and unfriendly. If you thought Britannic would be a compassionate, caring individual, you wouldn’t be wrong, but her true kindness is hidden beneath layers of intense insecurity and bitterness. A lifetime of being compared to others - especially Titanic - and never getting to sail as the liner she was meant to be has resulted in an angry, resentful young ship plagued by self-hatred and a tendency toward emotional outbursts. She blames Titanic for her problems, with the rationale being that if Titanic didn’t sink then Britannic would’ve been completed before the war, Olympic wouldn’t be a grieving mess, and all three sisters could’ve had at least a brief period of happiness together; in reality, Olympic contributed more directly to her pain, being emotionally unavailable much of the time and obsessing over what happened to Titanic rather than caring for her surviving sister. It’s easier, though, to blame the dead, especially if you never knew them in life, and it doesn’t help that Britannic never had the chance to mature emotionally. Never knowing peace or happiness stunts one’s growth, and Britannic never got the chance to grow in the first place.

Now that she’s been brought back to life as a human, though, things are looking up: she finally has a chance to grow as a person, to experience peace, to reconcile with her sisters. Her relationship with Olympic is improving; in the years following Britannic’s sinking her sister had an epiphany and realized how much pain she’d caused, and the two are finally on the road to a proper sisterly relationship. Meeting Titanic and realizing how sweet and kind she is has helped too, as has the encouraging influence of Britannic’s closest friend (read: girlfriend*), Aquitania.

*Well, kind of. It’s a mutual pining situation, really.

Britannic's life was derailed by warfare and suffering, and in just under a year she met her untimely fate without ever serving her intended role. Still, though, her career was a fascinating one, however short and tragic it may have been.

Britannic's career in detail

Builder's data and timeline

Photos of Britannic and related ships

Description

Here’s everyone’s favorite hospital ship, HMHS Britannic, in all her humanized glory! I got the colors to show up pretty well in this piece, although the green belt is a bit on the bright side. Her legs look a bit unreasonably long, too: I normally give all my drawings longer-than-normal legs, a technique I picked up from one of my sister’s art books, but this piece turned out a little… elongated. But no matter; she looks great anyway, regardless of my struggles with proportions.

Design Notes:

-Her outfit is based on a Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse’s uniform, but with the colors changed around a bit. The red dress is meant to evoke her antifouling paint (and, as an added bonus, it ties in nicely with the red cross on her chest), while the green belt (actually part of the apron) represents those green stripes down her sides.

-The little cap she’s wearing is a “Sister Dora” type, which I picked based on that one picture of Violet Jessop but which is, in fact, a little bit anachronistic. That type of hat was already falling out of favor by around 1915, replaced by veils (which can actually be seen in pictures of nurses on Britannic) and other such head coverings, but I liked how it looked so I used it in her design anyway.

-Her hair is cut short to keep it out of the way, although the veils nurses of the time wore served to keep long hair, worn in a bun, out of the face; bobs existed at the time, but they didn’t really come into fashion until after the war had ended. This, too, was a wholly stylistic choice, as I liked the slightly defiant vibe.

-Her gold eyeshadow and nail polish are also anachronistic, but in this case it’s related to her character: she’s horribly insecure about her appearance, so I gave her a lot of makeup to suggest that she’s trying to make herself feel prettier. I also wanted a way to tie in the gold of her funnels and gantry davits, so the makeup is pulling double duty here.

-The beauty mark by her left eye wasn’t my idea; it was actually thought of by my sister, who has a beauty mark of her own in the same spot and loves characters who share that detail. In Britannic’s case I think it kind of makes her look like Franziska von Karma from the Ace Attorney series, which is fitting given her history and personality!

-Her collar has her hospital ship number - G618 - printed (or embroidered, or maybe painted; I’m not sure what the best way to put neat lettering on a starched collar would be) on it. Evidence seems to suggest that her number was originally G608, but that she got a new one after being released from war service and subsequently re-requisitioned, and as such she wears the second one as a human.

-It’s subtle, but her skin is slightly more tanned/less deathly-pale than her sisters, a reference to her time in the Mediterranean. Aquitania and Mauretania have the same thing going on compared to Lusitania, as does Traffic compared to Nomadic.

Personality:

Most people wouldn’t expect a hospital ship to be abrasive and unfriendly. If you thought Britannic would be a compassionate, caring individual, you wouldn’t be wrong, but her true kindness is hidden beneath layers of intense insecurity and bitterness. A lifetime of being compared to others - especially Titanic - and never getting to sail as the liner she was meant to be has resulted in an angry, resentful young ship plagued by self-hatred and a tendency toward emotional outbursts. She blames Titanic for her problems, with the rationale being that if Titanic didn’t sink then Britannic would’ve been completed before the war, Olympic wouldn’t be a grieving mess, and all three sisters could’ve had at least a brief period of happiness together; in reality, Olympic contributed more directly to her pain, being emotionally unavailable much of the time and obsessing over what happened to Titanic rather than caring for her surviving sister. It’s easier, though, to blame the dead, especially if you never knew them in life, and it doesn’t help that Britannic never had the chance to mature emotionally. Never knowing peace or happiness stunts one’s growth, and Britannic never got the chance to grow in the first place.

Now that she’s been brought back to life as a human, though, things are looking up: she finally has a chance to grow as a person, to experience peace, to reconcile with her sisters. Her relationship with Olympic is improving; in the years following Britannic’s sinking her sister had an epiphany and realized how much pain she’d caused, and the two are finally on the road to a proper sisterly relationship. Meeting Titanic and realizing how sweet and kind she is has helped too, as has the encouraging influence of Britannic’s closest friend (read: girlfriend*), Aquitania.

*Well, kind of. It’s a mutual pining situation, really.

Britannic's life was derailed by warfare and suffering, and in just under a year she met her untimely fate without ever serving her intended role. Still, though, her career was a fascinating one, however short and tragic it may have been.

Britannic's career in detail

Builder's data and timeline

Photos of Britannic and related ships