A/N: Published June 17, 2021

-15-

The Duke of Edinburgh

It was the 17th of April, 2021, 3:00 PM Greenwich Mean Time. The world's eyes were on Windsor Castle. A bell tolled and drums beat as the dark green Land Rover slowly pulled into the sunlight and it was followed by the members of the British royal family on foot and the queen chauffeured in her own car behind them. In the back of the Land Rover was the coffin draped in the banner of the Duke of Edinburgh. Laying on top of the flag was a bouquet of white flowers, a peaked cap, and a sheathed sword. Keeping pace with the Land Rover on both sides were nine Royal Navy Fleet Maidens, all dressed in their double-breasted dress uniforms.

Through the television screen, Bismarck – dressed in her blue double-breasted coat and trousers of the Bundeswehr Marine, had just walked into the room that contained a formally dressed Warspite sitting in a chair, and an equally dressed Ark Royal standing behind the dreadnought – recognized the Revenge Ramillies and Warspite's sister, Valiant, standing at the front on either side of the Land Rover. Behind the dreadnoughts were the County cruisers Kent and Shropshire. However, Bismarck did not recognize the somewhat shorter Fleet Maidens behind the heavy cruisers and dreadnoughts, nor the comparatively taller Maiden next to the shortest girl on the most rear right position of the Land Rover. With her cap under her arm, Bismarck stepped around an unoccupied wheelchair and stood next to Warspite. When the television broadcast changed its camera angle, Bismarck slightly cocked her head at the revelation that – besides awards pinned to their chests – not all of the girls were uninformedly dressed. One of the shorter girls had a pair of binoculars hanging from her neck. Across from the binocular girl on the other side of the Land Rover was a girl that had what appeared to be a decorated smoke grenade on her belt.

"Are you sure it's okay for you not to be there?" Bismarck asked, aware it was pointless to ask now. "Given your status." Bismarck nodded to Warspite's vice admiral epaulettes.

"It's okay," Warspite responded. "It's a procession with a limited number of guests, and I hadn't had any direct involvement with Prince Philip."

Bismarck blinked. Hood went. Although she said it was for duty purposes.

"If you don't mind me asking," Bismarck began. Warspite looked up and nodded. "What are their involvements with Prince Philip?"

"In 1940 he was assigned to Ramillies and did convoy escorts through the Indian Ocean with the Australian Expeditionary Force. Later that year he had very brief assignments to Kent and Shropshire. With Valiant in the Mediterranean Fleet, he participated at Crete and Cape Matapan. He was mentioned in dispatches for his efforts and was awarded the Greek War Cross at Matapan. Look, you can see it on Valiant now."

Pinned to Valiant's jacket was a bronze cross reminiscent to the Iron Cross but with crossed swords and a circle with a crown and Greek letters in the middle and an additional crown connecting the ribbon to the cross.

"The girl with the smoke cannister is Wallace – a Thornycroft type flotilla leader. While assigned to her, during the Invasion of Sicily, Wallace was under constant air attack which continued into the night. During a moment of respite, Prince Philip – or, rather, first-lieutenant Philip – devised a plan to make a decoy out of a wooden raft and strap smoke floats to it. Once the raft was launched, Wallace ran as far as possible before cutting engines to avoid making noise and smoke. Let's just say that Wallace didn't have to worry about enemy aircraft for the rest of the night.

"Whelp is the one with binoculars around her neck. Prince Philip was assigned to the W-class in 1944 and Whelp was assigned to the 27th Destroyer Flotilla with the Pacific Fleet. On the way to the Pacific, Whelp helped with the invasion of Southern France. Notable points in the Pacific were participating in the Invasion of Okinawa, airfield busting on various islands, and escorting a wounded Illustrious. Probably the highlight was being present at the formal signing of the Surrender, even though he was 200 yards away and watching through a pair of binoculars. He stayed with Whelp during the immediate post-war period, making a stop at Hong Kong to accept more Japanese surrenders and committing to anti-piracy patrols along the Chinese coast before heading back to Portsmouth in 1946 where Prince Philip would disembark and Whelp put into reserve.

"Chequers is a C-class destroyer, and Prince Philip was assigned to her at Malta in 1949. The girl across from her is Magpie – a Black Swan sloop. Magpie was his first and only command…that I know of."

"Who's standing next to Magpie?" Bismarck asked.

"Oh, that's Calypso – C-class CL," Ark Royal said. "She helped evacuate the prince and his family from Greece in 1922 after the disastrous Greco-Turkish War. He was only a little over a year old and was carried out of Greece in a fruit box.

"And I shall also add that the prince was an instructor at HMS Port Royal when he left Whelp. And he also served in the Army and RAF. And he was also awarded the Croix de Guerre with Palm. Although I don't know what for…probably should ask the French girls if they know anything."

The room fell silent once more. Three pairs of blue eyes watched the screen as the march continued to St George's Chapel. When the Land Rover stopped in front of the chapel steps, Hood stepped out from the shadows, her posture and steps as perfect as ever. She was followed by pallbearers. The Fleet Maidens traded their spots with the pallbearers and took positions on the steps. Hood shouted her commands to the pallbearers.

"Help me," Warspite said.

Bismarck looked down and saw Warspite holding out both of her hands. Bismarck took one and Ark Royal took the other. Together they pulled the dreadnought to her feet and made sure she could stand by herself. At the sound of the boatswains' whistles, Warspite and Ark Royal saluted, a move followed by Bismarck soon after.

A/N: Similar to previous entries, this is a fictionalization of real events, adapted for the inclusion of the fictional Kanmusu/Ship Girl characters. If they were real, I think the nine girls would have been given attendance, although I do not know what role they would play or where they would be placed. Initially, I wanted to make them the pallbearers, but their heights (based off the ships' lengths) made me second guess, and I would have never gotten this entry done if I labored over every detail so I settled on making the story/communication of information my primary goal. There are an infinite number of ways this event could have happened if Ship Girls were real, but ultimately we can only imagine.