Altesian Hospital Ship ARHS Yuchito (892-825)
SS
Yuchito, later known as ARHS
Yuchito, was an ocean liner and later hospital ship belonging to the Alteias Republic. She was owned by the Luina Steamship Line, built by the Skanoe Shipbuilding and Engineering Company of Remoris, and launched on 33 November, 792.
Yuchito was followed shortly by sisters
Astartia (launched 21 April 793),
Ilishii (launched 12 December 793), and
Straeya (launched 7 June 794), all of which were nearly identical in their dimensions. Despite being the oldest,
Yuchito would prove to be the fastest of the class, making a record breaking run between the Gliadean port of Kirsea-ro-Marae and the Altesian port of Meria in six days and nine hours at an average speed of 22.68 knots.
The
Yuchito-class had some of the finest reciprocating machinery ever installed in an ocean liner and represented the peak of what reciprocating engines could achieve. The first turbine driven ship would take to the water only six months after
Straeya's launch. The
Yuchito-class were the Luina Line's final class of ocean liners with reciprocating engines to run the flagship Meria to Kirsea-ro-Marae route.
When
Yuchito entered service, she was the largest and most luxurious liner afloat. She was an immediate success and maintained her popularity even as newer ships entered service. However, with the start of the Second Intercontinental War in 816,
Yuchito was requisitioned by the Altesian navy and converted into a troopship. She carried out her role for a year and a half, carrying about 3,500 troops per crossing. In 817, the increase in casualties was too much for the number of hospital ships then in service so it was decided that
Yuchito would be converted to become a hospital ship. Returning to service in April 818, her facilities treated thousands of patients. After the war ended,
Yuchito was bought by the Altesian navy and remained a hospital ship, treating particularly intense cases of the Ferinkan Flu pandemic which ravaged the world from 820 to 821.
After the pandemic ended,
Yuchito remained in Remoris harbor until 24 February 825 when a magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit the Alteias Republic.
Yuchito's crew immediately began disaster relief efforts, but fourteen hours later, a tsunami made contact with the Altesian coast and smashed
Yuchito into the very slipway that she was built in. She was declared a total loss the next day and was scrapped on the spot in order to clear space for the slipway to be rebuilt. A memorial plaque located at the bow end of the slipway was dedicated a year to the day after the earthquake in memory of the much loved ship.