I.N.S. - Imperial ship prefix?

A gameplay example from the first edition of West End Games' Star Wars RPG rulebook sees the intrepid crew of the Dorion Discus departing from the planet Thorgeld. However, their departure is not without complications, as they are hailed by the commander of the Imperial customs frigate Assessor. Greg, the gamemaster, in-character as the commander of the frigate identifies his vessel as "I.N.S Assessor" and goes on to demand various things of Roark Garnet, the captain of the Dorion Discus, who is played by a fellow named Irwin.

Are there any other examples of "I.N.S," or any other prefixes being used to identify vessels of the Galactic Empire?

 

H.I.M.S.
His Imperial Majesty's Ship

If I recall correctly.

 

AFAIK, until the ROTS novel and RSS there was never any examples of government starships prefixes. However, following established use of how to speak to a member of the peerage within the series, the correct terminology for an Imperial naval vessel would be HIMS for His Imperial Majesty's Ship.

 

Didn't Allston refer to the Battle Carrier Dodonna as the "Galactic Alliance Space Vessel Dodonna in Betrayal?

--Adm. Nick

 

I believe he did, yes. GASV, perhaps?

 

Interesting find, kttch809.

The X-wing/TIE Fighter games used prefixes based on the class of ship in question; for example, a Victory-class Star Destroyer by the name of Bob would come up on the heads-up display as "VSD Bob."

H.I.M.S. gets thrown around a lot in fan circles, but it's strictly a fan designation. To my knowledge, it has never appeared in print anywhere.

 

Yeah, pretty sure that's fanon. It's one of those things everyone just sort of seized on and treats as official, despite it never being heard in the EU and sounding dumb to boot.

Well, there was the Rebel starship R.S. Revenge, mentioned in the Holiday Special.

 

RSS showed up in Republic Commando, waay before the ROTS novel.

 

Actually it was "RAS" in Republic Commando - "Republic Assault Ship"

My personal opinion is that it would be "ISS", since the Empire changed many things from "Republic" to "Imperial".

 

In the Dark Forces trilogy one of the imperial spy droids has the designation INS I believe. I'll try to listen to the audio book later and confirm.

 

VSD and RAS are ship designations similar to DDG or CVN in modern navies. The state designation remains unattested in most sources. While HIMS is indeed fanon as far as I know, it is consistent with the terminology used throughout the series when speaking to royalty or a peer. To change it is INS would be akin to using the terms of respect for an earl, duke, baron and price, but calling the king "Dude"

In short, it is a bit like assuming that there are toilets on the spaceships. While we have never seen one and it is thus fanon that people in SW poop, it is a pretty safe bet.

 

Toilets are canon.

 

Sorry, I meant for that to be ST as in Trek, now W as in Wars.

 

Since most of the material for Star Wars, be it film or novel, is produced by Americans, most of it is seriously woeful when dealing with the topics of monarchy or aristocracy.

Queen Amidala, for instance, would never be referred to as "Your Highness", nor should Palpatine. Unfortunately, both gaffes appear in the films and hence canon.

 

But it's not a problem that she's elected? Just that she's called "Your Highness" in contravention to tradition that's only documented a long time after in a galaxy far far away?

 

Well I've always used H.I.M.S. because it is more proper. While I.N.S. makes sense I would expect them to use something more like G.E.S. (Galactic Empire Ship) considering the most prominent example of a ship prefix for our American authors is U.S.S. (United States Ship)

 

There are no references to a date for that incident. However, there is a statement on the timeline scope of the game on page 68, in the section dealing with finding a Jedi Master-

In theory, a player character could search out one of the remaining Jedi and ask to study with him. In practice, this is impossible, or virtually so. Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game is played during the period of the Rebellion -- neither before nor after.

So, it would appear to me that the incident occurred pre-Endor.

 

But it's not a problem that she's elected?

There are, and have been, many elected monarchs on Earth.

Pre-William the Conqueror, English Kings were elected.

While I.N.S. makes sense I would expect them to use something more like G.E.S. (Galactic Empire Ship) considering the most prominent example of a ship prefix for our American authors is U.S.S. (United States Ship)

The United States is a Republic. The Galactic Empire is not.

 

There's also the far more major example of the Holy Roman Empire.

The only weird thing about the Queen of Naboo is that she isn't elected for life. Or does Amidala abdicate rather than reach the end of a fixed term?

 

There are plenty of elected monarchs where the monarchs aren't elected for life.

The King of Malaysia, for instance, is elected to a five year term.

 

That wasn't my point.

 

No, but it was mine. Ships in monarchies are named different to those of Republics. This has to do with the different nature of government.