The German navy going “full Empire” down the Thames.
The FGS Braunschweig is a German naval corvette made for stealthy littoral (shoreline) operations, but the Braunschweig ditched the stealth completely while transiting up the Thames this week on a training mission to London. Instead, the ship turned out its enlisted men to stand on deck in light blue shirts and dark pants while the boat blasted a recording of “The Imperial March (Darth Vader’s Theme)” from Star Wars as it floated past Tower Bridge.
Coming eight decades after Londoners lived through the German “blitz” in World War II and then spent years waiting for a German naval invasion that never materialized, playing the Big Bad Guy’s theme from Star Wars films was certainly a bold choice. But a German naval spokesperson assured the BBC that the music had “no deeper message” and added that it was not some sort of commentary from the German naval staff. Rather, the boat’s commander “can choose the music freely.”
The little spectacle did show two things. One—assuming this was, in fact, a joke—it put the lie to the old stereotype that the Germans have no sense of humor, a stereotype that has led to the production of actual BBC headlines like “Why people think Germans aren’t funny.”
Second, it’s a reminder that people of my generation, those who grew up watching the original (and best!) Star Wars trilogy, are now the people running the world and its weapons systems. And we’re bringing our musical tastes with us, even if they come from a galaxy far, far away.
Listing image by Lucasfilm / ILMxLAB