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Changing Destiny (Kancolle)

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Guardian54 said:
Chances of the Japanese taking these random visions seriously? This is the military that teaches by fists. The folks who can see the girls will tend to keep their traps damned well shut unless it's Yamamoto himself or something.
...Hold on, Imma go buy a lottery ticket, better chance of the jackpot happening to me than the above question.



This is the go-to for any WWII KanColle story.

I would say that Sky should break the mould and go for "Abyssals happen post-war when denialist scum try to summon shipgirls."
There's also the "Abyssals are just struggling to survive, it's the shipgirls' Loyalty Program that makes them innately hostile to Abyssals and forces the Abyssals to fight back." angle that could potentially be chosen. Sure, you hear about them being all evil and stuff, but many post-WWI Allied textbooks taught that Germans were all barbaric apes...
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There's also a chance that it could be the Soviets who do it, whether by capturing (and I shudder at the thought) someone who know how to the perform the ritual/process that allows one to summon a ship girl. In all frank honesty, I wouldn't be surprise if the first Abyssal to appear was by complete accident. Whether its the Italians( after they switch sides maybe.) or Hell the US Accidentally summons one when trying to summon additional ship girls either during the war, or immediately after its end (Because I know not what the State of the USSR will be by the time the war ends in the story, but I do run the assumption that there'll be a Cold War of some sorts afterwards.) in order to 'hold an advantage over the Reds' Given the views of the time. Granted though, this story (and its spin-off, Holding the Line) have been the only Kancole stories I've read that are set in WW2, so I have neither the wariness nor the awareness of any 'Go-to's for such stories.

To be honest, I have a (second) Wall of Crazy dedicated to my theories of things related to this story and its various plot threads alone. A big theory I've had for a while now is that, assuming Gunter's maid was the very first Shipgirl to return (His own ship which was Sunk) her return has thus opened the door for the other shipgirls that have appeared thus far to return as well. Such as Utah's self summoning and . Conversely, I do theorize, if or rather when the First Abyssal appears, whether by intentional summons, accident, unwittingly or worse of all; unknowingly. The door for them to roar onto the seas would then be, metaphorically, kicked wide open.

I'm not ridgid on my theories, I'm constantly updating them, or discarding old ones n making new ones as things in the story develop, or other things make me go "hey wait a second' or "I wonder..."

Chaotic? certainly, but I go in expecting nearly all my theories to be wrong either completely or partially, or for some, never answered. At least going in with that mindset, its makes it pleasant, or terrifying, or even both to see one or more of my theories actually being correct or coming close to being so. Hell even them being partially correct

Like one of my theories here is that, in a sense, with each shipgirl that is summoned (or self-summoned like Utah) the border between the here and 'there' goes thinner, in a sense. Eventually something nasty will get out through the cracks. What is the trigger, should the abyssals appear before the War's over, I know not, it could be anything. From a Admiral praying for retribution from the heavens to smite his enemies, to a wounded soldier sitting inside a hastily dug foxhole or shell crater among the bloodied sands and carnage on some pacific island; wishing damnation upon his enemies. Or perhaps the crew of a sunken ship, abandoned and a drift at sea, slowly dying from the elements and prolong exposure, collectively wishing with their dying thoughts for one last chance at vengeance against the enemy who had sunken their ship and the comrades that had seemingly abandoned them to their cruel fate at sea.

There's more possible ideas of what the 'Trigger' would be for the emergence of the Abyssals, though I personally believe that it will be more than just one singular thing that unlocks the chained gates of the abyss. However all I can do, all any of us can do really is theorize and then wait and see what Sky does. I for one, very much look forwards to that far-away point down the story's road and all the subtle guide markers that may cryptically hint to it.

Oh my, I didn't realize I'd write this much. :oops:
I shall go put my tin-foil admiral's hat back on now.
 
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Admiral_Corgi said:
There's also a chance that it could be the Soviets who do it, whether by capturing (and I shudder at the thought) someone who know how to the perform the ritual/process that allows one to summon a ship girl. In all frank honesty, I wouldn't be surprise if the first Abyssal to appear was by complete accident. Whether its the Italians( after they switch sides maybe.) or Hell the US Accidentally summons one when trying to summon additional ship girls either during the war, or immediately after its end (Because I know not what the State of the USSR will be by the time the war ends in the story, but I do run the assumption that there'll be a Cold War of some sorts afterwards.) in order to 'hold an advantage over the Reds' Given the views of the time. Granted though, this story (and its spin-off, Holding the Line) have been the only Kancole stories I've read that are set in WW2, so I have neither the wariness nor the awareness of any 'Go-to's for such stories.

To be honest, I have a (second) Wall of Crazy dedicated to my theories of things related to this story and its various plot threads alone. A big theory I've had for a while now is that, assuming Gunter's maid was the very first Shipgirl to return (His own ship which was Sunk) her return has thus opened the door for the other shipgirls that have appeared thus far to return as well. Such as Utah's self summoning and . Conversely, I do theorize, if or rather when the First Abyssal appears, whether by intentional summons, accident, unwittingly or worse of all; unknowingly. The door for them to roar onto the seas would then be, metaphorically, kicked wide open.

I'm not ridgid on my theories, I'm constantly updating them, or discarding old ones n making new ones as things in the story develop, or other things make me go "hey wait a second' or "I wonder..."

Chaotic? certainly, but I go in expecting nearly all my theories to be wrong either completely or partially, or for some, never answered. At least going in with that mindset, its makes it pleasant, or terrifying, or even both to see one or more of my theories actually being correct or coming close to being so. Hell even them being partially correct

Like one of my theories here is that, in a sense, with each shipgirl that is summoned (or self-summoned like Utah) the border between the here and 'there' goes thinner, in a sense. Eventually something nasty will get out through the cracks. What is the trigger, should the abyssals appear before the War's over, I know not, it could be anything. From a Admiral praying for retribution from the heavens to smite his enemies, to a wounded soldier sitting inside a hastily dug foxhole or shell crater among the bloodied sands and carnage on some pacific island; wishing damnation upon his enemies. Or perhaps the crew of a sunken ship, abandoned and a drift at sea, slowly dying from the elements and prolong exposure, collectively wishing with their dying thoughts for one last chance at vengeance against the enemy who had sunken their ship and the comrades that had seemingly abandoned them to their cruel fate at sea.

There's more possible ideas of what the 'Trigger' would be for the emergence of the Abyssals, though I personally believe that it will be more than just one singular thing that unlocks the chained gates of the abyss. However all I can do, all any of us can do really is theorize and then wait and see what Sky does. I for one, very much look forwards to that far-away point down the story's road and all the subtle guide markers that may cryptically hint to it.

Oh my, I didn't realize I'd write this much. :oops:
I shall go put my tin-foil admiral's hat back on now.
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But with the appearance of the abyss... well if it's post 1945, Japan and most of Europe are all but doomed, and probably most of the USSR, their food situation is simply too dire. Add in the subsequent grain failure and starvation casualties will be the iceberg that sinks Europe.

Now with pre 1943, that makes things interesting, Germany is now safe from the Allies (on land), and the Soviets are likely cut off from Lend Lease, but will still likely win in the end. Japan... well, there is only bad ends for Japan if the Abyss appears is there.
 
Skywalker_T-65 said:
Predatory smile replaced by amused smirk, Halsey pulled his 'daughter' to her feet and pushed her at the hatch. "It's high time we introduced you to the squadron leads. We'll work much more efficiently if everyone can talk to you. Sure as hell we won't get caught with our pants down like Pearl did."

"Whaaaaaaa!"
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MIrroring Zuizui talking to her pilot.
 
Jrandom said:
So does that mean that the Amphibious Assault Proof of Concept happens at some place like Saipan, Tinian or Guam? If you thought Tarawa was bloody, or if you thought the Marianas operation was bloody IOTL, testing out the Amphibious Assault Proof of Concept there is going to be worse by a whole bunch.
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Might be Roi-Namur in the Marshalls, honestly. I suspect that the plan would be to secure Kwajalein as a forward harbor since as noted Wake really is unsuitable as an anchorage versus an airbase. If Wake is held, the USN can secure a forward anchorage in the Marshalls easily enough and cut off Japanese forces in the Gilberts (IE Tarawa) to wither on the vine.

As per Morison's chapter on Wake, the airfield there is 1025 miles from Midway and 1300 from Guam, BUT 764 from Japanese-held Marcus Island, 450 from Bikini, and 620 from Roi and Namur islands of Kwajalien. That is well within P-38 round trip range in the case of Bikini and once drop tanks are developed in 1942, Roi-Namur and Marcus Island are vulnerable (plus a P-38 will do ungodly ugly things to a Betty). In fact, with drop tanks, a ferry flight Pearl->Midway->Wake is possible for a P-38 (although inherently risky thanks to over water navigation in a 1940s aircraft with no advanced navigational systems,).

Incidentally, as per Morison Volume III page 228, Wake Island had no radar (and in fact no revetments for the airstrip, which was long enough to take B-17s doing prewar ferry flights to Manila).

Incidentally as per Morison, the Japanese second attempt on Wake was three-pronged. Hiryu and Soryu with 2 CAs and 2-6 DDs northwest of Wake launching airstrikes then 21-23rd December, the invasion force with 3 CLs and 8 DDS coming up from the Marshalls south of wake, and a support force to the invasion with 4 CAs and DD screen steaming from the Marshalls to take up a position east of Wake. So this could be a real mess in terms of identifying enemy units similar to Midway and Coral Sea.

EDIT-In this AU it is highly likely that the officer who gave the command to retreat from Wake Island is not going to be a concern this time around. Vice Admiral Pye was CIC Battle Force...with USS California as his flagship. That nugget of information does not bode well for his survival.
 
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SisterJeanne said:
ncidentally as per Morison, the Japanese second attempt on Wake was three-pronged. Hiryu and Soryu with 2 CAs and 2-6 DDs northwest of Wake launching airstrikes then 21-23rd December, the invasion force with 3 CLs and 8 DDS coming up from the Marshalls south of wake, and a support force to the invasion with 4 CAs and DD screen steaming from the Marshalls to take up a position east of Wake. So this could be a real mess in terms of identifying enemy units similar to Midway and Coral Sea.
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you know if Lex is hitting where we think she is as part of the distraction this could be really bad for Japan. With Carrier airwing loses what they are the second invasion might be postponed a couple weeks. And if the later two parts of the invasion are still in the marshalls when Lex comes knocking... well I'm seeing is an early preview of Rabaul and Truk.
 
Spectre said:
you know if Lex is hitting where we think she is as part of the distraction this could be really bad for Japan. With Carrier airwing loses what they are the second invasion might be postponed a couple weeks. And if the later two parts of the invasion are still in the marshalls when Lex comes knocking... well I'm seeing is an early preview of Rabaul and Truk.
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True, but the problem right now is that the USN really does not know the current basing structure of the IJN in the Gilberts and Marshalls. IOTl Lex hit Jaluit based on intelligence that it was the main Japanese base in the area, but it was only a half-completed seaplane base. To give you an idea of how muddled the picture was IOTL, Lex's planes launched a strike on a reported 'enemy carrier' south of her, that was actually a drifting USN barge that had been cut loose by a tugboat when pearl was attacked. Also Naval Intelligence swore that the Yokahama Air group with 40-200 planes was present in the Gilberts along with many IJN submarines.

The good news is that the USN response is much more unified and better. Rather than having Enterprise stay close to Hawaii to cover that area, two USN CVs are moving as a unit while the third diverts attention SE of the primary target. Also it is likely that Thompson and Halsey will both act much more aggressively than IOTL and not waste their chances to damage part of the Japanese fleet in detail.

Regarding a postponement, actually that won't happen. The actual occupation of Wake was assigned to the Fourth Fleet based out of Truk/Kwajalein, the only contribution the mauled Kido Butai might make is detach a carrier division with a light screening force to provide distant airstrikes and air cover for the second attempt. Fourth Fleet has the troops, transports/destroyers, and a striking force of cruisers to screen them and bombard Wake without getting the First Air Fleet involved.

Now, all that said, if 4th fleet gets mauled again, it would have one major knock-on effect, since 4th Fleet was later the force that seized Rabaul to anchor the New Guinea/Solomons/New Georgia end of the defense line. Having that delayed until the US or ANZAC can reinforce Fiji, Samoa, and the New Hebrides and garrison the Solomons would be massive since Rabaul held up US activities in the SE Pacific for over a year.
 
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I wonder if in this timeline, we might get to see a Battleship to Battleship engagement? while yeah., CV's are cool, i think it would be awesome to finally see Ships of the Line duking it out one final time.
 
BigBadBen said:
I wonder if in this timeline, we might get to see a Battleship to Battleship engagement? while yeah., CV's are cool, i think it would be awesome to finally see Ships of the Line duking it out one final time.
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In terms of Jutland-level fleet engagements...no not really. In 1941-42 the USN did not have the battleships available to do a major fleet action right out of the wet dreams of Mahan. After 1943, the IJN didn't have the air cover to survive long enough to get into gun range of a major USN surface fleet (see the sinking of Yamato, Musashi, and Hiei) thanks to ZOMG CARRIERS! sinking Japanese ships before they could get into range if they spotted them.

Plus Japan's lack of fuel oil, oilers, and the sheer sunk cost into their battle line dictated that it must be preserved for KANTAI KESSEN!! to decisively sink the USN. This in turn made the Japanese admirals extremely risk-averse with their battle line in 1942-43 rather than going double or nothing during Midway or Guadacanal (which admittedly would be very hard for them to do with the fuel issues). Not that it really would have mattered in the long run anyway since about the only way to force the USN to come out and fight KANTAI KESSEN!! might have been to send the Combined Fleet to attack Pearl with intent to invade Hawaii, which was way way beyond Japan's logistic capabilities anyway.

The only two times that you had big gun ships slugging it out in the Pacific were both pretty unique circumstances.

On November 14th-15th, 1942 off Guadacanal, both sides were desperate enough to commit battleships with minimal screening cover which resulted in Washington demolishing Kirishima. In that case, the carriers on both sides were pretty much depleted after Santa Cruz with Enterprise walking wounded and the Cranes pulled back to Japan for repairs and rebuilding air groups.

Then at Suriago Strait, the IJN sent the Pagoda Sisters on a suicide ride into the teeth of Ohlendorf's Standards as part of a multi-pronged attack plan that worked in how it drew 3rd Fleet to chase Ozawa's carriers north of Leyte. Fuso and Yamashiro were basically being sent through Suriago to hopefully get lucky, and if the Americans responded tie down ships as long as possible to let Kurita through San Bernadino to wreak havoc among the support ships invading Leyte.
 
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SisterJeanne said:
Then at Suriago Strait, the IJN sent the Pagoda Sisters on a suicide ride into the teeth of Ohlendorf's Standards as part of a multi-pronged attack plan that worked in how it drew 3rd Fleet to chase Ozawa's carriers north of Leyte. Fuso and Yamashiro were basically being sent through Suriago to hopefully get lucky, and if the Americans responded tie down ships as long as possible to let Kurita through San Bernadino to wreak havoc among the support ships invading Leyte.
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Snifff... You meanie. You had to bring Surigao.

In any case, it's truly the only BB to BB engagement that resembled the idea of a "decisive battle" (even if the engagement was way far from deciding anything). And calling it a "curbstomping" doesn't make it justice. Six battleships, ten cruisers, and a huge amount of destroyers against two battleships, one heavy cruiser (I think Mogami at the time was a CAV, actually), and four destroyers, if you count only the Nishimura fleet, is quite one-sided.

The Nishimura and Shima fleets actually accomplished their goal, which was to divert as many naval assets as possible away from the Kurita fleet, like the empty Japanese carriers did for the carrier force. But taking into account how the Kurita fleet behaved, it would have been better to send the Shima and Nishimura fleets to an extended fishing campaign.

And now excuse me, while I go comfort a certain waifu that you have managed to put in a depressive mood again...
 
Darth Thanatos said:
And now excuse me, while I go comfort a certain waifu that you have managed to put in a depressive mood again...
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So misfortunate... ;)

True, but she certainly did her duty and more beside at Surigao. It's not her fault that Kurita's Center Force screwed the pooch so spectacularly.

The actual plan was reasonably accepting of her limitations. If Fuso and Yamashiro could force Surigao they were expected to do so and attack targets of opportunity. Since Surigao was blocked, their duty was to do what damage that they could and force the Americans to spend time and ships sinking them so the major prong of the attack could break through. Unlike an awful lot of Japanese ships, Yamashiro at least went down firing her guns in anger at peer opponents.
 
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SisterJeanne said:
In terms of Jutland-level fleet engagements...no not really. In 1941-42 the USN did not have the battleships available to do a major fleet action right out of the wet dreams of Mahan.
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Also, oil supplies at Pearl were still being built up and the large number of fleet tankers were still in the future. Basically, the USN could operate either the old battleline from Pearl and the carriers from the West coast on a war footing (which requires more fuel than peacetime), or the reverse. After Pearl Harbor the choice was of course obvious and the new battleships were assigned to the carriers, not to the old battleline.
 
SisterJeanne said:
True, but she certainly did her duty and more beside at Surigao. It's not her fault that Kurita's Center Force screwed the pooch so spectacularly.
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The Nishimura and Shima fleets did a similar stand as the Taffy 3 force did against the Kurita fleet, they knew they were getting into a trap, Mogami's recon planes told them what was ahead, and they still soldiered on regardless.

The major difference is that the Nishimura fleet was in the "wrong" side of history. So the Taffies get remembered, while the Surigao Strait engagement is just a minor note in the grand scheme of things that made the battle of Leyte Gulf.

And then there's Shigure, but don't get me started on "the little ship that ran away".
 
landcollector said:
Was it really peer opponents at that point, though? A majority of the Standards that participated in that engagement had been reconstructed and/or extensively modernized within the last 1-2 years with top-tier equipment and weapons.
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Peer or near-peer. Even if the reconstructed/modernized Standards at Surigao were now considered the equal of the new-build battleships in everything but speed, that doesn't take away from the fact that Yamashiro not only died actively fighting, but actively fighting battleships, opponents that were at least as dangerous as she was.

If anything, it makes her death more gallant, as she went down firing on opponents that were even individually more capable than herself.
 
rdfox said:
Peer or near-peer. Even if the reconstructed/modernized Standards at Surigao were now considered the equal of the new-build battleships in everything but speed, that doesn't take away from the fact that Yamashiro not only died actively fighting, but actively fighting battleships, opponents that were at least as dangerous as she was.

If anything, it makes her death more gallant, as she went down firing on opponents that were even individually more capable than herself.
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Hm. That is a fair statement to make imo.
 
Darth Thanatos said:
The Nishimura and Shima fleets did a similar stand as the Taffy 3 force did against the Kurita fleet, they knew they were getting into a trap, Mogami's recon planes told them what was ahead, and they still soldiered on regardless.

The major difference is that the Nishimura fleet was in the "wrong" side of history. So the Taffies get remembered, while the Surigao Strait engagement is just a minor note in the grand scheme of things that made the battle of Leyte Gulf.

And then there's Shigure, but don't get me started on "the little ship that ran away".
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No, the major difference was that Nishimura's force was annihilated with little trouble by Oldendorf, with most of the casualties coming from friendly fire. Taffy 3 not only fought back, but inflicted outsize casualties on their own before Taffy 2 and McCain's task group forced Kurita to retreat.
 
rdfox said:
Peer or near-peer. Even if the reconstructed/modernized Standards at Surigao were now considered the equal of the new-build battleships in everything but speed, that doesn't take away from the fact that Yamashiro not only died actively fighting, but actively fighting battleships, opponents that were at least as dangerous as she was.

If anything, it makes her death more gallant, as she went down firing on opponents that were even individually more capable than herself.
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Exactly this. A further note is that Yamashiro was fighting two Tennessees (Tennessee and California), a New Mexico (Mississippi), and a Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania) plus two members of the Big Seven in Maryland and West Virginia. All of these ships were newer and more modern than the Fusos when they were launched (the Fusos' peer competition would have been the New Yorks and Nevadas) and had been extensively refitted after Pearl anyway. So yes, individually more capable ships with the advantages of numbers, radar, and tactical positioning to boot.

As for Shigure, all she could have done was stick around to get killed. She had already fired her torpedoes and had lost her compass and steering from a shell hit, so retreat was the only option. Granted, she should have warned Shima, but IIRC she had lost her radio as well thanks to shell hits and near-misses.
 
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CV12Hornet said:
No, the major difference was that Nishimura's force was annihilated with little trouble by Oldendorf, with most of the casualties coming from friendly fire. Taffy 3 not only fought back, but inflicted outsize casualties on their own before Taffy 2 and McCain's task group forced Kurita to retreat.
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I guess you speak of US casualties due to friendly fire. IIRC, the only loss due to friendly intervention in the Japanese side was when Nachi crashed against Mogami, sinking the boy-girl.

Also I was not talking about results, but the gallantry needed to get your head inside a bear trap knowing what will happen next. The Nishimura and Shima fleets succeeded in preventing all those naval assets from helping Taffy 3 against Kurita. Unfortunately for the Japanese, the Taffies didn't need help. Just an ungodly amount of brass and steel balls. I'm not belittling what the Taffies did.
 
Darth Thanatos said:
Also I was not talking about results, but the gallantry needed to get your head inside a bear trap knowing what will happen next. The Nishimura and Shima fleets succeeded in preventing all those naval assets from helping Taffy 3 against Kurita. Unfortunately for the Japanese, the Taffies didn't need help. Just an ungodly amount of brass and steel balls. I'm not belittling what the Taffies did.
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Very good point. Japanese naval strategic and tactical competence in WWII can and has been argued extensively. Japanese moral failings 1931-1945 likewise. The courage and devotion to duty that the IJN showed in a war that they could never have won is not in question, though. There were no cowards that night on their side.

Say what you will about Yamashiro's design flaws, refit history, or perceived status in the IJN's battleship ranks, but she died fighting and died a better death than many of her more respected successors. If Fuso had survived to get into gun range, she would have died fighting too.

Which plays into one of the chief themes of Changing Destiny. For Thompson, Shiratsuyu and the rest of the Japanese kanmasu that he knows are almost certainly doomed (again). They will be sacrificed in hopeless combat long before the Japanese leadership can accept the realities of defeat and decide to surrender (and even in 1945, chunks of the IJA/IJN were planning to fight to extinction).
 
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SisterJeanne said:
There were no cowards that night on their side.
*snip*
even in 1945, chunks of the IJA/IJN were planning to fight to extinction
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Does being too cowardly to know when you are beaten and when your obligation is to your people instead of to your ego, or to know that starting a war against a grossly superior foe is unwise and thus steer away from that war, count as cowardice?

Because while there were no cowardly sailors there that night, cowards sent them there that night.
My opinion of the average Japanese decision-making officer or official of the 1930s and 1940s is, well...
 
Guardian54 said:
Does being too cowardly to know when you are beaten and when your obligation is to your people instead of to your ego, or to know that starting a war against a grossly superior foe is unwise and thus steer away from that war, count as cowardice?

Because while there were no cowardly sailors there that night, cowards sent them there that night.
My opinion of the average Japanese decision-making officer or official of the 1930s and 1940s is, well...
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To be fair, it's not as if they were alone in this on their side: the German officer corps had the same problem.
 
So I just posted this over on World of Warships forums and thought you might find this interesting. The relevant part for this story is unspoilered.

As far as I am concerned, Phillips was not suited to command a garbage scow. The epileptic dancing chicken Leeroy Jenkins lemming train he forced Force Z to act as was probably the stupidest naval venture in recent history.

He probably decided to go down with his ship out of the cowardice of potentially getting flayed alive by post-war analysts. It may well be that instead of Leeroy Jenkins, we would instead refer to "pulling a Thomas Phillips", which would be fitting of the stupidity shown by this map.



The lack of a beeline from northeast of the Anamba Islands to the Japanese landing zones, using whatever fields are still available from Kuantan to Singora to provide modestly disruptive air cover (even a couple of fighters in the air would at least harry unescorted twin-engined bombers or make even escorted bombers take their time less) is a sign that Phillips probably committed de facto suicide to avoid a court-martial for criminal indecisiveness.

Then there was the decision to flee at 8:15 PM on the 9th instead of doing a straight run under cover of darkness to at least fight to the death at the Japanese landing beaches. If you're already going on a lemming train for politics and stuck your head in it, at least achieve your damned objectives and disrupt the enemy's activities and be a proper martyr instead of running away with tail between legs after getting spooked (without even an aerial attack to actually spook you) and showing yourself a snivelling coward that no one would look up to!

And I'm not even going to get into wondering why the *BLEEP* he turned northeast in the morning of the sinking instead of continuing at max speed south while calling for air support. If you've decided to conserve your force instead of expend it to achieve an objective, then actually secure the conservation of said force!

...And don't even get me started on maintaining radio silence after you sighted Japanese aircraft. If you can see that dot against the sky, then they can see your giant wakes if not spot your ships outright. Phillips was too dumb to even understand that the huge boat he is on is easier to see at the same distance as a single aircraft that the Japanese are in, staring right back at him.

It would have been quite convenient for the Allies if a single bomb had hit the bridge of the PoW during the initial bombing at 1113 (instead of focusing on Repulse) and put William Tennant of the Repulse in charge of the whole operation. Because at the very least Tennant would likely have had the competence to IMMEDIATELY call for air cover (instead of the IRL waiting an HOUR cause of rigid RN hierarchy before he decided "*BLEEP* that desk-steering fool Phillips, I'm calling for fighters").

In fact, I suspect an alternate history story could be written based on this premise... or if the divergence is too late, the premise that Tennant was put in charge of the operation from the beginning. Leach would also be workable if Churchill had it in for him, because Churchill, while good at speeches, was, well...

/End posting from WoWS forums.

Given we've seen Repulse the shipgirl, could you be planning for Phillips to buy the farm in the first attack? (maybe Leach can just get off with being wounded and handing command to Tennant, if he's lucky) Because It seems possible from here...
 
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