That was a really solid chapter. I really enjoyed it.
Though while I liked seeing more Hood, it was Little E with her father and the back and forthe with Harrington and Lutjens really took it for me. War buddies and adorable carriers. Can't go wrong there.
Keep up the great work. The effort you put into this really shines!
You know, I was thinking, with FDR's propensity for practical jokes and his love of the navy and boats in general, one wonders if he already knows...
*Roosevelt, Thompson, and Richardson are on the USS New York*
Thompson: Sir, I know that you may not totally believe us, but hopefully this will convince you. *Shipgirl New York approaches*
Thompson: Okay, New York, like we went - *Roosevelt deftly maneuvers around Thompson*
FDR: Hello, New York. It's nice to greet you at last.
Thompson: (flabbergasted) But- How-?
FDR: I had a sailboat named New Moon when I was younger, and eventually I came to see her. New Moon and I used to talk a lot together when we went fishing. Ever since then I could see the ship spirits of all the boats. It's part of why I love the Navy; I know all of these girls have a voice and a face. You just need to be able to love them.
Thompson: But you had us thinking that you were skeptical of the idea all along!
FDR: Well, a president needs to have some fun, doesn't he?
Although I think it would be less trolling on his part and more avoiding the loony bin. People generally don't like presidents who are apparently talking to imaginary beings.
It would be hilarious if he just accepts the whole scenario rather anticlimactically. Much to the confusion of everyone else.
Well, when would he ever be alone enough to do so? Remember how hard it was for Thompson to chat without overhearing? And he was "only" and admiral, whereas Roosevelt would be assistant secretary of the navy at least, and president at most. Whose going to let him out of their sights?
Well, when would he ever be alone enough to do so? Remember how hard it was for Thompson to chat without overhearing? And he was "only" and admiral, whereas Roosevelt would be assistant secretary of the navy at least, and president at most. Whose going to let him out of their sights?
He never would have spent the night on one of the ships? Or even just look one of the girls directly in the eyes a few times, so they know he can at least see them, even if he can't say anything?
But yeah, Hood got beat up quite a bit. There's a reason she is still in drydock, even months after she got shot up. Sucks to be her...but as @theJMPer mentioned way back when, this is still a net positive for Hood, in the long run. Since at least she's getting a modernization out of the deal!
Oh, Godoka... Enterprise once more proves that the 'C' in CV stands for Cute...
On a more serious note, you did a great job of showing an even handling of Lutjens and his polite but strained interaction with Harrington. I really cannot hate the man, even after poor Gneis was sunk.
And Hood's concern about her captain's loyalty is a nice touch of drama. It shows that even though the ship-girl knows a lot about what is going on inside her hull, she can miss out on certain things, especially since Hood is still seriously hurt from her duel with Gneis. It's a nice little side conflict to consider.
Lütjens is a fun personality to write. The man is generally soft-spoken, but quite serious once you actually get him talking. And he's very much one to consider himself honorable. He's a man of the Imperial German Navy, one who takes his honor as an officer very seriously. And in this case, that means he is neither a fan of the Nazi's, nor one to deny that point. Made it easier to justify the odd friendship here.
Hood...well, not every ship girl can know everything going on. Imagine how Enterprise would have felt if Halsey started talking about something she had no idea on, because it happened away from her, and she couldn't ask him. That's about what Hood feels, with the addition that she just got shot to ribbons by Germans...
Had her Captain and Admiral killed on her bridge...
And has her new Captain talking about a German. She's not Indy at her worst, but Hood has good reason to worry, in her mind.
You have to wonder a bit, how things would (will?) turn out if the ships that are sunk are re-raised as shipgirls while the war is still raging. Gneis, for all that her death was agony, still can march forward with pride knowing that she whacked the hell out of Hood, that the bulk of her crew was saved, and that her Admiral lives.
Even better, said Admiral is loyal to Germany, and NOT to the Nazi party that leads it. That has some very interesting implications right there and then, even discounting what our other future-past German admiral is going to do with Bismarck herself.
Hm. Interesting that shipgirl can be KO'd be injuries, and not woken up again until they arrive in dock. Wonder if shipgirl with airplane would be able to see from their POV better if the airplane had digital camera on them?
To be fair to Hood, she had her bridge/conning tower shot to pieces. Being as that is the equivalent of a massive head wound and she isn't an American ship that can keep going right through it...her being KO'd makes sense.
While I can understand going to visit the Yanks, point of interest; were there any capital-ship-capable drydocks in Canada at the time? 'Cause I feel like there'd be rather less saltiness among the crews about going there.
Yes, yes, I realize Hood will probably have An Impact on the American side of the story by going there, but still. Call it an academic interest.
Even if there is a drydock capable of handling capital ships in Canada, it couldn't handle Hood. HMS Hood is the single largest gunboat in the world, until Iowa and Yamato. She's lighter than Bisko, but much longer as well. 860 feet. The only ships around longer than her right now, until Iowa, are the Lex sisters at 888 feet. Even Yamato is shorter than Hood at her waterline, and only two feet longer overall. Yes, really.
This is really, why Hood hasn't been repaired in Britain. Not only do they desperately need ships in better shape on the front lines, there are very few drydocks that can actually handle a ship of Hood's size. Well. That and the Brits just don't have the money or resources to really fix her themselves. They, even when the War had reached the point that America was in it for real and the Atlantic was more or less secure, filled in Warspite's hull with concrete.
The Brits couldn't keep their navy going, honestly.
Both the Rodney and the Warspite I know for a fact were refitted in the US.
Simply put even with wartime proities, i.e. USN ships first, the US still had enough docks to refit, in sad ways down right improve, a few foriegn ships like the above plus the Richuellia, at the same time.
As were Illustrious and Formidable. Fun fact as well...the latter two? While Warspite was refitting in Bremerton during the attack on Pearl, the Carrier Twins were repaired at...
A bit meta and from the OTL, but the US was able to effectively resurrect several BBs that were sunk by multiple torpedo strikes and converted 410mm naval shells. Hood will be in good hands, Captain Harrington, don't worry. She'll be good as new, if not better.
Well well. Seems like Cpt. Harrington has unconsciously made progress towards breakthrough all on his own. On a side note, I know it's unlikely at best, but I'm curious if Adm. Thompson and Hood will cross paths at some point? Hmm.
This...could be a significant problem. A ship spirit that has doubts like this about her Captain/Admiral...hoo boy. Here's to hoping that Hood can find her doubts/worries assuaged in the future.
I think I see Little E wearing shipping goggles, heh.
Your intuition does you credit, Captain. She is.
Great update Sky!
That's an unfortunate possibility, yes, but at least she died in a stand up fight giving it her all. The French ship spirits at Mers-el-Kébir didn't even get that much.
Yup. USN repair facilities are quite capable, so Hood is in good hands. Hell, they made improvements to Illustrious when she was docked in Norfolk, so they can certainly fix up Hood quite well. And depending on how much money the Brits are willing to spend, possibly have her come out better than new.
Hm. Time Traveler and Hood.
Little E is a shipper~
That felt odd. Anyway, yup, she's shipping Sara hard. Good thing she's not around our favorite blue-haired carrier right now.
Oh yes, the French are...rather unhappy. I do have another bit planned in that regard, but this time with Strasbourg, the one capital ship to actually escape the net.
That was a really solid chapter. I really enjoyed it.
Though while I liked seeing more Hood, it was Little E with her father and the back and forthe with Harrington and Lutjens really took it for me. War buddies and adorable carriers. Can't go wrong there.
Keep up the great work. The effort you put into this really shines!
You know, I was thinking, with FDR's propensity for practical jokes and his love of the navy and boats in general, one wonders if he already knows...
*Roosevelt, Thompson, and Richardson are on the USS New York*
Thompson: Sir, I know that you may not totally believe us, but hopefully this will convince you. *Shipgirl New York approaches*
Thompson: Okay, New York, like we went - *Roosevelt deftly maneuvers around Thompson*
FDR: Hello, New York. It's nice to greet you at last.
Thompson: (flabbergasted) But- How-?
FDR: I had a sailboat named New Moon when I was younger, and eventually I came to see her. New Moon and I used to talk a lot together when we went fishing. Ever since then I could see the ship spirits of all the boats. It's part of why I love the Navy; I know all of these girls have a voice and a face. You just need to be able to love them.
Thompson: But you had us thinking that you were skeptical of the idea all along!
FDR: Well, a president needs to have some fun, doesn't he?
In the near future Hood, Atlanta and San Francisco can conmiserate about losing both their admirals and captains during the same battle. And if one of them ever goes to Chile they can talk with the Huáscar, who had it even worse, as well.
Being a flag in the navy is not for the faint of heart, no matter the time.
Oh yes, the French are...rather unhappy. I do have another bit planned in that regard, but this time with Strasbourg, the one capital ship to actually escape the net.
Well, being entirely fair, had the Mers-el-Kebir thing gone as it had IRL, the result would be pretty much identical.
Considering the French admiral got butthurt that it was a Royal Navy Captain instead of an Admiral delivering the ultimatum (the Adm. didn't speak French, the Capt. did.) So his transmission to (Vichy?) French naval command was essentially "lol the brits said surrender or die kek".
Failing to mention the various other options, such as internment in American ports.
Well, being entirely fair, had the Mers-el-Kebir thing gone as it had IRL, the result would be pretty much identical.
Considering the French admiral got butthurt that it was a Royal Navy Captain instead of an Admiral delivering the ultimatum (the Adm. didn't speak French, the Capt. did.) So his transmission to (Vichy?) French naval command was essentially "lol the brits said surrender or die kek".
Failing to mention the various other options, such as internment in American ports.
Hardly. He was an authoritarian, but remember it was nineteen forties, not the present more egalitarian age. On the other hand the British sending signals directly to the crews of the ships to throw in with the Free French (i.e. inciting to mutiny) did nothing to endear them to him or his staff either. Neither did their mining of the harbor entrance.
Gensoul had several priorities: First among them, DO NOT VIOLATE THE ARMISTICE. Capitalized for extra attention. Nearly all options the British gave them would have done that and the Germans might have occupied all of France in retaliation. One does not trust on generosity from Hitler to his defeated foes. This was for the French the worst case.
Second was to protect his fleet. For that his ships had to have steam up and armament ready. Given the cease-fire a few days previously this would take time. Also, in the afternoon a heat haze often occurred and would obscure the ships. After nightfall he might even escape. Time was on his side, so any excuse to lengthen negotiations was a good excuse.
Third, he was asked to make decisions that weren't his to take but the French admiralty and government. Said people were in the middle of moving from Paris to Vichy and communications were spotty at best.
Churchill insisted, possibly for reasons of showing the world England would fight on regardless. Somerville gave in, and the British opened fire.
At Alexandria for a comparison, Churchill also insisted the ships there were sunk, and Darlan demanded they break out of the harbor under fire (which would probably get them sunk), but the respective admirals pretty much ignored them and agreed on a demilitarization in place where the ships were immobilized and vital components of the armament were stored ashore in the French consulate.
And this right here could have fuck the UK over good.
Lets say that someone else get elected into the US Presidentacy. Someone who wasn't as outside minded as Roosevelt and more isolationist minded.
Said guy could easily cut off Britian from supplies saying that the US don't support backstabbers.
And while in someways the UK didn't have a choice... They still had TIME, enough time to figure how to do it properly.
OF course it is amusing to note that after her 1943 refit in New York the British did their best to get the Richualler under their command, you can guess their answer.
Somerville did not present the ultimatum personally. Instead, this duty fell to the French-speaking Captain Cedric Holland, commanding officer of the carrier HMS Ark Royal. Admiral Gensoul, affronted that negotiations were not being conducted by a senior officer, sent his lieutenant, Bernard Dufay, which led to much delay and confusion.
As negotiations dragged on, it became clear that neither side was likely to give way. French Navy Minister Admiral Darlan never received the full text of the British ultimatum from Admiral Gensoul, most significantly with regard to the option of removing the fleet to American waters, an option that formed part of the orders Darlan gave to Gensoul, to be followed should a foreign power attempt to seize the ships under his command.
It could be much worse. Said isolationist minded guy could cut UK off after WWII is over, and Churchill starts spout anticomunist speaches again (which is how they got stuck with Hitler, in the first place - he seemed like a good buffer to place between Europe and USSR).
Like many good looking ladies she is inclined to be wilful, and likes surprising you. Watch her always and very closely . If the moment she gets up to mischief you give her a good hard thump with the engines and helm she will immediately behave lie a perfect lady - like her sex in human form she responds to a heavy hand when she knows she has deserved it!!
"Gneisenau felt much the same. It was the first, and I now imagine only, time I had ever commanded a warship larger than a cruiser. And I still remember, even now, what it felt the first time I boarded her."
Well well. Seems like Cpt. Harrington has unconsciously made progress towards breakthrough all on his own. On a side note, I know it's unlikely at best, but I'm curious if Adm. Thompson and Hood will cross paths at some point? Hmm.
Unlikely, I find it almost a certainty that he will. I assume that he will convince the US navy and congress that the spirits are real. Once they know it is true for US ships they will naturally want to test if it is true for foreign ships of which there will be one handily available, Hood! Of course what about freighters, transport ships, troop ships, where does the line between warship with a shipgirl and ordinary boring ship without lie? Or do all ships have girls?
Oh god, this is hilarious, even if it is incredibly misogynistic in tone, the fact that this is a story of shipgirls and that is actual historical instructions is grand.
Edit: I just had a thought. We've gone on about how perverted and lewd all the US submariners are and the possible effects of their shipgirls. What if it actually goes the other way, with once perverted crews turning puritain in comparison because they all want to protect the innocence of THEIR girls and start getting into fights to protect that rather than setting bad examples!
