I fear Strasbourg is lost to us
She's certainly not in any sort of good mental state. But then, one can expect that with what she's been through, I imagine.
You know? As much as I hate to say this. But I really would like to see one of the go Abyssal.
Hm.
Uhhh. Start talking fast, Admirals. Really fast.
Heh, yeah, they're in an
interesting spot.
I see Dunkerque didn't make it, unlike in the OTL. RIP Dunkerque.
Well, OTL, Dunkerque
was sunk. In shallow water maybe, but she was still sunk. Didn't make it back to Toulon until late February of '42. A full year from now.
Yeeaahhh, the message is remarkably tone deaf under the current circumstances isn't it? It might satisfy Strasbourg (at least a bit) to know Hood is as ashamed as she is livid, but all the same working with Britain is out of the question for the foreseeable future. I wonder though, does Strasbourg still have an at least neutral attitude towards the USN?
Nice updates.
To be fair, that is
totally something the Brits would still do. Because they wouldn't want to attack the French again, but they want those ships out of Vichy (German) hands. And if the only way they can do that is trying to sway the people they shot at with words...
As for the USN, right now she wouldn't have any reason to dislike them. USA is neutral, if helping the UK a lot.
She rathed die than fight either for the British (as part of the Free French) or the Germans?
That is very depressing actually.
The only reasonable thing that will end well in her book is being scuttled by her crew or getting blasted to bits, from the looks of things.
Well, in her mind, the best option is to just stay Neutral. Let France do her own thing, wait the war out, and just
survive. She hates the Germans and Brits, albeit the latter moreso than the former, but if given the option? She'd sit out the rest of the war, because at least then she- and the others -survive.
But, well, anyone who knows WW2 history knows what happens.
And... wow, talk about foot, mouth, meet. James, you poor sod.
Oh my, talk about a catch-22.
Oh and Thompson? Mind your surroundings before you open your mouth, mate.
Yeeeeaaaaahhhhh.
Ah, King. The best enemy the Kriegsmarine could have wished for. Operation Paukenschlag was such a great success because of that man.
And the worst enemy of anyone in hearing range. His bad mood, stubborness and long held vendettas were legendary. To be fair, there were a lot of factors involved in the german attack to the american shipping, and his stubborness and dislike of the british was part of the reason that adecuate resources were alocated to the Pacific despite Roosvelt's predilection for the ETO.
On the other hand the Court Martial of McVay for the sinking of the USS Indianapolis was an act that won't ever be forgotten nor forgiven.
King is an...
interesting...figure to work. The man is divisive at best, hated at worst. For good reason, mind, but the point remains. And the point remains that he did a lot for the Navy, however much a lot of what he did was...
Shall we say, less than savory.
This said....
My guess is that King will be one of the biggest opposition that our Thompson will have to deal with given who he is. He did have an infamous reputation even before the war.
I wouldn't be surprised if he is the first one to mention how young our time travelling protagonist is and try to use that against him. Which wouldn't help Thompson because he really doesn't know much about his background in this universe.
Right now, King is either on the General Board- a place to stick problem officers -or the Commander-in-Chief of the Patrol Force. The Atlantic Fleet-in-all-but-name. In either case, he's only where he is because he's friends with Stark.
Not because of any real power.
Richardson may be below Stark, but he's most assuredly above King, at the least for now.
That was a
really nice update. The first half with Sara felt really good to read and it was sweet to see that even if no one else around can see or talk to her, that she got to see that there are still those who love her in their own ways. It just felt good to read something like that.
As for the second half? A very good and dramatic buildup to a positively hilarious end. I can almost see the look of 'Oh Fuck' on their faces.
The Strasbourg entry was a nice solid read as well. I'll admit I didn't feel too... vested in it, but it was still very well done. I'd put money that she's destined for very dark places...
Well done!
To be fair, I marked Strasbourg as an
omake (note that Taranto was not) for good reason. I knew that it would be...well...less interesting than a main story chapter. And it wouldn't
fit in a main chapter. Thus, omake.
And yeah...she's in a dark place.
You can tell how much I like writing Sara in bits like this, I think. That, and it gave me an excuse to ship-tease which I don't do often
I wonder how the 'insanity' of the Pacific Fleet will clash with Adm. King's Anglophobia? Speaking of which, I bet he and Strasbourg would get on rather well over their shared dislike of the Brits.
Heh.
Well, if Hood meats a similar fate here, and per chance the Toulon fleet nailed out to the free French before they got that piece of news... I could imagine a salty Strasbourg getting shot down by that line. "Don't you know? She's gone."
Edit: autocorrect seems to mix up fine and gone, for some ironic reason.
Hm.
Well, for now, Hood is on her way to Freedom Land for refits.
