Harry Leferts
Suave Shadow Cabal Kaiju
Leaving the Administration Building behind as it chimed that it was one in the afternoon, Harry continued to hold the hands of Ume and Sakura. Part of him was thinking about the meal that they had just had. Said meal was excellent and one that he enjoyed, but far more so due to the company than anything else. Not just the Twins, but also Miitake, Ishikari, and Denryuu as well.
Granted, Miitake kept hugging him, which even now made him smile.
Just shaking off that thoughts, Harry turned towards Ume and then towards Sakura with a raised eyebrow, "Where to next, Ume-Chan? Sakura-Chan?"
Both Twins became thoughtful and glanced at each other before pointing down the street as towards a three story building built from cut stone of the island itself, "There, that is the Design, Engineering, and Planning Building."
Even as they walked towards it, Harry felt his eyebrows shoot up, "So you had design work happen here? In the Caldera?"
Nodding some, Sakura smiled back at him, "Hai, there was a branch of the design bureau that was headquartered here. A number of those here had experience in designing ships after all, civilian and others. The leader of which, a Kitsune named Hideaki, trained under Yuzuru Hiraga and his second, a witch named Chika, was trained under Kikuo Fujimoto while pretending to be a male." Lips twitching, she giggled a little, "Apparently, they both are lovers and love to argue with one another…"
Upon seeing her expression drop, the teenager squeezed her hand some, "What's wrong?"
It was Akiyama who answered however with a grimace on his face, "Hideaki-San was not involved in the war effort outside of designing ships. Two weeks after being imprisoned, he was found dead in his cell. At the time, it was as ruled a suicide, but there were a number of questions regarding what happened. Chika-San, meanwhile, from memory survived the war and died during Blood Week, protecting her grandchildren… Kitsune grandchildren."
Very slowly, Harry nodded at that as they continued to walk towards the design building. Entering it, they all looked around and blinked some with the shipgirls blushing. And deeply blushing at that…
Mainly because, on display, were models of their hulls among others.
Of course, it became worse as Harry murmured to himself some, "Huh… wonder if I can get copies." Walking up to the display case, he tilted his head before glancing at the Twins, "So these are the hulls that you have built here, Ume-Chan? Sakura-Chan?"
Smiles on their faces, they nodded at that, "Hai." They then pointed at one model in particular, "We produced three of those as some of our first ships."
Eyebrow raised, Harry leaned in looked at said ships for a few moments before his eyebrows raised as he recognized them. Partially from a meet and greet that he had accompanied his adoptive mother to and also from pictures Yukikaze had, "Wait… isn't that a Ning Hai Class Light Cruiser?"
When he turned to them, Sakura waggled her hand, "They have the same basic design, but… had modifications such as the same sort of boilers as similar ships their size. Which made them a bit heavier, but also faster than their half-sisters in the Ning Hai class." She frowned a little bit, "We also produced four for the puppet magical governments in Korea and Manchuria."
Only nodding, the teenage wizard looked at one of the other ships and blinked, "And that looks like an Ocean Liner…" He trailed off as he realized that both sisters grimaced, "Er… did I say something?"
Not saying anything right away, the two former Hitobashira looked at each other before turning back to Harry, "You are right that it is an Ocean Liner style ship… but it was not used as such when it was operated, nor had it's three sisters."
More than a little suspicious, Harry frowned some, "… How so?"
With another glance at each other, Ume and Sakura turned back to him, "They were billed as 'Entertainment Vessels' for magical troops away from Japan. And while they did have small theatres onboard them as well as a stage for singers/bands… below decks they were for all intents and purposes floating brothels set up like such a place in the Edo Era."
Grimace on his face, the teenage wizard shook his head, "Comfort ships…"
Very slowly, the two nodded, "Hai, and while there were humans on board, it was mostly Yokai such as Jorogumo, Yuki-Onna, and the like who had been… offered… that by providing such 'services', they could leave the Reserves." Their expressions then fell, "Unfortunately, because they resembled troop ships, they were targeted by Submarines."
Understanding on his face, Harry sighed a little, "I see…" Looking back at the models, he frowned a little, 'I wonder how the shipgirls for them would turn out…'
Right then, unknown to him, several Yokai and one witch who wished to become Idols sneezed and blinked.
After a few more minutes of examining the various models on display, the group moved on and further into the building. Harry noted that the first floor had either meeting rooms or storage rooms with filing cabinets. There was also a large library that contained manuals and the like regarding engineering, either non-magical or magical. Part of the wizard noted that Ron would likely love them and resolved to get some copies for his friend if possible.
Entering the back of the first floor, they noted that there was a large, enclosed pool there.
Raising an eyebrow at what was there, Harry turned to Ume and Sakura, "What's this now?"
Small smile on her face, Sakura walked over to a control board with various knobs and switches, "This is the testing tank, where powered models of the various ships designed would be tested under similar conditions to the real world."
Cocking his head to the side, the teenage wizard blinked, "You mean like a wave tank?"
Both of the Twins shared a smile and giggled at that, "Something like that…" Twisting some knobs and flicking switches, those watching could only widen their eyes as waves appeared in the tank… followed by tiny storm clouds that lashed the surface with droplets and wind, "But a little bit better."
Eyes wide, Harry walked in close and looked into the tank as he observed the storm in miniature that was going on. Then, he grinned a little bit, "Wicked."
That got him laughs from the Twins and nods even as the others shook their heads. For the next couple of minutes, the group played around with the various switches to create different forms of weather. Not just "Rainstorms/Typhoons", but others as well. One of the settings was for what amounted to an arctic storm, complete with ice forming where the water splashed. A similar setting had the tank fill with tiny icebergs.
Part of Harry could not help but think that if this tank could be replicated, that the JMSDF would be very interested in it…
It wasn't just the tank, however, which also caught their attention. There were things such as wind tunnels for both aircraft and airships. Like with the tank, they could simulate various different forms of weather for a full understanding of how they would affect things. As well, there were "Water Tunnels" which were used to test Submarine designs by attaching a model Submarine to a stand inside the tube, filling the tube with water, and running the water past it with dye in order to see how fast the Submarine might be able to make it. They also made mention that one could increase the pressure inside the tubs to get an idea of crush depth. And, off to one side was where they built said models, with a few people in there doing exactly that.
When they entered the second floor after climbing the stairs, all of them had interested looks at the various forms of activity that were going on. In one of the rooms they looked through windows on, they found various women doing work. Kitsune, Yuki-Onna, Hone-Onna, Itachi, Tanuki, even Oni as well as human. Some of them were at desks with what looked like very old mechanical calculators such as slide rules rapidly doing calculations that they wrote down on pads of paper next to them. Others in groups were at the various blackboards writing out calculations there which they were discussing as they solved. And a few were at tables looking over rolled sheets of paper making notes on what the teenage wizard could just see were designs.
Rapidly blinking, Harry turned towards the Twins and tilted his head, "What's this room?"
Amused looks on their faces, the Twins gestured at the room, "This, Harry-Chan, is the main Computer Room for the base. And you're looking at the computers inside doing calculations for the design work among others."
It took a moment, but Harry slowly nodded as he remembered that once, decades ago, "Computer" was more a job description for someone who did mathematical calculations. Mainly because some shipgirls when summoned were stunned by modern computers and how they were machines, "Huh… that's honestly kind of cool."
Walking through the second floor, Ume continued to explain, "We have approximately three hundred people working as computers here. Fifty of which work on spells and the like using arithmancy among other magical mathematics. They do very, very good work on various calculations for our engineers, freeing them up for other jobs.
Upon reaching the end of the corridor between the rooms, they climbed to the third floor where there was chaos of sorts.
Various people were hard at work with some rushing around. Drafters were at drawing boards drawing up designs with various engineers looking them over and talking. Other engineers were fiddling with models and the like of designs for weapons or what have you. Harry noted that a group were huddled around a barrel of what looked like a 40mm BOFORs, examining it both on the inside and outside.
Meanwhile, in the center was a transparent witch and a Kitsune arguing loudly over something as they gestured at a blackboard. Slapping her hand against said blackboard, the witch made various gestures of anger and annoyance… only for the Kitsune to kiss her, briefly shutting her up. For a few moments, the witch blinked before going red and screeching as she smacked the laughing Kitsune over the head, though a smile did play along her lips.
Soon enough, however, the two were back to arguing.
Lips twitching some at what he could see, Akiyama gave a slow nod, "So this is where the design work happens, Onee-Samas?"
Glancing at each other with light laughter, Ume and Sakura nodded, "Hai, Aki-Kun. This is where the… magic happens, as it were." They gestured around them with soft smiles, "We have a full engineering department, no less than eighty engineers and designers with experience. This is not counting the other three hundred elsewhere on the base who are specialists in repair work and the like."
Briefly, they paused and Ume gave Harry a nod before gently tugging his hand along, "We have something that might interest you, Harry-Chan."
Intrigued, the teen allowed them to pull them along to one of the stations, the others following at a more sedate pace. Reaching one of the drawing boards, which had a model, Harry noted that the engineers there glanced at him before nodding a little, which he returned, before going back to work. It took him a few moments, but he furrowed his eyebrow as he looked at the triple turret, "What is this, Ume-Chan?"
With a slight nod, Ume gestured at the model and design, "This is a turret that we have been working on, Harry-Chan. A brand new 41cm gun that's lighter than a previous one and can be used in a triple turret…" She then unrolled a paper that appeared in her hands onto a unused drawing board, "And can be used to replace an old double."
Jaw dropping, Harry stared at the ship design that was on the drawing board as he recognized it. And how could he not? He was very much closely familiar with it…
It was obviously a modified version of his mother after all.
Staring at it, Harry took it all in as he closely examined the design in front of him. There were a number of differences for it, besides what seemed like notes for better engines, torpedo bulges, and the like, it was the main guns. It kept two of the double turrets that he knew that his mother had, but replaced the superfiring ones with the triple turrets that he had just seen. For several moments, he was silent before turning to Ume and Sakura, "How?"
Moments later, he jumped some at a chuckle, "Ah, I based it off something that Hiraga-Sensei came up with." When he turned, Harry found himself looking at the ghostly Kitsune who had to be Hideaki, who had a grin on his face, "I just made it so that one could convert the Nagato Class to it."
Head tilted to the side, Harry bowed some, "Hello, I'm Potter Harry."
Bowing back, the Kitsune nodded, "And I am Akasaki Hideaki, Potter-San." Ears flicking some, the engineer glanced at Harry before turning towards the drawing and leaning in, "I'm betting that you're wondering what I meant by it being a design that my Sensei worked on?"
Knowing a leading question where he heard one, Harry gave a nod of interest, "Hai, I am."
A hum escaping him, Hideaki scratched his chin, "Well… back in the early thirties, Sensei and Fujimoto-San were competing as the Kongou Class needed to be replaced due to age. Hence, they both came up with various designs for replacing them due to the naval treaties. Sensei based a number of his on the Nagato Class, including the final design for one that came in at thirty-five thousand tons… Which is very similar to the one that you see with superfiring triples over doubles. Of course, they had to work on designing a new gun for them along with a lighter turret." He then gave a nod towards the turret design, "Which, while never built, we continued work on in the 1940s just in case and we finished. And then used the design for the Battleship to create a rebuild for Nagato-San."
That was when the witch, whom Harry now realized was Chika, "Of course, we've been working on other rebuilds as well over the past couple of months. You've already seen the one with Musashi-San, but we've been working on some of the Carriers as well…
Light smirk on his face, Hideaki bumped his hip against hers, getting a flustered scowl, "Not to mention we've begun work on the Kongou Class as well with some refits based on some of the stuff that went into designing the B-65 variant such as improved 35.6cm guns. Something that we're quite pleased over."
While intrigued by the mention of Kongou's possible refit, Harry was somewhat more interested in the bit before, "What do you mean by Carriers?"
Crossing her arms, the witch chuckled some, "Well… they were a bit easier than with Nagato-San. Mainly modifying the Shoukaku Class into Armored Carriers due to what we know from the Taihou and Improved Taihou ships that we've built. They're very similar designs after all…" Chika then made a motion with her hand, "And then thanks to what happened with Shinano-San, we'll be able to add night fighting capabilities to both Akagi-San and Kaga-San to extend how long they can be at the front lines." She then shrugged a little and pulled a lollipop from her pocket and stuck it in her mouth, "The easy stuff first, basically."
Very slowly, Harry blinked at that and raised an eyebrow, 'Wait… they consider that the easy stuff? Seriously?'
Meanwhile, unknowing of what was going through Harry's head, Hideaki hummed a little, "Though first, we're going to do some work for Fubuki-San. We've finally finished work on the new 12.7cm/50 Type 1s, so those can be mounted." Grin on his face, he placed his hands on his hips and laughed some, "She'll have a bit more firepower and the guns themselves will be better able to knock down aircraft. They're ship mounted versions of the same guns Ume-Sama and Sakura-Sama are using for their own AA on the rim of the caldera."
That got a hum from the teen as he nodded a little bit in interest.
Eventually, they got free of the conversation as, to their great amusement, the two engineers began arguing over various smaller points regarding the ships and their designs. Walking around, Harry took note of some of the other work that was being done as well. However, he did pause a little at the sight of one particular design drawing. Leaning in, the wizard took it in with a raised eyebrow, 'Wait a moment, this looks like…'
Before he could get much further, he noted that Ume and Sakura had joined him, "Something catch your interest, Harry-Chan…" Upon seeing what Harry was looking at, the two flushed some, "Ah…"
Head tilted to the side, Harry was a bit puzzled at their reactions, though he shrugged it off and instead looked at the design, "Is this a Floating Dry Dock, Sakura-Chan? Ume-Chan? Because it does look like one…"
Glancing at him, the two slowly nodded with Sakura clearing her throat as she spoke for them both, "Hai, Harry-Chan, though in this case it is self-propelled." At the look of interest, she continued some, "Myself and Sakura-Chan bought Spring Styles books regarding designs for reference. One of the books had to deal with a design that the Americans looked at in 1920 regarding a self-propelled Floating Dry Dock. Using that as a basis… our engineers and designers have started on our own design though very similar in capabilities."
Eyebrows raising at that, the teenage wizard turned back to the design, "Huh… says here a displacement of about fifty-five thousand tons and ten knots top speed. And…" Leaning in, he blinked some in surprise, "According to this can handle a vessel of about fifty-thousand tons? That's… impressive." Harry then turned to them with interest, "Any names?"
For a few moments, neither spoke before smiling slightly, "We have a few ideas…"
Much to his confusion, they reached out and gently squeezed his hand before leaning against his shoulder.
Granted, Miitake kept hugging him, which even now made him smile.
Just shaking off that thoughts, Harry turned towards Ume and then towards Sakura with a raised eyebrow, "Where to next, Ume-Chan? Sakura-Chan?"
Both Twins became thoughtful and glanced at each other before pointing down the street as towards a three story building built from cut stone of the island itself, "There, that is the Design, Engineering, and Planning Building."
Even as they walked towards it, Harry felt his eyebrows shoot up, "So you had design work happen here? In the Caldera?"
Nodding some, Sakura smiled back at him, "Hai, there was a branch of the design bureau that was headquartered here. A number of those here had experience in designing ships after all, civilian and others. The leader of which, a Kitsune named Hideaki, trained under Yuzuru Hiraga and his second, a witch named Chika, was trained under Kikuo Fujimoto while pretending to be a male." Lips twitching, she giggled a little, "Apparently, they both are lovers and love to argue with one another…"
Upon seeing her expression drop, the teenager squeezed her hand some, "What's wrong?"
It was Akiyama who answered however with a grimace on his face, "Hideaki-San was not involved in the war effort outside of designing ships. Two weeks after being imprisoned, he was found dead in his cell. At the time, it was as ruled a suicide, but there were a number of questions regarding what happened. Chika-San, meanwhile, from memory survived the war and died during Blood Week, protecting her grandchildren… Kitsune grandchildren."
Very slowly, Harry nodded at that as they continued to walk towards the design building. Entering it, they all looked around and blinked some with the shipgirls blushing. And deeply blushing at that…
Mainly because, on display, were models of their hulls among others.
Of course, it became worse as Harry murmured to himself some, "Huh… wonder if I can get copies." Walking up to the display case, he tilted his head before glancing at the Twins, "So these are the hulls that you have built here, Ume-Chan? Sakura-Chan?"
Smiles on their faces, they nodded at that, "Hai." They then pointed at one model in particular, "We produced three of those as some of our first ships."
Eyebrow raised, Harry leaned in looked at said ships for a few moments before his eyebrows raised as he recognized them. Partially from a meet and greet that he had accompanied his adoptive mother to and also from pictures Yukikaze had, "Wait… isn't that a Ning Hai Class Light Cruiser?"
When he turned to them, Sakura waggled her hand, "They have the same basic design, but… had modifications such as the same sort of boilers as similar ships their size. Which made them a bit heavier, but also faster than their half-sisters in the Ning Hai class." She frowned a little bit, "We also produced four for the puppet magical governments in Korea and Manchuria."
Only nodding, the teenage wizard looked at one of the other ships and blinked, "And that looks like an Ocean Liner…" He trailed off as he realized that both sisters grimaced, "Er… did I say something?"
Not saying anything right away, the two former Hitobashira looked at each other before turning back to Harry, "You are right that it is an Ocean Liner style ship… but it was not used as such when it was operated, nor had it's three sisters."
More than a little suspicious, Harry frowned some, "… How so?"
With another glance at each other, Ume and Sakura turned back to him, "They were billed as 'Entertainment Vessels' for magical troops away from Japan. And while they did have small theatres onboard them as well as a stage for singers/bands… below decks they were for all intents and purposes floating brothels set up like such a place in the Edo Era."
Grimace on his face, the teenage wizard shook his head, "Comfort ships…"
Very slowly, the two nodded, "Hai, and while there were humans on board, it was mostly Yokai such as Jorogumo, Yuki-Onna, and the like who had been… offered… that by providing such 'services', they could leave the Reserves." Their expressions then fell, "Unfortunately, because they resembled troop ships, they were targeted by Submarines."
Understanding on his face, Harry sighed a little, "I see…" Looking back at the models, he frowned a little, 'I wonder how the shipgirls for them would turn out…'
Right then, unknown to him, several Yokai and one witch who wished to become Idols sneezed and blinked.
After a few more minutes of examining the various models on display, the group moved on and further into the building. Harry noted that the first floor had either meeting rooms or storage rooms with filing cabinets. There was also a large library that contained manuals and the like regarding engineering, either non-magical or magical. Part of the wizard noted that Ron would likely love them and resolved to get some copies for his friend if possible.
Entering the back of the first floor, they noted that there was a large, enclosed pool there.
Raising an eyebrow at what was there, Harry turned to Ume and Sakura, "What's this now?"
Small smile on her face, Sakura walked over to a control board with various knobs and switches, "This is the testing tank, where powered models of the various ships designed would be tested under similar conditions to the real world."
Cocking his head to the side, the teenage wizard blinked, "You mean like a wave tank?"
Both of the Twins shared a smile and giggled at that, "Something like that…" Twisting some knobs and flicking switches, those watching could only widen their eyes as waves appeared in the tank… followed by tiny storm clouds that lashed the surface with droplets and wind, "But a little bit better."
Eyes wide, Harry walked in close and looked into the tank as he observed the storm in miniature that was going on. Then, he grinned a little bit, "Wicked."
That got him laughs from the Twins and nods even as the others shook their heads. For the next couple of minutes, the group played around with the various switches to create different forms of weather. Not just "Rainstorms/Typhoons", but others as well. One of the settings was for what amounted to an arctic storm, complete with ice forming where the water splashed. A similar setting had the tank fill with tiny icebergs.
Part of Harry could not help but think that if this tank could be replicated, that the JMSDF would be very interested in it…
It wasn't just the tank, however, which also caught their attention. There were things such as wind tunnels for both aircraft and airships. Like with the tank, they could simulate various different forms of weather for a full understanding of how they would affect things. As well, there were "Water Tunnels" which were used to test Submarine designs by attaching a model Submarine to a stand inside the tube, filling the tube with water, and running the water past it with dye in order to see how fast the Submarine might be able to make it. They also made mention that one could increase the pressure inside the tubs to get an idea of crush depth. And, off to one side was where they built said models, with a few people in there doing exactly that.
When they entered the second floor after climbing the stairs, all of them had interested looks at the various forms of activity that were going on. In one of the rooms they looked through windows on, they found various women doing work. Kitsune, Yuki-Onna, Hone-Onna, Itachi, Tanuki, even Oni as well as human. Some of them were at desks with what looked like very old mechanical calculators such as slide rules rapidly doing calculations that they wrote down on pads of paper next to them. Others in groups were at the various blackboards writing out calculations there which they were discussing as they solved. And a few were at tables looking over rolled sheets of paper making notes on what the teenage wizard could just see were designs.
Rapidly blinking, Harry turned towards the Twins and tilted his head, "What's this room?"
Amused looks on their faces, the Twins gestured at the room, "This, Harry-Chan, is the main Computer Room for the base. And you're looking at the computers inside doing calculations for the design work among others."
It took a moment, but Harry slowly nodded as he remembered that once, decades ago, "Computer" was more a job description for someone who did mathematical calculations. Mainly because some shipgirls when summoned were stunned by modern computers and how they were machines, "Huh… that's honestly kind of cool."
Walking through the second floor, Ume continued to explain, "We have approximately three hundred people working as computers here. Fifty of which work on spells and the like using arithmancy among other magical mathematics. They do very, very good work on various calculations for our engineers, freeing them up for other jobs.
Upon reaching the end of the corridor between the rooms, they climbed to the third floor where there was chaos of sorts.
Various people were hard at work with some rushing around. Drafters were at drawing boards drawing up designs with various engineers looking them over and talking. Other engineers were fiddling with models and the like of designs for weapons or what have you. Harry noted that a group were huddled around a barrel of what looked like a 40mm BOFORs, examining it both on the inside and outside.
Meanwhile, in the center was a transparent witch and a Kitsune arguing loudly over something as they gestured at a blackboard. Slapping her hand against said blackboard, the witch made various gestures of anger and annoyance… only for the Kitsune to kiss her, briefly shutting her up. For a few moments, the witch blinked before going red and screeching as she smacked the laughing Kitsune over the head, though a smile did play along her lips.
Soon enough, however, the two were back to arguing.
Lips twitching some at what he could see, Akiyama gave a slow nod, "So this is where the design work happens, Onee-Samas?"
Glancing at each other with light laughter, Ume and Sakura nodded, "Hai, Aki-Kun. This is where the… magic happens, as it were." They gestured around them with soft smiles, "We have a full engineering department, no less than eighty engineers and designers with experience. This is not counting the other three hundred elsewhere on the base who are specialists in repair work and the like."
Briefly, they paused and Ume gave Harry a nod before gently tugging his hand along, "We have something that might interest you, Harry-Chan."
Intrigued, the teen allowed them to pull them along to one of the stations, the others following at a more sedate pace. Reaching one of the drawing boards, which had a model, Harry noted that the engineers there glanced at him before nodding a little, which he returned, before going back to work. It took him a few moments, but he furrowed his eyebrow as he looked at the triple turret, "What is this, Ume-Chan?"
With a slight nod, Ume gestured at the model and design, "This is a turret that we have been working on, Harry-Chan. A brand new 41cm gun that's lighter than a previous one and can be used in a triple turret…" She then unrolled a paper that appeared in her hands onto a unused drawing board, "And can be used to replace an old double."
Jaw dropping, Harry stared at the ship design that was on the drawing board as he recognized it. And how could he not? He was very much closely familiar with it…
It was obviously a modified version of his mother after all.
Staring at it, Harry took it all in as he closely examined the design in front of him. There were a number of differences for it, besides what seemed like notes for better engines, torpedo bulges, and the like, it was the main guns. It kept two of the double turrets that he knew that his mother had, but replaced the superfiring ones with the triple turrets that he had just seen. For several moments, he was silent before turning to Ume and Sakura, "How?"
Moments later, he jumped some at a chuckle, "Ah, I based it off something that Hiraga-Sensei came up with." When he turned, Harry found himself looking at the ghostly Kitsune who had to be Hideaki, who had a grin on his face, "I just made it so that one could convert the Nagato Class to it."
Head tilted to the side, Harry bowed some, "Hello, I'm Potter Harry."
Bowing back, the Kitsune nodded, "And I am Akasaki Hideaki, Potter-San." Ears flicking some, the engineer glanced at Harry before turning towards the drawing and leaning in, "I'm betting that you're wondering what I meant by it being a design that my Sensei worked on?"
Knowing a leading question where he heard one, Harry gave a nod of interest, "Hai, I am."
A hum escaping him, Hideaki scratched his chin, "Well… back in the early thirties, Sensei and Fujimoto-San were competing as the Kongou Class needed to be replaced due to age. Hence, they both came up with various designs for replacing them due to the naval treaties. Sensei based a number of his on the Nagato Class, including the final design for one that came in at thirty-five thousand tons… Which is very similar to the one that you see with superfiring triples over doubles. Of course, they had to work on designing a new gun for them along with a lighter turret." He then gave a nod towards the turret design, "Which, while never built, we continued work on in the 1940s just in case and we finished. And then used the design for the Battleship to create a rebuild for Nagato-San."
That was when the witch, whom Harry now realized was Chika, "Of course, we've been working on other rebuilds as well over the past couple of months. You've already seen the one with Musashi-San, but we've been working on some of the Carriers as well…
Light smirk on his face, Hideaki bumped his hip against hers, getting a flustered scowl, "Not to mention we've begun work on the Kongou Class as well with some refits based on some of the stuff that went into designing the B-65 variant such as improved 35.6cm guns. Something that we're quite pleased over."
While intrigued by the mention of Kongou's possible refit, Harry was somewhat more interested in the bit before, "What do you mean by Carriers?"
Crossing her arms, the witch chuckled some, "Well… they were a bit easier than with Nagato-San. Mainly modifying the Shoukaku Class into Armored Carriers due to what we know from the Taihou and Improved Taihou ships that we've built. They're very similar designs after all…" Chika then made a motion with her hand, "And then thanks to what happened with Shinano-San, we'll be able to add night fighting capabilities to both Akagi-San and Kaga-San to extend how long they can be at the front lines." She then shrugged a little and pulled a lollipop from her pocket and stuck it in her mouth, "The easy stuff first, basically."
Very slowly, Harry blinked at that and raised an eyebrow, 'Wait… they consider that the easy stuff? Seriously?'
Meanwhile, unknowing of what was going through Harry's head, Hideaki hummed a little, "Though first, we're going to do some work for Fubuki-San. We've finally finished work on the new 12.7cm/50 Type 1s, so those can be mounted." Grin on his face, he placed his hands on his hips and laughed some, "She'll have a bit more firepower and the guns themselves will be better able to knock down aircraft. They're ship mounted versions of the same guns Ume-Sama and Sakura-Sama are using for their own AA on the rim of the caldera."
That got a hum from the teen as he nodded a little bit in interest.
Eventually, they got free of the conversation as, to their great amusement, the two engineers began arguing over various smaller points regarding the ships and their designs. Walking around, Harry took note of some of the other work that was being done as well. However, he did pause a little at the sight of one particular design drawing. Leaning in, the wizard took it in with a raised eyebrow, 'Wait a moment, this looks like…'
Before he could get much further, he noted that Ume and Sakura had joined him, "Something catch your interest, Harry-Chan…" Upon seeing what Harry was looking at, the two flushed some, "Ah…"
Head tilted to the side, Harry was a bit puzzled at their reactions, though he shrugged it off and instead looked at the design, "Is this a Floating Dry Dock, Sakura-Chan? Ume-Chan? Because it does look like one…"
Glancing at him, the two slowly nodded with Sakura clearing her throat as she spoke for them both, "Hai, Harry-Chan, though in this case it is self-propelled." At the look of interest, she continued some, "Myself and Sakura-Chan bought Spring Styles books regarding designs for reference. One of the books had to deal with a design that the Americans looked at in 1920 regarding a self-propelled Floating Dry Dock. Using that as a basis… our engineers and designers have started on our own design though very similar in capabilities."
Eyebrows raising at that, the teenage wizard turned back to the design, "Huh… says here a displacement of about fifty-five thousand tons and ten knots top speed. And…" Leaning in, he blinked some in surprise, "According to this can handle a vessel of about fifty-thousand tons? That's… impressive." Harry then turned to them with interest, "Any names?"
For a few moments, neither spoke before smiling slightly, "We have a few ideas…"
Much to his confusion, they reached out and gently squeezed his hand before leaning against his shoulder.
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