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Indestructible Spirit (Kancolle AU)

Reader mode
I really wish you gave a heads up in the idea thread...

Anyways.

I can understand why the US is dragging their feet in sending out their shipgirls.

So it has to be said, the job of the United States Military is to guard the United States.

Not Japan, not the UK, and no where else. The Fifty states come first, the few territories we have second, then everyone else last. This is the same with every other military.

In story Japan and the U.K. are having problems protecting their relatively small coastlines. The US will have it worst cause of our size. We got practically five coast lines to protect. The East coast, the Gulf of Mexico, the West coast, the Alaska coast, the Hawain islands. Each one about the same as the other countries by itself, let alone combine as it were. That is before you taking in the rivers into account. Look up the civil war river navy, a lot of fighting happen on the rivals back then.

So that's a whole lot of coastline to protect, even with the insane amount of ships the US navy had. Odds are very high that we are stretched thin or just have enough to protect ourselves without putting undo strain on the forces. And the thing everyone forgets is that the US military answers to the US Government, mostly answers to the fickle beast that is the US Public. Imagine if the US did send a task force* somewhere and it was the stick that broke the back causing the rotation of sortie, R&R, repeat to breakdown. Which caused a city or a town by the ocean, lords knows we have enough of them, to get shelled and destroyed by Abyssals cause that ships that would have taken slot wasn't there to do. Or worst caused us to evacuate, if we haven't already, the Hawain islands.

The government would literally go recalled EVERYONE, we need to protect ourselves before we can protect anyone else. Cause the public will scream bloody murder if the government seems care about other countries more, when US civilians are drying on our own soil.

Hell depending on how the South American countries are doing we'll be also guarding them. Nobody wants to see if the Abyssals will try a land invasion or risk another...

That is before we open that can of worms that is the fact that these ships fought and sunk one other in one of the worst wars ever. The higher ups are probably afraid of PTSD attacks from certain ships.

*How big of a force would've US send and to who?

Say two task groups to Europe. Each with a carrier and the needed escorts, roughly fifteen ships per carrier. That's over thirty ships there.

Let's say the same for Japan. Now sixty odds ships out. Who else want some United States firepower? Answer, a fucking lot...

It adds up and leaves less to cover all that coastal areas which leads into the above.

Actually this is a very real problem now. If I remember correctly, if more then two of our supercarriers goes down for any reason, say maintance or an accident leading to a lengthy repair, someone's not going to be getting a supercarriers as a guard. I remember reading something to that nature back when we had 11 of the things fully commission, until the Ford gets running fully and commission, we only have ten.

The other admirals should realize this on some level.

That we ain't helping them cause we can't without screwing ourselves over.
 
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Whiskey Golf said:
As a general rule, 1/3 of your force is deployed, 1/3 is working up to deploy, and 1/3 is in refit.

Also I'm quite pleased to have inspired coldly Britishly angry Indestructible.
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Speaking from experience the work up part can and will be shorten or even skipped if needed. This past year my platoon was deployed to Iraq because we were the only radar unit in the Army that was ready eventhru we had just had come back from a nine month deployment to Kuwait in 2013.

And while we can do it again there is a reason why the military stopped during the infamous, 15+ months deploy, twelve back tempo.

We were burning out soldiers left right and center. Hell I was doing twelve hours on the radar and twelve off. My schedule for when I was off? Eat, bath, sleep, sometimes it was reversed but yeah it's hard man. Especially considering our job is mind numbing once we set up since the radars does all the work and we're there to make sure it doesn't fuck up.
 
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Chapter 4
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    • Chapter 4: Sisters II​

    Fubuki's good mood, her joy at seeing Indestructible so happy and carefree, was shattered into so many pieces. She had become quick friends with the British girl, perhaps the only friend that she had in Japan. And it had been great! Fubuki hadn't made a new friend in a very long time, to say the least. But despite the happiness she had seen, and that Indestructible had probably been trying to hide, while the battleship was training...she had also seen the pain. Her new friend hid it well, but she was clearly uncomfortable and feeling hurt by being in Japan. Being summoned by the country that had abandoned her...the little destroyer could only imagine what that felt like. Her friend was stronger than her, to keep going despite that.

    It was why she had told Yuudachi that Hiei couldn't meet her sister yet! Indestructible was clearly not ready. But she should have expected this, and was even now kicking herself over it. Yuudachi was never the best at keeping secrets. And now she had to pick up the pieces of the sister's relationship...somehow. Fubuki wasn't sure how she was going to do that though, not in the least. Her own sisters had never had issues like this, so she couldn't even rely on that experience. But she was the only one who could fix this.

    After all, there wasn't anyone else that Indestructible would trust to talk to her sisters.

    "I'm worried about her," Fubuki bit her lip, "I don't like leaving her behind..."

    In point of fact, she hated leaving Indestructible behind with the shape the battleship had been in. But Fubuki was the only one who could try to mend fences here, so she had to try.

    "Fubuki-chan?" the first of her...targets...to notice her was Kirishima.

    While it was readily apparent that the only visible Hiei sister wasn't in great shape, she seemed to be the best off of them. For what that was worth, when she had removed her glasses in favor of rubbing at her eyes with a tissue. Red rimmed blue eyes, that darted from the little destroyer girl to a shut door behind the battleship.

    "Kirishima-san," Fubuki bowed respectfully, "Are Hiei-san and Haruna-san in that room?"

    "Yes," the battleship replied, eyes narrowing slightly, "I don't think they want to talk to anyone right now."

    "I know," a wince came from the smaller girl, "But I want to. I think I know why Indestructible-san acted like she did."

    "You do?" Kirishima's shoulders lost some of the tension, as she looked more seriously at Fubuki, "How?"

    "I'm her friend!"

    The battleship frowned, "But she's our Onee-sama. By all logic we should...know her bet..."

    Trailing off, Kirishima held a hand to her face. She loved to call herself the 'brains' of her sisters, though it was often jokingly. Even so, she did tend to realize things sooner than her elder sibling.

    "We thought we knew her," Kirishima trailed off, voice soft.

    Fubuki had a sad smile on her face, "She does care about you all a lot! She just wasn't..."

    "Ready. Yes, I think I can see that now," the battleship sighed softly, shaking her head ruefully, "We should have waited. We were just so excited to see our Onee-sama! We were enemies for so long, we thought we could finally...meet her and be together. Hiei onee-san really missed Kon..."

    "Indestructible-san."

    Kirishima's face fell into a sad smile of her own, "Right. Onee-san really thought she would want to be with us, but I guess we just didn't think that through enough. How much did we hurt her...?"

    That was a question that Fubuki wasn't comfortable answering, at least, with only one of the Hiei sisters present. She had a fairly good idea of the answer, of course. She had seen how totally shattered the elder battleship was, and it made her sad to think about it. Indestructible...

    She hates what happened, but...

    "Can I talk to your sisters, Kirishima-san?" Fubuki finally replied.

    A nod answered that question, "Of course, Fubuki-chan. I...think we need to talk to them."

    The elder girl was thoroughly spent, her shoulders slumped as she opened the door. Fubuki didn't feel much better herself, not really. But she still followed after the battleship, determined to talk to all three of the Hiei sisters. Fix whatever damage she could. The last thing the destroyer girl wanted, was to see the sisters torn apart by this. They deserved to be together, like she was with her sisters! If not more so, since none of her siblings had been torn apart for thirty years, before being forced to be enemies.

    With that thought in mind, she carefully maneuvered around the bulk of the battleship in front of her, only to let out a small gasp at what greeted her eyes. Hiei, one of the strongest Japanese battleships, was sitting on a couch, staring at nothing particular. The similarity to the reaction from Indestructible was striking, and not just in the fact they were sisters. Hiei was...she was acting shattered, in the same way her sister was. Not reacting to anything around her, lost in her emotions. The only difference, was that where Indestructible was alone now, Haruna was sitting next to her elder sister, running a hand through her hair.

    Though she looked barely better herself, tears flowing down her face.

    "Fubuki-chan?" even so, the soft-spoken girl looked up when her sister and the destroyer came into the room.

    "Hey, Haruna-san..." the destroyer replied just as softly, "Are you...?"

    "I'm alright," Haruna replied, though the shaking in her voice put paid to her statement, "Haruna is just worried about Onee-san..."

    It was hard to argue that point, when Hiei hadn't made any sign of noticing the conversation going on around her.

    "Indestructible-san didn't mean to be mean," Fubuki said, moving to kneel in front of the sisters, "I think she was just frustrated and upset, not angry."

    Haruna's face formed a weak smile, "I...Haruna understands that. I know Onee-sama wasn't really angry at us, but it still..."

    It still hurt, despite knowing the truth. Fubuki could understand that, though it just made her sadder. Haruna understood why her sister did what she did, but was still this upset? This was quite the situation...

    "I think she was just overwhelmed by everything."

    Kirishima nodded, sitting on the other side of the still unresponsive Hiei, "Yes, Fubuki-chan and I came to an understanding on that subject. We got too excited, Haruna. We got too excited, and didn't stop to think how Onee-sama felt."

    A sad nod came from the other battleship, "It still feels wrong though. Ko...Indestructible onee-sama, she didn't give us a chance to explain..."

    Fubuki shook her head, "Like I told Kirishima-san...she doesn't know what to think, and had a lot dumped on her all at once. Think about it, Haruna-san...how would you feel if you were jumped like that after coming back in a country you don't consider home?"

    That was the real issue at hand here.

    "Haruna...no, I didn't think like that," the battleship girl deflated, her shoulders slumping as she looked with teary eyes at the destroyer, "Is it...is it really that bad?"

    "Yes..."

    Not that Fubuki wanted to admit to that, but it really was. Indestructible-san had never looked particularly comfortable with her situation, discounting her time training. It really didn't surprise her, that having her situation thrown in her face on top of meeting her sisters that she had never seen before...would mess with the girl. It wasn't a surprise at all, though it still left Fubuki stuck trying to pick up the pieces. She had made progress with Kirishima, and Haruna seemed to understand on some level where the sisters had gone wrong. But that still left the biggest problem.

    Hiei, who was making no signs she even noticed the conversation.

    "Onee-san," Kirishima was on the ball though, tugging on Hiei's arm.

    "K...Kirishima?" the eldest sister blinked, before her unfocused and red-rimmed eyes turned to Fubuki, "Fubuki-chan?"
    "Umm...hi, Hiei-san?" Fubuki awkwardly replied, tugging on her skirt as she sat down on the floor, "I wanted to talk to you about Indestructible-san."

    Hiei's shoulders slumped even further than Haruna's, as she practically melted into the couch she was on, "What is there to talk about, Fubuki-chan? I made Onee-sama hate us! I thought everything was going to go back to normal, but she hates us now and doesn't want to talk to us. I thought she would love being together again..."

    The battleship sniffled, rubbing at her nose. Her normally bright blue eyes were dull, as she looked down at her skirt, now clenched by her hands.

    "We should have been happy...not sad."

    "But she doesn't hate you!" Fubuki protested, shaking her head enough to make even her short ponytail sway, "She doesn't hate you at all!"

    "She yelled at us and said that Japan isn't her home," Hiei replied weakly, "Onee-sama probably doesn't even want to see us, and just go home."

    The destroyer stubbornly shook her head again, "That's not true, Hiei-san. Indestructible-san was just overwhelmed. She wasn't ready to see you yet, and you probably should have waited."

    Fubuki couldn't help but wince as she said that, as Hiei shrunk even further in on herself. This wasn't the strong, if eccentric, girl she remembered. Hiei had always been someone to look up to, taking care of her sisters and taking the time to be nice to the younger girls. Sure her cooking was more dangerous than the Abyssals, but that was just one thing! Seeing her like this...

    "But once she's had time to think, I'm sure she'll be happy to talk to you again!" the destroyer girl hastily continued, "I mean, Indestructible-san really wanted to talk to all her sisters. You, and her British sisters!"

    "Right!" Kirishima nodded, "We do have other sisters too, Onee-san!"

    "Other..." instead of looking happy, Hiei rapidly paled, "Our British...sisters..."

    Huh? Have they met before?

    Fubuki blinked slowly, looking between a Kirishima who looked just as confused as herself, and the other two battleships. A pale Hiei, and a Haruna who was once more running a hand through the eldest girl's hair.

    "Did I say something wrong?"

    Haruna shook her head, "No you didn't Fubuki-chan. It's just..."

    "The British sisters," Hiei repeated slowly...her voice soft and totally unlike her usual excitable self.

    "I think I missed something..."

    The only question, was what.

    Far away from Japan, HMS Hood walked with a purpose. Her long, slender legs that were so indicative of a battlecruiser, carried her to her dorms. Various other girls scattered out of her way, having no desire to get run over by the pride of the Royal Navy. Especially when such a serious look was on her face...such an expression was ordinarily reserved for fighting Abyssals. The British girls pitied whoever had earned the ire of Hood, even as they dodged out of the way. Seeing her in this state, made that the logical reaction.

    Though, a few of the more curious or brave girls almost wondered who had done so.

    For her part, Hood wasn't angry. More like frustrated, and quite determined to see the girls who were the closest things she had ever had to sisters. She needed to see them, as soon as possible. Once news spread about Indestructible, it was likely that the Royal Navy would put guards around her sisters, to keep them from going off half-cocked. But they needed to know about their sister. They had to know.

    "Hey Hood," Renown was the first one to not jump out of her way though, as she left the battlecruiser dorm, "Where's the fire?"

    "Are Irresistible and Implacable here?"

    The other battlecruiser blinked at the random question, before looking over her shoulder, "Should be, yeah. Why?"

    "I need to see them."

    Renown shrugged, "Right, well they should be in their room right now."

    With that said, she moved out of the way so that Hood could pass, muttering something about 'wonder why she could need them' under her breath. Hood wasn't in a hurry to explain that. Right now, the only girls who needed to know were the sisters themselves.

    Who, luckily, had a room fairly close to the exit of the dorm building itself.

    "Come in!" Irresistible's voice was the first to sound, as Hood knocked on their door.

    "Irresistible, Implacable," Hood nodded at both girls, as she entered their room.

    The former was sitting on her bed, sprawled out with a book in her lap. An elegant brown eyebrow went up, as the girl swung her legs out to get a better look at Hood. Her shoulder-length brown hair swayed with the movement, red eyes following the famous battlecruiser. Her uniform was crumpled, and stretched taught over her modest bust, as Irresistible stretched her body. The typically crooked smile on her face was nothing new, though she was still watching Hood intently. Irresistible wasn't ordinarily the most serious of British girls, but she could recognize a serious situation when need be. She even brushed at her hair, resetting the hairpin shaped like a star in her hair.

    For her part, Implacable was almost nothing like her elder sibling. Her hair, while not as long as the eldest of her class, was tied back in a ponytail, and dark as night. Her eyes were a bright green, set in a serious face. Her smiles were few and far between, though it wasn't a sign of lack of emotion. Implacable was just a serious girl, reflected in her conservative attire, her uniform probably the closest to any of the British girls to being regulation. Her hands were empty, a painting sitting by her side, where she had clearly placed it after noting Hood's arrival.

    "Hood," the youngest of the Indestructible sisters replied, with a short nod, "Did you need us for something?"

    "Yeah, I thought we weren't going to sortie again until the French got another supply shipment through the Tunnel?" Irresistible added, continuing to quirk her eyebrow up at the younger girl.

    Hood shook her head, her hat keeping her hair from swaying with the motion, "It's not about a sortie. You two...you haven't changed the third bed in here, correct?"

    Irresistible looked somewhat insulted at the idea, "Of course not! That beds Indestructible's, and until our sister gets back, we aren't going to do a bloody thing to it."

    "What if I told you she was back?"

    One could have heard a pin drop, as the two older battlecruisers processed that sentence. Processed it, before the middle sister let out an entirely unproper squeal of joy, and pulled her youngest sister into a tight hug. Stoic Implacable had a small but genuine smile of her own, as she looked over at Hood.

    "Where is she?" her soft voice asked.

    The youngest battlecruiser in the room, if not the world, winced softly, "About that..."

    "Hood?" Irresistible narrowed her eyes, the effect emphasized by their red coloring, "What aren't you telling us, little sister?"

    Technically, Hood was more of a distant cousin if one used her design. That aside, the Indestructible sisters- especially the eldest girl -tended to view the younger battlecruisers as siblings more than cousins. It was a quirk of those girls, and one that made Hood quite happy despite herself. Her own sisters had never been built so...it was nice, having family.

    That being said...

    "She was summoned...in Japan," Hood replied slowly.

    "Ja..." Irresistible, normally talkative to a fault, opened and closed her mouth slowly.

    Implacable took over for her sister, voice hardened from its normal soft tones, "Japan? They are trying to keep her there, am I right?"

    "Yes. The Admiral won't let them keep her, but I...I had to let you know."

    The tough facade Hood put up for the media crumpled, as she sat down next to the closest girls she had to sisters. She felt the same as they did, at the idea of Indestructible- who they all looked up to -being stuck across the world. In a country that had left her behind, and was now trying to steal her out from under her adopted homeland. The idea of Indestructible being stuck in Japan, all alone, made her sick with worry. Especially since Hood knew that she herself couldn't do a damn thing about it.

    She was too vital, for morale and combat, to leave the Atlantic. She was rarely even allowed to sortie far from Britain herself, and even then, only under heavy escort that may or may not include her close friend Bismarck. So the only way to make sure that Indestructible got back safe...

    "We have to get her back."

    ...was to go to her sisters, Irresistible already living up to her namesake. Anyone who got in her way, was going to find out just how stubborn someone with that name could be.

    "Yes," Implacable nodded along with her elder sister, smoothing out her skirt as she got to her feet, "The Admiral won't try to stop us."

    Hood just smiled sadly, "Make sure you bring her back, you hear? I still need to...talk to her again. I never got the chance to say thank you, for taking me in."

    The famous battlecruiser had sunk before the girl who was her mentor and elder sister-figure. And she had been the first British girl to return, spending so much time waiting for Indestructible. Only now...she couldn't go to the elder girl. Couldn't go help her, and make sure she got home safe. That was up to her sisters.

    "Don't worry, little sister," Irresistible's cocky grin was back in full force, "We will get her back. Come hell or high water, the Japanese aren't keeping our sister away from us. Even if we have to drag her out of there."

    "It would not be the first time, we have had to fight the Japanese surface fleet," Implacable nodded, a distant look in her green eyes, as she remembered events long past.

    "Try to do it without fighting," Hood couldn't help a small smile crossing her face. A fond smile, as she watched the other girls leave the room.

    "No promises!~"

    With that parting shot, the two girls left to set sail for Japan. Hood knew she would be seeing a lot of paperwork over this, and almost pitied how her Admiral would have to juggle assets around to cover for the missing girls. All the same though...

    She was much more happy, than worried. Indestructible was going to come home, no matter what it took.

    The girl in question looked up, rubbing at her eyes as there was a knock on Fubuki's door. Stumbling to her feet, Indestructible tried in vain to smooth out her uniform, as she walked over to exit the room. Upon opening the door, she came face to face with the Admiral...Admiral Takeda, if she remembered her question to Jintsuu correctly. The Admiral looked exhausted, though there was still a hint of worry in his eyes, as he looked up and down her body. Worry, but nothing else, as he stepped aside, to let her out of the room.

    "Are you alright, Indestructible-san?" the older man asked, as they walked away from the room, "Has something happened?"

    Remembering his promise to punish any girls who did anything to her, Indestructible shook her head. A weak smile crossed her face, though it didn't reach her brown eyes.

    "No, nothing you need to worry about, Admiral," the battleship looked up at the man who, if nothing else, had never done anything to hurt her, "I...just met my sisters."

    Takeda winced softly, "I see. I can only assume they made fools of themselves?"

    "I..."

    "There is no need to lie," the Admiral had a ghost of a smile on his face, "I am very familiar with Hiei and her siblings. I can only imagine they probably said something they shouldn't have. Those girls are kind and I doubt they've ever intentionally hurt anyone not an Abyssal. But they don't have a filter on what they say, and sometimes, that has caused more problems than I would like. I'm sure they didn't mean whatever they said."

    Indestructible sighed softly, "I may have overreacted myself. I...doubt they look much better than I do. Is it alright if I go see them?"

    "Soon," Takeda nodded, "Soon. First, I believe you wanted to talk with London?"

    The battleship perked up slightly at that, looking over at the Admiral, "You can do that?"

    "Modern technology."

    "Right."

    Still unused to the idea of modern technologies capabilities, Indestructible followed the Japanese man into a large room. There was an equally large, in proportion, pane of glass set up towards the end of the room. Or, what looked to the British battleship like a pane of glass. Her eyes widened, when the 'glass' took on color, showing some sort of spinning circle. Turning her brown eyes on the Admiral, she saw a more genuine smile as he moved to sit in front of the glass. Indestructible followed, casting her gaze between the spinning circle, and the Admiral. Takeda looked like he was used to her reaction, and really, he might well be. Any girl who came back wouldn't have context on modern technology.

    If this was what he meant, that just doubled the situation.

    It was impressive though, as the glass changed colors again, showing a meeting room. And a single man, who had the battleship jumping to her feet. The man on the other side of the glass smiled in amusement, as he waved a hand.

    "At ease, Indestructible," the Admiral's familiar British accent was music to her ears, "It is good to see you, I won't lie. We were worried something was wrong, when we couldn't summon you."

    "Admiral..." Indestructible replied softly, "Are my sisters...?"

    The man's smile widened at that question, "Perfectly fine. Hood should have told them by now...that you're back."

    "Hood as well?" the British girl couldn't help her own smile, sagging in relief that her sisters- both blood and adopted -were okay.

    "Yes. In fact, I believe your sisters are probably on their way to you now. I wouldn't be surprised if they rope Invincible in as well."

    Before Indestructible could reply to that, Takeda coughed lightly, "I see you weren't able to stop them?"

    "As I said before, Admiral Takeda, I won't even try."

    Indestructible didn't pay as much mind to that as she might normally have. Her mind was focused on the thought of her sisters coming to her. Her sisters, who for all she knew had never met Hiei and her sisters, either. Indestructible wasn't sure how to feel about that...but she knew one thing. If nothing else, she was going to look forward to her sisters return. To having the entire family, together at last. She felt guilty over how she had treated Hiei, Haruna and Kirishima, and intended to make up for that as soon as she could.

    Having Irresistible and Implacable on their way would make that much easier. She could have the entire family, all her blood sisters, together. If anything would help mend fences, that would do it.

    "That being said, there is something you need to know, Indestructible."

    Looking up at her name, the British girl felt herself pale slightly, at the serious look both Admirals were sending her.

    What...what are they talking about?

    "Admiral...?"
     
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    • Probably off the Malayan coast. In OTL, PoW and Repulse were within 6nm from Chokai, which was acting in support of Kongo during the night before the two British capital ships were sunk.
     
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    Sounds like there is some bad blood in rge water.
     
    There's a logical knot I feel I have to raise about the delays that lead to Kongou becoming Indestructible. OTL, IJN Kongou was launched sixteen months after her keel being laid, and completed after thirty-one months. Hiei was laid ten months later, launched in twelve-and-a-half months, and her total time to completion was thirty-three months exactly. (A little under a year after Kongou.)

    So with Hiei as baseline, and the same design, how does Vickers screw things up so badly? A shipyard cannot afford to have its docks and slips tied up for so long, not only because they have other ships to build, but because it can ruin their reputation. She was likely launched as Kongou without too much delay, and the majority of the delay must have been after.

    I can only think that it must have been political, with some bribery thrown into the mix. After her sale to the RN, those delays would have, must have, simply evaporated. In other words, Japan was bilked out of a battlecruiser.

    Proving it then would have been unfeasable and distasteful for Japan. Proving it now, or at least arguing the logic to Indestructible? Well...
     
    Having Irresistible and Implacable on their way would make that much easier. She could have the entire family, all her blood sisters, together. If anything would help mend fences, that would do it.
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    Oh Indy... it seems you just fell into the same trap as Hiei.

    This can only end in (more) tears.

    P.S. Also, I take it that Irresistible and Implacable were never retrofitted as battleships during their service life?
     
    My, what kind of havoc Irresistible and Implacable had unleashed, i do hope the battles are AU enough to change the war on the British side. Oh sure the Americans would had their glory.
     
    cswvna said:
    There's a logical knot I feel I have to raise about the delays that lead to Kongou becoming Indestructible. OTL, IJN Kongou was launched sixteen months after her keel being laid, and completed after thirty-one months. Hiei was laid ten months later, launched in twelve-and-a-half months, and her total time to completion was thirty-three months exactly. (A little under a year after Kongou.)

    So with Hiei as baseline, and the same design, how does Vickers screw things up so badly? A shipyard cannot afford to have its docks and slips tied up for so long, not only because they have other ships to build, but because it can ruin their reputation. ...
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    Well, googling the 1910s in Great Britain reveal that the 1910-1914 period was filled with political unrest and strikes (google: The Great Unrest). I can easily imagine the shipyards being hit by a major strike.
     
    cswvna said:
    There's a logical knot I feel I have to raise about the delays that lead to Kongou becoming Indestructible. OTL, IJN Kongou was launched sixteen months after her keel being laid, and completed after thirty-one months. Hiei was laid ten months later, launched in twelve-and-a-half months, and her total time to completion was thirty-three months exactly. (A little under a year after Kongou.)

    So with Hiei as baseline, and the same design, how does Vickers screw things up so badly? A shipyard cannot afford to have its docks and slips tied up for so long, not only because they have other ships to build, but because it can ruin their reputation. She was likely launched as Kongou without too much delay, and the majority of the delay must have been after.

    I can only think that it must have been political, with some bribery thrown into the mix. After her sale to the RN, those delays would have, must have, simply evaporated. In other words, Japan was bilked out of a battlecruiser.

    Proving it then would have been unfeasable and distasteful for Japan. Proving it now, or at least arguing the logic to Indestructible? Well...
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    The Japanese have already changed the original design from 12" to 14" guns with Kongou; perhaps you could have them hear about the 15" guns on the Queen Elizabeths and demand another redesign. They assume that this can be done quickly as the change from 12" to 14" didn't delay construction (thanks to how early the change was made and due to some herculean efforts from the drafting teams) but, of course, it can't as Kongo's nearly ready for launching or possibly has even been launched.

    To be honest, changing Kongou to 15" is the only way I can imagine her getting any sister ships or being kept on post Washington/London. 14" is an oddball calibre for the Royal Navy of the time that only makes sense for a wartime emergency or a purchase to keep a vessel out of problematical hands (such as the purchase that gave the RN a pair of 10" pre-dreadnoughts at the time of the Russo-Japanese War.)

    Actually, if Kongou was bought into the Royal Navy I can see her ending up in Chilean hands post-war as a substitute for Eagle/Almirante Cochrane. The Chileans said they'd complete the purchase of Eagle if she was converted back to a battleship - as a 14" gun vessel Kongo's a decent substitute and Britain could do with the currency or debt forgiveness involved.

    As for her sisters, Kongou/Invincible would be an extra but to get them you'd probably have to replace two other vessels as the RN wouldn't be getting any more money. Depending on the time frame either Malaya and a Revenge (possible), two of the Revenge class (improbable) or Renown and Repulse (likely - the DNC can just use Kongou/Indestructible's drawings rather than having to hastily draft a new design when Fisher revives the Royal Navy's interest in battlecruisers in 1914 - which otl had died with the 1911-12 program that produced Tiger.)

    Of course, with the above, Kongou probably becomes only a half-sister to Hiei, not a full sister; I would imagine the Japanese would see sense with Kongou's delay and complete their three with the original 14" guns (particularly as the 14" mountings and barrels would already have been under construction - they're the items with the longest lead time of anything in battleship construction.)

    -------------------------------------

    Anyway, please don't take any of the above as criticism - I'm really enjoying the story and eagerly awaiting updates as it is.
     
    Firefinder12-B said:
    That we ain't helping them cause we can't without screwing ourselves over.
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    Well, the problem with that scenario is that the US is as far as I am aware actually bound by treaty to protect Japan in case of war. So if Japan calls upon them because they can't defend themselves the US actually will have to send a relief force.

    Furthermore, it's pretty much impossible to defend the whole coastline of the US anyway, especially now that the US Navy will be operating from the position of the inferior navy. The abyss has them beat when it comes to ships and planes and as far as I can tell they show no signs of running out of either.

    If the US has shipgirls, they will likely focus on defending key areas and military harbors from whence they sortie their shipgirls to try and head off abyssal incursions. If they don't have shipgirls, the US better hope it can produce high-tech ships capable of fighting the abyss faster than the abyss can sink them. Also, if the US has shipgirls, it can more easily justify stationing them in Japan, they're there to help with convoy escort duty that keeps an allied nation from starving to death or getting bombed into the ground by the abyss. If they don't have shipgirls it's easier to explain not sending a relief force with the simple statement that sending ships out on the sea is too likely to see the loss of the whole taskforce before it ever gets near Japan.

    The abyssal war likely saw most of their surface and submarine assets sunk, especially the aircraft carriers. The only thing the US can take home as consolation is that other navies will likely not have carriers left, either. Or much of any type of ship, really.

    If what I think is true, then you can only get a shipgirl once in this world. Once sunk they're lost forever. The US Admirality gains precisely nothing by ignoring an allied nation that has a sizeable navy they will very likely not want to miss if they ever get to the point of doing counterstrikes and working on regaining the seas.

    Furthermore, by virtue of cutting all sea trade alone we're likely already looking at a tremendous humanitarian catastrophe, especially in the developing countries. And that's without factoring attacks on harbors in. The death toll is at the lowest estimation already eclipsing WW II.

    I'm sorry, but I can't see the US public and government going and saying "Let everyone else perish, so we are safe!" It would mean that the US turns its back on a world that's currently at war with an enemy they neither understand nor can they predict them. They'd abandon old allies in a global conflict that won't care one bit about their desire to not be part of it. Like it or not, the US is already at war and they will have to look out for their allies so they don't see them dying and taking a sizeable fleet with them. And, the abyss will attack the US, too. Mercilessly and ruthlessly. The US will face considerable losses, no matter if they try in vain to protect a gargantuan coastline or not. The US will have to learn something from the Russians. Namely how to take horrifying losses that see cities razed and still keep fighting. Protecting the US and the US alone will not see a victory for the US, merely a dragged out, brutal and bloody defeat.
     
    Shaithan said:
    The abyss has them beat when it comes to ships and planes
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    Wait, do you mean qualitatively?

    submarine assets sunk
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    Depends on the technological level of the Abyssals. Do they have detection capabilities equal or superior to those of modern navies?

    The US will have to learn something from the Russians. Namely how to take horrifying losses that see cities razed and still keep fighting. Protecting the US and the US alone will not see a victory for the US, merely a dragged out, brutal and bloody defeat.
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    Speaking of which, I just realized that Russia, in turn, would have to learn to wage naval war on separate theaters at the same time, considering how its navy is split between four different regions that are all geographically distant from each other.

    But that's not really relevant here, considering that this is a story about a misplaced British shipgirl in Japan (so far).
     
    SV5195R said:
    Wait, do you mean qualitatively?
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    Abyssal ships may not have them beat by quality, but they can be spammed. The abyss needs to be lucky once.
    SV5195R said:
    Depends on the technological level of the Abyssals. Do they have detection capabilities equal or superior to those of modern navies?
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    Well, the Abyss has magical abyssal bullshit, so it may or may not be that they can find the subs out on the seas. And well, they can't be out indefinitely and in harbor they're sitting targets.
    SV5195R said:
    Speaking of which, I just realized that Russia, in turn, would have to learn to wage naval war on separate theaters at the same time, considering how its navy is split between four different regions that are all geographically distant from each other.
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    Yeah, Russia has a lot of fun~. 5 seas to contend with. Arctic Ocean, Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Caspian Sea and the Pacific. I'm not convinced that the Abyss has no presence on the Caspian Sea. They'll definitely need American Know-how there.

    And yes, we need to focus on Indestructible and her family drama.
     
    Speaking of Russia, that country is traditionally a land power with vast resources and industrial output. Having Abyssal wrecking havoc on the coastal area is unfortunate, but its continental trade should be relatively unaffected.

    TBH, I don't think Japanese situation is too dire even if they're an island nation. Surely they have a strong force of ship girls to keep supply lines between home islands, Korean peninsular and Vladivostok open. Geographically, Sea of Japan is practically their own backyard with restrictive access from the Pacific with Sakhalin and Japan itself as the barriers. It makes me worry how they're going to sortie far out if they can't even secure that patch of sea.

    Same goes to the English Channel, North Sea, Baltic Sea and the Meds. These are area with supposedly strong WW2 navies.

    And don't start with China. While it has no ship in ww2 to be summoned as ship girls, its industrial capacity is not a thing to be laugh at, unless CPC is being deliberately obtuse and refuse to help Japan for whatever the reason is.

    Nevertheless, MOAR!!!!
     
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    Please.... China? Helping Japan?
    I dont think, even in mankinds dark times that the CPC will even aid japan.

    Hell. They're might be the one that needed help and will take aid from anyone except from japan.
     
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