History Fanfic / TheGreatestGeneration

* GreyAndGrayMorality: Various pieces of Word of God, including but not limited to [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/18449230/ this one]], have declared that this was the intent. Good guys have flaws and shortsightedness, while the devil is not so black as he is painted. Is it working? Well, discussions have been... intense. [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment We'll leave it as an exercise to the individual reader.]]

* RefugeInAudacity: In chapter 3, Tenryuu's last ditch effort to keep the Akatsuki siblings out of trouble is basically this [[spoiler:involving faking an attack on Yvonne, smashing a tablet full of classified data over Nagato's head so hard it broke in order to conceal the fact that the Akatsuki sisters stole it, taking down three battleships before being stopped, and firmly placing all blame on herself. The only reason it wasn't completely successful is that the girls own up to the truth afterwards. Fortunately, Yvonne is so impressed by her pulling it off that she steps in on their behalf. Cue CrowningMomentOfAwesome]]

** There's also the fact that compared to US Navy ships, IJN ships had ineffective and inferior antiaircraft guns, mounts, and outfits; for example, ''Enterprise'' in her final configuration carried more effective AA guns than all the ''Shiratsuyu''-class, and all three class variants of the ''Fubuki''-class destroyers. ''Combined.'' [[note]]While the Japanese [[=127mm/50=]] gun in Models B and D of the Type 3 twin mount was theoretically a dual-purpose gun, in practice it was ineffective in the AA role due to a host of issues, the most damning of which was the need to de-elevate the guns in order to reload, which reduced the effective [=ROF=] when the gun was being used in an AA role. The American [[=5"/38=]] DP gun was significantly more successful as a weapon.[[/note]] American ships could regularly fight off and weather air attacks that would have overwhelmed British and Japanese ships, and Yvonne's not realizing the difference may have coloured her expectations and perceptions.

** [[spoiler:Yvonne claims that her old Commanding Officer told her "Hit hard, hit fast, hit often". The quote is attributed to William Halsey, Jr., who commanded a special task group during WW2 centering on the ''Enterprise''.]]

** There's also the fact that compared to US Navy ships, IJN ships had ineffective and inferior antiaircraft guns, mounts, and outfits; for example, ''Enterprise'' in her final configuration carried more effective AA guns than all the''Shiratsuyu''-class, and all three class variants of the ''Fubuki''-class destroyers. ''Combined.'' [[note]]While the Japanese Type-3 127mm gun was theoretically a dual-purpose gun, in practice it was ineffective in the AA role due to a host of issues. The American [[=5"/38=]] DP gun was significantly more successful as a weapon.[[/note]] American ships could regularly fight off and weather air attacks that would have overwhelmed British and Japanese ships, and Yvonne's not realizing the difference may have coloured her expectations and perceptions.

* ArmchairMilitary: Invoked by Kaga in chapter 4.

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: In a span of one day, after having a military-issue laptop hacked by Yubari, the [=DesDiv=] Six girls proceed to look up on the topics of the [[spoiler:Rape of Nanking]], the [[spoiler:Holocaust]], and [[spoiler:'making love']] (with the help of Tenryuu in the latter two cases).

** A later chapter [[spoiler:recounts her having imagined a worst-case scenario of her not watching her diet, turning her into a big, ugly, and fat monstrous version of herself that gets killed in one hit by an Abyssal torpedo.]]

* BigSecret: Chapter 5 mentions that Yvonne and Dakota seem to be hiding something. [[spoiler:Chapter 6 reveals that the former is the USS ''Enterprise''. Later chapters reveal that Dakota is the USS ''South Dakota'' and there there are other US shipgirls]].

* BreakTheCutie: The [=DesDiv=] Six girls do this ''to themselves'', [[spoiler: by researching Imperial Japanese war crimes]] in Chapter 7, except for Hibiki.

* CompositeCharacter: Yvonne Swanson is [[spoiler: essentially, a composite of '' [[Fanfic/PacificWorldWarIIUsNavyShipgirls Pacific's]] '' Pre-refit Enterprise and her semi-official remodeled version, if not an outright {{expy}} ]].

* DirtyBusiness: [[spoiler:Yvonne and the other American ship girls hate having to conceal their true natures, but it was a direct order from their superiors.]]

* EmptyQuiver: A number of US Navy warships carrying nuclear weapons were sunk by Abyssals, and the Navy is ''very'' concerned about the possibility of its nukes being stolen by Abyssals or human factions. [[spoiler: Thresher is on assignment to survey the wrecks and ascertain the status of the nuclear weapons]].
* EtTuBrute: In chapter 8 [[spoiler:Yvonne expresses her fear that Yamato will take the concealment of her true identity as a betrayal of trust.]]
* EveryoneHasStandards: Dakota may be an incorrigible prankster, but in chapter ten there's a moment where even she realises she might have said the wrong thing.

* {{Farce}}: Chapter ten is a series of misunderstandings that lead to Musashi having the impression that [[spoiler:Yvonne is trying to seduce Yamato.]]

** [[spoiler: Enterprise]] has one after going through a nightmare of her turning into a fat, huge version of herself.

** Attempting Doolittle's raid, albeit with little success.

** Then in an interlude, Yvonne accidentally recreated Midway...with a durian.
* HoneyTrap: [[spoiler:As the American Joint Chiefs are trying to figure out how to keep Yamato from blowing the cover on their ship girls, one of them casually suggests Enterprise should try and see if [[GirlsLove she swings that way.]]]]

* IntrepidReporter: Mildred Marshall, who managed to get herself embedded with Yvonne's crew after essentially blackmailing Briggs and other relevant [=USN=] personnel with some rather juicy info that she had come in possession of. [[spoiler: Said juicy info is that she knows that Yvonne is the Enterprise. How does she know that? She's also a shipgirl, the North Carolina-class battleship USS ''Washington'' to be exact. Not only that, she was the very first ship girl that the US Navy summoned when they first tested the summoning process.]]

** [[spoiler:Dakota's full name would be another one. The "Leigh Gatch" part refers to Captain [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Leigh_Gatch Thomas Leigh Gatch]].]]

* MythologyGag: In ''Interlude - Schadenfreude'', "What do you take me for, some kind of gluttonous fiend?"

* RageBreakingPoint: In chapter ten, a seemingly neverending series of misunderstandings test Yvonne's patience until she releases a PrecisionFStrike and [[spoiler:lays out Musashi with a single punch.]]
* RealWomenNeverWearDresses: In chapter ten, Tenryuu believes InUniverse that being caught in a fancy cocktail dress will ruin the {{Badass}} image she's been trying to build.

** The CNN-style news interludes mention the reactivated USS ''Missouri'' being put under the command of [[Film/{{Battleship}} Captain Alex Hopper]].
** The US President is [[Series/TheWestWing Bartlett]].
** The names of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff are a veritable fusillade of these:
*** [[Series/TheWestWing Alexander]] (Vice Chairman)
*** [[Franchise/{{Stargate}} O'Neill]] (Air Force)
*** [[Film/TheRock Hummel]] (Marine Corps)
*** [[VideoGame/ModernWarfare Shepard]] (Army)
*** [[VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps2 Briggs]] (Navy)
*** [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Ross]] (National Guard)

* StevenUlyssesPerhero: [[spoiler:While Yvonne and Dakota's cover names are somewhat reasonable with well thought out etymology, that can't be said of San(dy) Diego.]]
* TemptingFate: An unrelenting string of '[[WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong How bad could it be?]]' from the [=DesDiv=] Six girls in chapter 7.
* ThatCameOutWrong:
** Tenryuu goes beet red in ''Interlude - Schadenfreude'' after a certain awkward phrase.
** General Ross's reaction in chapter 8 when he realises that he sounded like he wanted to [[spoiler:have Yamato "silenced".]]

* WeightWoe: Interlude after chapter 7 reveals that Yvonne develops this after a particularly bad nightmare.

* WhatTheHellHero: In chapter 8 Yvonne lays into Dakota for [[spoiler:her unauthorised spilling the beans about the US ship girl programme to Yamato]].
* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Hibiki, very much so. ''No one'' noticed this until Tenryuu finally noticed it in the aftermath of the internet incident, noting that Hibiki probably had seen a LOT of things as Verniy.

** In Chapter 8, Yamato gets a full explanation from Yvonne as to why the US Navy doesn't have a ship girl fleet, as much as the latter knows. [[spoiler:That's only the official statement. In actuality, it does have a ship girl fleet, but the number of girls they have can be counted with two hands. Yvonne herself is the ''Enterprise'', for example. During her explanation, we get a flashback to when she was first summoned. The Navy personnel that first speaks with her asks if anyone came back with her, and when she replies in the negative, he starts listing off a bunch of ships that they tried to summon and failed. Among one of these failed summoning attempts was for USS ''Washington''.]] In Chapter 10, a reporter by the name of Mildred Marshall shanghais her way into Yvonne's posse, serving as her public relations specialist. [[spoiler:You thought they failed to summon ''Washington''? Think again. Mildred ''is'' the ''Washington''. The only reason why the ship girls and those in the ship girl program thought it failed was because the [=CIA=] managed to spirit her away without anyone knowing, and is currently a [=CIA=] spook with a reporter cover identity.]]

* TheConspiracy: [[spoiler:The USN ''does'' have a ship girl division, and it's being kept secret. In Chapter 8, after Yamato ends up seeing Yvonne as Enterprise when the latter was forced to break cover to save her, Yamato is fully briefed by Yvonne and Dakota about the USN ship girl fleet, and exactly why it's being kept secret to the best of their knowledge, as none of the those in the need-to-know, nor even the heads of the program, know that not only are the Abyssals ''actively'' blocking their summoning attempts and stealing their girls, the Abyssal behind the plot to revive as many USN ship girls into Abyssals as possible is frickin USS ''Arizona''!]]

** Chapter 8 introduces the USS ''Independence'', [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Independence_(LCS-2) lead ship]] of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence-class_littoral_combat_ship her class]] of littoral combat ships. [[spoiler:She was heavily modified to serve as a support ship for the US Navy's ship girl fleet. There's also USS ''Detroit'', another Littoral Combat Ship outfitted as a shipgirl tender, supporting Thresher's mission]].

** There's also the fact that compared to US Navy ships, IJN ships had ineffective and inferior antiaircraft guns, mounts, and outfits; for example, ''Enterprise'' in her final configuration carried more effective AA guns than all of ''Fubuki'', ''Akatsuki'' and ''Shiratsuyu''-class destroyers. ''Combined.'' [[note]]While the Japanese Type-3 127mm gun was theoretically a dual-purpose gun, in practice it was ineffective in the AA role due to a host of issues. The American 5" DP gun was significantly more successful as a weapon.[[/note]] American ships could regularly fight off and weather air attacks that would have overwhelmed British and Japanese ships, and Yvonne's not realising the difference may have coloured her expectations and perceptions.
* KingIncognito: [[spoiler:All the known American shipgirls thus far are all covertly working in various US Navy departments. Enterprise (Yvonne) works in Office of Naval Intelligence, South Dakota (Dakota) works in Advanced Naval Weapon R&D Divison (aka the US Shipgirl division), O'Bannon works in Naval Construction Force on logistics, San Diego is helping with Kitty Hawk reactivation, then got roped into being a diva, and Thresher is working on trying to locate all the missing nuclear weapons. The sole exception would be Washington, who is a reporter with [=CNN=], and managed to get herself embedded with Enterprise and her crew.]].

** [[spoiler:Washington's cover name is another one. Her cover name's surname (Marshall) is a reference to the person who christened her historical counterpart, Virginia Marshall.]]

** In chapter 8 Dakota's attempt to [[spoiler:help Yvonne break the existence of the American ship girl programme to Yamato only creates more problems.]] It's apparently a bad habit of hers.
--> She may have always had good intentions, but sometimes good intentions weren't enough.

** In chapter 9, it's noted that the severe losses the US took have changed the geopolitical situation. Getting the World War II fleet back would swing things back in their favour, but failing to do so would only worsen their image further. [[spoiler:And that's why they're suppressing the failure of the programme.]]

* TheReveal: Chapter 6 has one in the form of [[spoiler: Yvonne's true identity being none other than that of USS ''Enterprise'' CV-6, aka "The Grey Ghost".]] And since cat's out of the bag after that, the interlude after chapter 7 casually reveals [[spoiler:2 more US shipgirls: [=USSs=] ''San Diego'' and ''O'Bannon'']].
* RightHandVersusLeftHand: [[spoiler:The heads of the [=USN=] ship girl program, those with the need-to-know, and even the American ship girls themselves are unaware that is an additional ship girl unaccounted for. Specifically, [=USS=] ''Washington'', who was not only the first American ship girl successfully summoned, but was instantly spirited away by the [=CIA=] and is currently working as a spook, with her cover being that of Mildred Marshall, [=CNN=] military reporter. The Navy, during all this time, continue to think that they failed in their summoning of Washington.]]

Due to work-related stress-induced CreatorBreakdown, the original authour sasahara17 has decided to [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/kantai-collection-the-greatest-generation.336029/page-108#post-19628198 hand the project over]] to a committee of willing authors; the restarted story is found in the links above.

* UnreliableNarrator: Based on [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/18449230/ this piece of Word of God]] (beware spoilers), the first act was supposed to hint that Yvonne's perspective was not infallible. How well it worked is left as an exercise to the reader.

** Admiral Shimada's assertion at the start of the rewritten chapter 6 that he doesn't trust intelligence officers because they don't appreciate the situation, unlike line officers, sounds like standard assholeish stereotyping born of InterserviceRivalry. Then Yvonne proves him absolutely right by "[[GotVolunteered volunteering]]" his ship girls to act as TheBait, something that could have easily cost them all their lives, without so much as a by-your-leave, before having the nerve to be surprised when he gets angry about it.

* JerkassHasAPoint: The way Admiral Shimada delivered his assertion left much to be desired, but the fact was that he had already sortied his full, optimal condition fleet the first time around and was beaten down to five effectives to little effect! No reasonable person can deny that sending five already fatigued and damaged kanmusu against [[spoiler:a second Abyssal carrier task force]] is the definition of SuicideMission and TooDumbToLive, a SenselessSacrifice that would barely inconvenience the attacker, much less distract them from the refugees. After all, the general track record of surface combatants without air cover against air power is less than stellar. Just ask Repulse and Prince of Wales about how they sunk. Or Yamato about a little thing called Ten-Go.

* WeHaveReserves: The Abyssals have always had seemingly endless numbers to throw at mankind. Best demonstrated in chapter 6, where [[spoiler:the Abyssal Ringleader uses two carrier task forces with a total of ''seventeen carriers'' and a surface combat group to attack Okinawa and ambush the ship girls stationed there.]]

** Yvonne's reaction in Chapter 6 when she realises that [[spoiler:the planes approaching Yamato aren't from friendlies.]]

* HistoryRepeats: In chapter 5, Yvonne realises that the Abyssals have been consciously and deliberately recreating WW2 incidents. Examples include:
** Re-enacting the Japanese sinking of the [=HMS=] ''Prince of Wales'' and ''Repulse'' with a pair of unlucky Singaporean Navy ''Formidable''-class frigates standing in for those two larger warships.

** A big one in chapter 5: [[spoiler: Attempting to sink Bismarck in the exact same manner and at the exact same location as her namesake. When Hood intervenes and saves Bismarck, an Abyssal super-sub, taking a page out of the playbook of [=USS=] "Hit 'em again" ''Harder'', plows through several of Hood's escorts while no-selling their depth charges, and re-enacts the historical Bismarck's deck-penetrating magazine-detonating shot that sunk the historical Hood by '''JUMPING OUT OF THE WATER AND LAUNCHING A TORPEDO AT HOOD'S FACE, BLOWING HER HEAD CLEAN OFF'''. ]] This alone causes Yvonne to realize that the repeats/re-enactments were happening in the first place, and causes her to go back and get info on ALL of the previous incidents.

* TheConspiracy: [[spoiler:The USN ''does'' have a ship girl division, and it's being kept secret. In Chapter 8, after Yamato ends up seeing Yvonne as Enterprise when the latter was forced to break cover to save her, Yamato is fully briefed by Yvonne and Dakota about the USN ship girl fleet, and exactly why it's being kept secret to the best of their knowledge, as none of the those in the need-to-know, nor even the heads of the program, know that the Abyssals are ''actively'' blocking their summoning attempts and stealing their girls.]]

* RightHandVersusLeftHand: [[The heads of the [=USN=] ship girl program, those with the need-to-know, and even the American ship girls themselves are unaware that is an additional ship girl unaccounted for. Specifically, [=USS=] ''Washington'', who was not only the first American ship girl successfully summoned, but was instantly spirited away by the [=CIA=] and is currently working as a spook, with her cover being that of Mildred Marshall, [=CNN=] military reporter. The Navy, during all this time, continue to think that they failed in their summoning of Washington.]]

** [[spoiler:Kongou correctly guessing that Yvonne is a ship girl, but guesses the wrong ship (She guessed the ''Iowa'', and promptly reminds herself that the ''Iowa'' is still moored at the Port of Los Angeles as a museum ship). However, she ''then'' corrects herself about how she must be a "flat-deck carrier," and is about to correctly guess Enterprise, but gets cut off.]]

* TheConspiracy: [[spoiler:The USN ''does'' have a ship girl division, and it's being kept secret. In Chapter 8, Yamato is fully briefed by Yvonne and Dakota about the USN ship girl fleet, and exactly why it's being kept secret.]]

* MagneticWeapons: Railguns are equipped on the Zumwalts and the Mirais. They are effective against the Abyssals, but tend to overheat.

Currently the story can be found [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/kantai-collection-the-greatest-generation.336029/ here on Space Battles]], with discussion threads on [[http://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/kantai-collection-the-greatest-generation.17091 here on Sufficient Velocity]].

Due to work-related stress-induced CreatorBreakdown, sasahara17 has decided to delete the fanfic from Website/FanFictionDotNet and [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/kantai-collection-the-greatest-generation.336029/page-108#post-19628198 hand the project over]] to Shaithan, vren55, Sheo Darren, and kct. Time will tell how the story will continue.

* WrongGenreSavvy: Similar to [[Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann Rossiu]], Admiral Shimada's mistake was doing the realistic, tactically sound thing of retreating his beleaguered force rather than staying the course and believing that Yvonne's MillionToOneChance hope of [[spoiler:the Abyssals Failing enough Spot Checks to let Yamato sneak up on them]] would actually come to pass.

* BritsWithBattleships: The Royal Navy has experienced a revival with many successful summonings.

* KaijuDefenseForce: The Japan Maritime Self Defense Force is leading the way against the Abyssals, since Japan was the first nation where shipgirls were summoned. The JMSDF itself has essentially taken over most of Yokosuka Naval Base, which the US Navy has more or less ceded to them.
** KatanasOfTheRisingSun: All shipgirls are, obviously, reincarnations of the wartime Imperial Japanese Navy's ships, and still retain some memory of the war (though the exact nature and strength of the memory varies).

* YanksWithTanks: The US Navy took a massive beating in the early days of the war, with both Pearl Harbor and Norfolk attacked by Abyssals, and the loss of nearly the entire fleet. [[note]]Nine out of eleven carriers, 70 surface warships, and almost the entire submarine fleet. [[http://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/kantai-collection-the-greatest-generation.17091/page-3#post-3303253 Analysis here]].[[/note]] That said, the US is still contributing to the war effort with the US Air Force, who've taken up the antishipping mission formerly held by the US Navy.
** [[spoiler: And now as of Chapter 6 it turns out the US Navy ''does'' have a shipgirl of its own in the form of ''Enterprise'', aka Yvonne Swanson. Immediately followed by the appearances of two more US ship girls in O'Bannon and San Diego. Chapter 7 confirms that Yvonne's friend Dakota Leigh Gatch is actually the battleship South Dakota.]]

* TheConspiracy: [[spoiler:The USN ''does'' have a ship girl division, and it's being kept secret for potentially game-changing reasons.]]

* CompositeCharacter: Yvonne Swanson is [[spoiler: essentially, a composite of '' [[Fanfic/PacificWorldWarIIUsNavyShipgirls Pacific's]] '' Pre-refit Enterprise and her semi-official remodeled version ]].

* CompositeCharacter: Yvonne Swanson is [[spoiler: essentially, a composite of [[Fanfic/PacificWorldWarIIUsNavyShipgirls Pre-refit Enterprise and her semi-official remodeled version]] ]].

* BritsWithBattleships: The Royal Navy has experienced a revival with many successful summonings

* GreyAndGrayMorality: Various pieces of Word of God, including but not limited to [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/18449230/ this one]], have declared that this was the intent. Good guys have flaws and shortsightedness, while the devil is not so black as he is painted. Is it working? Well, discussions have been... intense. [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement We'll leave it as an exercise to the individual reader.]]

Due to creative difference with some forumgoers and work-related stress-induced CreatorBreakdown, sasahara17 has decided to delete the fanfic from Website/FanFictionDotNet and [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/kantai-collection-the-greatest-generation.336029/page-108#post-19628198 hand the project over]] to Shaithan, vren55, Sheo Darren, and kct. Time will tell how the story will continue.

* TheConspiracy: [[spoiler:The USN ''does'' have a ship girl division, and it's being kept secret.]]