LAST EDITED ON Dec-30-17 AT 07:33 PM (EST)
Orussian cruiser Декабрьское Сопротивление
Nikolayevsk-on-Amur Naval Station
ORUSSIA
24 May 1946Lt. Sanya V. Juutilainen-Litvyak
Lt. Eila I. Juutilainen-Litvyak
AEF 501 JFW
Chateau Saint-Ulrich
GALLIA
Comrades--!
Greetings from the end of the Earth, or at least a place from which it can be seen. As you will have noticed, we have a new assignment! Her Majesty the Tsaritsa has seen fit to entrust me with the command of her newest warship, the mighty Dekabr'skoye Soprotivleniye, or December Resistance as our fraternal Allied comrades from Fuso insist on calling him in the Liberions' unmelodic tongue. He is a heavy cruiser of the improved Kirov class, incorporating many new and (I am assured) wondrous advances in warshipbuilding now emerging from the yards of Fuso and Neukarlsland. Alas, I cannot disclose any details of these new marvels of the age to you, as a) they are classified and b) I do not even slightly understand the engineers' explanations of what they do.
We are preparing for his final sea trials now. These are confidently predicted by the engineers to require six to eight weeks, so I expect their completion no later than mid-November. What happens after that, no one can say, although I intend to push hard for assignment to the Northern Fleet. It is long past time we were back in the fight, and I expect I will have been able to make proper sailors out of even the rabble of assorted landsmen and farm girls they've given me by then. Ah, but "rabble" is unfair. They are heartbreakingly unskilled as yet, but diligent, and I would rather have that than the other way around.
Comrade Tiny One is still with me, now leading my new ship's air wing. They are an even rawer bunch than my regular crew--to me they all look like babies, particularly the ones from Fuso--but she is whipping them into shape. Fortunately, we both got plenty of rest waiting out the inevitable delays between reassignment and the yard actually managing to finish the ship. I have included a photograph taken by Katyusha on our visit to her retreat in the wilds of Sakhalin, which the Fusonese call Karafuto, this past spring. Yes, that is what "spring" looks like in Sakhalin, and yes, Katyusha is quite mad, but I cannot grudge her that, seeing how happy she is among her pine trees and her fishing trophies.
Speaking of Comrade Tiny One, she has recently come into possession of the most fascinating document, which purports to have originated from your very own station in Gallia. Comrades, if this is true I have to say I am disappointed not to have heard about it from you first--although I suppose, upon reflection, you are both still far too young to consider it interesting, particularly Aleksandra Vladimirovna. In which case, listen to Grandmother Gangut, youngsters: The day will come, and sooner than you think, when you will find it very interesting indeed. If this remarkable document's provenance is true, and you are acquainted with its author, do not waste the chance. Start now, and you will be ready.
I must go now; there is a terrible commotion below decks, and I fear the fool of a Cossack they have given me for a cook may have done something inadvisable with the steam lines... again... in an effort to simplify his washing-up. May St. Evgeniya give me strength.
Warmest regards,
Gangut
Captain Reva Oktyabrskaya
P.S. Comrade Tiny One wishes to note that she met your Dr. Miyafuji's mother on a recent visit to Yokosuka, and would like you to convey to the doctor her best wishes.
Attachment 1: Photograph of Orussian cruiser Dekabr'skoye Soprotivleniye, under way on propulsion test
Attachment 2: Snapshot of Gangut and Hibiki on shore leave in Karafuto, spring 1946
(illustration by Kashii)