The personification of the American John C. Butler-class destroyer escort as depicted in Kantai Collection.
Appearance
As a destroyer escort, she is of a small frame comparable to an elementary schooler. Her short hair is a dull light blue done up in double buns while her eyes are a highly light, dull yellow.
With her right hand, she is holding a gun that resembles a p90submachine gun with a 5-inch gun used by the original ship on top of it and some armor plating on the side, acting as a magazine holder.
A little blue whale is seen alongside her. This is because the historical Samuel B. Roberts struck a large whale with her port propeller shaft off the coast of Maine on her first day of active service which caused her to return to Norfolk for repairs.
Zeco once remarked that shipgirl Samuel does not have underwear underneath her clothes. It is not known whether it was just a joke as it has never been apparent on official art. Nonetheless, fans took this as semi-fact to the point of being a running gag used by some fan artists.
History
Her ultimate claim to fame was her actions during the Battle off Samar, in which she conducted attacks against Choukai and Chikuma before being done in by a barrage from Kongou. Her valiant actions earned her the nickname "The Destroyer Escort that fought like a Battleship" and a battle star, which she wears as a hairpin. Two other ships would go on to share her name: A Gearing-class destroyer, and later a Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided missile frigate.
There are several things remarkable about shipgirl Samuel B. Roberts:
She is the first shipgirl in the game not created by a Japanese illustrator (Zeco is Taiwanese).
She is also the first shipgirl introduced outside of an event since Uranami's entry into the game in September 2016.
In-game, she chooses to be just called "Sam," despite being affectionally known historically as "Sammy B." Either way, she is referred to by a unisex nickname.
She is the game's first American "destroyer" despite clearly regarding herself as a destroyer escort, pretty much the same fashion escort carrier Gambier Bay is categorized in the game as a light aircraft carrier. As a side effect, fan art initially had her as the representative American destroyer; the first bona fide American destroyer, Johnston, was not implemented until roughly eight months after Samuel B. Meanwhile, the DE in her hull number, DE-413, is currently used by English-speaking fans as compromise shorthand code for the kaiboukan, which had no direct counterparts outside of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Conversely, the closest matches for the American DEs in the IJN are the Type-D (Matsu/Tachibana-class) Destroyers; nameship Matsu was implemented in late June 2020.
