The little ship that could.

[1275psi]

"Torpedo!!!!, starboard side!"

Takeji's voice cracks across the bridge, slicing through the wind, the sounds of the waves, Zuiho's little heart screaming up towards full speed....'Range!, bearing!, give me a TRUKING Bearing!"

200 yards!, aft quarter!, Astern to forward!

reactions
A life of sailing ships, of steering ships, of bearings and courses and fixes.................

"Hard to PORT! "


Zuiho leans, leans...................and the silver streak passes, passes down her flank.........and misses..............

[1275psi]

9/4/44

Dawn

Abe has sought the rain
Abe has found it.

It deep murk , pouring rain, the fleet, minus 3 carriers, steams on

The plan was for Hiyo, Shinyo and Ryuho to race ahead, race into the Arafura sea.
Two of these ships are far astern now, Hiyo listing, half her machinery spaces flooded. Shinyo detached, unmanageable.
Both have but a single destroyer as escort.

In these waters, with so many Buka's lurking about..................

Protect the living, let the dead rest...............

Takeji greets Hidaka with a smile, a smile that this half light looks even more gahstly...he has, it seems, aged 20 years in 20 hours.
he hands the latest slip to Hidake..........'Good morning dead man"

'Ney?"

"read it, and weep...........or laugh, whatever takes your fancy"

The signal is simple.
An intercepted American message.
"have sunk CVL Zuiho position XYZ"

Takeji's smile vanishes "CVL Ryujo succumbed last night....Shinyo looks similiar to us..........I don't feel too bad for a dead man, how about yourself?"

[whippleofd]

Oh.... you sly little snipe.

[BBfanboy]

Let's hope Zuiho fares better than CV Ark Royal which Lord Haw Haw pronounced sunk several times before she ultimately did catch a single U-boat torp and sink.

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: 1275psi

".........and the silver streak passes, passes down her flank.........and misses..............

Whoo-Hooo!!!


<victory dance>

[1275psi]

Even as Combined fleet chases the rain, hiding from what ever the reeling allies can retaliate with, part two of the plan erupts into action

Flush em out, and kill them

Many ships, a great many ships have fled towards wessel island, deep in the Arafura sea. The wolves are released

Flying from Biak, from the nest of airfields there, the carefully preserved betty units come a hunting..
Some hit Hollandia, and die.
But a great many attack into these waters that until now have been considered safe, , and the killing begins.
Forstall invasions. That has been the grand plan.
18 betties find a convoy north of Wessel island, the torpedoes strike. 5 large APA's are sunk
Further raids will kill more.

One less division lift available yes?

The Japanes 24th air flottilla, operating mainly from Ambon pounds babar

And CVL Ryuho, (and OH for her companions to be with her now) strikes.
Just 9 brave Kate crews, 4 of whom will not return attack a CL, miss, but hit a DD, that explodes with a satisfactory violence.

For combined fleet the day is long, and wet, full of anxiety, yet also a steady satisfaction fills her many bridges.
Darwin Nuetralised. saumalaki, babar also.
No battleships hurt. The enemy fleeing

Clear skies tomorrow

Even as the fast battleships rejoin, and others depart to throw their shells at the imperialists, Abe gives the orders for tomorrow.

The sword is shiny, it is sharp.

Strike.
The attack will continue

[kaleun]

Awesome!

[1275psi]

10 April

Zuiho meets a brilliant clear dawn
Few, if any, have slept this night, but right now, it does not matter.
Over a azure green sea, white caps strewn as far as the eye can see, the carriers have turned into wind

Over the night, Yamato and Musashi have pounded Thursday islend, Chokai and Atago have hit Darwin again, and Nagato has added her metal to babar
Allied air power is all but grounded.
Its been a while since combined fleet has had the pleasure.........

Bones in teeth, they launch.

300 bombers, 60 fighters, target Thursday island.

There is no aerial opposition, and every plane returns, the base annihilated.

Midday comes quickly, and our carriers work hard, the anti shipping strikes begin

Furataka, Kinsugasa, Kumano and a destroyer have engaged the enemy in a running fight near wessel island.....enemy cruisers!

Attack!

The range is great.
Very great, but there are no shortage of volunteers

Cl St loiuse will be hit by a torpedo, a destroyer is sunk.
A grab bag of large APA's and APs swallow fish.

And the enemy continue to flee


But there is one fly in the ointment
CVE Shinyo reports a submarine sighting............and is swiftly sunk.
Another carrier falls to the underwater Buka's.

[1275psi]

11 April

Hidaka gathers his pilots about him.
The wind is whipping hard, cold today, the decks under their feet wet from the scattered showers. Zuiho trembles beneath his feet, she is steaming hard, as are her brothers, hard into the Arafura sea.

The fleet has split into two, regathered its destroyers, the battleships, even some cruisers.
Shokaku, Zuikaku, Taiho, Ryuho, Aso, Chitose, Chiyoda are now 60 miles behind them.


Soryu leads Zuiho and 4 unryu class south at high speed, today they must, simply must reap a harvest.

Hidaka seeks the eyes of his men. They are tired men now, very tired. .......

"Samuri never sleep, never weary, until victory, or until death yes?"
The men do not answer. They do not have to, they know as well as any man alive the Japanese warrior code.
"Good." Hidaka draws his sword, examines the blade in the morning light, watches the salt spray begin to speckle its brilliant shine. He shoves it back into its scabbard with a satisfactory hiss
"Time to live to it.......to your planes men"



Soryu raises her flags, and turns her bows into the wind

Takeji gives his orders, and zuiho plants her face into the sweet smell of salt and spray.
The steam trails down the deck
"Commence launching"

0500 hours

4th day of battle?

And its going to be another hot one.

[1275psi]

Extract from Shattering the sword, a cantona production.


..many of course, have queried just what was the point of this great raid, why take the risks, why expose so many ships to the lurking menace below?

Hiyo torpedoed twice, limping home, safe for the moment.
CVE Shinyo sunk

And on this Morning, just as her last aircraft depart, Zuikaku is finally caught by a fish..........

On the face of it, especially with Zuikaku's hit, this is a mission of futility.
But dig further.

Into Timor.........another regiment is inserted where it should never have been allowed to.
To the north of Timor, yet more troops arrive safely in nominally allied air range.
Troops that will have to be destroyed, which will take time, and time is now pushing against the Allies.
With so many aircraft damaged or destroyed, and now the equivalent of 2 divisions of lift sunk, how badly has Japan disrupted plans for advancement into the DEI?

Time will tell, but for now, for this day, there is another, more subtle mission.

April 44, and Combined fleet is sending a very special message to Allied command
It still has the capacity to dominate an area of ITS choosing.
And for Herbiesan, seeking to further weaken allied moral, this is a very good thing indeed.

[1275psi]

Zuikaku's hit

14 destroyer escorts
20 odd aircraft on ASW patrol

And still hit , in daylight!!!!

TRUK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

21 system, 41 flt, 16 eng damage, she had fires...........but put them out

(Hiyo is half way to soerabaya with 22 system, 47 flood, 2 eng, flood improving)

Am I the unluckiest japanese player re SS and CV's EVA!

(Why don't they attack the escorts, or nice big fat battleships for gawds sake like they seem to do for everyone else...LOL)

[PaxMondo]

Really, Cantona's sub ops are amazing.&nbsp; He needs to write a tactical paper and publish it in the forums.&nbsp; Never seen or heard of such success as he has had.

[ny59giants]

Really, Cantona's sub ops are amazing.  He needs to write a tactical paper and publish it in the forums.  Never seen or heard of such success as he has had.

He needs to auction it off on E-Bay. [:D]

[british exil]

If he really wanted, maybe he could write a book about Sub warfare in the South Pacific. He might even earn his Doctor title with it.

But fun aside, glad that the crew of our little ship could avoid a dreadful fate and continue to fight another day.

Mat

[1275psi]

Charge settles onto his tool box yet again

Above them, the hatch is again screwed down, the world barred to them. It is going to be a long, long day.
Zuiho's engines beat the same beat, the fans scream, his men are at their posts.

Fear is at the door.

But what can one do?
There is nothing one can do, but wait. Wait and bare it.

He has his cup of tea, he has a couple of pork rolls, stolen nicely earlier this morning, and he has his guage.
Pressure guages, something he has never really been able to get his head around..but maybe today he will.

Zuiho leans, the bells ring. Full power...........
Half garbled, the broadcast battles the engine rooms bedlam......."launch aircraft"

Carefully charge removes the back cover, the little screws placed into a cup. He peers at the guages innards.
How in the hell, my little friend, do you work?
Tentatively, he pokes at a spring.

"Crap"
Not a good move..........
OK, lets try this.........

In another world, another universe, darwin is struck by the wieght of 200 bombers.........

"Another cup Chief?"
No, not now, I think I have this worked out.........'"No, no thanks, get me an oil can can you please?'......

In another world, bombers attack the main body...........and are shot down to a man.

And before you know it, its midday

Ziuho bounces...........the bombers returning from the search

The tannoy speaks again
'Takeji here...........we are going to strike an enemy task force to our south, prepare strike aircraft"

The guage works now, works perfectly. Hunger suddenly bites.
A long day indeed.

Yet again, the calls for full power.
Zuiho, launching her strike............


Food comes, welcome indeed. With it, the outside world, and real news.
The weather?, cruddy, the enemy?, nary a sign. although some Liberators were sighted on the horizon.
The fleet?.........nobody hit yet, apparently.


The hours drag by, the engines whine, the air remains hot, the news thin

Aircraft are recoverd, apparently. All of them
And then, just like that.........."hands fall out of action stations, assume state 2"
Charge meets the watch change, chats a bit, then its the sweet night air.


the day:

Combined fleet strikes Darwin,
4 AK
1 AD
1 AS
2 DE sunk, the port trashed

Allied strikes consisted of multiple Liberator attacks, all missing
12 beaufighters, 4 hellcats taken down by the CAP

Zuiho's bombers participate in strike on allied Surface Action group
3 DD are sunk, 2 heavily damaged, CL St Loiuse 3 hits, heavy damage

A seperate strike south places a bomb into CA baltimore, 2 into CL mobile

No allied Aircraft approached the task force Zuiho is in, so Hidaka circles with out luck, again.

Every single allied ship remaining is passing Horn island or headed that way............

A squad of Japanese paras recon Babar, there are still 2 divisions on the island, including the 1st Marines........


The fleet will regather around wounded Zuikaku, and now make for home..........a race against the pursuing ss no doubt.

[1275psi]

April 12

It is near midnight, and the room in which Herbiesan is in is quiet and still
he stares at a photograph, a young man, handsome, strong,, in flying uniform stares back.

The quiet extends, and extends.

After some time, he reluctantly puts the photo into the desks top drawer, and locks it away. he picks up the piece of paper, only so very recently delivered from the Swiss Embassy.

He reads the paper, again

There has been a speach in the white house.
Several , in fact.

He reads the words again, so carefully underlined

..............this nation is war weary...............


War weary, war weary, war weary................









(Turns have been drying up, and Cantona speaks of being AEWITP jaded..........we wait to hear his reply from my tentative peace feelers.........)

[1275psi]

Attacking heavily armed bombers is no joke................
Hidaka attacks the great beast from the rear.

The attack begins out on the port side, and he literrally skids and sweeps his fighter across its tail , left to right, then wheels into its rear right flank, peeling down and away under its tail.

Oh so easy to picture, not so easy to do.
Tracer chases him all the way, whipping frighteningly close, his dancing in reply across the bukas great fat arse......

But even as he wrenches the stick to climb back, the man, the Zuiho man following him streaks past, wing breaking free, the zero already beginning to turn into a white hot meteor of flame and death...........

Teeth grinding, breath grunting he climbs again,, fires again, range too too far, and falls away, the sky balckeing around him as the fleets guns engage.

[1275psi]

Takeji counts them -13 strong, coming swiftly, coming on strong, liberators, huge at 7000 feet.
Zuiho's 4.7's begin to bark, adding to the massed pyrotechnics of the fleet.

Tone steams on his flank, her main guns barking.
Even Kirishima's 14 inchers are pointing skyward....

About the bombers the fighters dance, bees to the deadly flowers..........and at least three fall, black streaks, fluttering wings and fuselages......
7000 feet..........a suicidal height for heavy bombers.

Tone gets one. Then another. the black, purple, orange green clouds chase the beasts closer, and closer, the guns raising, and raising.
The little black beetles begin to fall......a moment of calculation, Zuiho is not targetted.......

The bombs miss everyone...........another futile attack indeed.

Combined fleet recovers its last killer strike against Darwin, CL St loiuse finally put away.............and continues to crawl north east,.

Zuikaku is stuck at 7 knots. The fleet shepherds her.
Tokyo, and home, is a long, long way away.



Zuiho loses a fighter, and a pilot today.
vale unknown warrior

[John 3rd]

Once this fight is over, can we get a tally of sinkings from the Operation?

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: 1275psi

...(Turns have been drying up, and Cantona speaks of being AEWITP jaded..........we wait to hear his reply from my tentative peace feelers.........)

OH NO!!

He hasn't logged in here since July last year and he doesn't even update his blog since last October... I hope everything is ok with him...