The little ship that could.

[pws1225]

"Apparently, 6 members of our executive department have stolen an elephant................"

That's a classic!

[whippleofd]

Man, I LOVED being a sailor in the 80's and early 90's. But "tailhook" changed all that.

Pulling into PI for the first time in 1986 after 5 weeks at sea. Oh the stories I could tell.... except.... well.... ummm.... [:-]

Whipple

[1275psi]

ahhhhhhhhh, yes, Subic...........[;)]




Herbiesan considers the Admiral in front of him
Abe has won a victory, yet lost a precious carrier.

"Your advice Admiral?"

"A fleet in being for this time sir............3 new carriers in 30 days, taiho back in 36, Unryu in 2 weeks. We should wait, and then strike another telling blow with all our strength"
"And you think the allies will wait that long?"
"No, but they will go for something easy I would think. And if they try for the DEI...........well sir, our LBA and surface fleet will suffice to give me that month."

A fleet in being............horrible words. But it may just have come to that.........
"Can you get Shoho and Mizuho home?"
"With luck...........yes" The Admiral hesitates, then speaks 'Sir, we still have 12 battleships.......but we may have to risk them if the enemy moves this month"
"You mean, we may lose them, don't you Admiral?"


"yes sir, I do"

Yes, so it has come to this...........damn Americans, why do they keep coming, haven't we killed enough of them yet?
"Very well. Buy me a month Admiral, buy me another month"

[1275psi]

To
15th Army
Moulmien

Intelligence now places 23 enemy units facing you. Be prepared for an attack at short notice. Am sending from singapore 2 more divisions.
You must hold at all costs

Burma Army.

[1275psi]

Over Moulmien, 14 spitfire Mk 8's engage 42 KI 44's

One spitfire is lost, they take 13 kills.
Not only the most beautiful plane flying in this war, but undoubtably the deadliest.

[1275psi]

17/2/42

Under the arc of the yellow lights, Zuiho's hull glistens with the midnight dew.
She rests in drydock, arse planted firmly on the blocks, her bottom shining from the newly applied layer of paint. It is just past 1 am, but the presure of war means this drydock will never sleep. As soon as this paint has dried properly, Zuiho and her sisters will be swimming again.
Minobe treads carefully on the cold concrete floor, feet splashing in the puddles of water, grit, blasting sand and old paint, his torch flashing over the old ladys seams and curves.

He is in a foul mood.
To say that he has recently been dragged over the coals for what his department has done ashore is an understatement.
How attempting to borrow a fire truck can equal actually stealing an elephant like the XO's men had, is beyond him.

Nor does he see the humour in trying "just trying to return the poor buggar to India sir"..when the bloody thing was African for a start...........

His department has paid however.
Shame him, will they.

His right fist aches.........

Minobe turns to look more closely at the TG suction inlet, a move that undoubtably saves his life

With a stunning clang, 59 kilos of valve crash to the floor of the dock a mere two feet ahead of him.
Stunned, he looks up.........
A face, 30 metres up.....but hidden in the dark, in the glare, and then gone.

No fear fills him
Just anger
Deep, deep, anger
The barsteds.................

[1275psi]

There are 5 seperate task forces, LSTs, APa's, APs, tankers, and at least 5 CVE's, cruising slowly back and forth just one hex to the east of bathurst island.
Are they coming for Babar, or not?
Is this a decoy?
Or the real deal?

Just in case, herbiesan, southern command swing every search planes arc to somewhere opposite, or in a new direction.
If he does come at babar, I'll know it.
japan cannot afford surprise landings anywhere else!


Nevertheless, Kongo and her three sisters, split into multiple small TF's, depart Kendari.
The butchers bill is overdue
Japan is prepared to pay it.

[1275psi]

update
cantona had school reports for 2 days, and when I finally get a turn, his darwin fleet is landing troops all over bathurst island on empty dot hexes, obviously a mistake

I am waiting for his re do

[1275psi]

18/2/44

Japans SS wolf pack of 15 ss makes contact with whatever makes up the pack of ships loitering near Thursday island.
Its an ugly day

6 Seperate ss make attacks, on DDs, on a CVE, on a AK
3 ss are sunk, 2 crippled

No hits
An ugly, ugly day.

For Herbiesan, for his Admirals, for 14th and 16th Army, the enemy ships are almost hypnotic, a vast fleet crawling around thursday island......doing what?
Is this an invasion fleet?, or just amassive convoy, a decoy?, or, as some overly optimistic Admirals state, an Invasion fleet shorn of CV support, now with out a true objective?

Other than a single small CVE, the destroyres, what makes up this fleet?
Too many recons are not coming home......................

Kendari is emptied of shipping, 3 Battlecruisers, 2 heavy cruisers, destroyers begin coming south across the banda sea.
Ahead of them, some small escort ships.

They are orderd to die for the emperor...to attack whatever is there, and to tell High Command, once and for all, what the hell is coming!

[1275psi]

Zuiho remains in dock, finalising repairs
Deep in her bowels, work progresses. The tubes, however, have not.
Takeji has scotched that job, Zuiho will not be left behind if the fleet must sail.

These are cruel days for many
Leave is restricted. After her little "incidents", leave finishes at midnight every night, for every one.
Hard words for those with families.


It is so easy to put them away in your mind, when you cannot do anything about the distances between, but now...........
Problems that wives, sweethearts, families have dealt with alone for so long, now need, want to be shared.
And still, you cannot do anything about them, not with midnight curfew..........

We won't dwell on these days, these problems

I draw a viel over them............for in part, these things too maketh the sailor man.

[1275psi]

Zuiho remains in dock, finalising repairs
Deep in her bowels, work progresses. The tubes, however, have not.
Takeji has scotched that job, Zuiho will not be left behind if the fleet must sail.

These are cruel days for many
Leave is restricted. After her little "incidents", leave finishes at midnight every night, for every one.
Hard words for those with families.


It is so easy to put them away in your mind, when you cannot do anything about the distances between, but now...........
Problems that wives, sweethearts, families have dealt with alone for so long, now need, want to be shared.
And still, you cannot do anything about them, not with midnight curfew..........

We won't dwell on these days, these problems

I draw a viel over them............for in part, these things too maketh the sailor man.

[1275psi]

double post

[Gridley380]

Stole an elephant.

Stole... an elephant.

Stole... no, sorry, that one isn't computing.

The best one I can offer is when Rescue 1 picked up a broken fire hydrant that a car had knocked over. Some Rescue 2 guys decided that if Rescue 1 had a fire hydrant then THEY had to have a fire hydrant of their own...

[1275psi]

Hi gridley

The guy who tried to steal the elephant works only 2 cubicles from me in the office.
One of his comrades rose to rank of Captain...............[:D]


19/2/44
Herbiesan again reads the reports

'No contact?..........you mean they turned and ran, don't you?"
Admiral Abe nervously fiddles with his hat.........."the weather remains bad near Darwin...... "

Herbiesan stares hard at his Commander in chief. Oh, sometimes how he regrets dealing with Yamamoto
"What are they doing then Admiral, every sense I have tells me this stinks"
The relief on the Admirals face is palable. "I agree sir. Too few carriers, no battle ships, not enough escorts. I think it stinks too"

I am supreme commander
Only I have the full picture
And Cantona, My esteemed foe, this does stink to high heaven of deception .

Alright then, where am I most vulnerable, what would hurt us most?

It takes but a moment to check the map.

"Send Kendari ships to Soerabaya immediately, leave light forces only."
"The carriers sir?"
"Leave them here, Gods know where they will go, but when they do, its got to be for a real reason. A real reason only."

Unless of course, Darwin turns out to be the real deal.
Supreme Commander, supreme power, supreme responsibility.
But thats the fun of it, ney?

[1275psi]

Long Pig Graham finds a small miricle

He has come, he thinks, 3 miles in 3 days, sometimes literally flinging himself at the jungle to crash through the vines and brush.
He bleeds from a hundred scratches, his uniform hangs in tatters.
Food is gone, water is gone.

But now the miricle
A rivulet.
A small rivulet of water, trickling down hill.

Follow it. it must grow to a stream, and then to a creek, and then..............
No, don't think of that.
Just follow it.

Drink, and follow it.
Overhead, somewhere above the canopy, the faint growl of aerial battle.

Angels at 10000 feet.

A hell filled world of devils at zero.

[1275psi]

Zuiho undocks, is brought by tugs alongside mighty Yamato, and secures herself to her mighty flanks.
Yamato's upper decks are a mess, her flank 6 inch turrets now missing, her upper works a forest of raw steel framing.
Takeji views the mighty ship with disdain now.

He knows, that in war, which ship is now the more deadly.
But if those great guns could yet be brought to bear................

Hidaka joins him, and its as if he reads his captains thoughts. "I see a future of us tied to protecting big brother"
"As do I. Still, we could do with some of those AA guns "

Hidaka has no humour in his reply. "The next time you need AA guns to defend yourself, I don't think a battleships worth will help"
Takeji's reply is equally serious " then you had better make sure that I never have to"

[1275psi]

20/2/44
Hidaka does not ask for them
In fact, if he could, he would send them back.
18 shining new AM5s have arrived, and already the home Command Support Officers are craning his beloved AM3a's onto the barge alongside.
Pilots and planes are like fiery marriages. Love/ hate, passion and devotion. But now, a new woman in their lives.
A little faster, its claimed, a few improvements, (its claimed).............but still really the same aircraft.

Such a pity the NK1's have not qualified for carrier service..........

Shiny, new.
But not as good as his beloved old girl he is sure.

[1275psi]

Hosho stirs his rice pot.

Through the early morning mist, the river gleams tranquil, the forest dark on the other bank silent and still.
Hosho's bunker overlooks the river, set some 100 feet above it, 100 yards back from it.
A mere 50 yards of brown sluggish river between them and the tens of thousands of enemy.

They cannot see them.
They are there though.
Hosho stirs his rice. Rumour has it 30000 british troops have pushed south of Ghiang Mai, and have come to a halt.
Other rumours say that the Thia Army has pulled back towards Chiang Mai as well.
A neat trick if its true.

But other rumours , the ones that matter, speak of 30 enemy units directly opposite him, over that little strip of river.
Hosho stirs his rice.
They are dug in as well as they can hope to be. Supplies are good. They don't feel defeated, not at all.
Let them come
Let them come and let the river turn from brown to red.

[1275psi]

20/2/44

The big mavis turns away, seeking the safety of the horizon, descending towards the water.
120 miles South west of darwin, (read that again, south west) of darwin, the Mavis has found them

A sea of ships, transports, APA's, LST's, not in Darwin harbour as expected, but still crawling west.
The Mavis heads for home, pilots relieved that the fighters of Australia have not had to be braved. Her report is detailed, accurate.

And to high command, utterly baffling.

[1275psi]

Herbiesan pauses from his dinner, reads the report.
His eyes raise, take in Admiral Abe at the other end of the table

He waits while Abe reads the sighting reports.

'Your thoughts Admiral?"
The silence is long in the ornate room. It is a room a long, long way removed from the realities of the timor sea.
'None sir.........."

"I have one. I lay you a wager Admiral. A 100 yen. The enemy will try for Marcus"
"Done"
A good bet to lose, if they do...............