Small Ship, Big War - The Voyages of the Hibiki

[rtrapasso]

Our enemies seem able to build AA weapons that are not steaming piles of ox dung.

[:D] [:D] [:D]

Subtlety is not Captain Ishii's strong point, is it? [:D]

EDIT: Evidently not: i just looked him up in the CHS data:

[Cuttlefish]

June 5, 1942

Location: Kwajalein
Course: None
Attached to: Disbanded in port
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 25
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475

Orders: Return to Japan for repairs.

---

In the Captain's cabin aboard the Hibiki:

Captain Ishii: Come in, Exec.

Lieutenant Miharu: *enters and salutes* Sir, I have reviewed the reports as you requested.

Captain Ishii: Yes?

Lieutenant Miharu: I have added the fuel consumption and damage reports I prepared. Everything else seems fine. I...do have one minor change to suggest, sir. In your report on the new anti aircraft guns the line about "steaming piles of ox dung" might not be well recieved. Perhaps you should phrase things a little more diplomatically.

Captain Ishii: You think so? Yes, I suppose you're right. Leave it on my desk and I'll change it.

Lieutenant Miharu: Very good, sir. *leaves the report, then salutes and departs*

Captain Ishii sighs, then pulls the report towards him. He thinks a moment, then takes a pen and scratches out "ox dung". Above it he carefully writes "monkey droppings".

---

From the diary of Seaman First Class Taiki Takahashi:

Back to Japan again! There are jokes among the crew that we call more often at Japanese ports than a Hokkaido ferryboat. But it is mostly good natured. I think everyone is happy to still be afloat.

Riku has been behaving oddly again. He went ashore early this morning and when he came back his step seemed lighter than it has been since we left Japan. I was worried about him, actually, lately he seemed to be trudging everywhere. But he was so energetic and cheerful he actually volunteered to join the reprovisioning party. All day long he carried crates back and forth, here and there, almost tirelessly.

I really wish I had his social gifts. He found the time to talk with the captains of several ships loading supplies for other bases in the area, and was full of news and gossip when he returned. I actually think the war seems to be changing him for the better. He has a drive and purpose now that he lacked when we left Mako for Khota Bharu half a year ago. Half a year! Has it really been that long? I wonder what changes another six months will bring for all of us?

[kaleun]

Wow! What an AAR. I just found it today and read the whole thing.
I feel so embarrassed at my pathetic attempts at an AAR. (Shame and Execration and Halsey defects)
[&o][&o][&o][&o][&o][&o]

[Onime No Kyo]

Just saw Vetamur's new AAR. Promises to be a good read. I hope you realize that you've started an entirely new genre, CF. I'm not sure what it should be called, but if I were you, I'd opt for "Hibikianism", "Cuttlefishism" just doesnt have the same ring to it. [:D]

[AU Tiger_MatrixForum]

I have been inspired create a 'sub-genre' in an AAR. Mine will feature the trials and tribulations of a gunner in the Fort Winfield Scott Coastal Defense battery. Should be a fascinating read I imagine.

[Cuttlefish]

ORIGINAL: rtrapasso

Our enemies seem able to build AA weapons that are not steaming piles of ox dung.

[:D] [:D] [:D]

Subtlety is not Captain Ishii's strong point, is it? [:D]

EDIT: Evidently not: i just looked him up in the CHS data:

[:D] Nice!

My read on Captain Ishii is that he is capable of being diplomatic, but it doesn't come naturally to him. If he is tired or upset look out.

Original: Onime No Kyo

Just saw Vetamur's new AAR. Promises to be a good read. I hope you realize that you've started an entirely new genre, CF. I'm not sure what it should be called, but if I were you, I'd opt for "Hibikianism", "Cuttlefishism" just doesnt have the same ring to it.

I really think Cap Mandrake should get most of the credit here. He showed what an AAR could do, even if he didn't pioneer this specific format. And I think - if I am not imagining things - that someone made a casual comment here on the forums about two years ago that they would like to see an AAR that followed just one ship. That idea stuck in my brain. I have no idea who it was, though.

Given that, though, I think I prefer the term "Hibiki-style AAR".

Original: AU Tiger

I have been inspired create a 'sub-genre' in an AAR. Mine will feature the trials and tribulations of a gunner in the Fort Winfield Scott Coastal Defense battery. Should be a fascinating read I imagine.

That would be great! I can already picture it:

August 22, 1943: We had spam for dinner.

August 23, 1943: We had spam for dinner.

August 24, 1943: We had spam for dinner. Boy, do I hate spam.

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: Cuttlefish
That would be great! I can already picture it:

August 22, 1943: We had spam for dinner.

August 23, 1943: We had spam for dinner.

August 24, 1943: We had spam for dinner. Boy, do I hate spam.

[:D] That's pretty much the truth. My Dad was in the ETA during WWII and pretty much had spam every day for a year and a half after he landed in France. After the war ended, he came home and married my Mom. One day he came home from work and smelled dinner cooking. He asked my Mom was she was cooking and she replied, "spam". He walked over to the pot, picked it up, and threw it in the trash. My Mom never cooked spam again. [:D]

[rtrapasso]

.. oops! wrong thread!!

[princep01]

For a "lucky ship", Hibiki seems to attract a great deal of bad karma in this game.  That's the second aerial bomb she has been the recipient of so far, right?
 
I blame M & M Enterprises.  Has Seaman Rukiu been instructed by his real masters to paint BOMB ME on the deck in the new, florescent M & M Enterprises primer only visible to Allied pilots equipped with M & M's new 3D goggles?
 
In addition, we begin to see the genesis of why the good ship's captain eventually is employed elsewhere.  Having secret police officers pushed overboard; calling the new AA guns with the very short magazines  "steaming ox feces", while true, will not go over well at Comined Fleet HQ.  Ishii is a fightin' man, but, as noted, sublety, is not his strong suit. 

[Cuttlefish]

June 6, 1942

Location: Kwajalein
Course: None
Attached to: Disbanded in port
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 25
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475

Orders: Return to Japan for repairs.

---

While the burden and responsibility of command fall squarely on the shoulders of a ship’s captain, on the shoulders of a ship’s executive officer falls an almost equal burden. Paperwork. A navy runs on forms and reports as much as on fuel oil and ammunition.

Lieutenant Miharu is in his tiny cabin finishing the last of a stack of documents. After action reports, damage reports, supply requisitions, and many other documents are piled in a thick stack. The lieutenant starts to gather them up, then pauses. He searches through the papers until he finds the captain’s evaluation of the refit. He reads it, shakes his head, then retypes it with one paragraph omitted. He expertly appends the Captain’s signature to the new version and then places the reports in a pouch that is soon on its way to Sixth Fleet headquarters.

---

Another report leaves the Hibiki, to be left ashore with a rather valuable box to be delivered to one Captain Ito. This report is in surprisingly improved English, and is a model of clarity. It details quantities and prices and lists distributors, and in general shows a business acumen that would attract favorable attention from the sales departments of many large companies. This document also bears Captain Ishii’s signature, though neither Captain Ishii nor Lieutenant Miharu have any idea of its existence.

[Cuttlefish]

June 7, 1942

Location: Kwajalein
Course: None
Attached to: Disbanded in port
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 25
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475

Orders: Return to Japan for repairs.

---

Lieutenant Miharu leans on the starboard rail of the Hibiki. Below him Midshipman Izu is supervising the loading of a cargo net full of provisions from a supply tender to the Hibiki. With him are Chief Petty Officer Shun and a PO2, along with several crewmen.

The lieutenant has had a worried eye on Izu for the last few days. Ever since the air attack that damaged Hibiki the young midshipman has seemed tense and depressed. Miharu has no idea why, since Izu’s performance during the attack was exemplary. He led a damage control team in fighting the fires with skill and bravery, and it is clear that he has earned promotion to Ensign once Hibiki returns to Japan.

At the moment Lieutenant Miharu is observing a problem he does understand. Midshipman Izu is busily giving orders to the petty officers, oblivious to the fact that they obviously know what needs doing better than he does. Miharu almost smiles. He did the same thing when he was a midshipman. It took some time before he learned that one does not need to shout orders in order to be in command. The petty officers bear it patiently and eventually the job is done, even with Izu’s help.

Later, Lieutenant Miharu approaches Izu. The midshipman salutes and stands at attention.

“At ease, Midshipman,” Miharu says. “Thank you for seeing the provisions aboard.”

“Yes sir, thank you, sir,”

“I have a question for you. Aboard any ship, who are the best and most experienced sailors?” Midshipman Izu answers immediately.

“The senior officers, sir,” he says. Lieutenant Miharu shakes his head.

“Officers are trained in many skills the average sailor does not possess or need,” he says. “But I am speaking about ordinary seamanship.”

“Well, sir, in that case the petty officers,” says Izu. The lieutenant nods.

“That is correct. Just as one example, Chief Petty Officer Shun has been in the Imperial Navy for almost twenty years. He has been aboard the Hibiki since 1935. In almost any task involving the day to day running of the ship, I defer to his experience and judgment.” Midshipman Izu is not by any means stupid, and he quickly sees what the executive officer is actually talking about.

“I see, sir,” he says. “Thank you, I will keep it in mind.” Miharu nods.

“Very good,” he says. “Carry on.” Izu salutes and departs. No need to also mention, Lieutenant Miharu reflects, that if he wished Shun could snap the midshipman in two like a breadstick. The Chief’s devotion to navy discipline is so strong that he would stand patiently and let the young officer strike him repeatedly if necessary.

The executive officer continues on his way. There is a lot more to do before the ship is ready to sail for Japan in the morning.

[John 3rd]

I have to agree--IJN Hibiki has been rather unlucky so far.  At least she is still afloat!

[histgamer]

LONG LIVE THE HIBIKI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[marky]

shell probly survive the war just to be sunk by the bombbbb[:D]

[John 3rd]

Hey Marky--How did you get that clip of Episode III? How hard is it to load something like that as your signature?

[marky]

ORIGINAL: John 3rd

Hey Marky--How did you get that clip of Episode III? How hard is it to load something like that as your signature?

i found it sumwhere, but i forget where

i used photobucket and put the link in with IMG brackets [:)]

[John 3rd]

Well---It ROCKS!  The whole movie was worth watching Yoda vs. the Emporer and Obi-Wan vs. Anakin!  I'll try to find something like that...
 

[AU Tiger_MatrixForum]

Shouldn't that conversation be in a different forum?
tt.asp?forumid=115

[:D]

[marky]

ugh i despised that game, i shall not set foot in that forum! [:D]

btw nice work fishy!

[marky]

an AU shouldnt u be getting ur homework done!?

*southern drawwwwlll*

even tho u was never much for yer books n such!

[:D]