Small Ship, Big War - The Voyages of the Hibiki

[Cuttlefish]

May 27, 1943

Location: Rabaul
Course: Docked
Attached to: TF 36
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 0
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475

Orders: Proceed to Gili Gili and screen bombardment force from attack

---

Report of Rabaul base meteorologist to Vice Admiral Kusaka, commander Southeast Fleet:

[font="Courier New"]A ridge of high pressure is currently stalled south of the Caroline Islands. This will give clear skies to the Solomon Sea area for the next several days. Winds will be under 5 knots and sea conditions will be very mild. The possibilities for cloud cover or precipitation to mask naval operations will be low to nonexistent during this period.

A low pressure center slowly moving southward in the vicinity of the Marshall Islands should begin to move the high pressure zone within the next several days. This will allow the mild storm system currently reported over Borneo to move westward, and by Sunday May 30 there is a significant chance of heavy cloud cover.

Analysis: 80% chance of weather suitable for concealing ship movement in the area by May 31.[/font]

[Cuttlefish]

May 28, 1943

Location: Rabaul
Course: Docked
Attached to: TF 36
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 0
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475

Orders: Proceed to Gili Gili and screen bombardment force from attack

---

Lieutenant JG Kuwaki gazes with pride at Hibiki’s “Y” turret. The barrels of the twin 5” guns, trained astern at precisely the regulation angle, almost gleam in the sunshine. The bores have been cleaned and the breeches lubricated. Fresh paint is in evidence everywhere.

A bird, which Ensign Izu would immediately identify as a black-headed gull, spirals down out of the sky and perches near the end of one of the gun barrels.

“Hey, you!” yells Kuwaki, taking off his hat and waving it at the bird. “Hey! Get away from there!” Lieutenant Sugiyura wanders over and looks up at the gull.

“You know that trying to keep all the birds off the turrets is futile, don’t you?” he asks Kuwaki in amusement.

“Yes sir,” says Kuwaki. “But I just wanted them to stay clean for a moment while I admired them.” He yells at the bird again. “Shoo! Go away!”

The bird gives a call that sounds quite a bit like laughter and struts up and down on the barrel. It then defecates on it.

Kuwaki’s face almost turns purple. If he were wearing a sidearm he would surely use it, but he is not. He looks around and spies a paint scraper set inside a bucket. He grabs the tool and flings it at the bird. The gull gives an alarmed squawk and takes wing. The scraper flies just underneath it and over the turret, disappearing from view.

There is a pause, and then from the other side of the turret comes an angry exclamation and a bout of cursing. Sugiyura recognizes the voice and takes a long, careful step away from Kuwaki. Kuwaki recognizes it too and turns pale. He comes to attention.

Captain Ishii comes stalking around the turret. He is holding the scraper and bleeding from a shallow cut on his left ear. He approaches Kuwaki and holds out the scraper.

“Did you lose something, Lieutenant?” he asks in a deceptively mild voice.

[Cuttlefish]

May 29, 1943

Location: Rabaul
Course: Docked
Attached to: TF 36
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 0
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475

Orders: Proceed to Gili Gili and screen bombardment force from attack

---

The inside of the bar is dark in contrast to the bright sunshine filling the street outside. A few fans twirl listlessly overhead, pushing the warm air around a little bit. Lieutenant JG Kuwaki sits by himself, sipping at a glass of sake.

Lieutenants Sugiyura and Sakati step in through the open door. They look around, and as their eyes adjust to the dimness they spot Kuwaki. They come over and companionably take seats next to him.

“I heard the Americans bombed the airfield at Gasmata this morning,” Sugiyura comments after they get their drinks.

“Oh?” asks Chief Engineer Sakati. “What do we have there?” Sugiyura shrugs.

“Nothing,” he says. “I guess there were some Ki-48 bombers there doing patrol work, but they were pulled out a couple of days ago.”

“I am pleased we haven’t seen any air raids at all here,” says Sakati. “The skies have been quiet.” Sugiyura glances at Kuwaki.

“Oh, I wouldn’t say there has been no danger from the sky lately,” he says with a slight smile. Kuwaki sighs and stares morosely into his drink. Sakati, who has heard the tale, chuckles.

“Don’t worry about it, lad,” he says. “The captain has a temper, but I’ve known him a long time. He’s probably already forgotten about it.”

“Our young gunnery officer here has been hoping for a promotion,” Sugiyura tells him.

“Ah,” says Sakati, understanding. “Don’t worry about it, Kuwaki. If you keep picking off torpedo boats the captain won’t care if you drop a ball-peen hammer on his head. You’ll get your promotion.”

“Agreed,” says Sugiyura. “And since we are probably heading back there in a couple of days you are sure to get another crack at them, too.”

“You’d think the enemy would run out of those damned things eventually, at least locally” grumbles Kuwaki, though he is pleased by the encouragement.

“You’d think so, wouldn’t you?” says Sugiyura. “It almost seems like they don’t build them, but instead conjure them out of the sea like evil spirits.”

[DuckofTindalos]

ORIGINAL: Cuttlefish

May 28, 1943

Location: Rabaul
Course: Docked
Attached to: TF 36
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 0
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475

Orders: Proceed to Gili Gili and screen bombardment force from attack

---

Lieutenant JG Kuwaki gazes with pride at Hibiki’s “Y” turret. The barrels of the twin 5” guns, trained astern at precisely the regulation angle, almost gleam in the sunshine. The bores have been cleaned and the breeches lubricated. Fresh paint is in evidence everywhere.

A bird, which Ensign Izu would immediately identify as a black-headed gull, spirals down out of the sky and perches near the end of one of the gun barrels.

“Hey, you!” yells Kuwaki, taking off his hat and waving it at the bird. “Hey! Get away from there!” Lieutenant Sugiyura wanders over and looks up at the gull.

“You know that trying to keep all the birds off the turrets is futile, don’t you?” he asks Kuwaki in amusement.

“Yes sir,” says Kuwaki. “But I just wanted them to stay clean for a moment while I admired them.” He yells at the bird again. “Shoo! Go away!”

The bird gives a call that sounds quite a bit like laughter and struts up and down on the barrel. It then defecates on it.

Kuwaki’s face almost turns purple. If he were wearing a sidearm he would surely use it, but he is not. He looks around and spies a paint scraper set inside a bucket. He grabs the tool and flings it at the bird. The gull gives an alarmed squawk and takes wing. The scraper flies just underneath it and over the turret, disappearing from view.

There is a pause, and then from the other side of the turret comes an angry exclamation and a bout of cursing. Sugiyura recognizes the voice and takes a long, careful step away from Kuwaki. Kuwaki recognizes it too and turns pale. He comes to attention.

Captain Ishii comes stalking around the turret. He is holding the scraper and bleeding from a shallow cut on his left ear. He approaches Kuwaki and holds out the scraper.

“Did you lose something, Lieutenant?” he asks in a deceptively mild voice.

Well, at least he didn't hit Shun...[:D]

[tocaff]

Oh oh...

[Cuttlefish]

ORIGINAL: Terminus

Well, at least he didn't hit Shun...[:D]

Ah, but Kuwaki is an officer. If he chose to beat Shun bloody Shun would stand there and take it without moving a muscle or uttering a word, despite the fact that he could snap Kuwaki in two like a bread stick. Such things could and did happen.

[DuckofTindalos]

Definitely... Discipline was very physical in the Japanese military. Shun would just have been more menacing, somehow...[:D]

[Onime No Kyo]

I think Shun would have found a way to knock him out without him knowing which truck hit him. [:D]

[AU Tiger_MatrixForum]

ORIGINAL: Cuttlefish


“You’d think so, wouldn’t you?” says Sugiyura. “It almost seems like they don’t build them, but instead conjure them out of the sea like evil spirits.”

[:D]

[Cuttlefish]

May 30, 1943

Location: Rabaul
Course: Docked
Attached to: TF 36
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 0
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475

Orders: Proceed to Gili Gili and screen bombardment force from attack

---

To everyone’s surprise the base meteorologist proves to be correct. The Japanese at Rabaul awaken to scattered cloud cover. By afternoon the clouds form a solid gray mass, and by evening a light rain begins to fall.

Captain Ishii cancels all leave, anticipating that orders to sail may come at any moment. He has made all the preparations he can for another trip into enemy waters. The rest, he knows, is up to fate, fortune, and the skill of his crew.

[Cuttlefish]

May 31, 1943

Location: Rabaul
Course: Docked
Attached to: TF 36
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 0
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475

Orders: Proceed to Gili Gili and screen bombardment force from attack

---

The rain has increased to a steady tropical downpour. It streaks the windows on the bridge in the late afternoon as Captain Ishii greets Lieutenant Miharu.

“Ah, good afternoon, Exec,” he says. “We have our orders. We sail for Gili Gili at 1800 hours.”

“Yes sir,” says Lieutenant Miharu. Something in his manner gives Captain Ishii pause.

“You have something on your mind, Exec?” he asks. Lieutenant Miharu almost smiles. There are disadvantages to having worked with the same captain for over a year and a half. He and Ishii know each other’s moods better than most married couples do.

“Yes sir,” he says. “I am concerned that we have gone to this well too many times. Our enemies are not stupid; bad weather or not, they will anticipate that we are coming.” Captain Ishii nods just slightly.

“I agree with you,” he says, and clasps his hands behind his back. “But you know that these are not our decisions to make.”

“I know, sir,” says the lieutenant. “I cannot help worrying about it, though.”

“I don’t say that you are wrong,” says Ishii. “I share your misgivings. But the important thing is that the crew sees that you have absolute confidence in the mission. They aren’t stupid, of course, many of them will see the dangers as clearly as we do. But they will take their cue from us.”

“Of course, sir,” says Miharu.

“You are an outstanding officer, Exec,” says Captain Ishii, “but sometimes you think too much. Don’t. There are people who are supposed to think about grand strategy. They may be idiots, some of them, but we will follow their orders just the same as if they were possessed of the brilliance of Admiral Togo. All we are supposed to think about is running this ship. Understood?”

“Yes sir,” says Lieutenant Miharu. “Just run the ship.” Captain Ishii claps him on the shoulder.

“Good,” he says. “Then I am going to leave you to do just that. The ship is yours, Exec.” And with that he heads for his cabin, where his dinner should already be waiting for him.

[Cuttlefish]

June 1, 1943

Location: Off Gasmata
Course: Southwest
Attached to: TF 36
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 0
Float Damage: 1
Fires: 0
Fuel: 439

Orders: Proceed to Gili Gili and screen bombardment force from attack

---

The Japanese ships, Captain Yoshimura’s screening force followed by the powerful bombardment group, depart Rabaul and hug the south coast of New Guinea on their way west. By the next day they are off Gasmata.

There is no sign of any enemy patrol planes. Radio signals out of Rabaul, however, indicate that the enemy has decided to try and take advantage of the overcast to try and sneak an air raid past the Japanese defenses. The effort fails, however, and a force of some fifty enemy four-engine bombers is spotted as they approach.

From the sound of it the bombers have somehow gotten separated from their escorts, for only a few enemy fighters are encountered. This leaves several daitai of Japanese fighters free to assail the bombers, and from the gleeful radio reports the fighters have a fine time of it. Half the enemy bombers are destroyed, and the rest succeed in doing very little damage to the airfield.

Those aboard the Japanese ships are pleased, and not only at the success of the brave Japanese pilots. If the enemy bombers are attacking Rabaul it means they have not been spotted. There is perhaps some hope of taking the enemy unawares this time around.

[Cuttlefish]

June 2, 1943

Location: 100 miles southeast of Gasmata
Course: Northeast
Attached to: TF 36
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 0
Float Damage: 1
Fires: 0
Fuel: 171

Orders: Proceed to Gili Gili and screen bombardment force from attack

---

It is another dark night off Gili Gili. The screening force cruises warily off the enemy coast, looking for the enemy. Anxious lookouts peer through the darkness and wipe the lenses of their binoculars or shield their eyes from the rain.

It is a sharp-eyed lookout aboard Nokaze who sees them first, a small flotilla of enemy torpedo boats cruising slowly between the Japanese ships and the shore. Though they are only dark shapes in the distance there is no sign that they have seen the Japanese ships.

Captain Yoshimura orders his column to swing to port so that they are running parallel to the torpedo boats, some 2500 meters distant. Hibiki, at the front of the column, completes the maneuver and awaits the order to fire.

“All guns trained to starboard,” he Captain Ishii quietly. “Wait for the signal.” In the darkness on the bridge he gazes through binoculars towards the enemy ships. Even knowing where they are they are hard to spot.

“Sir, signal from Sendai,” comes the voice of the radio operator from the speaking tube. “All ships commence firing.”

“Fire!” says Captain Ishii. Chief Gunnery Officer Kuwaki is ready. In concert with the other ships Hibiki’s six 5” roar, sending shells towards the enemy.

Only two enemy boats are hit in the first barrage. One is torn apart immediately and one is damaged, but the resulting fires provide illumination for the gunners aboard the Japanese ships. Kuwaki hisses in annoyance and relays corrections to his gun crews; Hibiki’s initial broadside was short.

The surviving enemy torpedo boats recover quickly. They turn and try to make a fight of it, but the firepower from the Japanese destroyer flotilla is withering. Those boats that do not break off and flee are quickly sunk. The Japanese force sustains no damage whatsoever.

“Excellent!’ says Captain Ishii in satisfaction. That Hibiki has not scored a kill this time around does not bother him at all. What matters is that the Japanese force is intact and that the bombardment can proceed without hindrance. Lieutenant Kuwaki is less pleased, thinking perhaps of his chances of promotion and the bandage still on Captain Ishii’s ear.

The Japanese ships continue their sweep, but no other enemy vessels are encountered. Captain Yoshimura informs the bombardment force that the coast is clear, and Yamato and the other ships sweep in to begin their work.

---

Opening volley at Gili Gili:

[Capt. Harlock]

Nearly at the half-way point of 1943 and the battles are still going the IJN's way. That "good luck" snake is certainly doing her job . . .

[tocaff]

Yes, but there has been a subtle swing happening as the Allies get stronger.  

[Barb]

Cuttlefish: I have no words to your outstanding mastery over this story. I am strongly willing to obtain a full copy (signed) of Small Ship, Big War written in a *.doc when it will be completed (after the story ends). [&o]

[Onime No Kyo]

Put me on the list.
 
By the time its all over, maybe we can get enough people together that you could name a nice round sum+Kinkos expenses and shipping and we can break it all up between us and make it worth you while. [:D]

[marky]

add me too pweaaz [&o][:D]

[cantona2]

id like a copy too [&o] pleeeeassssssseeeeeee

[Cuttlefish]

June 3, 1943

Location: Rabaul
Course: Docked
Attached to: TF 36
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 0
Float Damage: 1
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475

Orders: Await further orders

---

Reconnaissance photos following the attack on Gili Gili show disappointing results. The airfield is still useable, so sending bombers in to finish the job and restore control of the air over the base to the Japanese would be futile. By this time no one has any illusions about the fate of any force sent against the American gull-winged fighters.

To add to the Japanese woes enemy B-25 bombers struck at the bombardment force as they returned to Rabaul and Yamato suffered six bomb hits. While none of them penetrated the big battleship’s armor, casualties were inflicted and there was some damage topsides. Repair specialists from Southeast Fleet headquarters look over the ship the next day and decide that repairs can be effected at Rabaul.

This is expected to take a little time, however. Musashi is fine but Kirishima also needs some work, and since Kongo, Hiei, and Haruna have yet to return from the Home Islands this leaves the ships of the Screening Force temporarily out of a job. Hibiki anchors in Simpson Bay and her crew settles in to wait until they are needed once again.