Small Ship, Big War - The Voyages of the Hibiki

[histgamer]

That is to mean spare fuel, they probally could have if they wanted to but it wouldnt have been advisable because it would have been cutting into operations fuel.

[bradfordkay]

Can we suggest that any of Cuttlefish's posts count as five posts on the forum tracker? They're certainly worth at least five of any of the rest of ours!

[Cuttlefish]

ORIGINAL: dekwik

The description of the torpedo exercise is great CF! I imagine it's the kind of naval exercise that should have been done often but probably wasn't??

The torpedo exercise is based closely on a description I read of such exercises conducted by American ships off Pearl during the war. I figure it isn't too much of a stretch to imagine the Japanese conducting similar exercises, given time and fuel (both of which they have in much greater abundance in this version of the war than they did in the real one).

[princep01]

To expose my ignorance, is the B6N Tenzan the torpedo bomber than the Allied dubbed the Jill?

[Cuttlefish]

ORIGINAL: princep01

To expose my ignorance, is the B6N Tenzan the torpedo bomber than the Allied dubbed the Jill?

Yes. Tenzan, by the way, means "heavenly mountain".

[Cuttlefish]

September 10, 1943

Location: Tokyo
Course: Disbanded in port
Attached to: None
Mission: None
System Damage: 0
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475

Orders: Await further orders

---

Around mid morning Senior Petty Officer Aikawa brings the ship’s boat alongside Hibiki. Three men climb the ladder provided. Aikawa follows once he secures the boat alongside, lugging with him a small sack of mail.

He turns the mail over for distribution and then seeks out Taiki. He finds him in the forward small caliber ammo storage locker. Taiki is in the middle of an inspection of the 25mm magazines. There he hands Taiki a note.

“The woman who gave this to me says she will wait on the dock all day if necessary,” he tells Taiki. “Now, if it was me I would try not to make her wait all day. She is very attractive. And she seems very determined.”

Taiki stares at the envelope, then opens it. The note inside is only two lines long. Taiki looks up, eyes slightly wild. Aikawa, who has been married for ten years, almost laughs at the look on his face.

“I’m taking the boat back ashore in about half an hour,” he says. Taiki stammers out a thanks and then hurries past him and out of the room. He has thirty minutes to track down Lieutenant Kuwaki and wheedle a liberty pass out of him.

---

Aikawa has another note to hand deliver, this one to Chief Petty Officer Shun. Shun thanks him. He can tell by the handwriting that the note is from his daughter. She and his mother must now be in Tokyo. Shun reads the note, which confirms this.

Shun, a man who is never known to hesitate, hesitates now. Though his face remains expressionless there is a set to his shoulders that betrays tension. Finally he takes a deep breath and then strides off. He has two liberty passes to arrange.

---

“You want me to go ashore with you this afternoon?” asks Riku in bewilderment. This is in fact exactly what Shun has just told him, but Riku might perhaps be forgiven for being confused by a social invitation from the man who once tried to kill him. Shun does not reply, he merely nods.

“But, Chief Petty Officer, I am on duty this afternoon,” Riku says.

“It is all arranged,” Shun says. “You have permission to go ashore.” Riku’s mind races. What on earth could Shun want? To have a drink together, a little man to man talk? Shun has rarely spoken to him during the past fifteen months. But saying no to the Chief never crosses his mind.

“In that case, of course, I will be ready,” he says.

“Good,” says Shun. He spins on his heel and departs. Riku looks after him, still baffled.

---

Taiki stands holding Sayumi’s hands. He would like to be doing much more, but public displays of affection in Japan are just not done. The wind off of the bay stirs her hair, and her eyes are very wide.

“Marry you?” she says in a whisper.

Taiki nods. In some ways he hardly knows this woman, but something deep inside tells him he is making the correct decision. “I have recently been reminded that I should not waste time,” he says with a smile. “There is a nice hotel near here with a Shinto shrine for marriages. There is a priest. My family can be here by the day after tomorrow.””

“But I have never even met them!” Sayumi says.

“You will love them, and they you,” Taiki says. Sayumi’s eyes are still wide, but slowly she smiles. There is something about the smile that makes Taiki’s insides do flip-flops.

“What can I say in the face of such impulsiveness?” she says. “Yes, Taiki, I will marry you.”

---

Message from First Fleet Headquarters, received aboard Hibiki at 1320 hours:

[font="Courier New"]Urgent. You are assigned effective immediately to Task Force 48, Captain Aoki commanding. Make preparations to depart as soon as possible. Further orders to follow.[/font]

---

Captain Ishii reads the order. He then hands it to Lieutenant Miharu, who also reads it.

“Captain Aoki…isn’t he a carrier man?” says the lieutenant. Captain Ishii nods and strides out onto the observation wing. There he turns a pair of 21 cm. binoculars on carrier Akagi, visible across the bay. Scaffolding on the side of the big carrier is being hurriedly dismantled and work parties are leaving the carrier and streaming ashore. Everywhere there are signs of frantic activity.

“I think,” says Captain Ishii as he returns to the bridge, “that the wait to find out what the enemy is going to do next is over. Cancel all liberty and recall all crew ashore. Make preparation to get underway.”

“Yes sir,” replies his executive officer.

---

Shun hears the announcement and shakes his head in disbelief. Has he been saved from a terrible mistake, or prevented from correcting one? He has time to send a quick note ashore with the last boat before hurrying to help the deck crew with preparations to depart.

---

Taiki sits in the boat heading back to Hibiki. He is facing astern, looking at the receding shore. While around him his crewmates chatter, speculating on what all the rush could be about, he utters no word. Though his features are set and unchanging his eyes are very sad.

[bradfordkay]

The sea is a cruel (and jealous) mistress...

[tocaff]

I knew it!  Just when things were heating up on the home front the war heats up again.  

[Capt. Harlock]

“I think,” says Captain Ishii as he returns to the bridge, “that the wait to find out what the enemy is going to do next is over. Cancel all liberty and recall all crew ashore. Make preparation to get underway.”

O woe!!! [X(] What a blow for more than one of the Hibiki's crew. (But it continues to be a great read for we followers of her voyages.)

[Admiral DadMan]

OMG!!!

Poor Taiki...

Damn...

[Cuttlefish]

September 11, 1943

Location: 100 miles SE of Tokyo
Course: South-southeast
Attached to: TF 48
Mission: Air Combat
System Damage: 0
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 445

Orders: Escort Akagi to rendezvous with other Japanese carriers

---

In the middle of the afternoon eight ships depart Tokyo Bay. The compact task force is centered around carrier Akagi. Also present, besides Hibiki, are the new light cruiser Noshiro, light cruiser Natori, and destroyers Natsushio, Yukikaze, Amatsukaze, and Ikazuchi.

Not until the ships are underway does Captain Ishii go to his cabin and open the sealed orders that were hurriedly delivered the previous afternoon. These orders direct the task force to proceed south, where they will rendezvous with the rest of Kido Butai either at sea or at Kwajalein, as circumstances dictate.

The orders also reveal that on the previous morning an H8K aircraft spotted a powerful enemy task force some 300 miles south-southeast of Marcus Island*. The task force included battleships and at least two aircraft carriers. Japanese intelligence has identified one of the carriers as the previously unknown Bunker Hill.

While the enemy’s intentions are unknown, the possibility that this is the forerunner of an invasion force cannot be ignored. If it is an invasion Japanese naval forces will concentrate southwest of Marcus and engage the enemy. The orders conclude with the observation that this may present an ideal opportunity to smash enemy naval power once and for all.

Captain Ishii sets the orders aside. He knows that Marcus Island, just over 1800 kilometers southeast of Tokyo, is heavily garrisoned and fortified. He also knows that the flat, triangular island offers little cover, and that there are limits to how many men can be supported there. It would be a difficult place to attack, and to defend.

Captain Ishii locks the orders in a drawer. He then leaves his cabin and goes to give his crew the outline of their mission. He also makes a mental note to ask Lieutenant Miharu what a “bunker hill” is.

---

*The Japanese name for Marcus Island is Minamitori-shima, which translates to “Southern Bird Island”.

[Cuttlefish]

September 12, 1943

Location: 400 miles SE of Tokyo
Course: South-southeast
Attached to: TF 48
Mission: Air Combat
System Damage: 0
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 409

Orders: Escort Akagi to rendezvous with other Japanese carriers

---

Lieutenant Miharu explains to Captain Ishii that Bunker Hill, like Yorktown and Lexington, was a battle from the American Revolutionary War. “Though I understand that the battle was actually fought at a place called Breed’s Hill,” he says.

“The Revolutionary War,” says Ishii. “Was that the battle between the North and the South, the blue and the gray?” Hibiki’s captain can tell you that Hank Greenberg hit 58 home runs in 1938 or that Joe Dimaggio batted .381 in 1939, but outside of baseball his knowledge of American history is weak at best.

“No,” says Lieutenant Miharu, “that was their War Between the States.” He smiles slightly. “Though I was told once by someone from South Carolina that it should more properly be called The War of Northern Aggression. That war occurred just prior to the Meiji-ishin. Their Revolutionary War was almost a century earlier.”

“Ah, yes, I remember now,” says Ishii. He thinks for a moment. “They are such a young country, a young people. And they possess the energy and vigor and the heedlessness of youth. Our courage and spirit must not falter if we are to defeat them.”

Lieutenant Miharu nods, but he has some idea of America’s industrial potential and wonders to himself how many new carriers are out there, how many are being constructed? Courage and spirit are important, but he suspects there is a limit to how much sheer firepower they can overcome. But of these thoughts he says nothing.

[Cuttlefish]

September 13, 1943

Location: 310 miles north-northwest of Marcus Island
Course: South
Attached to: TF 48
Mission: Air Combat
System Damage: 0
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 365

Orders: Escort Akagi to rendezvous with other Japanese carriers

---

“So what do you guys hear?” says Yoshitake. “Are the Americans attacking Marcus?’ He shovels more rice onto his plate with his chopsticks.

“I don’t think so,” says Riku. “I heard Lieutenant Kataoka say that he heard that the enemy ships had withdrawn.”

“So what does that mean?” asks Yoshitake.

“Weren’t you listening to the captain when he made his announcement?” says Oizuma. “It means we go on to Kwajalein.” He moves aside to make room for Shiro. “Hey, Kuramata, I thought you were going to miss chow.” Shiro rolls his eyes.

“I thought I was too,” he says. “Petty Officer Takahashi was displeased with the condition of the guns. We had to clean and grease everything twice before he was satisfied.”

“What’s eating him?” asks Oizuma. “He’s not usually like that.” Shiro, dishing up some food, looks at him.

“You didn’t hear?” he says.

“Hear what?” says Oizuma. Yoshitake and a couple of others lean closer. Sailors are among the world’s great gossips. Riku, who knows the story, just shakes his head sadly.

“He met a woman while we were in Okayama,” Shiro says. “She came to Tokyo and he proposed to her about an hour before the orders came down to leave for Marcus. His family was already on a train, and if we had remained in port another day and a half he would have been married.”

“Ouch!” says Oizuma. “No wonder he is in a bad mood. I would be too.” There are other murmurs of sympathy around the table.

“The hard part,” says Shiro, “is that there is no way to tell when we’ll be back. The last time we left we were gone only three weeks. Before that it was more than a year.”

“I know what will help,” says Yoshitake. “When we get to Kwajalein we need to find a woman for him.”

“Don’t!” say Riku and Shiro simultaneously. Yoshitake looks hurt at their vehemence.

“I was just trying to help,” he says.

“Please,” says Shiro, “don’t help.”

“Takahashi is solid, he will be okay,” adds Riku. “He just needs some time.”

“Well,” says Oizuma, fishing a last bit of meat out of his bowl, “time is one thing we always have, out here.” No one disagrees. Time is a product of distance, and the distances in the Pacific can be long ones indeed.

[histgamer]

[&o][&o][&o][&o][&o][&o][&o][&o][&o][&o]

[Capt. Harlock]

“So what do you guys hear?” says Yoshitake. “Are the Americans attacking Marcus?’ He shovels more rice onto his plate with his chopsticks.

“I don’t think so,” says Riku. “I heard Lieutenant Kataoka say that he heard that the enemy ships had withdrawn.”

Smells very much like a feint -- show up near someplace the Japanese can't ignore, then scurry away when the KB appears. The great question: where is the real target?

[Cuttlefish]

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock

“So what do you guys hear?” says Yoshitake. “Are the Americans attacking Marcus?’ He shovels more rice onto his plate with his chopsticks.

“I don’t think so,” says Riku. “I heard Lieutenant Kataoka say that he heard that the enemy ships had withdrawn.”

Smells very much like a feint -- show up near someplace the Japanese can't ignore, then scurry away when the KB appears. The great question: where is the real target?

The answer will not be long in coming. Stay tuned.

[Cuttlefish]

September 14, 1943

Location: 350 miles southwest of Marcus Island
Course: South
Attached to: TF 48
Mission: Air Combat
System Damage: 0
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 329

Orders: Escort Akagi to rendezvous with other Japanese carriers

---

Seaman First Class Shoji steps into the ship’s dispensary, cradling his left hand. It is wrapped in a crude bandage and ship’s medic, Lieutenant JG Nakagawa, can see blotches of red soaking through the cloth.

“Ah, Shoji,” he says. “I haven’t had the pleasure of your company since you encountered that cone snail. What have you done to your hand this time?”

Shoji grimaces. “I was in the carpenter’s shop helping to trim a new support spar for one of the masts,” he says. “I caught the side of my hand on a jagged piece of metal. Chief Shinoda wrapped my hand and ordered me to report here.”

“Come on over here,” says Nakagawa, walking over to a basin sitting on a counter. Such calls aren’t too unusual. Men plus machinery plus fatigue inevitably produces accidents, and sometimes they are grisly and even life-threatening. This one, fortunately, does not seem too serious.

Shoji obediently comes over and holds out his hand. Nakagawa unwraps the bloody bandage, revealing a deep, ragged cut along the outside of the hand. Some blood oozes sluggishly out. Nakagawa examines the wound. He notes a ragged flap of skin hanging loose.

“That’s going to have to come off,” he murmurs to himself.

“What?” yells Shoji in surprise and alarm. He tried to yank his hand away.

Nakagawa laughs but does not relinquish the hand. “Not your hand, just this bit of skin,” he says. Shoji breathes a sigh of relief.

Nakagawa trims away the skin and cleans the wound. Shoji bears this in stoic silence. He also does not show that he is in any pain while the injury is stitched close. Nakagawa applies a dressing, then washes his hands and writes out an order.

“Light duty until the stitches come out,” he says.

Shoji grins. “Light duty, sir? Surely an injury this serious requires bed rest.”

“Nice try,” says Nakagawa dryly. “As far as the Imperial Navy is concerned you have two hands so you can continue to carry out your duties if one of them is shot off. Back to Chief Shinoda with you.”

“Yes sir,” says Shoji, who salutes and departs. Nakagawa cleans up and then makes an entry in his log. Not for the first time he wishes the ship had a supply of sulfa powder on hand. It is very hard to come by, however, and a ship the size of a destroyer does not rate any. He recalls rumors he has heard that it can be obtained on the black market and makes a note to check on that when the ship reaches Kwajalein.

[princep01]

Hummmmmm....do I "smell" another visit by the snake-bitten, or should I say, "cone-bitten", Shoji, to the good doctor in about a week with a hand as big as a catcher's mitt?

[Cuttlefish]

September 15, 1943

Location: 540 miles east of Guam
Course: South
Attached to: TF 48
Mission: Air Combat
System Damage: 0
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 285

Orders: Escort Akagi to rendezvous with other Japanese carriers

---

Seaman Kinsei is alone in the torpedo maintenance room. He is seated on a bench, hunched over with concentration as he studies a manual. There are a number of other manuals piled beside him, and he unconsciously reaches out every now and then to steady them when a tilt of the ship threatens to send them spilling onto the deck.

Kinsei is determined to overcome his perceived shortcomings through sheer hard work. It is late and he should be off duty by now, but with all the mistakes he keeps making in Lieutenant Sugiyura’s presence he knows that it will take more than ordinary effort to make up ground.

Footsteps echo behind him as someone else enters the narrow room, and he turns to see that it is the lieutenant himself. Kinsei jumps up, comes to attention, and salutes. As he does so the stack of manuals slithers onto the deck with a papery crash. Kinsei winces inside.

Lieutenant Sugiyura says nothing, but he walks forward and scoops up the manuals. He turns a couple of them over and studies them for a moment.

“Getting in some extra studying?” he asks Kinsei.

“Yes sir,” Kinsei replies.

“Good,” says Sugiyura. “Few sailors bother to open some of these unless they are forced to. Glad to see you are taking an interest.” He hands the manuals back to Kinsei and strides over to a workbench. He unlatches and opens a drawer and takes out a bundle of blueprints and schematics, then carries them back to Kinsei.

“You may want to have a look at these,” he says. “There are some notes on them that I have added over the years, stuff that never made it into the manuals for some reason. You might find it useful.”

“Yes sir,” says Kinsei. “Thank you.” Sugiyura takes a look around.

“Carry on, Kinsei,” he says. “Don’t forget to get some sleep.”

“Yes sir, I won’t sir,” says Kinsei. Sugiyura strolls out. Kinsei stands blinking after him. How remarkable, he thinks. He hunkers back down on the bench, spreads open one of the schematics, and begins to study it.

[kaleun]

Good!