Small Ship, Big War - The Voyages of the Hibiki

[Cribtop]

This is great stuff.  Unless I'm misremembering the Battle of Iwo Jima, this is the third Essex Cuttlefish has managed to sink.  No mean feat.

[tocaff]

The sad part is that the USN can absorb these loses and bounce back at you.  Industrial might, don't wage war without it.

[Xenocide]

I just spent the last week after a long hiatus starting from the beginning again and catching up.

Every time it seemed the ship was doomed I somehow forgot how many more pages I had to read and went into a panic. Congratulations on a fun read and kudos on how well you've so far captured the growing sense of despair onboard the ship.

Out of sick curiosity when does the first atom bomb become available in WITP?

[Cuttlefish]

ORIGINAL: Xenocide

I just spent the last week after a long hiatus starting from the beginning again and catching up.

Every time it seemed the ship was doomed I somehow forgot how many more pages I had to read and went into a panic. Congratulations on a fun read and kudos on how well you've so far captured the growing sense of despair onboard the ship.

Out of sick curiosity when does the first atom bomb become available in WITP?

They get the first one in August 1945 and then (I think, someone correct me if I'm wrong) one a month thereafter. There are, however, steep victory condition penalties for using more than two.

[Cuttlefish]

March 11, 1945

Location: Saigon
Course: None
Attached to: TF 27
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 1
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475

Orders: Return to Japan

---

Excerpt from “Japanese Destroyer Attack!” by Shiro Kuramata, Ballentine Mori Press, 1963. Translated by Captain Ben Packard, USN (ret.). Original Japanese title: “Small Ship, Big War”


We ended up spending three days in Saigon. Everyone got leave at least once and it was good for us. Not only was there a lot of nightlife there but so far the war had touched the city very lightly. To the north, in Burma, the British had been held at bay for two years. The Japanese based there were largely free of the fear and despair that were taking hold in the Home Islands. It was refreshing, a small vacation from pressure and doubt.

We didn’t know, of course, that even while we were enjoying the nightclubs and gambling dens of Saigon British troops were boarding the transports that would take them to Alor Star. By the time the invasion actually struck we were too far away to affect the outcome. If we had stayed even a few more days we would no doubt have been drawn into the fighting and who knows what our fate would have been then?

We did participate in a small way, of course, by getting Ryujo there in time. Our carriers were to strike a devastating blow in that battle, sending planes across the Malay Peninsula from the Gulf of Siam to surprise the Royal Navy. And perhaps we would have been a part of the sortie when Fuso and Nagato intercepted the British carriers by night and knocked them out of the battle. Who knows, perhaps Lieutenant Sugiyura would have gotten his dearest wish and torpedoed an enemy carrier.

But one can speculate forever about such “what ifs”. By the time all this happened we were at Inch’on, where we were soon to be confronted by the most desperate situation we had yet faced…

[Shark7]

Gah, ominous fore-shadowing. [:-]

[Hornblower]

will you please type faster cuttlefish???

[BigDuke66]

Haste makes waste [:-]

[Dave3L]

Cuttlefish's lack of typing speed is RUINING my productivity!

[Capt. Harlock]

We did participate in a small way, of course, by getting Ryujo there in time. Our carriers were to strike a devastating blow in that battle, sending planes across the Malay Peninsula from the Gulf of Siam to surprise the Royal Navy. And perhaps we would have been a part of the sortie when Fuso and Nagato intercepted the British carriers by night and knocked them out of the battle. Who knows, perhaps Lieutenant Sugiyura would have gotten his dearest wish and torpedoed an enemy carrier.

And I'll bet that's all the description of the fighting we get . . .[:(] But at least the IJN is still putting up a whale of a fight.

[kaleun]

A lot of fighting left in it, seems to me

[Canoerebel]

What's this about Inchon?  Has Cuttlefish gone bezerk and come up with the idea to have Hibiki suddenly encounter a worm-hole and teleport forward in time to take part in the UN landings at Inchon during the Korean War?  Hibiki is now under MacArthur's command?

[Hornblower]

i sure hope there is a copy right on this thread.  Cuttlefish i think you could package this up and sell it to a Film Studio in Japan..

[CV Zuikaku]

ORIGINAL: Hornblower

i sure hope there is a copy right on this thread.  Cuttlefish i think you could package this up and sell it to a Film Studio in Japan..

I woul'd like to see the movie. I think that is a good idea! [:)]

[Cuttlefish]

March 12, 1945

Location: Camranh Bay
Course: None
Attached to: TF 27
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 1
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475

Orders: Return to Japan

---

The six Japanese destroyers make good time along the coast, their speed no longer restricted by the carrier they had been escorting. And they have reason to hurry; the enemy carriers have withdrawn again and for the moment the way home is clear. If the enemy follows his usual pattern, however, invasion forces will be arriving in the Ryukyus shortly.

They pause that night in Camranh Bay, putting into port only long enough to refuel. Speed is of the essence now.

[Cuttlefish]

March 13, 1945

Location: 300 miles northeast of Camranh Bay
Course: Northeast
Attached to: TF 27
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 1
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 439

Orders: Return to Japan

---

“Do you know what I hate?” Yoshitake says. He and Shoji are trudging back to their hammocks after combat stations are cancelled. The lurking submarine spotted by one of the destroyers turned out to be a floating log.

“Being blown overboard, landing in water covered in oil, and having your legs torn off by sharks?” Shoji says brightly. Shoji has the ability to wake up completely and cheerfully even after an hour of sleep interrupted by klaxons. Everybody agrees that this is unnatural.

“No!” says Yoshitake. “Well, yes, I would hate that. But I meant the way that Okubo has of slapping you on the back of the head as you run to your station. It doesn’t hurry me up! It makes me stumble.”

“The sharks are worse,” says Shoji.

“But they aren’t on deck when I’m trying to get my job done,” grumbles Yoshitake. “Okubo is.”

“It isn’t anything personal,” says Shoji. “He does it to all the enlisted men, not just you.”

“He’s a jerk,” grumbles Yoshitake.

“He did try to save me that time I was washed overboard,” says Shoji. “He’s all right.” The two of them reach the machine space where they sling their hammocks. Shiro comes in right behind them and Riku and Oizuma are already there.

“See you in three hours,” Yoshitake says. “Or the next floating log.” He climbs into his hammock and falls almost immediately into an uncomfortable sleep where he dreams that he is being chased around the deck by a shark with Petty Officer Okubo’s face. It’s almost a relief when the bell signaling the change of watch comes and he stumbles once again out of his hammock.

[Cuttlefish]

March 14, 1945

Location: 220 miles southeast of Hong Kong
Course: North
Attached to: TF 27
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 1
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 403

Orders: Return to Japan

---

At 1420 hours submarine Brill launches a spread of torpedoes against Hamanami, second destroyer in the column. Brill is not in excellent position but while the shot is difficult it is not impossible. Fortunately Hamanami spots the torpedoes in time to turn away from the attack. The torpedoes comb her wake and the destroyer escapes unscathed.

So does Brill. Hibiki and the other destroyers search for their attacker for a short time but soon call off the hunt. The longer they linger the more chance their unseen enemy has of popping up again and taking another shot, perhaps a better one. So they reform their column and are quickly on their way once more.

[Cuttlefish]

March 15, 1945

Location: Pescadores
Course: North
Attached to: TF 27
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 1
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 368

Orders: Proceed to Inch'on

---

“This is where we started the war,” Captain Ishii comments. They are anchored at Mako in the Pescadores, the base from which they set out as part of Admiral Kondo’s Southern Strike Force prior to the opening of hostilities.

“I remember, sir,” says Lieutenant Miharu. “Even though it seems like a lot more than forty months ago, somehow.”

“It seems like a decade ago, at least,” agrees Ishii. “It’s been a long war.”

“And now they are sending us to Inch’on,” says the ship’s executive officer. “Do you know why, sir?”

“No, they tell me less and less as the war goes on,” says Ishii. “My guess is that they are expecting action at Okinawa and want us close enough to respond but far away to avoid more of those damn carrier attacks. We know that nowhere in Japan is really safe, and I doubt that Formosa is either. So, Inch’on.”

“The crew may view this as going somewhere and hiding,” observes the lieutenant. “It may not be the best thing for morale.”

“The crew is perceptive,” grunts Ishii. “We are hiding. Try to portray it as lurking in wait, ready to spring out and deal a devastating blow to the enemy.”

“Lurking in wait,” says Miharu. “Very good, sir. Like a tiger.”

“Better a tiger than a skulking jackal,” says Ishii. “Which I fear may be closer to the truth. But perhaps I am being too pessimistic. We do still have teeth, and the enemy may feel them again before this war is over.”

[BrucePowers]

May we see a news report from the action with the RN carriers? Please.

[Alikchi2]

ORIGINAL: BrucePowers

May we see a news report from the action with the RN carriers? Please.

Japanese news report? Be careful what you wish for.

"Every British carrier sunk and London bombed by KAIGUN SUPERFLEET!"