Small Ship, Big War - The Voyages of the Hibiki

[mdiehl]

bump

[Cuttlefish]

ORIGINAL: John 3rd

Just caught up from my enforced departure CF.  Absolutely delightful Sir.

BANZAI!

Thank you, John, and welcome back!

[Cuttlefish]

May 7, 1945

Location: 100 miles northeast of Marcus Island
Course: North-northeast
Attached to: TF 21
Mission: Surface combat
System Damage: 2
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 350

Orders: Return to Ominato

---

Excerpt from the personal diary of Taiki Takahashi:

Spirits are still high from the successful attack. We know that we are probably being followed – I have seen many people looking to the south as if they could see whatever forces of the enemy might be back there – but few seem to doubt we will make port, even if the enemy engages us. We have come home so many times that many truly believe we cannot be sunk.

We took on a few new crewmen at Ominato. I heard one of them say he was overjoyed to have been assigned to Hibiki, because he knew that meant he would survive the war and see his children again. I guess our reputation has spread. And I suppose it does no harm to believe that this ship is special. We may find out different if we are sunk but in the meantime it helps to have confidence.

Ikoma is around somewhere, but whether it is ahead of us or behind us no one knows. It makes a difference, I think, because the enemy seems drawn with irresistible fury towards anything with a flat deck. There is an old joke about two bamboo cutters being chased by a tiger. One of them observes, panting, that they cannot possibly outrun the beast, and the other says that he does not need to run faster than the tiger, only faster than the other fellow. This situation is rather like that, I think. In the old days we would have been asked to sacrifice ourselves to preserve the aircraft carriers but I do not know if the Imperial Navy now considers our force to be less valuable than a single flight deck. I have my opinion but as my title is not Admiral Takahashi I know that no one cares.

It has also occurred to me that reaching port does not necessarily mean we will be safe. We have been attacked at both Osaka and Inch’on now and my confidence in our air force is not what it used to be. I suppose it depends on how angry the enemy is and how many of them there are. I do know the answer to either question but I guess that we will find out soon enough.

[Canoerebel]

As an editor, I'm constantly reviewing manuscripts submitted for publication.  What I read ranges from excellent to raw, and my writers range from professionals who write for Reutters, Knight-Ridder, and Associated Press to the rankest amateur.  Even with my hyper-critical editor's eye, in reading this AAR I seldom find a mistake or something that needs re-writing.  More significantly, it's written by a real craftsman and is wonderful reading.  
 
P.S.  Keep up the good work, but please try to work in the ghost ship C.S.S. Shenandoah, a Confederate commerce raider that some thought lowered the flag in 1865 or 1866, but actually continued operations in the North Pacific and is certainly a threat to the Hibiki as she heads for Ominato.  I am sure only the Confederate Navy can bring this wraith to justice.

[kaleun]

Hooray for the confederation!
(Eli Wallach, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly)

[Hornblower]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

As an editor, I'm constantly reviewing manuscripts submitted for publication.  What I read ranges from excellent to raw, and my writers range from professionals who write for Reutters, Knight-Ridder, and Associated Press to the rankest amateur.  Even with my hyper-critical editor's eye, in reading this AAR I seldom find a mistake or something that needs re-writing.  More significantly, it's written by a real craftsman and is wonderful reading.  

P.S.  Keep up the good work, but please try to work in the ghost ship C.S.S. Shenandoah, a Confederate commerce raider that some thought lowered the flag in 1865 or 1866, but actually continued operations in the North Pacific and is certainly a threat to the Hibiki as she heads for Ominato.  I am sure only the Confederate Navy can bring this wraith to justice.

or the Kearsarge [:D]

[Cuttlefish]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

As an editor, I'm constantly reviewing manuscripts submitted for publication.  What I read ranges from excellent to raw, and my writers range from professionals who write for Reutters, Knight-Ridder, and Associated Press to the rankest amateur.  Even with my hyper-critical editor's eye, in reading this AAR I seldom find a mistake or something that needs re-writing.  More significantly, it's written by a real craftsman and is wonderful reading.  

P.S.  Keep up the good work, but please try to work in the ghost ship C.S.S. Shenandoah, a Confederate commerce raider that some thought lowered the flag in 1865 or 1866, but actually continued operations in the North Pacific and is certainly a threat to the Hibiki as she heads for Ominato.  I am sure only the Confederate Navy can bring this wraith to justice.

That is high praise, sir, especially for something that I am often pressed for time to write. Thank you. As far as C.S.S. Shenandoah, I will see what I can do. At the least you now have that old, old song running through my head:

Oh Shenandoah,
I long to hear you,
Away you rolling river,
Oh Shenandoah,
I long to hear you,
Away, I'm bound away
'Cross the wide Missouri...

[Cuttlefish]

May 8, 1945

Location: 550 miles northeast of Marcus Island
Course: North-northeast
Attached to: TF 21
Mission: Surface combat
System Damage: 2
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 307

Orders: Return to Ominato

---

Transmission from Marcus Island, picked up aboard Hibiki at 1500 hours:

[font="Courier New"]We are under heavy attack from enemy carrier planes. Nittsu Maru sunk. Estimate 150 to 200 planes.[/font]

---

“What direction?” mutters Kuwaki, staring at the message just delivered to the bridge from the radio room. “Where are they coming from? That makes all the difference to us.”

“Perhaps from the south, sir?” offers Ensign Konada.

“Captain is on the bridge!” someone barks. Everyone except the helmsman comes to attention as Ishii climbs up the ladder from below. They return to their duties as Ishii crosses to Lieutenant Kuwaki and examines the proffered flimsy.

“From the west, I think,” says Ishii after a moment. He glances at Konada, having heard the ensign’s last statement. “If the carriers came from the Marianas, Ensign, they would not go to where our attack occurred. They would go northeast, hoping to cut us off. That would put them west of Marcus.”

“Then they got there fast, sir,” says Kuwaki.

“Yes, very fast,” says Ishii. “Now you know why we have been bearing northeast ourselves and not heading straight north towards home. Admiral Yamamoto is no fool.”

“Do you think they can catch us, sir?” asks Ensign Konada. The young officer tries not to sound nervous about the prospect.

“They are maybe 1200 kilometers away now, if I am correct,” says Ishii. “They don’t have to catch us, just get their planes within striking distance. Yes, they can do it, if they guess well or learn our location.” He pauses, mindful that what is said on the bridge is usually soon heard all over the ship. “But it is a big ocean and the enemy has a difficult task. I like our chances.”

“Yes sir,” says Kuwaki stolidly.

“Just think of it as a very large game of hide-and-seek, Ensign,” says Ishii.

“Yes sir,” says Konada. He tries, but he does not recall that he and his siblings ever played the game using torpedoes and armor-piercing bombs.

[kaleun]

Chews nails.....

[ChezDaJez]

“Yes sir,” says Konada. He tries, but he does not recall that he and his siblings ever played the game using torpedoes and armor-piercing bombs.

Would definitely be an interesting version to play if he did!

Chez

[Droop21]

Bump. I could not stand this AAR drifting so far down the list

[Hornblower]

this is great...

[Cuttlefish]

Sorry, this isn't an entry in the AAR, just a heads up that I am on vacation and headed for places where internet access is spotty at best. It may be a few days before I can update again.

[kaleun]

[:(]

[alaviner]

The true master of suspense [&o][&o][&o]

[Hornblower]

Enjoy your vacation. Hopefully it offers drinks with umbrellas and soft winds from the sea

[Capt. Harlock]

just a heads up that I am on vacation and headed for places where internet access is spotty at best.

Tsk, tsk. That's what they make "smartphones" for.[:D]

[SireChaos]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

As an editor, I'm constantly reviewing manuscripts submitted for publication.  What I read ranges from excellent to raw, and my writers range from professionals who write for Reutters, Knight-Ridder, and Associated Press to the rankest amateur.  Even with my hyper-critical editor's eye, in reading this AAR I seldom find a mistake or something that needs re-writing.  More significantly, it's written by a real craftsman and is wonderful reading.

Is there any way this AAR could be published as a novel? I don´t think so, but one can always hope...

[Cuttlefish]

May 9, 1945

Location: 300 miles southeast of Kunishiri Jima
Course: North
Attached to: TF 21
Mission: Surface combat
System Damage: 2
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 264

Orders: Return to Ominato

---

Torpedoman Kinsei shivers a little and steps next to the center torpedo mount to get out of the wind. It is night and there is a chill in the air that was not present when they were further south. He can see little but he can feel the reassuring rumble of the engines as they propel the ship through the dark water. Those engines, he reflects, have taken the ship hundreds of thousands of kilometers since the start of the war and they were not shiny and new then. This would not be an opportune time to have one of them fail but their rhythm seems to him to be reassuring and strong.

He hates night lookout duty, especially on dark cloudy nights like this. His chances of seeing anything at all are almost nil. He hopes he is relieved soon. No sooner does he think this than he hears footsteps and a large shape materializes out of the gloom.

“Kinsei? Is that you?” says a voice. It’s Hosogaya.

“Yes, it’s me,” he replies. Hosogaya steps closer.

“It’s dark tonight,” he grumbles. “I almost broke my leg getting up here.” He isn’t joking; it happens. Moving around on the deck of a pitching, blacked-out destroyer requires a certain agility.

“It’s going to get worse,” comments Kinsei gloomily. He doesn’t like the cold. “If we keep on going north it will probably get foggy. It’s almost always foggy in the Kuriles this time of year.”

“Is that where we are?”

“I think so. We are getting close, anyway. I hope the enemy doesn’t chase us all the way to Paramushiro.”

“At least it isn’t winter,” says Hosogaya.

“True!” says Kinsei. “I went on a training cruise in the Kuriles in February. I was so cold I thought I would freeze and so seasick I didn’t care if I did or not. It was miserable!”

There is silence for a moment. Someone passes below them, probably Petty Officer Okubo making his rounds of the lookout posts.

“I heard some talk before I came topsides,” says Hosogaya. “Straight from the bridge, they said. The enemy is still after us and getting closer.”

Kinsei sighs. “Maybe we will lose them in the fog,” he says.

[tocaff]

Mid '45 is not a good time to be Japanese.