Small Ship, Big War - The Voyages of the Hibiki

[tocaff]

...a snapping branch, sudden flight of birds, the lack of sound (scariest of all), etc.

[SireChaos]

Speaking of silence, suddenly I have to think of the scene in the original Star Wars movie, when the first batch of fighters are racing down the trench on the Death Star, and all of the sudden the laser turrets stop firing...

[Cuttlefish]

June 4, 1945

Location: 140 miles north of Kyoto
Course: East
Attached to: TF 21
Mission: Surface combat
System Damage: 5
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 147

Orders: Return to Hakodate

---

Everything is quiet as the Japanese ships approach Tsushima Island. Rear Admiral Yamamoto brings his ships in from the northeast, intending to pass through the western channel and then loop around the island and return to the Sea of Japan through the Tsushima Strait. Every gun is manned and ready as they near their target but no ships are seen, no flares burst overhead. Radar shows only the long, dark bulk of the island itself.

It seems almost beyond belief that the waters around the island, which even two days ago were crowded with enemy ships, are really this deserted. It would be almost reassuring if they were to encounter a flotilla of enemy destroyers or something. It would make it feel less like a trap. But the Japanese have come with a job to do and, trap or not, they intend to carry it out. Yamamoto gives the order and in the darkness his ship’s guns train towards the island.

---

It is no trap. For one night only Tsushima has been left uncovered as Allied surface and carrier forces rearm and prepare for the next phase of Operation Longbow. Just that afternoon the airstrip on the island had been declared operational and the first planes, a squadron of Marine Corsairs and a group of PBYs, had arrived. By tomorrow morning, according to plan, the search planes would be fanning out over the Sea of Japan and the Corsairs would be providing air cover over the strait.

That is the plan, anyway.

---

Fire. Correct. Reload. Fire again. Hibiki’s crew performs this dance with the efficiency of long practice, every man knowing his job and doing it well. Captain Ishii looks towards the island, peering through his binoculars at the chaos they are wreaking.

Numerous fires burn in the darkness and the thick columns of smoke that boil upwards are tinged orange and red underneath. All around comes the rumble of naval gunfire as twenty-one ships fling shells at their designated targets. The task force has rounded the island and is now proceeding up the eastern side, creating havoc as they go. There has been no enemy response; no warships, no torpedo boats, no return gunfire.

Suddenly a spike of flame erupts from the island’s southern end, rising several hundred feet into the air. A moment a titanic rumble fragments the night, momentarily drowning out the lesser roar of gunfire. Through the binoculars Ishii can see huge chunks of debris flung skyward, illuminated by fire. An ammunition dump, almost certainly. Not Hibiki’s work but still quite a sight. Ishii permits himself a grim smile and carefully does not think of what it would be like to be near the chain of explosions that continue to erupt.

Ishii knows that the spectacle of such a bombardment, especially at night, is often not matched by the actual results. Still, he thinks that the enemy is going to feel the effects of this night’s work. The Japanese had excellent information about where to place their shells and many of the fires he can see burn fiercely, fueled by more than just wood.

The Japanese ships clear the island, their guns at last falling silent. Turrets train back to center line as the ships pick up speed, racing into the Sea of Japan with the goal of placing as many miles as possible between themselves and the destruction they have caused. Behind them the island burns.

---

In this case results match appearances. The attack on Tsushima Island will prove to be the most effective Japanese naval bombardment of the war. Allied casualties are very heavy. What remains of the newly arrived aircraft are simply bulldozed into a pile. American engineers count no fewer than 153 shell craters on the airstrip alone.

Within two days the destroyed supplies can be replenished, the airfield repaired, and the destroyed planes replaced. But the two days that the Japanese ships have bought will prove to be critical, the beginning of a chain of events with far-reaching consequences.

---

None of this is known or even guessed by Hibiki’s crew, of course. Aboard the destroyer tired men sleep while others stand watch, scrutinizing sky and sea for sign of the enemy. Chief Engineer Sakati frets over his engines, strained by the sustained high speed. Hibiki and the rest of Yamamoto’s ships are ordered to make for Hakodate, where they are to take on fuel and ammunition and receive new orders.

[Capt. Harlock]

The attack on Tsushima Island will prove to be the most effective Japanese naval bombardment of the war. Allied casualties are very heavy.

Impressive, considering the IJN had more big-gun ships available earlier in the war. (Never underestimate the power of heavy cruisers.) Allied HQ must be kicking itself over that 12-hour window. . .

[Alikchi2]

Oooh, good foreshadowing. Still loving this.

[SireChaos]

Bump. Come on, Cuttlefish, don´t leave us hanging.

[Cuttlefish]

June 5, 1945

Location: Hakodate
Course: None
Attached to: TF 21
Mission: Surface combat
System Damage: 5
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475

Orders: Refuel and rearm

---

“The boilers need to be scaled, sir,” says Lieutenant Sakati, “and the pipes cleaned. Add the fouling on the hull and our top speed is probably down two or three knots.” Captain Ishii nods.

“There’s no help for that,” he says. “We’re heading back out tomorrow. I don’t think we will have a chance to fix any of those problems any time soon. Just keep those engines going and give me as much power as you can when I call for it.”

“Yes sir,” says Sakati. “That I can do. Where is the mission, sir, if I may ask?” Ishii gives a slight shrug.

“I have no idea,” he says. “We are headed back west. I can’t believe bombarding the island would work again, so we are probably up to something else. We will just have to wait and see what the Imperial Navy’s plan is.”

“Yes sir,” says Sakati phlegmatically. Ishii knows that Sakati’s indifference isn’t feigned; of all his officers the chief engineer is always the least concerned about where they are going or what they are doing. His focus is always on making sure they get there, wherever there is.

Sakati moves off to check on the refueling and Ishii goes to make sure that the loading and storing of the 5” shells is going smoothly. They have limited berth time; there are a lot of ships to be replenished today and the harbor facilities here are modest. By this time tomorrow Yamamoto wants his task force back out in the Sea of Japan.

[SireChaos]

Domo arigato, Cuttlefish-sama.

[Capt. Harlock]

“We are headed back west. I can’t believe bombarding the island would work again, so we are probably up to something else. We will just have to wait and see what the Imperial Navy’s plan is.”

I remember repeated bombardment runs ealier in the game, but this time the Allies have more assets to respond with. Could it be that Hibiki will find herself hunting the replacement supplies the Allies now need to send?

[Cuttlefish]

June 6, 1945

Location: 150 miles north of Kanazawa
Course: West
Attached to: TF 21
Mission: Surface combat
System Damage: 5
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 439

Orders: Unknown

---

The following is an excerpt from the forum for Grid Games' "Conflict in the Pacific: the War Against Japan 1941-1945." Reproduced with the permission of Grid Games. Note that only the first page is presented; the final five pages of the thread, which mostly involve a debate about which tank was superior, the Sherman or the Panther, are not included.

Author's note: any resemblance between the posters depicted herein and posters on this forum is purely coincidental. And I hope that all of these coincidences will be received in the spirit of affection with which they are rendered.

[Cuttlefish]

Continued:

[Cuttlefish]

Continued:

[Nemo121]

I found HisLoss' parody to be particularly amusing... "it all depends on several factors including... mean ambient air pressure." So true, so, so true... and skewering.

[CV Zuikaku]

Nuts [:D]
You are full of surprises. The good ones [&o]

[SireChaos]

Who are all these guys supposed to be? "Endpoint", of course, is Terminus, "Martian" is that guy calling himself a "Martian JFB", but the others?
 
Plus, you surely noticed he´s dangling another piece of foreshadowing in front of our noses: the Battle of Fukawa Bay.

[Canoerebel]

I'm feeling like a dummy, because this went right over my head! I have no idea what this is about. I knew it was a spoof, but I didn't know what it was spoofing or why and still don't.

[NormS3]

Keep it up Cuttlefish!

Always something new everytime I read your work. Well Done Sir!

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

[veji1]

hilarious...

[Cuttlefish]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

I'm feeling like a dummy, because this went right over my head! I have no idea what this is about. I knew it was a spoof, but I didn't know what it was spoofing or why and still don't.

Don't look too deeply. Mostly this was just a way to throw a few scattered bits of information out there without painting the big picture. These hypothetical posters are talking about events they know so well they don't need to spell them out but it still might be possible to get an idea of what is going on - that was my thinking, anyway. I was also taken by the circularity of the idea. If my PBEM really did represent history then of course that history would be talked about on forums such as this one. So I started thinking about that and then about the technical challenge of reproducing something "forum-like."

[FeurerKrieg]

Nice work on that forum bit (and this whole story of course).

Thanks, CF!