The little ship that could.

[1275psi]

10pm

‘Port engine room, Damage control central”
“Port engine!”
‘Night orders ready for collection”
“Ok, lurch is on his way”


Night orders
Swing boilers forward
Blow soot
Bottom blows
A big night of work.
Nothing unusual though……..

Another day, done.
The Charge stretches in damage control central, looks around one last time.
The sound of the blowers is steady, and Zuiho moves easily.
Has he forgotten anything?
No, nothing important. Time for bed.
He nods to the watch keepers –the defence watch boys. Zuiho remains at second degree readiness………not that any action seems likely.

The Charge has heard the rumours, this mission is a bust, and the long trek home to Singapore has begun………

He moves into the passage way, up the ladder into the lower hanger deck –empty and echoing at the moment, moves forward to the mess.
It is dark, red lit, and as always –stinking.
With the ease of many years of practice, he slings his hammock, and climbs in
And as all sailors can at days end, he is instantly asleep.

‘Chief petty officer!”
The Charge is instantly awake
The sweat stained face stares at him, clever enough to know you wait until the chief is awake –properly awake, then you tell him the news.
“yes?, what is the problem”
Gauge glass 1A boiler……..”

Charge glances at his watch, the flouro glowing in the dim light.
1140 PM.
The mind is automatically clicking into gear…………too early to have swung yet…
‘I am on my way”

Forward boiler, sweating faces. The cup of tea.
“Well Hirate? –what have you broken on me today ?’
‘Leaking gauge glass Chief”
Ah, yes, we have a history with these don’t we Hirate?. Fair enough to get me to look.

He makes his way to the glass –to the top plates. A quick swipe with his steel rule along the edges of the glass.

Yes –a leak. And a bad one.
What is the pressure in the boiler?. Only 100 psi., no where near steaming load.

An easy decision

He comes back down “Inform Engine room the swing is delayed. Pull fires on the barsted, , kill the pressure. Get the repair kit, its only a leaking gasket – and Hirate –you fix it –I need some one I can trust”

“Yes Chief”



“How long Charge?”
“Four hours for the repair sir……..but then the swing still to occur”

Hasegawa nods. “No issue Chief, by dawn if we can ney?”
“Yes sir”

0015, and he can get back into bed………..


And is up again at 0105.
Master steam to soot blowers down aft is leaking. Badly. A pin hole leak in the weld.
Definitely no soot blows here –this valve will have to go.
Impossible while steaming here though.

Back to bed, 0215

And up at 0300
‘That’s CRAP!”
Who in the hell put the last dose in? –this chemistry is a disaster!
“Surface blows –and make them a good set!

And of course, the results must be seen at four.
Not good –give it another blow.
And up at 0500, for normal begin the day rounds

The war may be quiet. But I think little Zuiho feeds of the frustration.
For there is no doubt, for the stokers at least, the bitch is back.

[1275psi]

Condensate
The turbine uses the steam, converting it to power. The condenser condenses it back to water.
Pumps send it (via a de aerating tank) back to the boilers.
Excess back to feed tanks.
Shortages made up by drawing the water from the feed tanks to the de aerator.

Aft turbines send the water to aft boilers, and same same forward.

But what if the forward boilers are feeding the aft turbines?
In that case, there is a condensate pipe –with two valves – one always left open in the Damage Control central, the other called the cross, in the forward boiler room.

Now, water is like stokers.
It always takes the easiest route if given half a chance……………



The Charge has yet to complete breakfast, one ear keened to the progress below. Repairs to the gauge glass have not progressed well, finished, yes, but the boiler not yet lit off.
Twice already, Minobe has seen him –demanded “faster, Faster!”, and twice he has refused to go below to hassle Hirate.
He knows it cannot go any faster –not if its to go right the first time.

But it will happen, this he is sure.

But now another sweaty sailor approaches him.
Damn…….what is it this time?
‘Requested Engine room please Chief”

And breakfast not finished either………The engine room , as always, remains its chaos of noise. The bells are ringing hard, again, and again this morning, The task force is exercising, or some such crap, and the telegraphs and revolution bells are working full time.
The Engineering Officer of the Watch leans to him.
“Dumping like mad forward, can’t make up aft!”
‘Level in the DA?’
“600 gallons! –falling!”

Not much time then.
With that familiar curse, he heads to the forward boiler room, slides down the ladder.
Yes, the water tender is dumping –dumping hard, but the gauge glass is out the top……..not a pretty sight.
Heart beating hard now, he checks the cross is shut………….you never know….and the handle swings lose in his hands.
The disc has come of – (has this happened before! –Goddam it! If it has, another one!”

‘Aft boiler room! –level in your DA?””
400 gallons –falling!”

And he can here the creeping panic.

No time, always no time!
Charge makes the call…..
‘Engine room –inform bridge –emergency shut down forward unit. Cut in second boiler aft –we are coming out of units –standby to cross connect main and aux steam!”…….




Hasegawa too , is eating breakfast
‘Captain, Bridge. Engineering casualty sir, loss of forward unit. Zuiho restricted to 12 knots, one boiler for next 15 minutes”

12 knots. Cannot operate aircraft –not in this pond, not today.
“very well, inform Junyo. Get Minobe to my Cabin please”



“For heaven sakes charge –a whole day on just the aft unit boilers!”
“I am afraid so sir”
Minobe chews his lip. ‘Truk, a whole day. Ok, we have a 6 knot breeze outside, can you give me 22 knots? Hasegawa needs that across the deck at least.”

‘I don’t know if we can……..sir. We have not been allowed soot blows yet, we are a long time out of dock ………….’

‘Alright – I get it charge –do the best you can.”


Swift eagle sails eastward all day, steady at 21 knots, easy speed for most.
Below, (on many of the ships now) this illusion of grace power and speed, is rapidly becoming just that –an illusion.

[1275psi]

3/8/42

It is almost disquieting to enter a boiler room at sea, and to enter a quiet space.
The ship moves, but the boilers are dark, the fans silent, the fuel pump still.

There is noise however -a steady stream of it, coming from tha area of the condensate cross over valve.
Who ever placed it here -high up behind the DA, with very little room, in the semi dark, and latent heat, is a sadist -or dumb.

The swearing coming from the men working on the valve is incessant. It rises and falls, almost in time with the ships motion. It pauses only to make way for the clanging pounding of a hammer.
"GET IN YOU !@#$#@! mother of a !@#$%^, son of of a whore, $#@!$%^, #$%^&^!"

'Progressing?"
despite himself, the charge is smiling.
The huddled, cramped forms above him do not turn to answer, the clanging continues...."Son of a %^$#@!!"

A brief pause - "yes,, Chief petty Officer! -I am making progress, and I Petty Officer Hirate love my job, and the empire! --------------------Chief!"

The Charge turns away -good, humour is good, it means progress.

Other men have taken advantage of the shut down space -around the Charge teams of them attend to the many leaking valves that can now be repacked.
The work goes well.
Full power by tonight.........

[1275psi]

The task is routine, done twice daily.
The double bottom sailor enters the aft boiler room, waves to the steamer. With both boilers operating here he has been a lot busier, and there is much to do.
Almost automatically he opens the Port ready use tank suction valve - watches the fuel pump carefully (not that the steamer is not iether -but to shock a pump is a guarranteed beating), then carefully shuts the other tank suction.

then to the transfer pump.
Open exhuast valve, open the drains.
A couple of squirts of oil onto the piston ram, the swinging arms.
Open main steam to -stand back as condensate races out of the drains, now clouds of steam.
Shut the drains, open the throttle -and give almost automatically with the spanner the valve arm and good hard whack-and away, the little reciporcating pump bangs away happily.
Transferring main to ready use. calculations, 2 hours to top the ready use.
Now time for boiler water samples..............






"Sabang is in sight sir"
Hasegawa nods. he is tired, another long day., three birds to get in yet, dusk in ten minutes.
'very good ...........Executive Officer -please call dusk action stations -and remind the lookouts that this is submarine territory please, I need............"


And then, loud and urgent, from the voice pipe.......'bridge main engine! ..............flame out aft boiler room!, pipe total steam failure!"

[1275psi]

Kurihama gently bends the stick towards his left thigh, automatically adjusting a touch back as his big bird’s nose begins to drop. His left hand moves , and takes the flap lever, with a noticeable grunt he pulls it back against the cockpit wall , feeling his bomber squash, yet steady in the gathering dusk.

Flaps set, trim set, speed 90 knots, descent good.
Zuihos flight deck begins to “float’ nicely into his canopy.
A final confirmation –gear down, the lights lining up………..

A touch less throttle…………
1000feet, the wake beginning to come into focus…….and something begins to go wrong.
The flight deck is sliding under him……..?, for just a moment his mind struggles to assimilate what the hell is going on…………and then he sees the great shovelling clouds of smoke from her boilers.
He does not need the see the red lights flashing, already the throttle is going forward, the bellow rising, the flaps are coming back, and he prepares to go around, peeling to Port……

The sun, now low on the horizon, burns red in the dusk mist, wings glinting in the light , hauling around, waiting for word.
But even from a mile away, at 1000 feet, he can see Zuiho is coming to a halt.

Stick over to the right, banking, at a loss now , flying almost aimlessly………..and there, white foam clear in the darkening ocean, the arrow of the periscope, heading straight towards home……….






“Damnation!” Hasegawa swears, a brutal single word escapes him, shocking to be heard on this bridge, any bridge……..”raise the uncontrollable flags, inform Junyo….”
Helpless, bloody helpless…………for a moment he freezes, every fibre keen to the scream of the blowers below, the banging, thumping of the boilers , the pipes and shrills across the tannoy……….and yes, the blowers are slowing, zuiho is slowing…..
“Wheel amidships! –quick!”
Wheel amidships sir!..............and just in time, they dim, briefly flair, and then the lights go out.
There is still light here, in the dusk, but already the darkness is blurring the world.
But below, Zuiho is totally dark.


You have read these words before………….and as the engineers struggled to restore power……….
You know the story. The ship (almost certainly, has been hit, and come to a “shuddering halt’, or words to that effect.)
A few words then –those words –as the engineers struggled to restore power………..
But very rarely any more.
Because history draws a curtain over what happens below…………besides, can it possibly compare to the drama of that next diving bomber?

Zuiho has suffered no battle damage, yet here she is……….sliding to a halt, her boilers going dark…………her turbines winding down.
If History draws a curtain over battle induced power loss –in what safe does she hide this? How often do you read of this?
Surely THIS is rare……………….isn’t it?

Well, of course, no.

Total steam failures, in a thousand wharf side bars, over a million beers.
These events are where legends are born……….

And so, on Zuiho, as the lights begin to dim, and the tannoy calls –“Engineering casualty control parties close up -!”, many, many minds think the same thing
“OH, No, not Truking again!”



At full power, Kurihama wheels her round, hard, hard, wing pointing at ocean, at sky,, head craning to follow that arrow in the sea.
“Signal Zuiho!.......contact bearing ………….Truk! contact under me!........am attacking!”
But the arrow is gone…….the ocean darker still.
The sun is sinking through the rim of the world…………..



Each man reacts in his own way.
PO Okano is on the stern, watching he planes come in overhead when the pipe crashes out.
He leads the race indoors, plunging into the dark, into the chippies workshop, through the hatch into the aft diesel.
A black, totally black cave –torches flash –shadows racing, the beams ethereal, stark, machinery gothic ……..
Incredibly –(but maybe not) others have beaten him.
The seaman pumps the oil pump, frantically ……….another shouts –confirming the fuel valves open. Okano’s hands fly over the air valve, a nod to each.
Pull the lever –the thup, thup, thup, firing of the first, all cylinders –the healthy bellow!

Charge crashes to the engine plates –the thump of bodies heavy behind him.
A single glance –the Turbo generator throttle shut –pumping her down – the throttles shut…………. “recirc? He yells ‘ Not yet!” the E.OOW yells back.

Down, down into deep darkness –feet sure –too many times down these ladders –hands unerringly to the required valves --------
Back up – yes –the E.O.O.W has it under control – the emergency lights –so few, so weak are enough - ..”Water in fuel I think –we have just swung suctions!’
Water –Ok –but from where?

On pure adrenalin, Charge climbs out of the engine room……..races to aft repair.
Here the stokers have gathered – a bucket of men ready for any breach.
‘Water test dip! -aft ready use tanks!’

Yes Chief!

Zuiho is dead in the water now –silent, how the voices echo in this great dark cavern called the hanger…………



‘Periscope! Port 090!, 500 yards!”
It is not reported. It is screamed.

It freezes the blood of all who hear it……………

[1275psi]

Even as the lights begin to dim, Hirate stays at the job. All the bolts are in, but the last one has only gone through the flanges a little way –maybe a half a thread , if that, of the bolt sticks out through the far flange.

It is almost impossible to reach this bolt –its up high, in that damn awkward space, right at the very maximum reach of his fingertips. But if he can get the nut on – then he can get a spanner on it, and ‘ pull’ the nut through.

Now with the light gone, and the ventilation, he is alone. He too should be gone. But something tells him, every thing depends on getting this valve fixed.

With a last effort, the nut goes on. Just. Gently, with the care of a diamond thief, he puts the spanner on, and tightens.
Sweat pores from him now –the ventilation too is dead –but he is home free. A last savage pull on the spanner, and the condensate cross is fixed.

.
He climbs down., and meets the Charge., face a grotesque mask in the beam of the torches.
‘Are you finished Hirate?’ the charges face stricken with anxiety –“ both fuel tanks aft are totally contaminated!”
‘yes, yes Chief, we are fixed”
‘Good man!, Oh, you good man!”

he turns , and shouts to the men below.
“Light off! –give me steam boys, or die!’



Kurihama sees the scope too…………slams the throttle full, and almost by sheer will, hauls his bomber over the scope.
One chance only…………’Bombs gone!”

In the half light of dusk, the two bombs crack yellow –and the columns of water are stark and white.
The scope is gone…………….hit?
They will never know…………







Only one tank aft is contaminated –it turns out. A cooling pipe passing through, hang over from her old tanker days –has sprung a leak. Eventually 8 feet of water will be stripped, and the tank will have to be emptied, gas freed, and the leak patched.
For nearly 90 minutes zuiho will wallow helpless, her two diesels provide just enough pwer for some emergency lighting, a fire pump, the lighting of pump and blower.

For the 90 minutes they will wallow, and wait for the torpedoes to strike.
They never do.
Below, teams of stokers will be needed, temperatures below, especially down aft –will exceed 160 degrees F -men will literally drop , be carried out, replaced.
Yet, they will throw themselves back down into that hell, to get zuihos heart beating again.

They will win
Every heart beats easier as her stern swirls in the great thrash of her blades, the lights are restored, and life -literally returns.

It has been a near thing

Yet –History will report just this
“Submarine attacked by Kate, position…………….
Out come unknown’



The park is green ,serene. Ducks laze on the ponds. Lovers lie under the trees, or take in the sun.
LGEN Yakuda Takeo – commander of the eastern Army walks slowly with his companion. His civilian clothes feel strange to him. His Companion looks strange in them………
Yamamoto speaks ‘You are agreed then?”
Yakuda hesitates. “Only a fool commits to anything this early, especially when the stakes are so large. You know the lay of the land, I do not. Who is with you?, who is not?”

Yamamoto nods. “A wise answer my friend. Loyalty is most important. It is Japan. But the question is, where does our Loyalty lie? –to the Emperor, to herbiesan, or to Japan?”

Yakuda does not answer. There is much to consider……….
‘What do you command now Yakuda?”
“I have two regiments –the 63rd, the 64th. I command all the heavy AA detachments.
Their Loyalty is undoubted – to me, this I know.”

Yamamoto pauses, considers the ducks………….such an elegant creature.
Two regiments – and he considers them his. Japan really has not come that far from the time of the shogun, had it?
‘We will talk again. While the war goes well………………….”
‘Herbiesan is secure….”
Yes. So strange to think that Japans future might depend on allied victories………….

[1275psi]

Ryujo takes two torpedos fair in her guts
They strike just after midnight –two frightening clangs for the men in the boiler room.

There is no explosion

Swift eagle hurries on – funnelled now to this straight, only Singapore will give relief from the underwater torment….





Every day, for eight hours a day, Kuko, PO Hirate’s wife, works at her press
Their child, now 9 months old, plays in the office at the factory end –she is not alone, many Mothers work in this Hiroshima factory now.

Herbiesan promised a socialist paradise –a paradise shared by all.
The misery, she reflects –seems equally shared………..

She turns to the basket which holds the shafts she presses into the bearing –a movement she will repeat a thousand times a day –and stops.
The basket is empty

For a moment she is perplexed, the brain, divorced from body for most of the day, struggles to re connect.

The basket is empty

“Supervisor Hiroto!”
‘yes Kuko?” The supervisor is bent, old, nearly 75 years . He should not be here. But he is. He struggles over. ‘What is it?”
‘I have no more shafts to press’
The old man examines the basket. It is obviously empty –but one must think. This has never happened before.
‘maybe a hitch at the unloading dock. I will go and check”

Kuko sits, and takes in again the grim, grey dirty building that passes for a factory here. A dozen women, one man. Making unidentifiable bits for an unidentifiable war machine –possibly a plane –the parts being mostly aluminium.
A dozen virtual slaves.
Not that that would ever be mentioned………….

Husband, I wish you were here………….I wonder where you are?. Are you safe?

The old man returns.
He seems ashamed –as if he is responsible, which obviously, he is not.
‘apparently, the forge is shut down, no oil to run it this week……….. Thus, no shafts.
So………so you can go home Kuko, get some sleep”

No shafts?
A temporary delay, one she will take every advantage of.
Kuko hurries home………….and never ever considers why the forge should be shut down, or why oil is so short.

[Insano]

I was sweating bullets when that periscope was sighted after Zuiho lost power. I was thinking "not a Dutch sub with working torpedos!" Glad our little ship's luck continues to hold. Lucky break for Ryujo too. You said this total loss of power event was not so rare as people would think. What would a normal configuration on a merchant ship be? Only 2 boilers for example? Just wondering if warships would be expected to have more redundancy and thus this type of event was even more common on merchants.

[1275psi]

Hi Insano!, I really cannot comment on merchants, no experience with them.
But on british River class DE, we suffered 3 total steam failures in 18 months -all while at anchor ( but little zuiho may suffer the same, so details secret), and in about 9 years on Charles F Adam clas DDG's - a lot of totallies -too many to care about! -commonly what would happen is one end would go down, and the E.OOW would cross connect too quickly, or under too high a load -or not "work the problem right' -and down the whole lot would go.................

( i suspect zuiho may not have seen the last totally if she survives) grrrrrrrrr

[1275psi]

7/8/42


The bells are ringing, and the telegraphs are working hard..................

'slow ahead port'
stop port
slow ahead starboard
Stop starboard
Stop both
Slow astern port
half astern port
stop port
Slow ahead stbd
Stop stbd
Stop both


It goes on.........................and on
Every bell to be repeated
Every order acknowledged, every order transcribed.
Every astern to stop needing opposite steam

the wheels turn, and the two throttle watch keepers grimly glance at each other.
Hasegawa shows his skill today............................not


it takes thirty minutes to get her alongside...............and the manouvering thourhly cooks the turbine..........

'Finish main engines, 8 hours notice for sea"
The Charge snorts. The turbine astern rotor temperature is well of the clock, she will have to remain on half vacuum/turning gear for many, many hours............a long night ahead of watch keeping before they are finished.
Singapore.
Home , if you can call it that.
But a good chance of getting mail.






Our pilots go ashore, as do many others.
There is going to be a "conference' at raffles.........a good excuse for a party
A chance to live a little for many
A chance to kill for one.

[1275psi]

Extract from Shattering the sword - A cantona production


............and maybe its time to examine Japanese dispositions.
Mobile fleet, 6 carriers, 4 battle cruisers strong, cruise the waters south west of lunga, Tanaka cruises Lunga sound itself.
At truk, Nagato, Mutsu, remain in reserve
A powerful cruiser force of 9 cruisers patrols of Milne bay.
24th, 25th Flottillas -all at full strength, wait, search


In the DEI -16th Army is dug in, 14th in reserve in the phillipines.
In Burma, the bulk of the Japanese army is dug in .
The Navy backs it at Singapore -backed by the old BB's, Junyo, Hiyo, 3 cvl, and many, many destroyers.

japan has written off the gilberts -they will not be defended..
Moral is high, plane pools are good. the nation, mostly, stands behind herbiesan.
The allied storm is coming. They are confident they can weather it....................................

[dr.hal]

Even nuclear powered ships are not immune from total breakdown. I was a year on the USS Bainbridge (DLGN 25) and while out in the Indian Ocean in '74 we had a two reactor scram that left us wallowing for over a day waiting on help via air drop (we were there "gapping" carriers). Hal

[1275psi]

Hi Dr Hal! -your comments very welcome.
I wonder how many ex steamies are here? -and am i bringing back any memories?

todays post:
LT Hidaka, leans back in his lounge chair – a dangerous procedure in his state
His face is red, and sweaty, his eyes struggling to focus.
He sways,…………and those about him laugh
‘Our leader is about to stall, I think!’, Ogawa, grins, swilling his beer. He watches Hidaka with detachment, and yes, there he goes………….
‘Oh crap boys, I’m in a spin!’
he collapses, totally crappers, totally happy.

It has been a crowning evening, to drink, to get drunk, to feast, here, right here where the heart of that hated empire beat every evening.
Now they Lord it here. Now they are the masters…………

The Pilots of Swift eagle have taken residence in Raffles. Out the back of this grand establishment, there is (or was) a courtyard –discreet rooms, brick, palm trees, a pool., billiard tables, a bar, gliding white dressed servants………..and food.
Right now, it is a mess of drunken men, scattered bowls, broken glasses.

Hidaka struggles to his feet.
‘gentlemen!”
the party falls silent, sensing something

Hidaka surprises them……….
Gently at first, but gathering in strength, and with a surprising depth and strength, he begins to sing.
It is a popular song of the day:

Did you see those silver wings, how gallant they are
Our manly men of Japan putting all their spirit into these beautiful planes
They’ve made
Have taken on the task of protecting the skies
Come on –if you dare –red dragonflies

Our fierce eagles
Will roar up to meet you
Over the sea with gold to silver wings
The unclouded moon so bright, just so our hearts
We will show them –Japan –defender of justice
Tonight too they will fly our fierce eagles
Good work lads –we are counting on you
Up to the sky roars our fierce eagles
With rising sun on their wings –our crews
Have what it takes –the Spirit of Yamato


He falls silent, somewhat embarressed
Ogawa cannot help see, that small tears glisten on his hard cheeks.

The mess men work silently around the new masters.
They care not a squib who drinks here tonight, one master is as cruel as another………

[Smoky Stoker]

Arawasi no Uta Song here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3a4XUPX ... re=related

(edited for alternative version)

[dr.hal]

Quite a few I suspect 1275psi (which I assume has something to do with the pressure of the engineering plant you worked on). I would suspect quite a few. Although I was a weapons/deck officer, I did my time in the snipe world. Your picture painted with very effective words has been a lot of fun to keep abreast of. Thanks for taking the time to do this. Hal

[1275psi]

Nashiguchi awakens.
For a few moments, he lies still, measuring the pressure on his bladder against the comfort of his hammock.
Around him, the mess is quiet -other than the snoring of course.
He wrinkles his nose, the distinct smell of stale beer fills the mess.
His internal clock tells him, pre dawn..........damn, he will have to empty.
But before he moves, a shadow slides into the mess............Kurihama -unmistakable.

Something in Nashiguchi tells him -freeze, fiegn sleep.........anything.

The mess is quiet, the snoring gentle in the background, the squeak of Kurihamas locker loud as the gates of hell.
Nashiguchi watches, eyes half closed............

Kurihama looks around -that unmistakable look of a man up to no good. the thief in the night?. But this is his locker he is opening...

In the red light of the mess, in the shadows, it glitters briefly.
12 inches of cold steel.
Kurihama runs a finger down one edge of it - an act that is both natural............and totally obscene
Then it is gone into the shadow of the locker.
But not before Kurihama see's clearly, the stains of blood upon it.

he does not know why, but Nashiguchi lets the bladder pressure build for many hours before he rises.




On the other side of the war, an unknown ss launches a full spread of torpedos at Mobile fleet - and misses the lot.
It does not matter, really
. What does is this. Kido Bharu is pinned for location at last - 200 miles due east Milne bay.
How this effects allied plans remains to be seen.

[1275psi]

Singapore harbour is chaotic.
4 battleships, 6 carriers, 4 heavy cruisers, a myriad of destroyers all competing for wharf space and shore facilities.
Zuiho is no chance.
She rests, three ships out from the wharf, still on her own power.

The Aft boilers are secured, the fuel tanks being emptied to allow repairs to the (at this time still suspected pipe leak) the forward boiler burning, providing the needed steam for the fwd generator.
A watch of stokers will be maintained, 4 hours on, 4 hours off for 24 hrs before relief.

The keep the lights on, mostly forgotten by all –other than those who will spend those long boring hours “keeping the lights on”

The Charge is in shore uniform, almost ready to step, when he is called. Another –“please come and look”
For a moment he contemplates changing, decides against it.
He makes his way through the hangers –grimly noting the support crews engine changing on a Kate –so, they are not alone at the work –while the “passengers “ step ashore.
He enters the hatch to the fwd boiler room, such a familiar thing –and so when he falls –the shock and surprise is all the greater………..


Commander Korrii, medic, tutt tutts as he prods and pokes.
He too is in shore rig, another five minutes and he would have made it to raffles.
Now some damn idiot…………
“You have broken two ribs I think Chief…….and damn lucky to not have broken more………. He pokes some more, eliciting a sharp cry from the chief……...no shore leave for you I am afraid”
‘None?”
‘None –in fact –until I am sure you haven’t ruptured anything else, you will not be leaving this sick bay………..”

Korrii begins to ferret around fore some bandages , ‘really Chief –can’t you delegate some bloody times”
“No –sometimes you bloody cannot –you should know”

Tragically, as it will soon become apparent –you cannot.




‘Is it true the Chief fell down the ladder?’
“yes –I was there –you should have heard the bang as he hit the deck plates!’
‘I wonder what got hurt the most, him or the plate!’
The two seamen laugh. They have no doubt in their mind which was tougher.
They turn back to their work. Before them is a hatch -a hole really, a round plate unbolted, placed aside. Below, the fuel tank.

What do you picture –if you stick your head into this tank?
A nice clean, maybe round space?
A big empty space?

We need to describe it.
Should you enter this tank, you will descend a ladder at first. How far?
Forty feet

Lets repeat that.
Forty feet
This tank is square –but it is far from empty –or small.
At 16000 gallons, it is amaze –there are the ships ribs –pipes, false bulkheads, and in this case, two very large ‘walls” the prop tunnels.

Add, just the one small lead light lowered down to you –and the vast bulk of this cave is in total darkness.

And at the bottom –3 feet of the thick oil that passes for fuel on this ship……….

And somewhere down there – on the port side apparently –is a pipe that may, or may not be leaking .

A leading seaman comes up “tank open?”
“yes Leader –we are waiting for permission to enter”
‘I see. The leading seaman gets on his knees, pokes his head in, shines a torch about. “You have ventilated yes?”
‘For 6 hours Leader”
‘Permission to enter chit?”
‘The Chief was to sign it”
‘I see. Apparently he is Hors de combat…………I will get some one else to sign.”




Minobe awakens to the thump on his door . For a moment he contemplates the bottle in hand…….considers hiding it. No –they are alongside, he can drink if he bloody well wants to…”Who is it?’
“Leader Hamamoto Sir! –I need a permission to enter chit for the ready use tank repairs”
Chits? –a leader wants him to sign a chit?. But , of course –the chief has hurt himself.
Reluctantly, he opens the door, ‘is there no other senior available leader?’

‘I am sorry sir, no”
“Alright, get the gas lamp……..let me know”
the leader hesitates………..”sir, I am not allowed to do the test, it must be done by a senior sailor……..”
“and how long have you been a leader!?”
Three years sir!’
“Long enough –read the bloody thing. You can read them ? ………can you?’
Completely terrified now of his engineer, of the menace, of the stink of alcohol, there is only one answer he can give
‘Hie!’


The gas lamp is lowered down to the base of the ladder
The leader reads ……….what is at the bottom of the ladder.
A befuddled drunk signs a chit

And two young men climb into that dark, dark hole, wade through the oil, clamber up and under various obstructions, fading into the dark……

And there, in a far remote corner, the H2 S gas –by product of water and oil mixed……..

Kills them .

[PaxMondo]

storage tanks ... been to way too many wakes and funerals. Got nothing good to say about them. and H2S? horrible way to go. 3 - 4 minutes of terror before you're gone and nothing to do about it.

RIP to those poor two sailors ...

[1275psi]

Hi pax!
thanks for comments, all comments accepted with humility!

Ummmmmmmm...game on hold for one week as cantona has gone to Motherland........and i have run out of turns to write about!

Pretty piss poor planning that....................

[british exil]

Would it be possible to tell us what the date is? How far are is Zuhio into the WWII timeframe?

Mat