The little ship that could.

[1275psi]

Hi Gridely

No, but his character is well developed in my mind.
So is the new Engineer.............[8|]



9/8/43

Nothing else really needs to be said .

Bismark sea crawls with enemy SS

And one plants a fish into Hiryu's guts.....................



Nagumo orders a retirement.
The grand plan is in tatters.
There has never been a plan B
Now herbiesan will need to find one.............fast.

[Gridley380]

ORIGINAL: 1275psi

No, but his character is well developed in my mind.
So is the new Engineer.............[8|]

I take it most of the engineering officers you served with were... less than ideal?

[1275psi]

Hi gridley!

First one........2 years at sea, never spoke to me once.........

Second one was good.
Third a tyrant
Fourth had an immaculant skill at hiding defects from command, which was good, until we had to refit the ship
The next was brilliant, and deserved to rise to the ranks he did
the next, forgettable
The last, ok, but if problems developed, I was on my own...................

[1275psi]

Nagumo watches Hiryu slide northwards over the horizon.
Two of her boiller rooms are flooded, but there has been, thank the gods, no fires.
But she too, is now out of the war for at least 6 months

He knows it now. He has been played a fool, played right into the enemies hands

How long have they planned this, to fight at the Bismark barrier?
To race into the bismark sea, to engage the invasion fleet from range, free of care of a rushing north enemy carrier force.?

And he, of course, Oh so detirmined to show the world that he, nagumo, is a fighter, has done exactly that.

But there was no invasion fleet, just a decoy.

And Submarines every where, thick as fleas, waiting around Manus
And what if those strikes on Zuikaku had not been Duds as well?

Now we are down to 4 fleet carriers.
Not enough, not to fight here, not now.

Nagumo turns to his Communications Officer
"Break radio silence. Signal this. 'All, repeat all, Combined fleet units to gather at Palua"

We are going backwards. Plan A is dead. Plan B.
Biak is the new RED line.

[1275psi]

Hiryu 15 system, 26 flood, 5 engine

[1275psi]

Yamato steams at 26 knots, hard into a glass sea.
1000 yards alongside, her mighty Sister plows her own great path.
Spread, 3000 yards ahead, the destroyer screen fans across the horizon.

"Enemy destroyers are identified as the Warrumunga, Arunta sir, range 18000 yards, closing fast"
The great guns, 6 strong, rise, turn, turn, adjust ever so slightly.
'You may fire when ready"

Anticipation , excitement grips her bridge. How can it not.
How many men dream, to order these great guns to do their work....

They fire, thunder and flame.
Short
Thunder and flame again
Long
And again
Arunta, so long a precence on this Burma coast, a comfort to all she has shephered into Chittagong for so long, is suddenly no more..............

'Shift target right"
But Warrumunga makes smoke, and flees.


Yamato will bombard Akyab, and turn for home
4th division, or the remains of it, are safely ashore in rangoon.
Time, far past time, to return to the pacific, to where the war truly calls.

[1275psi]

Kato takes in the chart before him
The straights to Singapore, to home, to safety.

Thick with hidden Buka's, no doubt.

"Double the watch for tonight"

Two days to safety.
A funny feeling. With safety so close, why does the fear only now bubble so close to the surface?

[1275psi]

Less than 24 hrs after farewelling Hiryu, the nightmare intensifies.
Soryu too takes a single torpedo, almost identical in impact and damage.

Physical damage that is.

To Japans fleet, a shattering moral sapping blow.
Nagumo turns his fleet, or what remains of it, North, North and to home.

Incredibly, the Americans now out number him
he must wait for the new builds, and pray that the allies keep coming slowly.
Plan A is gone. Plan B is dead in the water, or more accurately, crawling home with flooded boiler rooms.
Plan C????????

Soryu 15 system, 27 flood. No fires


DAMN!!!!

[1275psi]

"Finish with main Engines"

And so, I am done.

Kato surveys his little ships bridge, the men he knows so well

"Thankyou men. May you serve my replacement as truly as you served me"



And thus, we lose Kato
I will, to my surprise, miss him.

[1275psi]

The Charge tends the books deep in Zuihos depths, the central station quiet tonight.

The watchkeeper stirs in his cot, and the charge turns the light to less disturb him

Behind him, footsteps, heavy.

"Working as always Charge"

No, it cannot be.

But it is

Minobe


"yes, my little friend. I am back"

[1275psi]

Hidaka, stiff body swaying in the breeze, awaits his Captain.

And so, here he comes. My third. My third in 18 months. And yet, here I remain.
Will I have to break in another one?
Do I have to start all over again?. I do not think we will have much time this time round...........


Captain Ono Takeji strides up the gangway towards his waiting crew.
Well, not so much striding, more waddling i would think
Captain Ono, is, to put it in a politically correct way, vertically challenged. His considerable gut however has expanded unchallenged it would seem.
Round belly. Round, moonish face.
But a big smile...........

He takes the salute at the top of the gangway, brisk, precise. The shrill of pipes, the crack of the flag rising.
Small eyes, searching, seeking. And finding target

Four brisk paces, and Hidaka gets to see his new leader up and close.
"Hidaka?"
"Hie!"'
The smile, impossibly, grows. "Excellent. I have heard much of you, my Air comander. You, however, have heard little of me>
Well, here I am. Hasegawa, I hear, learnt well from you, and you did well. Kato, Kato learnt nothing, and was.......well, unlucky. I, on the other hand, am lucky. And with you on my side, we are going to give our enemy hell"
'Sir!'
"Now, you still have Kates yes?"
"Sir yes"
"Not for bloody much longer, rest assured on that"
A pudgy arm reaches, grasps Hidaka's shoulder. The grip, however, strong. Steel lurks below here, Hidaka suddenly realises.
Steel, and detirmination....
'Zuiho has finished pissing about Hidaka, trust me............"

The Captain moves down the ranks, measuring, being measured.
he spends a great deal of time with the pilots, Uto, especially.

"Are you a Communist Uto?'"
Sir?"
"Are you a communist?, I tend to think your father is, our Herbiesan"
"No sir, I am not"
'Good. Nor do I think your father is really, he's just a straight out barsted.........."

He pauses at the Charge
'Ahh, the most important man on the ship ney?"
"Hardly sir"
'Not what Minobe tells me. We shared a long flight getting here. I think he's recovered from his Tarawa wound.
(tarawa wound?, what bloody wound?)
Not that I care. You run the ship, you keep her going. Thats all I care about. Keep it going"
Again, that arm reaches out, and again, the steel is there.
""This is war Charge. No niceties in war. Keep the props turning, keep them turning no matter what the cost"

And so he sorjourns down the line.

And now, that vital moment
Crew meet captain. Captain, meet crew.

'For some time, this ship has been unlucky. Unable to graple with an elusive enemy.
No more. If there is an enemy about, there will be but one choice. This ship will turn towards them, and attack.
that is all"

[John 3rd]

BANZAI!

[1275psi]

Thankyou John 3rd for encouragement!

However, i think certain realities will soon be crashing in...............


16/8/43
And thus the invasion of Finchasen and Lae began.
At Lea, a smooth landing, with enemy defences lying prostrate under the ceasless bombing.
However at Finchasen, the hasty decision to divert the first and second marines to here, proves costly.
65th brigade fights hard.
2700 casualties in one morning. This is no isolated unit to mop up..............



.....................totally unable to affect the battle ashore. The first raid, 40 zeros strong, escorting 9 betties, is smashed.
Only 4 bombers and 9 fighters survive, and no hits are scored,
There are no survivors of the second attack............

[1275psi]

Hosho checks his pack.
It is considerably lighter now. Supplies are short. Even he is running short.
But, he is not alone. The tail of this bitter retreat is strewn withdiscarded items, as men strip what ever they no longer need from their backs.

In the Japanese Army, six months ago, this was a beatable, dis honorable offence. Now, as 15 th Army straggles back south, dispirited, and shaken, instincts of survival are rising.
They all know now what is at stake.
Reach lashio before the defences at Akyab or Katha collapse. Reach the train, or be trapped here in the Jungle forever......

Hosho checks his pack. There will be enough. And the men of his Company have enough. And they lead this great snake south.
He will make it. Not for himself now.
But for his men.
Hosho will bend heaven itself to get his men home.

[1275psi]

3 am

Zuiho lies alongside, a dark shadow nestled amongst the wharves and warehouses of Singapore.
She is, of course, not entirely asleep.

The gangway is manned, and 12 armed guards pace her wharves, and a further 24 man several of the 25 mm guns on the sea ward side.
A new routine, initiation number one by Takeji. Singapore is restless these days.

Her Galley is manned, mainly to feed these men in an hours time.
Her communications centre works as usual, the traffic heavy this night.

Below her silent hangers, one boiler room, and one engine room remain running, 4 men forward, 3 aft.
2 double bottom men also work, stripping one fuel tank, transferring another ready for a final fuelling.
In the wardroom, Hidaka and three of his Kate pilots play a marathon game of Poker, through out Zuiho, perhaps another dozen men too play cards, or cannot sleep.
.Zuiho lies quietly. Another day, another night. Duty never stops.

[1275psi]

Lurch is one of the men aft.

Here is a statement. I believe it is true. Men are made to work. The more productive, the better. A man can, after hours of sweat, and pain and labour, watch that repaired machine come to life again, and know the satisfaction of work well done.
It boosts morale. It boosts his manhood. It shows he matters. He has a purpose.

Lurch has much to worry about, much to consider. Minobe is back. Hardly seen since arriving, but back.
Will the tyranny begin again?
But he is not thinking that tonight, as the long hours of the guts watch crawl on.
The Machinery idles , and barely requires attention. The guts watch demands you sleep, and you must not.

Tonight, however, the Charge has his solution, one, that may surprise you, Lurch(and many of his companions) will enjoy, and will tackle with relish.

They were waiting on the wharf this day, pallets and pallets of drums. White lids.
Latex lagging paint.

Lagging is, believe me, a delight to paint. The paint spreads easily, and you can use a massive brush.
Every stroke, every slap, covers the dirt, the grease, the marks on the lagging.
The pipes transform from dull, closing in trunks, to gleaming wonders. You can feel the space brighten, you can see the progress.

And it kills the hours in minutes....

Charge has few defects tonight. But endless lagging. Paint does nothing for machinery really. But moral..........

There are many things that make a ship.
Paint is one.

[1275psi]

Charge hesitates.
For the first time in many months, doubt and uncertaity grip him. A feeling he has not felt, for, since when?
Since the last time he spoke to the man behind this door.
The door he must enter.

It is time for the morning briefing.

Charge takes a breath, knocks
"Charge sir, daily update"
"Enter'

Minobe has lost weight, it shows in a thinner neck, a thinner face
A far more paler face, one where the nose has lost that almost permanent red blush.

Charges eyes sweep the cabin
Neat, neater than it ever was.
And no sign of alcohol.............

"So Charge, whats broken today?"
The same deep voice, but missing?, missing the malevolance? Could it be?
'very little sir, we are in good Shape, as I am sure Tan told you"

"Yes, Yes, a good Engineer that. I hope he stays in the Navy after..........."
'After sir?"
'After the war of course. Now, fill me in.........."

Charge briefs Minobe, it is short, two boiler pre heaters need looking at, there is another feed pump rebuild needed, spares have come in.
It goes quickly, the Charge ever wary, trying to feel out this returned man.He feels different...............

"Thats it sir"
Minobe looks him in the eye. Tries to smile. It reminds him of the smile a lover gives when caught by the early husband.......
"I have stopped drinking you know............been dry for three months"

Charge cannot answer. Three months is really not that long a time.
"Its made me a better man............"


Their eyes meet. And for just the briefest of moments, the Charge see's into those eyes.
And see's the man lurking behind them.

Minobe is still not all there.

[1275psi]

Akyab falls, 56th division, shattered.
3 full divisions are in position to the south.
They should be enough

They have to be enough.......................

[1275psi]

The allies continue to pour ashore at lae, not nearly strong enough yet to take the place.
But they soon will be

Finchesen will delay them. 2 marine divisions are wrecked. The brigade there swears to sell itself dearly........


4 japanese destroyers race in, tangle with the battleship penny and her gang, shoot of a million torps, miss everything -again- get beat about the head, and escape.
Its a brave attack, and allows 24th flottilla to evacuate marcus for points North.

They will be the last troops evacuated from the solomons battles.
The rest must fight, and die.

[PaxMondo]

You're doing well here.  Aug43 and just now fighting in the solomons/PNG and Akyab.  Allies have a long way to go ....