Minobe stands a good 12 inches shorter than Lurch, wieghs considerably less.
But when it comes to 'discipline" in the Japanese military, he could have been a full 2 feet shorter, or more for all the difference it made
In a rage, Minobe "disciplines" the younger man just outside Damage Control central, the blows falling thick and fast.
Each ringing slap to the face is punctuated with a question: Why didn't he do this? SLAP!, why didn't he do that!" Slap!
But this time, something breaks that iron grip holding lurch erect.
With a raging howl of fear, frustration, anger.......he blocks the next blow, and hammers home one of his own against the Engineers chin, sending him sprawling.
Stunned silence fills the corridor.
Broken, as if Mars himself has waited for the blow, by the unmistakable sound of a heavy underwater explosion outside.
The alarm bells ring, and almost with a sob, Lurch scrambles away towards his station
Bleeding from the nose, Minobe drags himself into central.
And somehow, whatever has called them to action means nothing
The little ship that could.
Moderators: wdolson, MOD_War-in-the-Pacific-Admirals-Edition
RE: The little ship that could.
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
RE: The little ship that could.
Takeji turns away.
Numb
Somehow, he thinks, it almost seemed inevitable
"What is the damage?" he half croaks
"Single hit, damage not critical, 1000 tons flooding, fwd elevator jammed"
Kaga. Again.
A SS, again.
Already Zuikaku lights flash.........."detach for Tokyo. Good luck"
Wishing good luck for the unluckiest ship in the fleet.............what a joke.
Nothing for it. Takeji takes a deep breathe.
"I do not need to remind you that babar is some way away, and the SS remain thick.........sharp eyes gentlemen, sharp eyes"
Kaga......single hit, 22 system, 5 eng damage............45 days alongside.
%$#@#$%!!!!!!!!!
Numb
Somehow, he thinks, it almost seemed inevitable
"What is the damage?" he half croaks
"Single hit, damage not critical, 1000 tons flooding, fwd elevator jammed"
Kaga. Again.
A SS, again.
Already Zuikaku lights flash.........."detach for Tokyo. Good luck"
Wishing good luck for the unluckiest ship in the fleet.............what a joke.
Nothing for it. Takeji takes a deep breathe.
"I do not need to remind you that babar is some way away, and the SS remain thick.........sharp eyes gentlemen, sharp eyes"
Kaga......single hit, 22 system, 5 eng damage............45 days alongside.
%$#@#$%!!!!!!!!!
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
RE: The little ship that could.
3/3/44
ss I-160 hits a DD, and is sunk in return
ss I-156 finishes of the CVE Copohae
ss I-170 hits a dd, with a dud. The dud causes the death of the SS in return.
The attacks at babar continue
4 AP/AK are hit, CVL Princetown and CV Essex dodge
A battleship identified as Massachusetts, but suspected to be the south dakato swallows a fish
The cost, however, is simply horrible.
162 a/c lost, to 43
On babar, Samualika, the verdict is in.
The allies will need more troops..
Maybe a lot more.
ss I-160 hits a DD, and is sunk in return
ss I-156 finishes of the CVE Copohae
ss I-170 hits a dd, with a dud. The dud causes the death of the SS in return.
The attacks at babar continue
4 AP/AK are hit, CVL Princetown and CV Essex dodge
A battleship identified as Massachusetts, but suspected to be the south dakato swallows a fish
The cost, however, is simply horrible.
162 a/c lost, to 43
On babar, Samualika, the verdict is in.
The allies will need more troops..
Maybe a lot more.
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
RE: The little ship that could.
Fighting a good fight here ... you're in to '44 and still resisting the inital incursion into the DEI. great job!!! Root him out and make him start all over! BANZAI!!!
Pax
RE: The little ship that could.
Hi pax
Thanks for comment
As we will see.............he has struck where Japan is strongest.
Plan is to bleed, and bleed him, and then, KB to finish him.
Its going to be bloody for japan, but, now or never!!!
Thanks for comment
As we will see.............he has struck where Japan is strongest.
Plan is to bleed, and bleed him, and then, KB to finish him.
Its going to be bloody for japan, but, now or never!!!
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
RE: The little ship that could.
In the quiet of Minobes cabin, two men face each other
Charge speaks "Sir, I must respectfully ask that you re consider"
Minobe, sitting on his chair, raises his eyes. They are cold, almost empty
'Impossible"
"Sir, I need this man. In cells he cannot contribute. At least , I ask, delay his punishment to after this mission"
"Impossible!"
A long, long silence.
A last effort then..............this pig of a man.
"At least, in action, release him. We will need every man"
"Very well, in action . But he returns to cells immediately after"
'sir"
Zuiho slices the calm waters south of Ulithi, course west.
War to the south, east, and west
war, it seems, onboard as well.
Charge speaks "Sir, I must respectfully ask that you re consider"
Minobe, sitting on his chair, raises his eyes. They are cold, almost empty
'Impossible"
"Sir, I need this man. In cells he cannot contribute. At least , I ask, delay his punishment to after this mission"
"Impossible!"
A long, long silence.
A last effort then..............this pig of a man.
"At least, in action, release him. We will need every man"
"Very well, in action . But he returns to cells immediately after"
'sir"
Zuiho slices the calm waters south of Ulithi, course west.
War to the south, east, and west
war, it seems, onboard as well.
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
RE: The little ship that could.
The miricle Graham needs, comes
The village, nestled on the banks of the river is small, almost solment in the baking heat.
He remains hidden, 30 yards away, carefully guaging what he can see.
The Thais, he knows, are not potential friends. Japanese rewards for returned captured airmen are sufficient to feed a family for a year
But villages mean people, and people mean food.
Frustratingly, out of sight, he can hear a chicken clucking.....................
Two men approach from down the river in a small canoe. They tie up, and disembark, vanish into the village.
Graham moves fast, he moves silently.
Pounding heart, neck tense, waiting for the shout, the bullet............
He gets away with it
The canoe moves swiftly downstream. A man, skinny, burnt black, tattered. Paddles. Water in a flask, and oh so precious......a bag of rice, three dried fish, and a coconut.
Goddam, thinks pilot officer"long pig" Graham, luck is turning at last
Swiftly the river carries him south.
South towards Moulmien, and 100000 japanese...............
The village, nestled on the banks of the river is small, almost solment in the baking heat.
He remains hidden, 30 yards away, carefully guaging what he can see.
The Thais, he knows, are not potential friends. Japanese rewards for returned captured airmen are sufficient to feed a family for a year
But villages mean people, and people mean food.
Frustratingly, out of sight, he can hear a chicken clucking.....................
Two men approach from down the river in a small canoe. They tie up, and disembark, vanish into the village.
Graham moves fast, he moves silently.
Pounding heart, neck tense, waiting for the shout, the bullet............
He gets away with it
The canoe moves swiftly downstream. A man, skinny, burnt black, tattered. Paddles. Water in a flask, and oh so precious......a bag of rice, three dried fish, and a coconut.
Goddam, thinks pilot officer"long pig" Graham, luck is turning at last
Swiftly the river carries him south.
South towards Moulmien, and 100000 japanese...............
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
RE: The little ship that could.
4/3/44
Battle for babar
A pause, if you will, a gasp for breath, as both sides reconsider, re gather, re commit.
At Saumlaki 50% of the americal division, 30% of the 32nd division, half of a cavalry division, and the remains of 2 tank brigades face a regiment of the 21st, engineers and a SNLF and a base force
Its not enough to take the field.
Not faced with defences dug in like this
At Babar, 75% of the 6th infrantry division, 50% of the 1st marines, 2 shattered TD units, some engineers, face another regiment of the 21st div, a guard unit.
Japanese transports fly in a good portion of a naval guard unit this day, braving the CAP.
Again, the Allies do not have enough, not nearly, it seems , to take this field.
His fleet must remain here, pinned in support
Tomorrow, japan will try again.
Battle for babar
A pause, if you will, a gasp for breath, as both sides reconsider, re gather, re commit.
At Saumlaki 50% of the americal division, 30% of the 32nd division, half of a cavalry division, and the remains of 2 tank brigades face a regiment of the 21st, engineers and a SNLF and a base force
Its not enough to take the field.
Not faced with defences dug in like this
At Babar, 75% of the 6th infrantry division, 50% of the 1st marines, 2 shattered TD units, some engineers, face another regiment of the 21st div, a guard unit.
Japanese transports fly in a good portion of a naval guard unit this day, braving the CAP.
Again, the Allies do not have enough, not nearly, it seems , to take this field.
His fleet must remain here, pinned in support
Tomorrow, japan will try again.
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
RE: The little ship that could.
5/3/44
A horrible, horrible day
The attacks, wave after wave, strike at babar
The allies place T bolts on long range CAP, and they kill, and kill, and kill.
196 a/c are lost, for only 36 kills.
And nary a ship has been hit.
There is only one bright spot
The third marines are thrust ashore at samulaki, and this is an equally horrible exercise
This is not a history of the marines
The marines would prefer history forgot this day altogether.
599 casualties. Not a unit landed non disrupted,
To 14th Army, its news writ large.
The allies are desperate.
The navy thinks so too.
They are coming to try again
A horrible, horrible day
The attacks, wave after wave, strike at babar
The allies place T bolts on long range CAP, and they kill, and kill, and kill.
196 a/c are lost, for only 36 kills.
And nary a ship has been hit.
There is only one bright spot
The third marines are thrust ashore at samulaki, and this is an equally horrible exercise
This is not a history of the marines
The marines would prefer history forgot this day altogether.
599 casualties. Not a unit landed non disrupted,
To 14th Army, its news writ large.
The allies are desperate.
The navy thinks so too.
They are coming to try again
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
RE: The little ship that could.
6/3/44
Extract from "shattering the sword" a cantona production.
Tar pit.
Too deeply involved to withdraw, but too weak to press, the allies battle for the two islands. There is a third island involved, no more than a patch of sand midway the two, here a company of engineers fight a war no less vicious with a company of Japanese paratroops.
But Saumlaki is the battle today. The Americal Division, big hard men everyone, lead the attack. At Lunga, up the solomon chain, they have always won. What faces them?, ragged starving imperial troops, who have been bombed for months now.
They will sort them out.
But they don't. The attack fails. The fortifications remain..
And japanese reinforcements are flying in.
Extract from "shattering the sword" a cantona production.
Tar pit.
Too deeply involved to withdraw, but too weak to press, the allies battle for the two islands. There is a third island involved, no more than a patch of sand midway the two, here a company of engineers fight a war no less vicious with a company of Japanese paratroops.
But Saumlaki is the battle today. The Americal Division, big hard men everyone, lead the attack. At Lunga, up the solomon chain, they have always won. What faces them?, ragged starving imperial troops, who have been bombed for months now.
They will sort them out.
But they don't. The attack fails. The fortifications remain..
And japanese reinforcements are flying in.
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
RE: The little ship that could.
6/3/44
BB Fuso is coming.
Near Dilli, she is struck by two torpedoes from a lurking ss.
later, after midday, a carrier strike places several bombs upon her.
Threat nuetralised.
Old, creaking, outdated. But like her sister, detirmined
The first fish has flooded one boiler room. The second, has sprung but a few leaks. The armour has held
BB Fuso is still coming.
BB Fuso is coming.
Near Dilli, she is struck by two torpedoes from a lurking ss.
later, after midday, a carrier strike places several bombs upon her.
Threat nuetralised.
Old, creaking, outdated. But like her sister, detirmined
The first fish has flooded one boiler room. The second, has sprung but a few leaks. The armour has held
BB Fuso is still coming.
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
RE: The little ship that could.
Jeez - if Kurita had shown this kind of determination at Leyte Gulf it would have been a massacre!ORIGINAL: 1275psi
6/3/44
BB Fuso is coming.
Near Dilli, she is struck by two torpedoes from a lurking ss.
later, after midday, a carrier strike places several bombs upon her.
Threat nuetralised.
Old, creaking, outdated. But like her sister, detirmined
The first fish has flooded one boiler room. The second, has sprung but a few leaks. The armour has held
BB Fuso is still coming.
No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth
RE: The little ship that could.
Hi BB fanboy!!
Well, if you like BBs in action................[:D][:D][:D]
Well, if you like BBs in action................[:D][:D][:D]
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
RE: The little ship that could.
7/3/44
Seaman Ban was, is, always would be but a peasants son.
He knows of the planting of rice, of its harvesting, its planting, of the care of its field
He knows but little of ships, of the techniques of war.
6 months ago, they posted him to Fuso, taught him how to feed this 25 mm gun, and thus his life changed forever. But he still knows little of the navy, other than its discipline, his gun, his gun crew.
And his pride for Fuso.
His Gun is on the tower admidships, overlooking the great rifles there. It is exposed, windy, often cold, remote from the rest of the ship.
It gives a magnificent view.
Seaman Ban knows nothing of battles, of sudden death, cannot really comprehend the violence of gunfire.
Not really
Tonight, this is a good thing.
Ignorance will keep at bay what should have been a night of sheer terror.
Yesterday, when the torpedoes hit, there had been terror, were they going to sink?
When the dive bombers came, and the focastle was hit, there had been terror then.
But Fuso had just plowed on, and the broadcast had issued re assuring words, some flooding, nothing to worry about.
Do your duty.
Now, just on midnight, they plow across a mirror calm sea, tense, excited.
Seaman Ban is about to have a ringside seat to the third battle of babar.
Seaman Ban was, is, always would be but a peasants son.
He knows of the planting of rice, of its harvesting, its planting, of the care of its field
He knows but little of ships, of the techniques of war.
6 months ago, they posted him to Fuso, taught him how to feed this 25 mm gun, and thus his life changed forever. But he still knows little of the navy, other than its discipline, his gun, his gun crew.
And his pride for Fuso.
His Gun is on the tower admidships, overlooking the great rifles there. It is exposed, windy, often cold, remote from the rest of the ship.
It gives a magnificent view.
Seaman Ban knows nothing of battles, of sudden death, cannot really comprehend the violence of gunfire.
Not really
Tonight, this is a good thing.
Ignorance will keep at bay what should have been a night of sheer terror.
Yesterday, when the torpedoes hit, there had been terror, were they going to sink?
When the dive bombers came, and the focastle was hit, there had been terror then.
But Fuso had just plowed on, and the broadcast had issued re assuring words, some flooding, nothing to worry about.
Do your duty.
Now, just on midnight, they plow across a mirror calm sea, tense, excited.
Seaman Ban is about to have a ringside seat to the third battle of babar.
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
RE: The little ship that could.
Awesome writing my friend.
Appear at places to which he must hasten; move swiftly where he does not expect you.
Sun Tzu
Sun Tzu
RE: The little ship that could.
The broadcast breaks into life
It is hard to hear over the sound of the ship, the wind whipping the words away.
3 small E class, Hiyodori, hato, Kiji (ships that are only adding to glory already won) have met, engaged 2 allied carrier task forces.
'The enemy has fled!"
"BANZIA!"
But then the silence returns, and the darkness continues.
At 0100 hours, below them, the great rifles swing to port.
Ban knows what to do. They all do. They begin jamming the cotten into their ears, some of them sit, so as to get the gun tub between them and what is about to come.
"We are engaging an enemy carrier!"
Ting, ting.
The bells ring
KKKKKKKKKAAAAAAAAAAAABANNNNNG!!!!!!!!!!!!
blinding flash.
The suck of air, the concussion.
The tower whips, shakes
KKKKKKKKKAAAAAAAAAAABANNNNNNNG!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the next salvo
Fuso commences broadside firing
A fine place to view the battle this, this tower.
Also a fine place to be stunned insensible, choked in sulphur, shaken to bits............
The Salvos crash again, and again, blinding, stunning...............
Unseen by Ban, DD uranami explodes, torpedoed
Silence
Ears ringing, men coughing
"We have sunk a small carrier and a destroyer"
Daylight is breaking
Fuso steams on. Where are they?, What is happening.? The gun captain orders them to their station.
Fuso's secondaries open............her flanks writhe with smoke and flame
On the horizon, transports .
Fuso, her escorts killing them.
Banzia!
And now, now it is 9 am,
'Enemy aircraft!"
"Wait, they are zeros!!!"
The great rifles are silent, now it is their turn. The bombers are coming in, twin engined, low fast.
Take the magazine, slam it into the barrell, hold it as the gun hammers, hammers, rip it out, turn, grab the next, ram it home, hold it, as the gun hammers away, rip it out..........
two bombers flash overhead, towers of water, but no hits............
"battleship Kirishimia is engaging main transport fleet!"
A pause..........and below the great rifles are swinging again, starboard this time
"Enemy battleship in sight!"
A fine place to be, this tower.
Perhaps..........
It is hard to hear over the sound of the ship, the wind whipping the words away.
3 small E class, Hiyodori, hato, Kiji (ships that are only adding to glory already won) have met, engaged 2 allied carrier task forces.
'The enemy has fled!"
"BANZIA!"
But then the silence returns, and the darkness continues.
At 0100 hours, below them, the great rifles swing to port.
Ban knows what to do. They all do. They begin jamming the cotten into their ears, some of them sit, so as to get the gun tub between them and what is about to come.
"We are engaging an enemy carrier!"
Ting, ting.
The bells ring
KKKKKKKKKAAAAAAAAAAAABANNNNNG!!!!!!!!!!!!
blinding flash.
The suck of air, the concussion.
The tower whips, shakes
KKKKKKKKKAAAAAAAAAAABANNNNNNNG!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the next salvo
Fuso commences broadside firing
A fine place to view the battle this, this tower.
Also a fine place to be stunned insensible, choked in sulphur, shaken to bits............
The Salvos crash again, and again, blinding, stunning...............
Unseen by Ban, DD uranami explodes, torpedoed
Silence
Ears ringing, men coughing
"We have sunk a small carrier and a destroyer"
Daylight is breaking
Fuso steams on. Where are they?, What is happening.? The gun captain orders them to their station.
Fuso's secondaries open............her flanks writhe with smoke and flame
On the horizon, transports .
Fuso, her escorts killing them.
Banzia!
And now, now it is 9 am,
'Enemy aircraft!"
"Wait, they are zeros!!!"
The great rifles are silent, now it is their turn. The bombers are coming in, twin engined, low fast.
Take the magazine, slam it into the barrell, hold it as the gun hammers, hammers, rip it out, turn, grab the next, ram it home, hold it, as the gun hammers away, rip it out..........
two bombers flash overhead, towers of water, but no hits............
"battleship Kirishimia is engaging main transport fleet!"
A pause..........and below the great rifles are swinging again, starboard this time
"Enemy battleship in sight!"
A fine place to be, this tower.
Perhaps..........
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
RE: The little ship that could.
Hidaka reads the message
Emotions, elation, envy, frustration, pass through him
"We should be there, now!, why are we waiting for the slow ships, we should be there now!"
Takeji grimaces. "Its not our speed Hidaka, its, as usual, fuel. We wait for the tankers, refuelling south of palua sometime tomorrow. Then, my friend, we get our turn. In the meantime, lets be thankful yes?, it appears our Battleship brethren are doing well with out us"
"From
BB Kirishima"
have penetrated to beachhead, Saumlaki
magazines empty
Enemy task force dispersed, 15 plus ships left burning
have successfully retired"
Emotions, elation, envy, frustration, pass through him
"We should be there, now!, why are we waiting for the slow ships, we should be there now!"
Takeji grimaces. "Its not our speed Hidaka, its, as usual, fuel. We wait for the tankers, refuelling south of palua sometime tomorrow. Then, my friend, we get our turn. In the meantime, lets be thankful yes?, it appears our Battleship brethren are doing well with out us"
"From
BB Kirishima"
have penetrated to beachhead, Saumlaki
magazines empty
Enemy task force dispersed, 15 plus ships left burning
have successfully retired"
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
RE: The little ship that could.
Fuso's great rifles do not fire
They do not have too
Across her bow, the Japanese airstrike races, attacking that great grey shadow, the transports it protects on the horizon.
The enemy planes wheel, and the sky goes black with flack, and the streaks of smoke and flame of dying men.
BB Massachusetts will not engage, she is now too busy just trying to live.
CVE Breton loses her fight.
Third battle of babar
1 dd lost
2 cve sunk
3 AP, 4 AK, 1 LSD 2 escorts confirmed sunk
BB Massa heavy damage, at least another 9 ak/ap will sink/heavy damage
Totally empty of ammo, Kirishima and Fuso will make their escap
(Yes, Kurita would be jealous[:D][:D][:D])
allies lose 62 a/c
japan 55!
7th naval guard now successfully flown in, a division to come soon.
We fight on!!!
They do not have too
Across her bow, the Japanese airstrike races, attacking that great grey shadow, the transports it protects on the horizon.
The enemy planes wheel, and the sky goes black with flack, and the streaks of smoke and flame of dying men.
BB Massachusetts will not engage, she is now too busy just trying to live.
CVE Breton loses her fight.
Third battle of babar
1 dd lost
2 cve sunk
3 AP, 4 AK, 1 LSD 2 escorts confirmed sunk
BB Massa heavy damage, at least another 9 ak/ap will sink/heavy damage
Totally empty of ammo, Kirishima and Fuso will make their escap
(Yes, Kurita would be jealous[:D][:D][:D])
allies lose 62 a/c
japan 55!
7th naval guard now successfully flown in, a division to come soon.
We fight on!!!
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
RE: The little ship that could.
Awesome!
Appear at places to which he must hasten; move swiftly where he does not expect you.
Sun Tzu
Sun Tzu
RE: The little ship that could.
Glad you are enjoying Kaleun!!!
happy new year!!
8/3/44
South of Palua
Evening
Zuiho steams on.
The feed water levels are restored, Lurch remains in cells up forward, Minobe has vanished into his cabin again.
Life continues.
There are few worse jobs than watertender on board a steam ship.
Duties are simple.
"The watertender shall monitor and maintain the water level in the boiler, starting and stopping feed and booster pumps as required. During soot blows , bottom blows and surface blows, he shall pay particular care of the level"
The steamers have a better way to describe it "Get back up to the top plates and get back to work!"
Followed by, inevitably, "WHATS THE WATER LEVEL!!?" shouted over the roar and the screams of theblowers and machinery.
Temperatures on Zuiho's top plates, especially here, in the tropics, average 140 degrees F.
The water tender lives under his ventilation fan, venturing forth in spurts to tend his machinery, to check the guage, to do his rounds.
On Zuiho, The level in the boiler, that most critical of things, is maintained automatically by a complicated creature called the float feed controller , a big bulbous device on the front of the boiler.
Whenever surface blows, or bottom blows are required, or aother level related operations are needed, it can be overridden, driven manually.
In a real emergency, the boiler level can be controlled via the main feed check valve. Fully two and a half feet in diameter, this great valve lives on the top plates, square between the boilers.
The principle is simple, level dropping, open it a bit, level rising, close it a bit.
Of course, every revolution change means a change in output from the boiler, and a change in the level.
Carriers operating aircraft, change revolutions continously............
All this explanation, not unaturally is leading to the next little problem Zuiho is suffering..........the float controller has failed.
You cannot repair it with out shutting down the boiler. And tonight, this is not going to happen, not in a million years.
On Zuikaku, the great lamps have flashed. Fuel will be tight. But the news from Saumlaki is bad. Ammunition exhausted, defences collapsing.
The run in must happen now.
Fleet will increase speed to 25 knots.............
"Engine room, bridge.............cut in second boilers"
Four boiler steaming
Feeding by hand, temperatures nearer to 150 than 140
Hell, I think , might be real. Some of us have been there already...................
happy new year!!
8/3/44
South of Palua
Evening
Zuiho steams on.
The feed water levels are restored, Lurch remains in cells up forward, Minobe has vanished into his cabin again.
Life continues.
There are few worse jobs than watertender on board a steam ship.
Duties are simple.
"The watertender shall monitor and maintain the water level in the boiler, starting and stopping feed and booster pumps as required. During soot blows , bottom blows and surface blows, he shall pay particular care of the level"
The steamers have a better way to describe it "Get back up to the top plates and get back to work!"
Followed by, inevitably, "WHATS THE WATER LEVEL!!?" shouted over the roar and the screams of theblowers and machinery.
Temperatures on Zuiho's top plates, especially here, in the tropics, average 140 degrees F.
The water tender lives under his ventilation fan, venturing forth in spurts to tend his machinery, to check the guage, to do his rounds.
On Zuiho, The level in the boiler, that most critical of things, is maintained automatically by a complicated creature called the float feed controller , a big bulbous device on the front of the boiler.
Whenever surface blows, or bottom blows are required, or aother level related operations are needed, it can be overridden, driven manually.
In a real emergency, the boiler level can be controlled via the main feed check valve. Fully two and a half feet in diameter, this great valve lives on the top plates, square between the boilers.
The principle is simple, level dropping, open it a bit, level rising, close it a bit.
Of course, every revolution change means a change in output from the boiler, and a change in the level.
Carriers operating aircraft, change revolutions continously............
All this explanation, not unaturally is leading to the next little problem Zuiho is suffering..........the float controller has failed.
You cannot repair it with out shutting down the boiler. And tonight, this is not going to happen, not in a million years.
On Zuikaku, the great lamps have flashed. Fuel will be tight. But the news from Saumlaki is bad. Ammunition exhausted, defences collapsing.
The run in must happen now.
Fleet will increase speed to 25 knots.............
"Engine room, bridge.............cut in second boilers"
Four boiler steaming
Feeding by hand, temperatures nearer to 150 than 140
Hell, I think , might be real. Some of us have been there already...................
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt