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17 March 1942

DD Kasumi
Location: Naga
Course: None
Damage: System 01

Orders: Refit

***
Work on Kasumi continues…

Tamon was assigned to work duty and that duty was to scrape and repaint the ships railings. In that capacity, he spent the day watching over a contingent of twenty sailor armed with scraping tools and paint brushes. Twelve hours later, the job was almost complete, however with darkness falling the completion would fall to the next duty crew.

18 March 1942

DD Kasumi
Location: Naga
Course: None
Damage: System 01

Orders: Refit

***
Another day spent repainting the ship. This time the main hull above the waterline was being painted in a broken dark and light pattern. The technicians swore it would make the ship harder to target from the air. Tamon had his doubts.

19 March 1942

DD Kasumi
Location: Naga
Course: None
Damage: System 01

Orders: Refit

***
Emi-Chan had a surprise for the crew of Kasumi early in the morning hours. Arata was the first to notice, and then of course Hideyoshi and Isamu were informed.

“This is a problem.” Isamu pointed out.

“Yes, it is,” Hideyoshi paused for a moment. “The captain agreed to let us keep the mother on board. I doubt he will be as willing to let us keep the pups.”

“So we’re going to have to kill them?” Arata was mortified.

“Not necessarily, but we will have to do something with them.” Hideyoshi replied.

***
“You have something to share with me Seaman Sato?” Captain Murakami had a suspicion what it might be.

“Yes sir. The rat sir…she…erm….”

“We have more rats?” Murakami finished for him.

“Yes sir.”

“That is a problem. Even allowing the one rat was against regulations. The babies will have to go, I’m sorry. This is a warship not a nursery.”

“Captain, if I might…”

“Yes Lieutenant Sanada?” Murakami was puzzled why the XO would weigh in on this subject.

“You allowed the men to keep the rat due to it being a good omen. If that is the case, would it not be bad luck to kill the babies?” Lieutenant Sanada added.

“I see your point Lieutenant. Perhaps we could allow the rats to reach weaning age, and then banish them from the ship on dry land. I wonder how long it takes a rat to reach that age.” Murakami could see the XO’s point, and he did not want to curse his ship, be the curse real or perceived.

“Sir, four weeks.” Hideyoshi replied.

“You seem to know much about rats Sato. Very well, as soon as the babies are ready I want them off my ship. Is that clear?”

“Yes sir!”

20 March 1942

DD Kasumi
Location: Naga
Course: None
Damage: System 01

Orders: Refit

***
With technicians still scurrying about the ship trying to fix the boiler pipes, Kasumi was left behind at Naga when Kido Butai left the area. Kasumi would no longer be a part of the carrier fleet.

Tamon did have a new message to decode and take to Captain Murakami.

:::DD Kasumi, DD Hibiki. Proceed Kuching when Refit Complete. Assignment escort Fuso to Okayama.:::

This type of AAR is becoming quite popular, good job, look forward to more [;)]

21 March 1942

DD Kasumi
Location: Naga
Course: None
Damage: System 01

Orders: Refit

***
Captain Murakami called his officers into the ward room early in the morning to brief them on their new orders.

“We have new orders. We’re going back to Kuching.” Murakami gave a moment for it to register. “Once there we will be providing escort for the Battleship Fuso. Fuso was attacked and torpedoed multiple times but it seems they have saved the ship. I can’t stress the importance of anti-submarine operations on this mission enough, a battleship, particularly a badly damaged one will attract enemy submarines as they attempt to finish it off.”

“Sir, the number 2 boiler is still in pieces.” Hinata informed the captain.

“Yes, I know. You will have to speed the repair as much as possible. We are to depart for Kuching along with Hibiki as soon as the repair is complete.”

“Do we know the disposition of enemy air forces around Kuching?” Katsuo asked.

“Both the Army and the Navy have concentrated their attacks on the airfields around Kuching in the last few days in an attempt to push the Allied air forces farther from Kuching and Singapore. No air attacks have occurred at Kuching in the last seven days.”

With on other questions, Murakami dismissed the officers…

Six days without an update. To my readers, sorry for the delay and hopefully there will not be any further long periods of inactivity.

22 March 1942

DD Kasumi
Location: Naga
Course: None
Damage: System 01

Orders: Refit

***
Inside the engine room aboard Kasumi the technicians were busy rebuilding the boiler pipes to the number 2 Kampon boiler. They were working quickly, but carefully so as to avoid another pressure leak in the piping system. At nightfall, the work was almost complete. The crews worked through the night to complete it.

Following the completion of the work, Hinata fired up the boilers, bringing the number 2 online and pressuring it up. The boiler pressure held overnight and by morning the ship was ready to leave its moorings.

23 March 1942

DD Kasumi
Location: Naga
Course: West
Damage: None

Orders: Proceed to Kuching

***
Kasumi picked up speed and rounded the southeastern peninsula of Luzon at Legaspi. Tamon went back to his habit of tuning in Allied short wave radio communitcations. He was able to pick up some patrol aircraft reports, both in English and in Dutch, but not much else.

Later in the afternoon, Tamon managed to pick up what sounded like radio chatter from American heavy bombers that were attacking a Japanese convoy. The messages were very garbled, apparently at the most extreme range the short wave radios could pick up. He could only hope that Kasumi would not be greeted by similar bombers at Kuching.

24 March 1942

DD Kasumi
Location: 300 miles west of Manila
Course: West
Damage: None

Orders: Proceed to Kuching

***
The day passed slowly as Kasumi and Hibiki made their way west at 15 kts. In the radio room, there was much discussion about the war with varying opinions. Tamon did not try to stop it, there was almost no radio traffic today and it did serve to help pass the time.

Early in the afternoon, the short wave radios began to pick up allied transmissions indicating that a Japanese amphibious group near Raba was under heavy attack. Shortly there after numerous distress calls could be heard from Japanese transports and escorts. The air war was still well on south of Java.

25 March 1942

DD Kasumi
Location: 60 miles north of Brunei
Course: West
Damage: None

Orders: Proceed to Kuching

***
Again the short wave radios picked up allied airstrikes on the amphibious group around Raba, and again distress calls filled the airwaves following the attack. The task force commander reported in to Combined Fleet that two transports and one escort had been sunk. The port and airfield at Raba had been secured however.

26 March 1942

DD Kasumi
Location: Kuching
Course: None
Damage: None

Orders: Escort Fuso to Okayama

***
The two destroyers arrived at Kuching to find that Fuso was not yet sea worthy enough to make the trip to Okayama. The battleship was badly mangled still with large holes in the hull at the waterline. The assisting AR had placed large pumps inside Fuso to pump out the sea water as they hastily welded steel plate to cover the damaged hull.

So the destoyers would wait at Kuching until Fuso was able to get underway without damage of sinking. Given the amount of work that needed to be done, they were going to have a few days to wait.

Tamon could hardly believe the mangled mass of steel sitting across the harbor was in fact the once majestic battleship Fuso. With its bow mangled by torpedoes and the fact that the aft mast was completely gone, the Fuso looked as if it would never sail again. The ship had obviously suffered fires topside, as much of the aft superstructure bore the scars of flames. The remains of one of the recon float planes could still be seen sitting on the aft deck where it had caught fire and burned.

27 March 1942

DD Kasumi
Location: Kuching
Course: None
Damage: None

Orders: Await further orders

***
Sometime during the night one of the emergency repairs to Fuso failed and the battleship started taking on water again. Technicians scrambled frantically to stop the flooding and fix the damaged repair. Standing near the railings of Kasumi as the sun broke over the horizon, Tamon could see the frantic activity on board Fuso and even he could tell that the ships was listing again.

“They are having trouble controlling the flooding.” Hinata said matter of factly as he joined Tamon near the rails.

“So it seems. The damage to the hull must be extensive.”

“Judging from the locations of the torpedo strikes, it would seem that at least some of the boilers are flooded as well as most of the forward spaces. With four torpedo strikes it is amazing the ship even made it back to port.”

“With the damage to Fuso, I shudder to think what would happen to Kasumi if a torpedo hit the ship.”

“I suspect we wouldn’t be around to find out, Tamon. Destroyers are fragile when compared with a battleship.”

The two men stood watching the activity onboard Fuso for a while longer before reporting to their duty stations…

28 March 1942

DD Kasumi
Location: Kuching
Course: None
Damage: None

Orders: Await further orders

***
As the sun broke over the Horizon, Tamon looked over to the wounded Fuso. The ship had taken on even more water overnight and was sitting very low in the water with a severe list to starboard. Tamon had his doubts that the stricken battleship could be repaired enough to make the trip to Okayama. As the sun climbed into the morning sky, the bustle of the technicians working on Fuso was apparent. Their actions seemed not only hurried, but frantic.

Tamon entered the radio shack 15 minutes later to find his morning crew debating the Fuso’s fate. He thought to bring and end to it, but decided against it. They would discuss it anyway, and at least with him present he could ‘correct’ them in any misconceptions they might have and hopefully lessen the effect of the shipboard rumor mill.

a very good read shark

An author's note. To save on confusion, character dialog in Japanese is in regular type, while character dialog that would be heard in English is in Italic type.... This will play into future dialogs as well.

29 March 1942

DD Kasumi
Location: Kuching
Course: None
Damage: None

Orders: Await further orders

***
The day was filled with short wave communications from numerous air groups. Most of the communications centered around the Japanese controlled base and Bandjermasin. The Army had moved in two fighter groups there to intercept the allied bombers that were harassing the reinforcement and resupply effort for the base.

“…confirmed enemy torpedo plane destroyed…”

“…return fire too heavy…”

“…BEHIND YOU!”

“…fighters 6 o’clock high…”

“…I got one…”

“…beginning bomb run…”

The chatter went on for well over an hour before ceasing. Then the distress calls started. Several of the transports had been damaged and one of the escorts was sinking.

30 March 1942

DD Kasumi
Location: Kuching
Course: None
Damage: None

Orders: Await further orders

***
Osaka Naval Yard….

Yoshiro Harada approached the large freighter tied up to the docks. Genoa Maru, this was the ship that would carry him on the first leg of his journey to meet up with the 4th Infantry Division. Yoshiro, unlike his older brother Tamon, had never been onboard a ship of any type before, not even a small fishing boat. The size of the Genoa Maru was overwhelming to him.

Genoa Maru was not a troop-ship. In fact it was a large bulk carrier with makeshift berthing space for the 200 infantrymen it would be taking to Saigon. The accommodations were spartan at best, and completely inadequate at worst. Yet this was the way that Yoshiro would spend his first voyage to sea.

31 March 1942

DD Kasumi
Location: Kuching
Course: None
Damage: None

Orders: Await further orders

***

Tamon tuned in the short wave radios on yet another day of Allied bombers attacking the supply convoy at Bandjermasin. The army fighters faired better this day, bringing down three of the enemy bombers and forcing others to turn back. Still the bombers found their targets and wounded yet more transports and freighters.

The technicians had managed to stabilize Fuso again and overnight a second AR had arrived to assist with the repairs. The two repair ships bracketed Fuso, each tied up along side the battleship running their pumps at full capacity. Tamon later received a message from Combined Fleet Headquarters that the Southern Fleet Headquarters commander was being sent to personally over-see the emergency repairs to Fuso. Captain Ozawa and his staff would arrive within the next 48 hours.

01 April 1942

DD Kasumi
Location: Kuching
Course: None
Damage: None

Orders: Await further orders

***
Onboard the Genoa Maru…

With each roll of the ship Yoshiro felt an intense urge to vomit. He had never felt so awful in his life. He was not the only soldier aboard the ship to be suffering from sea sickness.

The crew of the freighter only laughed at Yoshiro and his fellow sufferers. To them it was obvious that the sick men were completely green to the sea, and it was a common sight with the army moving so many men by ship. The laughter quickly turned to annoyance when the sick men failed to make it to the railings.

Genoa Maru was well on its way to Saigon and should arrive as scheduled in six days. The sea sick infantrymen were the last of the ‘supplies’ they had loaded and had left the moorings two days ago. At first, the voyage had gone without problem, on a glasslike sea. But all that had changed this morning, and now the ship was pitching side to side in a mild sea state. It would only get worse from here.

02 April 1942

DD Kasumi
Location: Kuching
Course: None
Damage: None

Orders: Await further orders

***
Tamon stood at the railings again looking out at Fuso. The ship was in much better shape since the arrival of the Southwest Fleet Headquarters. Work was progressing quickly and the ship was no longer listing hard to starboard.

As Tamon watch one of the work crews welding heavy steel plates over a hole in the hull he began to wonder just what Japan had gotten itself into. It was obvious the Allied navies were well able to inflict damage on even the strongest of the Imperial fleet. And while the war was going well, fortunes can change in a second.

***
“This is a BBC Radio News Report. The fight continues. In the Mediterranean the British Navy starts to take the upper hand. Just yesterday the Italian cruiser Bande Nere is sunk by a British submarine…”