Small Ship, Big War - The Voyages of the Hibiki

[mdiehl]

This is easily the best AAR in the forums. And that's saying a lot because there are some good AARs.

[ChezDaJez]

There's hope for us yet. You and I agree on something without reservation. It is a very captivating read.

Chez

[tocaff]

Sounds like our main characters will be off again into the gauntlet, no rest for the weary.

[mcfreiria]

Brave souls! Seems that Hibiki is going to be one of the choosen
 
I am new but this AAR is the best, congratulations Cuttlefish, when you make the book i want one with your signature[&o]

[tocaff]

I watched the movie Yamato last night and thought of this AAR and the saga of the Hibiki.  CF, the writer(s) of that script've got nothing on you at all.

[Cuttlefish]

ORIGINAL: mcfreiria

Brave souls! Seems that Hibiki is going to be one of the choosen

I am new but this AAR is the best, congratulations Cuttlefish, when you make the book i want one with your signature

Welcome to the forums!

And thank you and everyone else for the positive comments. It gives me some motivation to stay at the keyboard on those occasional days when I have no idea what I’m going to write.

[Cuttlefish]

March 29, 1943

Location: Palau
Course: Northeast
Attached to: TF 72
Mission: Air Combat
System Damage: 2
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475

Orders: Proceed to Palau

---

Hibiki and the other Japanese ships arrive at the Palau Islands in the morning. For most of the men on board this is their first look at the island group, and the many steep-sided limestone islands capped with shaggy greenery make a distinctive enough sight that some of the crew come up on deck to look around as the ships thread their way into the anchorage.

There are over 200 islands at Palau. They are an odd collection of limestone islands, volcanic islands, and fragmented coral reefs, scattered in a rough crescent oriented north-south. They range in size from Babelthaup, 376 square kilometers in area, to numerous tiny islets.

Japanese interest in these islands goes back to the 1890’s, when the first Japanese companies arrived. They operated under German rule until World War I, when Japan evicted the Germans and took over the islands. The Japanese occupation was confirmed by a League of Nations mandate in 1920, and the islands have been an important Japanese military base ever since.

The Japanese administrative center is located on Koror, while the largest airfield is at the southern end of the chain on Peleliu. Most of the naval facilities, however, are on the island of Malakal, and it is here that the Japanese ships refuel and take on supplies. Dock space is very limited, however, so the ships must take turns. Most of them wait in the very large anchorage afforded by the islands while other ships proceed by ones and twos to the docks to refuel.

The islands are fairly quiet at this stage of the war. There are about two dozen Ki-21 bombers flying anti-submarine patrols out of Peleliu. A small collection of patrol craft operate out of the area on the same mission, and at the moment there are ten frieghters in the anchorage. Ashore there are a fair number of base personnel and a handful of naval guard troops. There are also several hundred Korean laborers, working to improve the facilities and build auxiliary airfields.

---

“I’ve got some paperwork for you, Exec,” says Captain Ishii. “I’ll oversee the refueling.”

“Certainly, Captain,” says Lieutenant Miharu. “What do you need?”

“Admiral Ozawa wants complete fitness evaluations for both ship and crew,” says the captain. “He needs them by tomorrow morning.” Lieutenant Miharu gives the captain a wary look.

“I’ll see to it, sir,” he says. “Do you know why he wants them?”

“I don’t,” says Captain Ishii, shaking his head. “I do know, though, that he wants them for every destroyer in the task force.”

“Interesting,” comments the lieutenant. He thinks for a moment. “Sir, have any major problems developed that I should be aware of before I begin?” Captain Ishii smiles.

“None,” he says. “It’s an interesting thought, but…no. Be straightforward.”

“Yes sir,” says the executive officer. “I’ll get started right away.”

[AU Tiger_MatrixForum]

ORIGINAL: Cuttlefish


“Interesting,” comments the lieutenant. He thinks for a moment. “Sir, have any major problems developed that I should be aware of before I begin?” Captain Miharu smiles.

“None,” he says. “It’s an interesting thought, but…no. Be straightforward.”

“Yes sir,” says the executive officer. “I’ll get started right away.”

Don't tell me Captain Miharu is bucking for promotion now!

[Capt. Harlock]

ORIGINAL: Cuttlefish

System Damage: 2


Communication from Combined Fleet headquarters to Admiral Ozawa:

[font="Courier New"]Your concerns are noted. No other forces available in area at this time. Inform selected ships that we commend their performance and are confident they will continue to carry out their duties with proper fighting spirit.[/font]

I have a feeling that the two entries above are related. The Chief Engineer has been doing his job all too well . . .[;)]

[tocaff]

There go our boys off into the sunset again.  Maybe they can get some rest if they suffer so damage.

[Cuttlefish]

ORIGINAL: AU Tiger

ORIGINAL: Cuttlefish

“Interesting,” comments the lieutenant. He thinks for a moment. “Sir, have any major problems developed that I should be aware of before I begin?” Captain Miharu smiles.

Don't tell me Captain Miharu is bucking for promotion now!

Oops, fixed the reference to "Captain Miharu". I must have been channeling the mirror IJN universe, where the crew all wear goatees and sashes and promotion is by assassinating your superior officer.

[Cuttlefish]

March 30, 1943

Location: 250 miles east-southeast of Palau
Course: East by southeast
Attached to: TF 72
Mission: Air Combat
System Damage: 2
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 445

Orders: Proceed to Truk

---

To the dismay of everyone and the surprise of almost no one, the task force is ordered to Truk. The ships leave Palau less than a day after arriving. The crew wonders if they will spend any more time at Truk, which at least has decent shore leave facilities, but no one is counting on it.

Lieutenant Miharu finishes the reports. Captain Ishii looks them over, signs them, and gets them to Admiral Ozawa before the ships sail. On paper, at least, Hibiki is in fine shape. Chief Engineer Sakati has done an excellent job keeping the engines in good condition, and the destroyer’s weapons and other systems are in fighting trim. The crew is likewise healthy. They have escaped the pestilent harbors of the former Dutch East Indies with few cases of malaria or other illness, and thanks to opportunistic procurement the ship has maintained a healthy and varied supply of food for the crew.

There is of course another dimension to crew fitness, that of morale. Both the captain and his executive officer are well aware that it has been a long time since the crew had any real rest, and that they have seen a lot of action recently. Captain Ishii has faith in the crew, though, and believes they still have a lot of fight left in them. And at any rate it would be contrary to the spirit of the Imperial Japanese Navy to admit to weariness.

---

Excerpt from a letter from Taiki Takahashi to Nanami Shun:

Thank you so very much for your letter. It means a lot to receive kind words from those at home, and I am very pleased that you remember me and Seaman Kurumata from our brief meetings last spring. It is more of a kindness than simple fellows such as we deserve.

If I may presume to understand the main reason for your letter, I will get straight to the matter without further delay. Seaman Ariga is alive and well. He did receive your letter, and I can truly say that it meant more than he can tell you that you wrote to him. It is a cause of some distress to him that he has not been able to write an answer to you.

I do not think that Seaman Ariga would mind if I told you that he thinks quite highly of you. I will even go so far to say that he and your father have exchanged thoughts on the subject. I regret to report that they did not see completely eye to eye, however.

I have the utmost respect for your father, who is one of the finest sailors I have ever known. It is a privilege to serve with him. I know that he cares about you a great deal, and that it is right and proper that he looks after your future with a careful eye. But I think he may have misjudged Seaman Ariga, who is a good man and who is working very hard to improve himself.

As a result of their discussion Seaman Ariga is waiting until he has gained your father’s permission before he tries to talk with you. It is this which has kept him from writing. I have hopes that if we are patient and leave the two of them to work it out that there might be better news about this in the future.

On another topic, I was delighted to hear that your grandmother is doing better. Please give her my greetings when you see her, she might remember me. I am also glad to hear that you have enjoyed staying in Osaka…

[Cuttlefish]

March 31, 1943

Location: 300 miles northwest of Truk
Course: Southeast
Attached to: TF 72
Mission: Air Combat
System Damage: 2
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 401

Orders: Proceed to Truk

---

Shiro is sitting in his accustomed place against the aft turret, working on a carving of a seagull. He often comes here when he is off duty. He likes the feel of the open air and never tires of the sound of the waves against the ship’s hull. As his hands work he can let his mind wander. He finds it very restful.

There is a bit of a breeze today, and as Shiro shaves off small pieces of wood the wind swiftly carries them away. The carving is taking shape nicely. The bird is depicted as perched on a bit of railing, the wings outspread as if the bird was just landing.

Shiro picks up movement in his peripheral vision, and turning his head he sees someone approaching from the forward part of the ship. It’s an officer, so he sets down the carving, pockets his small knife, and bounces to his feet. As he comes to attention he sees with some dismay that it is Petty Officer Okubo.

Okubo has seemed to carry a grudge against Riku and Shiro ever since Shun slugged Okubo while Okubo was yelling at Riku for feeding some rescued sailors too well. Shiro doesn’t know why he is included in this grudge, except that he is Riku’s friend.

Perhaps that is enough reason. Okubo favors some sailors and is harder on others, on whim as far as Shiro can tell. He is a lot less scary than Shun, but at least Shun is even-handed in his punishments and ruthlessly fair. Shiro respects that. He has much less respect for Okubo, but of course he is far too experienced a sailor to betray that opinion in any way.

Okubo stops and looks him over. He apparently finds nothing to complain about regarding Shiro’s appearance, but when he glances down at Shiro’s shoes he sees the carving. He bends down and picks it up.

“Not bad,” he says, looking it over. He sets the carving back down. “All right, Kurumata, carry on.” He starts to move away, but takes a deliberate misstep. There is a cracking of wood underfoot. “Ah, how clumsy of me,” he murmurs. He gives Shiro a tight little smile and moves on past him towards the stern of the ship.

Shiro waits until he is gone and then bend down and picks up the pieces of the carving. Both the wings have snapped off. Perhaps he can alter the carving so the wings are folded against the sides, he thinks. But he no longer feels like carving right now. He takes the pieces and goes below.

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: Cuttlefish

ORIGINAL: AU Tiger

ORIGINAL: Cuttlefish

“Interesting,” comments the lieutenant. He thinks for a moment. “Sir, have any major problems developed that I should be aware of before I begin?” Captain Miharu smiles.

Don't tell me Captain Miharu is bucking for promotion now!

Oops, fixed the reference to "Captain Miharu". I must have been channeling the mirror IJN universe, where the crew all wear goatees and sashes and promotion is by assassinating your superior officer.

[:D] That's the episode we call "Spock with a beard" (goatee, actually). Very funny.

[princep01]

Okubo....Okubo....isn't that Japanese for arsehole?

[tocaff]

Grrr!

[marky]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

ORIGINAL: Cuttlefish

ORIGINAL: AU Tiger




Don't tell me Captain Miharu is bucking for promotion now!

Oops, fixed the reference to "Captain Miharu". I must have been channeling the mirror IJN universe, where the crew all wear goatees and sashes and promotion is by assassinating your superior officer.

[:D] That's the episode we call "Spock with a beard" (goatee, actually). Very funny.

good stuff [:D]

[Cuttlefish]

April 1, 1943

Location: Truk
Course: Docked
Attached to: TF 74
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 2
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475

Orders: Proceed to Truk

---

Shigatsu baka means “April fool” and is a Western custom that Japan has embraced since the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1873. The Imperial Japanese Navy, however, is not noted for its institutional sense of humor and so Captain Ishii does not even bother to look for this phrase at the bottom of the orders he has just received.

[font="Courier New"]Destroyers Shiranuhi and Hibiki are hereby detached from Task Force 72 and assigned to Task Force 8, Captain Nishida commanding. Proceed to Rabaul when fueling and resupply complete.

Accept my thanks for your courageous and loyal service during the recent campaign. Good luck.

Ozawa[/font]

The task force has only been at Truk for a few hours, and already those aboard Hibiki have heard tales of the savage air and naval battles that have been swirling around Gili Gili for the last several weeks. The enemy has been trying to use the port and airfields there as a springboard for operations against the ring of Japanese bases in the area, and the Japanese have been trying to stop them from doing so.

In truth Ishii is not displeased. Hibiki has been escorting aircraft carriers for much of the past year. This has made sense, as the war during this time has largely been a carrier war. But right now the enemy has no carrier force to speak of and the Japanese carriers are undergoing refit and repair, preparing for future campaigns. The battles that have been taking place around the Solomon Sea, however, have been surface engagements.

Ishii is enough of a realist to recognize that the nature of naval warfare has changed during this war. The airplane has seen to that. But he was trained for surface tactics, and in his heart he is still happier engaging the enemy with his main batteries and torpedoes than with anti-aircraft guns and depth charges.

And perhaps Ishii senses, though he does not yet know, that this campaign may be the last time when Japanese and Allied surface forces can contest an area on roughly equal terms, at close range and without carrier forces dominating the issue. All things considered Ishii would rather be part of it than sitting on a beach somewhere wondering how the battle was going.

[Cuttlefish]

April 2, 1943

Location: Truk
Course: Docked
Attached to: TF 74
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 2
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475

Orders: Proceed to Rabaul and join TF 8

---

Zuikaku and the rest of the Japanese ships depart for Kwajalein in the morning, leaving Hibiki and Shiranuhi behind. The two destroyers will start for Rabaul tomorrow; Shiranuhi is having her freshwater storage tank cleaned.

Captain Ishii takes advantage of the day off to send men ashore. Most of them are there to relax, but others, led by Riku, use the time to restock the ship’s food stores. Hibiki takes aboard fish, both fresh and dried; crates of mangos and yams; bag upon bag of rice; large quantities of pineapples and coconuts; bags of soy beans and noodles; eggs; cases of shellfish; and whatever else the men can find. Riku even locates a case of canned beef that failed to make it aboard Zuikaku and manages to appropriate it.

Hibiki’s fuel tanks are topped off. Most important, all the ammunition racks are completely filled. 5” shells, 13mm and 25mm ammunition, torpedoes and depth charges, all are full. Hibiki is ready to return to the war.

[Cuttlefish]

April 3, 1943

Location: 230 miles north of Rabaul
Course: South
Attached to: TF 74
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 2
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 432

Orders: Proceed to Rabaul and join TF 8

---

“Sakati reports engines are up to speed, Captain” says Lieutenant Miharu. “We are ready to get under way.”

“Very good,” says Captain Ishii. “Any signal from Shiranuhi?”

“There’s one coming in now, sir,” says Ensign Handa, gazing out at the other destroyer. “Let’s see…Captain Shizuo to Captain Ishii...ready to depart…follow me, we will try not to go too fast for you.”

Captain Ishii bursts into laughter. Shiranuhi is a Kagero-class destroyer, newer, larger, and faster than Hibiki.

“That old rascal!” he says to Lieutenant Miharu. “Shizuo and I served together aboard Yayoi years ago. He always did enjoy baiting me.” He raises his voice. “Ensign, send the following signal: Ishii to Shizuo, your thoughtfulness is appreciated. Lead the way. Try to avoid sand bars this time.” Ishii chuckles as Handa begins to flash the signal. “He put us aground one night off Pusan,” he explains to Miharu. “I thought old Captain Mori was going to burst a vein, he was so angry.”

“New signal,” says Handa. “It reads: one point for Hibiki. But it is a long voyage. Signal ends. Shiranuhi is getting under way, sir.”

“Very well. Helm, engines forward one half, put us 200 meters behind Shiranuhi.”

The two destroyers make their way out of the anchorage. Once in open water they come up to speed and turn south, heading for Rabaul.