The little ship that could.

[1275psi]

13 febuary

While Japanese armies lick wounds at Clarke and Singapore, and Emperor herbiesan orders fresh regiments to sail for these battles, Zuiho lives in her own little world.

She rides again today still at anchor -awaiting orders.
She has refuelled, re ammoed, re stored. Her flight deck spots a full load of aircraft again, and several new faces fill the ready room.
It is a quiet day -externally, but internally -men sweat.

The Am is filled with Damage control exercises -the sailors do well -and most of the senior men are pleased. The tradgedy is though -and only we know this as outside observers -any American sailor would have smiled with derision at the techniques and equipment Zuiho deploys.
Crude, inefficient, are probably in adequate words indeed.

but the men take to the exercise with energy and enthusiasm.................maybe it will be enough anyway.


In the afternoon, for several men -terror.
Promotion boards............


The Charge sits besides Minobe. On the other side of him, the deputy engineer.
In front of them, PO Okano..........

The Charge leads with the next questions. So far Okano has successfully "fuelled the ship", raised an urgent defect signal, ordered spares, explained the duties and responsibilities of the Engineering Officer of the Watch, and other things.....
But now, now down to business.......

He leans forward.....'PO Okano, you are EOOW, Port Engine room, steaming main and aux, at 14 knots. You suddenly observe that main vacuum is falling...........please describe possible causes, your immediate actions please.........

The real test begins.....but Okano knows his stuff, the answers flow nicely........too easily.The Charge interupts 'Good -bit right now -1 A boiler has flamed out"

'Ah -that raises the sweat a little........but he is doing well"...........

The board will go on for 3 hours.., and Po Okano will pass today with flying colours

Terribly pleased, the Charge shakes his hand. 'No more boiler room for you my friend. Port Engine room when we sail -dog watch if you don't mind"


The sailor we know as Lurch takes his turn in front of the table.
Minobe snaps the first question...........'Give me the location of the steam drench valve for port boiler room"
The great man screws his face, and frowns -a giant deer frozen in spotlights.........

it is painful -watching the mind frozen in fear in front of the table. The steam drench valve -a valve he has worked on too.......
'Enough!" barks Minobe " get out! -and learn your systems"

The man stumbles out Minobe turns a baleful eye upon his Charge.....'is that man useful for anything........?"

[MateDow]

Wow. This is a great AAR. It brings back memories of standing engineering watches on an old 600 lb steam plant. your descriptions are wonderful and really paint the picture of what is happening. Thank you for taking the time to write this.

[1275psi]

Thankyou

no turns in in box, so we wait to see what happens next

[1275psi]

cantona's computer dead. game on hold for a week i think at least.............

[BigBadWolf]

7 days?! God damn it, we are dead in the water here and he wants 7 days? Unacceptable! You tell him he has 24 hours max! I want that boiler up and running this time tomorrow or heads WILL roll! [:@]




[:D]

[british exil]

The little ship that could.

The little ship that could wait 7 days!!!

The little ship can't wait 7 days!!!

Mat

[aprezto]

Herb;
 
I suspect that you've somehow infected Cantona with your computer fortune...

[hosho]

I hate those lazy, broken computers! [:@]

[1275psi]

waiting for the turn-apparently box is fixed.........

[1275psi]

15/2/42

There is another little world we must mention today. Tucked away under the curve at the flight deck, overlooking the quarterdeck, lives the Chippies workshop. This little cave of wonders is tucked here, away from its steam brothers to allow welding fumes to take to the air, and to keep the dangerous gas bottles in a place where they can be ditched quickly.

Zuiho will today sail"defect free" -which of course, is sheer fantasy. The Charge tries to propel this cantankerous beast across the waters where ever Hasegawa would go -the chippies try to hold her together while they do. from rod gearing repairs, to pie patches, to a new table for the wardroom -if it can be manufactured, here, given half a chance -they will attempt it..

In addition to the million 'domestics' they repair -the chippies tend the anchor windlass -all the winches, the siren, the windscreen wipers - that cracked gun tub............
Oh -Zuiho sails defect free today - but in reality she never will be -these men here too fight the eternal fight against the elements and decay.
But today, today will be a good day. Just after Midday, she slips her mooring, and task force swift eagle sails again.
Soon her bows begin to ride the great pacific swells -but even better -a cutting breeze crosses her decks -and that magic little cave can breath easily again.
The men turn to work, hard to do at times -the great wake is mesmerising.................

And quietly wonder what will break next.

[1275psi]

Hasegawa and Hidaka stand, as they so often do now, side by side . Zuiho's bows cream, and rise, and fall, an easy motion this day.
"Its good to be away again yes?" Hasegawa murmers
'Yes"

Silence, a moment to share, this first step of the next adventure.

'Do we have our orders yet Captain?"
Hasegawa imperceptably nods 'yes'

......................'And"

And the old eyes twinkle "Oh -more fun and games I should think. The Xo is running a book I believe"
He turns to his operations officer -and heavens! -actually smiles 'I'd go for the long odds if I was you..............."

[1275psi]

Extract from Shattering the sword -a Cantona production


............The siege of singapore continues, yet the end can only be one way -Japan has plenty of time yet.
The battle for Clarke rages - and here hopes for the American troops continues to rise -a false hope, Japan has many more men enroute-but such is human nature.
The conquest of the Dei continues, by now, Batavia can here ther sound of approaching guns, and the brave dutch prepare for a hopeless last stand.
Japanese eyes, however, are already turning elsewhere. Zuiho is but a small part of the gathering effort. But no small part will she play. Yamamoto has bold plans for this little ship............

[1275psi]

15/2/42

Night orders

Continue steaming on Port fwd, Stbd Fwd boilers.
Conduct soot blows during middles.
There is too much water in bilges -keep bilges dry!
call me any problems promptly


PS: Congrats to PO Okano on your board result -now don't break anything!

[pws1225]

Welcome back, 1275psi. We've missed you!

[1275psi]

LTJG Kamisaka

[1275psi]

Kamisaka settles himself down into his cockpit, adjusts his arse for the nth time.
There is, again, some sort of delay
The engine idles, beating steadily, numbingly.

The mind, inevitably, wanders.
he misses, as always, his wife, and wonders, again, what she is doing today. probably sorting fish -if the catch has been good. Such a good woman, so little time together.
China was to have been a quick 6 months, ended up being two damn long years...........
and now this, another bloody war.
Somehow though, this one feels so different from China.

His ear piece crackles......'whats the delay sir?'
Kamisaka glances to the flight deck edge -raises a quizzical eyebrow to Hidaka
His boss shrugs -stuffed if i know -and points meaningfully down at his feet.
'I think dear crew, that Minobe has let us down again..........."

But he is wrong -this time - one of Zuiho's communication masts has not been lowered - something very urgent coming in -or going out -and now men crank frantically to lower it to the horizontal.

And Hidaka now has his little flag ready -and waves it at them -you may go now.

Good

A last check -manifolds good, magneto good, flaps set, brakes fully on, and pitch................, and throttle -and the beast roars, shakes, brakes off -and away.
It is good to be aloft again, away from the stink, the confinement of that bloody ready room.
The bomber feels good under his hand -the difference between a bomb and a torpedo to her handling is startling -she feels so much lighter, responsive.
he eases the canopy back, the air blasting past cool and sweet.
'Eyes peeled men.......a bottle of scotch to anyone who spots a sub"

Zuiho has resumed her primary role -putting assets into the air.

[1275psi]

Deep in the bilges of the engine room, Okano slithers under a mass of pipes , his back soaking up the oily scum on the hull.
here, under the deck plates, it is dark, and confusing -but at least cool .
For the third time, he cranes his head, angles his torch, probing the darkness -the tight beam folowing the pipes, one pipe in particular.
'Where in the hell are you going you bitch?'
he consults a dirty, tattered piece of paper - turns it one way, then another, compares the scribbles on it to the pipes he faces.
and sees it.
'Ahhhhh -so thats where you go, my beauty."
he notates his sketch, makes a correction.
Contemplates the pipes, the bilges, plots his next move through the maze ahead.


You do not learn systems on a ship by magic. You have to trace them, trace every inch.
But he is winning, by this watches end, he will know the oil system of the port main engine by heart.
Only 20 odd systems to go...........

[1275psi]

17/2/42

Kurihama waits his turn. The wind whips about them still today, and the taste of salt is in the air. His kate rumbles, the ground crewman still in the cockpit, the chocks still in place.
His rear gunner, navigator stand patiently behind him, backs to the wind.
"What is the delay?" Kurihama barks -bloody useless servicemen -all day to get her ready..............
'Hara says he say a drop on the left magneto -please wait" the crew chief reports, face anxious -keen to avoid the cut of Kurihama's tongue
The beast suddenly bellows -straining at the shocks -it does not falter.
'That will do Chief -lets be off "

Across to her, a quick survey, and up onto the wing, and the deposit of the essentials. Map board, flight log, binoculars, a water flask, a small wrapped bundle -lunch-each item finding its own special little niche.
Arrange the belts, and , haul the leg up and over, and in, finding the pedals, and hands helping to bring the straps over the shoulders -the calm here out of the breeze, and the mind racing ahead, checking, checking.
'Are we secured?'
Two brief affirmatives from behind
he grunts -good. A last look, the walk the stick around the world -so familiar to every pilot that has ever been, will ever be- flaps -out, trim, thus -another check of the stick, and goggles down.

And Kurihama takes his turn, trusting in the engine, the men that prepare the engine, and, of course -that prig of a mechanic Hara.
But this -I suppose, is what flying really is -trusting in so many things, and people.

toady the trust is justified, and soon they are climbing steadily out across the great blue - still settling in when the observer barks
'CONTACT- SUBMARINE BEARING 090! -range 1000 yards!

090!
the mind automatically registers, calcuklates, adjudicates, and even as the call comes in -stick is slamming over, and the right leg pushes hard, hard against the iron of the bar -hard on the arch, hard as iron, and his head is swivelling looking, straining over the right shoulder -looking straight down the wing, and the shock hits hard -there IT is! -a conning tower -unmistakable -the long feather of wake trailing behind..

At a 40 degrees bank -as steep as he dares haul thei bird about, he comes about -balancing between stall and turn, top ruderring, top ruddering - eyes fixed on the tower -a tower slipping under the blue........

'Anti submarine action! -prepare to attack!"
Nose down, full throttle - range closing, closing -but even now obviously too late -the submarine too quick---------and the ocean is undisturbed again.....

"Barsted!"

They report, circle, and circle again
Task force swift eagle alters course away, and within two hours the threat is well astern......

Patrols will be increased. It is obvious that nowhere in this ocean can one assume that one is safe from the sharks lurking below.

[1275psi]

Zuiho, and the charge, quite frankly, have so far had an incredible run.
The hard fact is this. Japanese engineering world war two -was not very good.
her machinery is crude, most of it obsolete in design if not age -and a vast number of those who tend it -have only vague knowledge of operational theories.

Zuiho is lucky -almost blessed.
Her Charge (whio if he survives long enough I suppose we can question him) has had a long history of many different boilers -many british, some japanese, even an american one -in a previous life before this war. he is a rare commodity in this Navy -an expert in his craft .
PO Okano too is a bonus -so few sailors in this navy with actual pre war mechanical trade experience - although working on cars is a far cry from a turbine.
No -if you want to see a typical japanese engineer - i suppose we can show Minobe. Oh, he can operate it all right -but to actually extract lasting performance from it........

The differences between equivalent british boilers, and her own -are stark.
British boilers for a start change burner numbers with demand changes. the crude japanese burners , once lit, are rarely pulled.
British ships operate cam sooties, japanese are straight valve type - incredibly inefficient.
But the greatest difference (for today before boredom sets in) is the preheater -british boilers use economisers -japanese, air heaters.
Air heaters with horrible thin pipes, with little room for corrosion pitting, or anything worse.
In fact -japanese boilers -when it comes to tubes, and tube protection via chemistry, are sorry things indeed.

And 1A boiler -the Port forward one, has had a very sorry time of it this war.
And, now, just after 10 PM, the first bill is presented...............

[1275psi]

Its been building for a while now.
Scale
Scale –hard deposits of salts and other crap on the inside of the boiler tubes –products of poor water quality.
Its hard to imagine , but the very steam itself inside those pipes is what keeps them cool enough against the hellish heat of the furnace flames, the conversion of water to steam enough to prevent failure, melting, disaster…………

Upriser 17, inboard row (ie, on the furnace face), 1A boiler 0thats the port forward one –now has, hidden away inside it, a horrible patch of scale –nearly the size of a largish coin –and nearly a millimeter thick.
Worse, deep in the metal itself, a fine network of crystalline cracking is present –a result of Okano’s little ‘incident of a month ago

First, just locally, under the scale –a hot spot develops, and the metal begins to glow red, then white, and the metal softens, softens to butter.
Butter against boiler pressure.

It is just after 5 am in the morning, Zuiho steady steaming on two boilers, when the tube fails