Ship of Steel, Men of Valor - Cuttlefish (A) versus Cribtop (J)

[Cuttlefish]

December 31, 1941

Brisbane, Australia


Captain Stickney greeted several of his fellow captains and then seated himself in one of the folding chairs lined up in the hastily assembled briefing room. At the front of the room Admiral Halsey and Admiral Spruance stood talking to a pair of Australian officers. The murmur of conversation that filled the room died down as Halsey finished his conversation with them and moved to stand before the assembled men.

"Good afternoon," he said. "Before we start, I would like to thank Lieutenant Commander Brookes, who is in charge of the base here, for his hospitality." He nodded to an Australian naval officer who stood nearby, trying not to look too nervous.

"And," Halsey continued, "I would like to introduce you to General Blamey, just recalled from the Middle East and made commander-in-chief of Australian forces." The stocky, affable-looking Blamey nodded to the crowd from his position next to Spruance. "Now let's get down to business," Halsey continued. "I know it's New Year's Eve and your crews are probably looking forward to some Australian beer and an evening ashore. Sorry, it's not going to happen. We've gotten some news today. General Blamey, if you would?" He looked at Blamey, who stepped forward.

"Thank you, Admiral," said Blamey. His voice was resonant, bringing out his Australian accent in deep tones. "Earlier today some of our planes flying out of Rabaul reported several groups of Japanese ships nearing New Britain, apparently coming down from Truk. It looks like an invasion force, two groups of transports covered by some cruisers. At their current course and speed they should reach Rabaul sometime tonight.

"No carriers have been sighted accompanying the enemy ships. However, we have, just within the last couple of hours, received an interesting report from our Dutch friends. It seems they have spotted at least five large carriers, with escorting battleships and cruisers, off the northeast coast of Borneo, not far from Tarakan.

"We have three heavy cruisers up around Townsville; Australia, Canberra, and your own Pensacola. Their task force has been ordered into the Coral Sea with an eye towards contesting Rabaul. It is our hope that you lot will take your carriers up there and join them."

"Damn right we will," growled Halsey, "We've been waiting for a chance like this. With the Jap carriers located we have a real opportunity to give the Japs a kick in the seat of the pants. So we're going to refuel as fast as possible, all night long if we have to, and head north. General, what forces do you have at Rabaul? How long can they hold?"

"Very little, I'm afraid," said Blamey. "Few men and few heavy weapons. In fact we have a handful of transports in the Solomon Sea right now whose mission was to take the troops there off and move them to Port Moresby. The transports have been diverted to Lae instead."

"Too bad," said Halsey. "Still, we can be there in just a few days." He turned his attention back to the assembled captains. "Get your ships in and out of the refueling docks as fast as possible. Happy New Year and all that," he added wryly.

"Sir," said Captain Ramsey of Saratoga, "is there enough fuel here for all the ships? The storage facilities seem fairly limited." Halsey looked at General Blamey, who in turn looked at Lieutenant Commander Brookes. The young officer bobbed his head.

"Well," he said, "I think so. It will pretty much take every drop of fuel we have, but you should be able to take on enough to get up north all right. Um, we do have something else for you, though, courtesy of the people of Australia. Beer, cases of it for every ship. So perhaps the new year will not go completely unrecognized." This last was greeting by smiles and murmurs of thanks.

"All right," said Halsey. "That's all, men. We've got some Japs to go meet, so let's get to it. Dismissed."

[kaleun]

Great writing. 

[Cuttlefish]

January 1, 1942

Over the Celebes Sea


Second Lieutenant Rogier DeVries banked his Do-24 in a gentle curve high above the Celebes Sea. Aboard the three-engine flying boat the four-man crew scanned both sea and sky. Their mission was to locate the Japanese carriers spotted the day before, but DeVries and his men knew this was dangerous prey to stalk. Where the carriers were there would be Zeros and the Dornier stood little chance if caught by the Japanese fighters.

The waters of the Makassar Strait seemed clear. That had seemed to be the Japanese destination when glimpsed yesterday. DeVries pushed on to the north.

The Celebes Sea was now, for all practical purposes, enemy territory. The Japanese had seized Manado, at the north end of Sulawesi, in the first few days of the war, and they had captured Jolo Island as well. Now their ships and planes controlled the area. Dutch forces still controlled the area south of the Makassar Strait but if the Japanese were to send their carriers through that situation might change very quickly.

They flew north for some time before his co-pilot suddenly leaned forward.

"There!" he said. "I see wakes, Lieutenant!"

DeVries looked. The faint tracks of many ships did indeed cover the sea, sweeping in a gentle curve to the west. The pilot changed course to follow them and before long an impressive armada of ships came into view, looking like tiny models on the sea far below. DeVries quickly scanned the sky around him. No Zeros, at least not yet.

"I see the carriers," said his co-pilot. He was using binoculars now, trying to hold them steady against the vibration of the plane. DeVries checked his compass.

"They are heading for Tarakan," he said. "This must be an invasion force." A move against Tarakan had been expected for some days.

DeVries and his crew tried to count the number and type of Japanese ships. Was that another carrier? It must be. And surely those were battleships. And troop transports, too, quite a number of them. They continued to shadow the Japanese from a distance, counting.

When they were done DeVries ordered his radioman to send in the report. Surely his commanders should have this information as quickly as possible. And then he turned his plane and headed back for Balikpapan. They had been lucky so far, it was time to leave.

DeVries was a good pilot, and he and his men were brave and determined. But they had little experience in identifying ships and little knowledge of the Imperial Japanese Navy. If they had had time for more training it might have occurred to them to wonder why aircraft carriers were closely escorting troops transports in towards the Borneo coast. They might also have been better able to tell the difference between fleet carriers and seaplane cruisers.

Their report of four or five large carriers was received at Balikpapan and quickly relayed to Soerabaja. From there the information was sent to Australia, where it was soon broadcast to the American carriers now moving north up the Australian coast. The dreaded Japanese carrier force, or at least most of it, was in the Celebes Sea, Admiral Halsey read the dispatch with satisfaction and ordered his ships to increase speed.

[Capt. Harlock]

If they had had time for more training it might have occurred to them to wonder why aircraft carriers were closely escorting troops transports in towards the Borneo coast. They might also have been better able to tell the difference between fleet carriers and seaplane cruisers.

I've got a very bad feeling about this ....

[kaleun]

I foresee a disaster brewing.

[Cuttlefish]

January 2, 1941

Aboard USS Gridley

Location: 170 miles east of Bowen
Course: North
Attached to: TF 406
Mission: Air combat
Ship's Status: System damage 1, engine damage 1
Fuel: 481 (91%)


Chief Petty Officer Marcus "Black Mark" Helquist, the machinist's mate of the watch, paused on a walkway in the forward engine room and cocked his head slightly. The engine room was noisy, so noisy that people had to shout in each other's ears to be heard. But Helquist thought he heard a false note in the cacophonous symphony produced by the roar of the ventilators and the hum of machinery.

Like a hound casting for a scent Helquist paced slowly back and forth along the walkway. Sometimes the sound faded, sometimes it grew louder. Ah, down there, he thought. He descended a ladder and moved over to contemplate the two main feed pumps. Nestled next to them was the cruising feed pump and, just to starboard was the main condenser. The off note was coming from the number one main feed pump.

It was noticeably hotter and more humid here than in the rest of the engine room. In the aft engine room the analogous space was taken up by the ship's two high-pressure air compressors, but here in the forward room water held sway. Helquist carefully scrutinized the carbon packing surrounding the pump but could detect no wisps of escaping steam. Good.

Still, something was beginning to wear in the pump. With luck it was the packing and not the pump shaft itself. Helquist made a mental note to mention it to Lieutenant Westcott, the ship's engineer.

It was not a surprise. Gridley did not cruise like this in peacetime, twenty-four knots day in and day out for thousands of miles. He and the rest of the "black gang," Helquist thought to himself, were going to have to adopt to the realities of wartime, when the demands of the mission came first and the machinery came second.

Right now, with both boilers in full operation, there were twenty engineers on watch, scattered among both firerooms and the two enginerooms. They really needed to take on some more men. Watches were tight and Helquist knew that men, like machines, accumulated wear and tear. But that wasn't his responsibility. Westcott was aware of the problem and so Captain Stickney probably did too.

Helquist climbed back up onto the walkway, lithe as a cat, and returned to surveying his domain. Let others have the bridge or man the guns and torpedo tubes. This was the heart of the ship. This machinery made Gridley one of the fastest destroyers afloat and Helquist was fiercely proud of it, as proud as any father could be of his children.

And of course the machinery, like children, was noisy, tended to get dirty, and could sometimes be willful and stubborn or even misbehave. And it could leak. Helquist glanced suspiciously down at the pump again, then went on about his duties.

[kaleun]

machinery, like children, was noisy, tended to get dirty, and could sometimes be willful and stubborn or even misbehave

Great line!

[Cuttlefish]

January 3, 1941

Aboard USS Enterprise

Location: 150 miles west-southwest of Tagula Island


Admiral William F. Halsey paced a short distance in his staff room - a short distance was all the room there was - and looked at his staff officers. Also present was George D. Murray, captain of the Enterprise.

"So that's it," he said. "The Dutch are no longer certain the Jap carriers are in the Celebes Sea, They might be there. They might not be there. Where does that leave us, gentlemen?"

"The Dutch couldn't find their ass with both hands and a full-length mirror," growled Captain Miles Browning, Halsey's chief of staff. Browning was, if anything, shorter of temper and more irascible than his boss. But unlike Halsey the staff officer lacked almost any ability with people whatsoever. He was abrasive and abrupt and widely disliked. But he had a first-class mind for planning and Halsey valued him for this ability.

"The Jap's last known position was at Wake, ten days ago," pointed out one officer. "They could easily be in the Celebes Sea."

"They could easily be anywhere," argued Browning. "The question is, why would they be there?" He pointed to the map on the table, indicating the area south of Mindanao. "The Japs have captured several airfields in that area. They have land-based air coverage. Why would they use their most valuable asset there in a defensive role?"

"Their thinking," Halsey said, "has not been noticeably defensive so far."

"Right," said Browning. "So why wouldn't they keep their carriers in the Pacific, where we have a better chance of hitting them?" He thumped a finger on the map and traced a sweeping curve from Truk down through the Solomon Island chain and into the Coral Sea. "If I were the Nips I'd have my carrier force coming down here, right now, through the Solomons, maybe here, or here."

"They'd hit us from the northeast," observed Murray, looking at the map. "There's a good chance we wouldn't see them coming." The men were silent a moment.

"The question is, do we continue on north?" asked Halsey.

"Hell yes," said Browning. "Put out extra scouts, concentrating our searches to the north and northeast. They can't know we're here. We might get the drop on the bastards."

"That's playing blind man's bluff with a force that might outnumber us two to one or more," said another officer. "Those aren't good odds." The debate continued for a moment, with opinion split among the staff. Halsey listened, his face in its habitually grim expression. Finally he held up his hand. Silence fell at once.

"Our orders," he said, "are to intercept and destroy Jap invasion forces. I want to find the Japs and hit them. And I want every one of those goddamn carriers of theirs at the bottom of the ocean. But this force is too valuable to risk when we don't know what we might be facing. We'll move northwest, keeping between Australia and New Guinea. If the Japs try anything in this area," and he moved one gold-braided sleeve to indicate a triangle that included Lae, Milne Bay, and the south end of New Britain, "we'll be in position to attack. But if the Japs send in their carriers we'll see them first. Get those extra scouts in the air. Notify Lexington and Saratoga of the change and have them do the same."

The men acknowledged the orders and the meeting broke up. Browning looked as though he wanted to say something further but for once held his peace. After he departed Halsey remained alone in the room for a moment, standing over the table. He glared down at the map as if by sheer force of will he could force it to yield up the secrets of the Japanese.

[Canoerebel]

It sure is a treat to read good writing. I think Cuttlefish must have a gift, because even the most accomlished writers need good editing. Not this guy, though. (I found one sentence that could have used another comma, but that's like saying Ingrid Bergman was missing an eyelash.)

[kaleun]

I think he writes professionally.

[Capt. Harlock]

Halsey remained alone in the room for a moment, standing over the table. He glared down at the map as if by sheer force of will he could force it to yield up the secrets of the Japanese.

Now *that* is something I could well see Halsey doing. Great writing as always.

[Cuttlefish]

January 4, 1941

Aboard USS Gridley

Location: 100 miles south of Port Moresby
Course: Northwest
Attached to: TF 406
Mission: Air combat
Ship's Status: Sys damage 1, engine damage 1
Fuel: 506 (96%)


Jake Reedy looked out over the barrel of his fifty-caliber and watched a Dauntless of Scouting Six come in for a landing on Enterprise, not far away to starboard. Beside him Gus Becken scanned sea and sky with a pair of binoculars.

It was almost sunset, and ahead of the task force the bottom rim of the sun shone red just above the horizon as it dropped below the bank of clouds to the west. Sunlight blazed a red and gold track across the ocean towards the ships. This was always a dangerous time of day and the ship stood at Condition Two, with half her weapons manned and ready. A Dauntless from Scouting Six had reported glimpsing a Japanese sub less than forty miles to the east earlier in the day, a reminder to everyone that they were both hunters and the hunted out here in the Coral Sea.

Reedy loved watching Enterprise launch and recover planes. It was more than just sightseeing, of course. One of Gridley's frequent duties was to stand ready to recover any pilot whose plane went into the water. So far this voyage they had not had to rescue anybody, fortunately.

Somewhere out of sight to the north was a place called Port Moresby. Reedy had never heard of it until a few days ago. By all accounts it was a small place and kind of a dump, but it was a dump that could give or deny access to Australia. No one knew if the Japs wanted Australia, but it certainly seemed possible. They sure seemed to be attacking everywhere else.

Word had reached them that there was fighting on the outskirts of Manila now. If they were going to help the guys in the Philippines they had better do something soon, Reedy thought. And the Brits had been overrun at a place called Typing or something like that in Malaya. Somebody needed to give the Japs a bloody nose and slow them down. Reedy hoped it would be them. Like everyone on board he was eager to begin hitting back.

But it didn't look as though anything would happen today. With her planes recovered Enterprise shifted course back to the northwest. Gridley matched the turn perfectly. Reedy kept watch until the sun dipped below the horizon and sea and sky grew swiftly dark. Condition Two was cancelled and Reedy and Becken secured their gun and gear and went down to chow.

[Cuttlefish]

January 5, 1942

Great Lakes Naval Training Station


Joe Beaumont burst out of the tunnel, accompanied by a rolling cloud of foul black smoke. The reek of it seemed to coat the inside of his mouth. He let out his breath in a huge chuff and bent over, hands on his knees. His eyes were streaming water which threatened to freeze on his cheeks. Beside him another recruit was on his hands and knees, gagging into the churned and black-flecked snow.

A petty officer looked down at him, clipboard in hand, and smiled with evil glee.

"Beaumont, right?" he said. Joe tried to speak, coughed, then straightened up and tried again.

"Yes sir," he wheezed.

"You seem to have come through that all right, Beaumont." the PO said admiringly. "That" was the squat block building behind him. A tunnel ran through the building, which was piled on either side with burning tires. A steady procession of recruits was emerging from the smoke at this end of the tunnel, most of them coughing and choking.

"Yes sir," said Beaumont. "I'm okay." He was touched that the petty officer had noticed his performance. You usually only got noticed if you screwed up.

"Good," said the PO, his smile widening. "Go back around and come through again."

"Sir?"

"Did the smoke clog your ears, son? I said do it again!"

"Yes sir!" said Beaumont. He trotted around the building and joined the end of the line of recruits being sent into the tunnel at regular intervals. A few others, like himself, already had smoke-stained faces and clothing.

Joe really didn't want to go back into that smoke-filled tunnel, but there was not exactly another choice. The Navy wanted them to know what it was like to breath smoke in a narrow space and so that is what they were by god going to do. Joe knew enough by now to understand this was not being done to them out of cruelty. Fire, it had been drummed into them almost from the first day, was the enemy, an enemy more implacable than any German or Jap. They drilled fighting fires, preventing fires, and now, withstanding fires.

Joe reached the front of the line again. He watched the man in front of him disappear into the tunnel, swallowed up almost immediately by the reeking smoke. After a short interval an instructor tapped his shoulder.

"Go!" barked the instructor. Joe heaved a deep breath and plunged again into the foul tunnel. Whatever they served for chow tonight didn't matter, he knew. It was all going to taste like burned rubber.

[perkinh]

Oh... tire smoke!!

Had my mind elswhere. I was wondering why the Petty Officer was hoding a clip board and not just the clip.

[Cuttlefish]

January 6 - 10, 1942

Aboard USS Gridley

Location: 190 miles north-northeast of Cooktown
Course: Holding position
Attached to: TF 406
Mission: Air combat
Ship's Status: Sys damage 1, engine damage 1
Fuel: 472 (89%)


For six days Halsey keeps the three carrier groups steaming slowly between Port Moresby and the Australian coast. It rains most days. This helps conceal the Americans and the Australian cruisers nearby from prying eyes, but it also hinders the Dauntless dive bombers that are searching for the Japanese.

The Japanese are clearly not idle. A small invasion force lands in the Solomons and takes possession of Tulagi, a small island near the southern end of the chain. Halsey does not move against them. He does not wish to risk his command for so small a prize. He knows he will only have the chance to deliver one blow and wants to make it one that will hurt.

Word reaches the ships on January 7th that Manila has fallen. American and Filipino forces are apparently now holding a perimeter around Clark Field and the Bataan peninsula. Their status is unknown.

Finally, on January 10th, a worthy target appears. On the other side of the Torres Strait Japanese invasion forces descend upon Ambon and Kendari, as well as several smaller targets. Covering them are a pair of small carriers. Halsey ponders this news and quickly reaches a decision. He orders his ships west, into the confined waters of the Torres Strait. It is time to begin hitting back.

[Cuttlefish]

January 11, 1942

Aboard USS Gridley

Location: 40 miles northwest of Horn Island
Course: West
Attached to: TF 406
Mission: Air combat
Ship's Status: Sys damage 1, engine damage 1
Fuel: 450 (85%)


Gridley steamed west under an unbroken layer of slate-gray clouds. The clouds were a good thing; Japan held the entire north coast of New Guinea now and the Torres Strait at that point was less than a hundred miles across. If the weather had been clear any Japanese search planes flying south over the strait would scarcely fail to see the armada of Allied ships steaming west.

The clouds would not hinder submarines, of course, and the task force was on high alert. So far, however, the lookouts had spotted nothing and sonar also revealed no threats.

Every man aboard Gridley was aware of the situation and a subdued feeling of tension and excitement ran through the ship. In the middle of all of this, though, Jake Reedy and Bill Bonderman found time for an important discussion.

***

"You're nuts," Reedy said. "Have you ever seen a slag heap? We have small mountain ranges of them all over the place."

"Have you ever smelled a stock yard?" countered Bonderman. "We have cows like you have coal."

"Scranton is grungy and smoky."

"Lubbock is flat and hot. Why, it gets so hot there in the summertime that the steaks grill up just fine while they're still on the cow!"

Reedy grinned, acknowledging the point. The two men were debating whose home town was the least pleasant.

"Flat?" he said. "In Scranton we'd love for things to stay flat. But there are so many mines under the city that parts of it keep falling into huge pits!"

"In Lubbock," said Bonderman, "we'd call that excitement. Lubbock is so dull that even the dogs pitch pennies."

"I had a dog once," said Reedy. "Had it five years and thought it was a black dog. Then one day it got out in the rain and all the coal dust washed off and I found out it was really brown." Bonderman smiled, a rare smile that lit up his long and bony face.

"Not bad," he said. "We might make a Texan out of you yet, you keep spinning tales like that. But that does remind me of an old yaller dog I had once. That dog was real smart but so ugly it made women faint and grown men cry. Well, one day me and Rickets...that was his name, Rickets...me and Rickets was..." His tale was interrupted by the blaring of the klaxon. It was the third general quarters of the day. Without further ado both men drained their cups of coffee and bolted from the mess room.

[Cuttlefish]

January 12, 1942

Aboard USS Gridley

Location: 350 miles northeast of Darwin
Course: West
Attached to: TF 406
Mission: Air combat
Ship's Status: Sys damage 1, engine damage 1
Fuel: 336 (64%)


West of the Torres Strait lies the Arafura sea, a warm and shallow body of water. It is a spawning ground for cyclones, and in this part of the world it is currently cyclone season. But though clouds continue to cover the sky the humid air hangs heavy and still.

Halsey drives his carrier groups west. Though his ships make good speed he paces impatiently, fretting at each delay. The Americans are a long ways from home now and at this early date in the war their supply line is almost nonexistent. Available fuel must be shared among the ships, slowing the task forces.

At this point Halsey is less concerned about detection than he is that the Japanese will get away. According to the radio reports he is receiving the Dutch are doing what they can. At Ambon the Dutch garrison, though heavily outnumbered, continues to heroically resist the invaders. The news is less good at Kendari, which seems certain to swiftly fall. But Japanese warships and the two light carriers are still reported to be in the area. They are worthy targets - if the Americans can get there in time.

Of the main Japanese carrier force there has been no sign, no report. Halsey, his staff, and the men in the ships under his command would sleep a bit easier if they could be completely sure that they were the hunters and not the hunted.

[Cuttlefish]

January 13, 1942

Aboard USS Gridley

Location: 40 miles east of Selaroe Island
Course: Northwest
Attached to: TF 406
Mission: Air combat
Ship's Status: Sys damage 2, engine damage 1
Fuel: 308 (58%)


Gridley escorts Enterprise to the Tanimbar Islands, which separate the Arafura Sea from the Banda Sea. Beyond these islands lie the enemy. Gridley's radiomen and signalmen are kept busy and more than busy. They are not only logging and decoding their own incoming messages, they are now also picking up Dutch and Japanese signals. There are desperate broadcasts from the base at Kendari, reports from Dutch search planes and submarines, and signals from Dutch and British warships which are approaching Kendari from the west. These ships have sortied from Java in the hopes of coordinating an attack with the Americans. With them is Admiral Phillip's Force Z.

Captain Stickney studies the latest group of dispatches and studies a chart of the Banda Sea. It is an outdated British Admiralty chart from the previous century, but it is all they have.

"The Japanese carriers are about...here," he says, indicating a point less than one hundred miles southeast of Kendari. "Halsey has ordered us to run in to here overnight." He taps another point, this one to the southeast of the first one. "That should put us within strike range by early morning. The Australian cruisers will screen us forward in case those Jap ships at Kendari try to intercept."

"The men will be glad to see some action," comments Fred Steubens, his exec.

"Yes," says the captain. "Have everybody ready, especially the gun crews. We can expect air attacks."

"Yes sir," says Steubens.

"Oh, and have you found anyone aboard who speaks Dutch yet?"

"Yes sir," says Steubens. "Rudy Bronkhorst. His parents were Dutch, he grew up speaking it around the house."

"Good," says Stickney. "Give him to Lieutenant Coszyk for the duration." He thinks for a moment. "Bronkhorst...wasn't he involved in that incident in Balboa last year?"

"Yes," Steubens says. "I don't think he's really a bad egg, though, sir. He just doesn't pick his friends very well. Giving him to Coszyk might separate him from the real trouble-makers."

"As long as he can translate Dutch," says Stickney. "All right, then. Pass the word. Tomorrow we go hunting Japs."

[Cuttlefish]

January 14, 1942

Aboard USS Gridley

Location: 240 miles east-southeast of Kendari
Course: Northwest
Attached to: TF 406
Mission: Air combat
Ship's Status: Sys damage 2, engine damage 1
Fuel: 271 (53%)


The morning dawned clear and bright over the Sulu Sea. The three American carriers launched search planes at dawn, preceded only by the first wave of fighters on CAP. Excitement and tension ran through every ship. This was the day. At last, they would come to grips with the Japanese.

Aboard Gridley Captain Stickney sat calmly in his accustomed chair on the bridge, sipping coffee. He felt like pacing but suppressed the urge. If this was going to be his ship's first time in action he wanted to project the image that this was just like any other day, just like a training exercise. His crew had logged hundreds of hours in anti-aircraft drills, target practice, and anti-submarine drills. They were ready.

But as the morning went on it became more and more apparent that the Japanese were not following the script. The Sulu Sea was empty of Japanese ships.

Stickney sipped his coffee and tried to imagine Halsey's reaction to this news. On the whole he was glad he was on Gridley's bridge instead of aboard Enterprise.

Late in the morning word came from the Dutch that the Japanese carriers had been spotted well to the north. They must have retired there overnight. Had they known the American carriers were approaching, or had they just gotten nervous at being exposed and pulled back as a precaution? There was no way to know.

A very short while later the TBS crackled.

"Enemy planes approaching from the north," Enterprise advised. Stickney immediately ordered general quarters. The ship, already at Condition Two, reported all stations manned and ready in record time. The captain, informed of this by his exec, merely nodded. He expected nothing less.

The approaching planes were thirteen twin-engine "Betty" bombers. Wildcat and Buffalo fighters were vectored to intercept. The Betties turned out to have a delightful tendency to catch fire easily when hit. One by one they went down. None escaped, and none even came within sight of the carriers.

Not all Japanese ships had withdrawn; in the early afternoon four Japanese ships were spotted in the harbor at Kendari. Kendari was within Dauntless range. A strike was ordered, and for the first time American carriers turned into the wind and launched aircraft with hostile intent.

It did not go completely smoothly. There were problems getting the strike coordinated and under way. But eventually two dozen dive bombers and their fighter escorts reached the skies over Kendari, now a Japanese possession.

The dive bombers did not miss their targets, which turned out to be two freighters and two gunboats. All were hit by multiple bombs and reported to be sunk or sinking.

It was not the day the Americans wanted. But as a baptism of fire it had been a useful day. Perhaps, Stickney thought, it would serve the purpose of easing "opening-day jitters" among the men. The next day of battle might not be so easy.

Stickney wondered what Halsey would do now. If he chose to pursue those Jap carriers north, into enemy waters, then the next day of battle might come very quickly.

[Cuttlefish]

January 15, 1942

Aboard USS Gridley

Location: 40 miles south of Roti
Course: East
Attached to: TF 406
Mission: Air combat
Ship's Status: Sys damage 2, engine damage 1
Fuel: 255 (48%)


"I don't know how to work this stuff," Bronkhorst complained, looking in bewilderment at the radio set in front of him.

"You don't have to," said Bonderman. "I've tuned it to the frequency the Dutch use. If you hear somethin' in the clear, just let me know. You translate, I'll write it down."

Bronkhorst grunted. He was good at grunts. In fact, with his heavy black brows and slightly sloping forehead he looked rather ape-like. Appropriate for a deck ape, thought Bonderman, though he was careful not to say this out loud.

"Hell, it beats chipping paint," said Bronkhorst after a moment.

"Don't it just," said Bonderman with a grin. Bronkhorst turned and squinted at him.

"You talk kind of funny," he said. "It ain't southern, exactly. Where you from, Bonderman?"

"Call me Bill," said Bonderman. "Texas. I'm from Lubbock."

"Huh," said Bronkhorst. Bonderman smiled to himself and handed a set of headphones to the other man. Bronkhorst slipped them on, a little clumsily, and Bonderman showed him the volume control. Then he turned back to his own set and silence descended in the stuffy little room.

Bronkhorst seemed okay, thought Bonderman. Not the sharpest tool in the shed, maybe, but not quite the jackass he was around that guy Tanner. His friend Jake had warned him about Tanner, but Bonderman had already figured that one out. He'd met men like Tanner before, hell, he used to pal around with men like him, back in the old days. Tanner was sly as a snake and full of meanness, but he was a coward. He made friends with stronger, tougher, and less intelligent men and used them to get his way. Fortunately Bonderman had little contact with the man, being in Communications while Tanner was part of the deck force.

The first couple of hours passed fairly quietly. Bonderman was busy with his own work. A couple of times Bronkhorst picked up messages and Bonderman wrote them down. It wasn't terribly interesting stuff. None of it, of course, was likely to be crucial to the operation of the ship. But Bonderman figured the captain liked to know what was going on around him, and he respected that. Ever since December 7th he was less fond of surprises than he used to be.

During a lull he slipped his headphones for a moment.

"Where are you from, Rudy?" he asked. Bronkhorst glanced around.

"Me?" he said. "Fresno. My dad runs a farm supply place there." He gestured at the radio with one thick-fingered hand. "It's kinda funny. I left and joined the Navy 'cause Fresno is duller than hell, a real pit, you know? Don't go back much. But listening to this, it kinda makes me miss it. Home, I mean."

"Hearing the language?" said Bonderman. Bronkhorst nodded.

"Yeah," he said. He frowned. "Some people back home thought it sounded like Kraut, but it ain't. It's Dutch. Damn Krauts."

"You got family back there? In the Netherlands?"

"Yeah," said Bronkhorst. "I got a grandmother and a couple of uncles. Some cousins. Never met 'em, except my grandma and one of my uncles. They came..." He paused for a moment. "Wait, something here. It ain't code." His lips moved silently as he translated to himself. Bonderman grabbed a message pad.

"This is Ambon," said Bronkhorst. "This is our final...broadcast, I think." His heavy eyebrows drew together in concentration.. "Those of us who are left have sent a flag of...peace, truce maybe...to the Japanese and stacked our arms. They are coming. We held out as long as we could. Tell them...tell them we fought well. God bless the Netherlands...God bless Queen Wilhelmina. Farewell." Bronkhorst twiddled the volume, then shook his head. "That's it."

Bonderman finished writing and the two men sat in silence for a moment.

"Hell of thing," said Bronkhorst after a moment. "Dutch were neutral, you know. Didn't want to fight anyone. So the Krauts took the country and now the Japs are taking what's left. Hell of a thing."

"Yeah," said Bonderman. There didn't seem to be much else to say.

"We'll get 'em, though," said Bronkhorst. "See if we don't. We'll give them hell."

"You bet we will," said Bonderman.