Small Ship, Big War - The Voyages of the Hibiki

[Cuttlefish]

October 29, 1943

Location: Kwajalein
Course: None
Attached to: TF 4
Mission: Air Combat
System Damage: 1
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475

Orders: Await further orders

---

The Japanese fleet reaches Kwajalein. Hibiki has called at many ports since the start of the war, but it has spent more time at this atoll than any place else. For most of the crew it has become their “home away from home.” And this is too bad, because really it’s kind of a pit.

All of the islands are uniformly flat and dull. Sandy beaches and palm trees look great in photographs but quickly lose their charm for bored sailors. The main islands are overcrowded and have limited shore leave facilities. With this many ships in port it isn’t even always easy to find a drink.

Rabaul, with its shops, trails, and hot springs, is a crew favorite. Truk has good facilities. Palau, with its oddly shaped islands, is at least interesting. Kwajalein, on the other hand, was dubbed “Port Dull” by Riku during one of the destroyer’s first visits and the name has stuck.

But here they are and here they will remain until new orders are received.

[Cuttlefish]

October 30, 1943

Location: Kwajalein
Course: None
Attached to: TF 4
Mission: Air Combat
System Damage: 1
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 472

Orders: Await further orders

---

“Ariga! Where are you, Ariga?” bellows Lieutenant JG Kataoka. There is a thud as an 80-pound bag of rice is heaved onto a pile of similar bags. The paymaster looks in that direction. “Ah, there you are,” he says cheerfully. Riku grabs a towel and mops sweat from his face, then salutes as Kataoka comes walking over.

“Damn, it’s hot in here,” says Kataoka, pulling at his collar. It is in fact stifling in the crowded storeroom.

“Yes sir,” says Riku.

Kataoka laughs. “And here I am complaining while you have been down here for an hour being boiled like a yam,” he says. “This is why it is good to be an officer! But seriously, come up on deck and get some air while we talk. I have a job for you.” Riku doesn’t have to be asked twice. He grabs his shirt and tugs it on while they make their way up onto the deck. The breeze when they get there feels wonderful.

“I have received two requests that I think require your talents,” says Kataoka. “The first is from our good medic, Lieutenant Nakagawa. He wants to know if we can get our hands on any sulfa drugs.”

Riku looks uncomfortable. “Black market only, sir,” he says. “I would really rather not…” Kataoka holds up a hand.

“Relax,” he says. “I wouldn’t ask you to. Just get me a name, all right?” Riku nods. “Good man. Second, Lieutenant Sugiyura needs some parts for the motor on one of the torpedo hoists. There’s nothing officially available. Talk to the lieutenant and see what you can do, all right?”

“Yes sir,” says Riku. “As soon as I stow the rest of that rice.”

Kataoka shakes his head. “You’ve done your part. More than your part, you work like an ox. I’ll have someone else finish that up.”

“Thank you, sir,” says Riku. He hesitates. “Sir, can I take the fact that we need these things to mean we are not going back to Japan right away?”

Kataoka shakes his head. “No chance of that,” he says. “Not with the enemy applying more and more pressure. Just between you and me, it may be a while before we see Japan again.”

[bradfordkay]

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock

Man is a rationalizing animal, not a rational animal . . .

My best friend used to say that Rationalizations are more important than sex. When is the last time you went more than a day without a rationalization?

[Onime No Kyo]

ORIGINAL: bradfordkay

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock

Man is a rationalizing animal, not a rational animal . . .

My best friend used to say that Rationalizations are more important than sex. When is the last time you went more than a day without a rationalization?

Does it play a role that at least for a significant part of that time one is rationalizing about sex? [;)]

[tocaff]

Any military unit has at least one person who is good at "obtaining" things that aren't obtainable.  To have an expert is indeed a lucky thing.

[histgamer]

Had to post. Couldnt let the greatest of the AARs fall off the front page.[:D]

[tocaff]

Page for a Mr. CF...CF?  I'm suffering withdrawl.....

[Cuttlefish]

October 31, 1943

Location: Kwajalein
Course: None
Attached to: TF 4
Mission: Air Combat
System Damage: 1
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 469

Orders: Await further orders

---

“Good evening, Captain. Happy Halloween,” says Lieutenant Miharu as he comes into the bridge.

“Good evening, Exec,” replies Captain Ishii. “Halloween, that’s an American holiday, isn’t it? I have heard of it, but don’t really understand it.”

“Well, sir,” says the lieutenant, “I’m not sure I understand it either. In America they think it is a night when the spirits walk the earth, and they light lanterns to ward them off.”

“Why on earth would they do that?” says Ishii.

“They do not see things as we do,” says Miharu. “To them, the dead are objects of great fear.”

“Hm,” says Ishii. “To fear the spirits of the dead, and to make a holiday out of that fear. No wonder they are often so confused as a people! To whom do they turn for guidance, and who looks after them?”

Lieutenant Miharu shrugs. “Many of them turn to their religions for these things. For others, from what I saw when I was there, I think maybe that role is filled by their politicians and their movie stars.”

Captain Ishii laughs. “So our enemies worship Greta Garbo?” He stops chuckling and thinks for a moment. “I suppose they could do worse,” he says.

[Cuttlefish]

November 1, 1943

Location: Kwajalein
Course: None
Attached to: TF 4
Mission: Air Combat
System Damage: 1
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 465

Orders: Await further orders

---

To the crew’s delight there were two large sacks of mail waiting for Hibiki when the destroyer returned to Kwajalein.

Excerpt from a letter to Taiki Takahashi from Sayumi Komatsu:

…and your parents could not be more pleasant to me. It is like having a family again, even though you are far away. I even met your brother, who came home on leave last month! He is doing well, though he says that he has seen enough fog and snow to last him for several lifetimes. We talked about you quite a bit, and he told me some stories about you that made me giggle.

Just being here in the house where you grew up, though, I feel as though I have gotten to know you better. It is very nice, but it also makes me miss you even more. Please take care of yourself and come safely home. I know I am supposed to hope that you do your duty bravely, but I have already given one husband to this war…

Excerpt from a letter to Ensign Izu from his father, Colonel Izu:

Things are mostly quiet here, though the Soviet patrols sometimes come across the river. We have orders not to provoke anything. I do not think we have anything to fear from the Communists right now, but from what we hear things are not going well for the Germans. It may be that this old soldier will see some action yet this war.

Please continue to write when you can. I would like to see those tropics you describe so well. Perhaps when the war is over your mother and I can visit them someday. I know she would enjoy that. Of course you Navy boys will have to do your jobs so that they remain in our hands. I know you will do your best. Remember our family’s traditions, son, as you continue to serve the Emperor…

Excerpt from a letter to Captain Ishii from the Bureau of Naval Personnel, 1st Fleet:

…your recommendation has been approved. Lieutenant JG Kunito Kuwaki is hereby promoted to the rank of full Lieutenant, with all privileges and responsibilities of said rank effective immediately.

[histgamer]

Silly Americans... [:D][:D][:D]

[Fishbed]

Excerpt from a letter to Taiki Takahashi from Sayumi Komatsu:

…and your parents could not be more pleasant to me. It is like having a family again, even though you are far away. I even met your brother, who came home on leave last month! He is doing well, though he says that he has seen enough fog and snow to last him for several lifetimes. We talked about you quite a bit, and he told me some stories about you that made me giggle.

Just being here in the house where you grew up, though, I feel as though I have gotten to know you better. It is very nice, but it also makes me miss you even more. Please take care of yourself and come safely home. I know I am supposed to hope that you do your duty bravely, but I have already given one husband to this war…

You know what? This smells very bad for Taiki. When he'll be back home, he'll find himself with a new sister-in-law, although he could very well receive a dear-John letter before that...

[Cuttlefish]

November 2, 1943

Location: Kwajalein
Course: None
Attached to: TF 4
Mission: Air Combat
System Damage: 1
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 462

Orders: Await further orders

---

More letters from the mailbag:

Excerpt from a letter to Taiki Takahashi from Nanami Shun:

My father has granted permission for Mr. Ariga to read a letter from me. I am including that letter with this one, would you please give it to him? Father has not released him from his oath, so he cannot write back to me, but it would give me great happiness to know that he has read my letter. If you would write back and let me know that he has received it I would owe you many thanks.

Of course, both of us owe you many thanks already. And since I hear that you are to be married, I owe you congratulations as well. I look forward to meeting your bride to be, and hope that someday we may be good friends. We already have this in common, we know what it is to wait…

Excerpt from a letter to Captain Ishii from his wife:

…and our granddaughter Sachiko is also doing well. She is still a tiny thing, but bright and full of energy.

I must now also give you bad news, my husband. Your sister, Amaya, died last week. It was tuberculosis. She spoke of you, her favorite brother, in her last days, and asked that you not grieve overlong for her. She died peacefully. Her urn is now in the haka. I have placed flowers there for you …

Excerpt from a letter to Captain Ishii from the General Affairs Section, Tokeitai headquarters:

…and in conclusion, we find no evidence to support former Lieutenant Umeda’s claims. The investigation is therefore formally closed.

Note: Corporal Umeda, most recently attached to the 87th Naval Guard unit in Paramushiro Jima, has been reported missing from his post. He is considered absent without leave and an order for his arrest has been issued.

[princep01]

One can only hope that CORPORAL Umeda has done the honorable thing and now sleeps with the fishes in the depths of a cold, cold sea.

[Mike Solli]

Yeah right.  I suspect we'll see him again.

[Feinder]

"Letters from Hibiki" with Clint directing?  He-he..
 
-F-

[Capt. Harlock]

“Well, sir,” says the lieutenant, “I’m not sure I understand it either. In America they think it is a night when the spirits walk the earth, and they light lanterns to ward them off.”

It sounds like Lt. Miharu has mixed in something of the Obon festival by mistake. (Although in Obon, the lanterns are to guide spirits of ancestors home for a night.) [:D]

[DuckofTindalos]

ORIGINAL: Feinder

"Letters from Hibiki" with Clint directing? He-he..

-F-

Good Lord, I hope not. How badly would Hollywood mangle this fantastic story?[X(]

[Cuttlefish]

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock

“Well, sir,” says the lieutenant, “I’m not sure I understand it either. In America they think it is a night when the spirits walk the earth, and they light lanterns to ward them off.”

It sounds like Lt. Miharu has mixed in something of the Obon festival by mistake. (Although in Obon, the lanterns are to guide spirits of ancestors home for a night.) [:D]

His actual mistake here is in thinking that the old Celtic origins of the Jack-o'lantern still applied in 20th-century America. In this he probably is thinking of Obon and relating it what he learned of Halloween.

[Cuttlefish]

November 3, 1943

Location: Kwajalein
Course: None
Attached to: TF 4
Mission: Air Combat
System Damage: 1
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 459

Orders: Await further orders

---

Riku stares at the letter Taiki has just handed him. His look of stunned surprise is so comical that Taiki almost smiles, but he restrains himself. Instead he reaches into his jacket and pulls out another letter, this one slightly battered.

“You should have this one, too,” says Taiki. ‘I think it is all right to read it now.” Riku recognizes the letter from Nanami that he gave, unread, to Taiki many months ago for safekeeping.

“I..but I…the Chief...” Riku manages to say.

“I have spoken with him,” says Taiki. “He approves. Well, perhaps it is better to say he does not forbid it.”

“You talked to him?” Riku says incredulously.

“Of course I talked to him,” says Taiki. “He is a human being, after all, not some fearsome machine.” Riku looks at him as if dubious about this point. “He mentioned something interesting,” continues Taiki. “It seems you tried to take a bullet meant for the Captain back in Okayama. You never mentioned that, my friend.”

“Well, Shun stopped the guy anyway,” says Riku. “It really wasn’t worth mentioning.”

“Modest as well as heroic,” chuckles Taiki. “You are a changed man indeed, Ariga-san.” He grows more serious. “If you want my advice, do not open these now. Get a pass – Kataoka will give you one, I am sure – and go ashore. Find someplace quiet. Then read them.”

“I will do that,” says Riku. “Thank you.”

“Oh, I am just thinking of the ship,” says Taiki with a smile. “I do not know what those letters say, but I suspect we are not going to get any useful work out of you for the rest of the day once you read them.”

[Cuttlefish]

November 4, 1943

Location: Kwajalein
Course: None
Attached to: TF 4
Mission: Air Combat
System Damage: 1
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 457

Orders: Await further orders

---

Lieutenant Sugiyura browses a copy of the October 16 edition of the Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun in the officer’s wardroom. He reads several of the headlines aloud:

- Asiatic Summit Nears: Prime Minister Tojo to Address the Assembly of Greater East-Asiatic Nations in Tokyo on November 5

- Italian Puppet Traitors Declare War

- Soviets Crushed at Dnieper River

- Heroic Young Boy Saves Baby Sister at Shiraito Falls

- Patriotic Gasoline Restrictions Announced

- Mother Proud to Lose Third Son in War

- Editorial: Sue For Peace Before it is Too Late, Mr. Roosevelt

“Hey, read that one,” says Lieutenant Kuwaki.

“The editorial? All right,” says Lieutenant Sugiyura. He clears his throat and begins to read.

The roots of American dreams of hegemony in the Pacific can be traced to their war with Spain in 1898. Their goals were furthered during the First World War. Events since the start of the present war show that their ambitions know few boundaries. Their inroads into North and West Africa, India, Italy, Australia, and many other places show that their aim is nothing less than an empire of huge scope, displacing England as the globe’s largest imperialistic power.

Standing against these goals are the heroic and noble armed forces of Japan. We have placed ourselves as a bulwark against American colonial ambitions in the Pacific and alone have opposed their tyrannical and armed oppression of Asians everywhere. That our cause is just and our resolve unwavering is proved by the fact that we have stopped them at every turn and inflicted enormous defeats upon them.

It is by now clear that Japan will not waver and cannot be defeated. It should thus be obvious to even one as blinded by the lust for domination as the American leader that further fighting can serve no useful purpose. It is against sanity as well as against moral principles recognized by all nations to continue to sacrifice lives and treasure in an unjust and hopeless cause.

Despite the events of this war so far the Japanese people are still willing to extend the hand of friendship, provided the Americans are willing to see the errors of their ways and foreswear their goal of domination in Asia and the Pacific. Indeed, we are willing to suggest that they will find many friends and partners in a free and prosperous Asia, an Asia left to develop at its own natural pace.

And so we ask you, Mr. Roosevelt, to lay down your arms and come to the peace table. The Japanese people are willing to be generous and forgiving if you will negotiate in good faith and with an honest zeal for peace. Please search your heart and act in this way, that justice and prosperity may return to parts of the world that now suffer under the cruel burden of war.

You cannot win, and we will not lose. Act swiftly, Mr. Roosevelt, before your allies and even your own people become filled with despair at your eager lust for power. It is the only course open that can avert tragedy and further unnecessary bloodshed for your people.