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[:(]

She is doing just short of 28 knots when the first torpedo strikes, and instantly what was a salvation, her speed, becomes a terrible curse.
It strikes forward, 30 feet back from the bow, at the junction of the Stbd forward fuel tank and the main feed tank forward.
Both tanks are full, and absorb much of the blow, transmitting it upwards, and outwards.
It destroys the sickbay, kills Cmdr Korii, and tears a 30 feet hole in her side
At 28 knots, those 30 feet will immediately begin to grow.............


Through out zuiho men are flung of their feet as the little ship whips with stunning violence, a hammering blow that flings a million loose items about her, some with lethal results.
A cruel blow, but one she could, possibly survive.


Takeji too is flung from his feet, landing on his arse with an embarassing slap, arms reaching futily for the coaming on the little tower.
He never sees the second fish strike.
This saves his life.

The second fish strikes another 50 odd feet astern of the first. It strikes abreast of 2A boiler. It strikes fair into the heart of the stbd fwd 4.7 inch magazine.
The blast is stupendous. None will hear it, it is simply something that overwhelms the senses.
There is stunning noise.
Then silence

Stbd boiler room ceases to exist. Zuiho is split to her keel, to the flight deck. The blast destroys the longnitudal baulkhead seperating the boiler rooms, 1 A boiler coming asunder under the blow.
Lurch has his hand on the throttle of the blower, then, simply he is no more

the blast follows a million routes.
Some travels up the uptakes, her funnel will tear away, hang drunkedly down her side, writhed in flame, steam, hells smoke....
Some lifts the lower hanger floortearing it, raising it, turning a thousand items into mangled , un identifable metal shapes.

A great deal of the blast enters the fwd well lift, rises, and flings it upand away, a great 60 foot wide spinning topthat will rise, spin, crash back down against the little tower.
A massive hole has been instantly created in Zuihos side, one the ocean instantly fills, thundering in, a million niagras........

The ocean slams in, and the Aft baulkhead fails...............

Takeji struggles to his feet.

A million things strike his senses.

The silence...........Zuihos guns are silent

About them, battle rages still.............and he hears nothing

Eyes dragged forward..........Zuiho is plowing on.............but her bow..............gods, its pointing to stbd...............
Starboard bridge wing is gone...............I would normally have been there.............

She's slowing, gods, the bow is going under...............

And like that, a life at sea , a life of command, re asserts itself. He takes three steps, bends to the speaking tubes.
'Pipe all hands to upper decks......all hands abandon ship"
He looks up.
Below him, the silence.............the fans, the background noise to Zuihos very life, are silent. the deck is tilting, steepening to starboard, tilting forward.
Air, flame, smoke is roaring out of the chasm that only moments ago was the elevator

Only a minute since strike, and already the bridge is plowing under.............

Well this isn't looking good.

The battle rages still
About him, Admiral ABE watches his fleet twist and turn like eels.
Kasagi has taken a fish, 2 of his CVLs too, apparently..............he can live with this

To the east, a dozen enemy carriers burn, and hope rises...........we can win this, we can win this.

"New contact report sir, 2 Essex class, 1 CVL, 2 Iowa class battleships, due east of us, coming hard!!"

two, maybe three, vs at least six..............

"Signal all ships........speed due east, battle speed one.........recover strike, prepare for second strike"

On his port bow, a rising, horrible column of smoke and steam, a stern rising into the sky.
Damnation....."signal DD Harasume, detach to Zuiho, rescue survivors"

Not, he thinks, that with the speed she is going, there will be many.

The battle rages on.
8 Avengers are coming in, the last trailings of the strike.

Uto whips around, he has taken two down, now for the third

The avenger fights desperately for its life, rear turret spitting fire

The battle rages on

Uto, lifeless, headless, in fact, spins down into the greedy sea

The battle rages on.

Sad day indeed. So many characters we wait for every day will no longer be there when we log in. As always, luck never lasts forever for the ships of the IJN.

Indeed. Great stuff from 1275psi for nearly three years. I hate to see this one wrapping up.

ORIGINAL: pws1225

Indeed. Great stuff from 1275psi for nearly three years. I hate to see this one wrapping up.

Lets hope he doesn't wrap it up but finds a way to keep things rolling with the characters that managed to survive.

The description of the explosion moving through the ship and the bow bending around as it went under is just chilling!

[&o]

What a sad day

But there is still hope that at least a few characters will survive and fight on

Best regards and thank you for a wonderful and entertaining story [&o]

This AAR was (is...) always the first I check when I enter the forum

[:(]
was always worried that some ss would sneak up and get our little ship.

but this is also so ....... sad.

with hidaka lost, kind of everything went downhill.

damn [:(][:(][:(]



bloody reppu always comes too late ...

Great yarn.[:(]

I have the feeling that something will be missing in my daily routine on the forum.

Will miss the Zuiho and her crew.

But what about Hosho? Is he still fighting out there in the jungle? Or did Long Pig manage to give the intel to the Allied armies?


Mat

OK, finish this war and start a new one!! [:D][:D][:D]

Not until I catch my breath from this one!

Lurch gone? That man was a Snipe's Snipe. A bad day, yet one we knew was comming. This was as good as Cuttlefish's, but better because of the Engineering tales.

I'm sad.
Whipple

Hi guys

i am really touched by the comments. When I started this, I never even expected anyone to read it, let alone follow it all this time.
As we entered this year, I had to plan for this day, and i have had an idea of what would happen in advance
We have lots of characters left.............Ogawa, Diogawa, pilots
We are yet to know the fate of takeji, all our stokers.............

Some of you I think, feel the story should end here, attached to the little ship.

BE Strong!
Zuiho was but metal, war is fought by men!, Japanese men!, AND TOKYO IS STILL A LONG, LONG WAY AWAY!

If you are curious, (even if its to follow a game going into deep 44) on what happens to our men, please follow on.
I for one, want to carry on..............even if its to find out ultimately, what happens to the barsted herbiesan!

Above them, the hatch........

In the engine rooms, the first fish is felt as a thud, shaking the dust down upon them in a great white snowfall. It freezes them all, as 6 pairs of eyes scan the guages, seeking for signs of disaaster.

Hirate grips the throttle tighter, tensing, Charge stands, the damn condensate pump has tripped, he moves to the ladder for below.
The second fish, the blast, flings them every which way, Hirate sprawling, his throttle watchkeeper slamming his face into the great wheel.
Charge falls
He falls to the platform halfway down, falls, lands, and breaks a great many things.
Old men cannot really fall that far, and expect anything else.

Hirate looks up, and horror fills him.
All the steam guages read zero...........all of them

And he can no longer hear the fans.............

he is moving towards the telephone, mind overwhelmed, it rings............."get your men up!, abandon ship"

Abandon ship............gods...........gods, yes...........shes going, he can feel it............

About him the turbines begin to wind down, and the lights are already beginning to dim.
Charge!, where is the charge?.
Fear grips him, almost paralises him............fwd, horrible sounds, metal tearing, water thundering sounds, ship dying sounds
he moves though, not for the ladder, not to where he companions are already gathering, but the other way, to the ladder down.....

Charge...........lying......Oh gods.........broken, pale

A single leap, he joins him, reaches for him to pick him up, but the old man screams in agony.
And then smiles.
"A lifetime of fixing the bitch, and thebitch fixes me ney?.........
'Charge, please...........we must go.........."

Charge nods......."yes, YOU must.........me, I, .........I think need to attend to some things first............."
"Charge!"
"The hatch hirate..........GO...go now!"

Hirate goes.

Takeji grabs the small binnacle, watching the waters rush onto the flight deck, begin to pour into the hanger below

Soon, my ancestors, I must join you........
he fiddles for his belt, the lashing must be tight to pkeep him here..

A great hand grasps his neck, another the seat of his pants, and the booming voice of the coxswain fills the platform
"You sir, are too valuable for our navy, she needs men who can fight'
And just like that, takeji is flung over the coaming, and down the now quite short drop into the warm, warm sea.

Okano's battle station this day is aft repair. The ship will shake, it will jolt. The word will come, abandon ship.
Calmly, with out fuss he will leave his station, pause for a moment at the horror of the smoke and steam filling the fwd end of the hanger, then enter the emergency diesel compartment.

He will growl at the frightened youngsters there, and do what they have yet to do.
Start the bloody thing

It does, as it should, at the first attempt, he connects it to the main, thenagain, without fuss, he moves aft, ques with a dozen or so others for his turn at the door, then, out into the open air, he steps overboard.

Zuiho, still moving at 10 knots or more, is past even before he surfaces.