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I think I can come up with about 20 that don't...[;)]

January 9, 1944

Location: 230 miles nothwest of Enitwetok
Course: Northwest
Attached to: TF 9
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 2
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 396

Orders: Escort Yamato back to Japan

---

A brisk wind churns the ocean into whitecaps as Hibiki cruises along on the port flank of Yamato. The battleship, 500 meters distant, takes little notice of the moderate seas but spray crashes over Hibiki’s bows as the destroyer plows through the waves. On the bridge Captain Ishii braces against the movement of the ship with the effortless grace of years of experience and checks the glass. It is no longer falling and Ishii guesses that the weather will get no worse.

There has been no sign of enemy activity. The small task force has cleared the Marshall Islands now and is out into the wide reaches of the Central Pacific. Running into a submarine out here would be bad luck, but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen. Ishii checks to make sure the lookouts are paying attention. They are. Ishii expected nothing less. Not only do his men know their jobs, but they have had too many encounters with enemy submarines during the war for the men to take the hated menace lightly.

January 10, 1944

Location: 420 miles nothwest of Enitwetok
Course: Northwest
Attached to: TF 9
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 2
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 368

Orders: Escort Yamato back to Japan

---

“So, Shun has finally relented,” says Lieutenant Miharu. “Remarkable.”

“I told Ariga that he had a better chance of carrying this ship to the top of Mount Fuji than he did of ever getting Shun’s permission to court his daughter,” says Ishii with a slight smile. “I hope Hibiki does not end up on top of a mountain somewhere.”

Lieutenant Miharu laughs. “He is an…interesting young man,” he says. “I do not think Shun will regret his decision.”

“We will see,” says the captain. He becomes more serious. “This is a difficult time for Japan,” he says. “I do not envy them, or any young couple right now.”

“I know,” says the lieutenant. “The war touches the old, the young, everyone. And perhaps not just indirectly, if the enemies’ strength continues to grow. But even with the war people still have to live their lives. People get married, they fall in love. Children are born and grow. People get sick and they grow old and die. Not even a war that covers much of the world can stop that.”

“Life goes on, in other words,” says Ishii.

Lieutenant Miharu looks slightly embarrassed. “That is what I was getting at, yes,” he says.

Captain Ishii chuckles. “I sometimes forget you were an academic,” he says, “until you start getting philosophical. But you are right. And who knows, perhaps because it is wartime people live more intensely and take chances they wouldn’t usually take.”

“Sounds like you can be a bit philosophical yourself, sir,” comments the lieutenant.

“It’s the years at sea,” says Ishii. “The ocean eventually turns all of us old sailors into philosophers.”

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dunno how uve managed it C-Fish, but this AAR has deserved and continues to deserve an emmy/oscar/w-e they give out for good writing [:D]

Indeed

Whipple

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Been awhile since ive posted but good as always CF keep up the amazing work.

The small task force has cleared the Marshall Islands now and is out into the wide reaches of the Central Pacific. Running into a submarine out here would be bad luck, but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen. Ishii checks to make sure the lookouts are paying attention. They are. Ishii expected nothing less. Not only do his men know their jobs, but they have had too many encounters with enemy submarines during the war for the men to take the hated menace lightly.

Hmmm. I wonder if American Intel has a read on Yamato's orders . . .

January 11, 1944

Location: 600 miles east of Saipan
Course: North
Attached to: TF 9
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 2
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 339

Orders: Escort Yamato back to Japan

---

Another day at sea, another day when nothing noteworthy occurs. There have been many such days in this long war. Hibiki has seen her share of action and more so far, but there have still only been perhaps thirty days when the destroyer has attacked or been attacked. Most days are like this one, traveling from one port to another across the wide Pacific, or else they are spent at anchor waiting for a call to action.

A day like this does not mean the crew can relax, however. Not only is operating a warship a demanding business, but the danger of attack is always present. There are submarines out there, and at this stage of the war enemy fleets are capable of swiftly and suddenly striking into Japanese waters. The constant need for watchfulness takes its toll.

Soon, however, they will be in Japan, and there they will be able to relax. The enemy’s growing reach doesn’t extend to the Home Islands. And though the ship does not need much work the men hope they might get to spend some time at home. They have earned it, but that means little when weighed against the demands of war.

January 12, 1944

Location: 300 miles south-southwest of Marcus
Course: North
Attached to: TF 9
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 2
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 318

Orders: Escort Yamato back to Japan

---

The only officer aboard Hibiki who has his own shower is Captain Ishii. It is a small, cramped shower providing only cold water, but it does the job and the captain uses it when there is sufficient fresh water available. As Hibiki heads north there is still a lot of water in the tanks, but when he attempts to use the shower in the morning only a trickle of water comes out. Slightly miffed, Ishii gets dressed and once he reaches the bridge passes word to have the shower looked at.

The message quickly reaches Chief Petty Officer Shinoda. Shinoda is the acknowledged master of the ship’s machine shops and oversees most routine maintenance. There are other matters requiring his attention this morning but Ishii’s polite request overrides all of them. He grabs a tool box and heads forward.

On the way he is intercepted by a sailor with another report; there is a trickle of fresh water coming down one of the bulkheads in the main fire control room. This room is two decks under the captain’s cabin and it does not take a mechanical genius to guess there must be a connection. Shinoda proceeds to the passageway outside the officer’s wardroom, one deck below and forward of the captain’s cabin, and pries up a deck plate. This reveals a narrow crawlspace under the passage. Shinoda leaves his toolbox behind for the moment and, taking only a flashlight, slithers onto the pipes that run along the bottom of the crawlspace.

He crawls forward a few meters. Already he can see water pooled in the crawlspace, sloshing gently back and forth with the motion of the ship. He reaches a cluster of branching pipes and quickly spots the problem. A weld in the fresh water pipe has cracked, causing a leak.

These things happen. The ship is more than a decade old now and has taken a couple of bomb hits. Shinoda doubts this pipe has ever been replaced. At least the crawlspace is fairly clean. Sometimes they are full of rodent droppings, but not on this ship. That snake has startled Shinoda more than once in the course of his duties but he does not doubt that it’s worth having the reptile around.

Shinoda backs up and climbs out of the crawlspace. He will send a couple of men to replace the fitting. Captain Ishii will be able to take a shower by noon, if he wishes.

Nice filler while everyone is looking forward to getting home.
 

Ohhhhh....
I get a baaaaad feeling about this....

Oh dear, the captain is going to be taking a shower right when the torpedo hits...[:D]

Thats just CF trying to explain where the 2 system damage came from. [:)]

January 13, 1944

Location: 105 miles southwest of Marcus
Course: North
Attached to: TF 9
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 2
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 289

Orders: Escort Yamato back to Japan

---

Water has more importance to a destroyer than whether or not the captain gets his shower, of course. The crew needs water to drink. Ideally they also need water to bathe, but this swiftly becomes a forgotten luxury if supplies run tight. The fresh water supply can be threatened by different sorts of contamination; by salt water, by fuel oil, by sewage. The first two kinds of contamination are easily detected, but if disease enters the water supply it can go undetected and spread very quickly. That a warship whose crew is stricken with a waterborne gastrointestinal disease does not perform at full efficiency is an understatement.

Hibiki’s three oil-fired boilers produce steam, and steam requires water. The quality of this water is very important. The more impure the water the faster scaling will occur in the boilers and deposits accrue in the steam lines. Scaling can rob a boiler of efficiency and the ship of speed. Mineral deposits can cause uneven heating in the steam lines that can, at worst, cause the lines to burst. Some water that is rejected for the boilers is still good enough to go into the crew’s potable water supply.

So the crew pays as much attention to the water systems as they do to the engines and the weapons. But the systems are complicated and mistakes can happen; pipes can be cross-connected, valves can fail, and damage can accrue from the stresses of combat and tens of thousands of miles traveled. Under the circumstances it is entirely possible for two crewmen working in a confined space to make a small mistake. But small mistakes can have uncomfortable consequences.

Oh jeez I never thought of the outbreak of disease on Hibiki. Fantastic Idea even if it doesnt happen.[&o][&o][&o][&o]

I smell a fire that gets outta control!

Our story teller is weaving his tale and allowing the vagarities of life to enter the war as real life demands.

Reminds me of my buddy at Ft Dix, NJ in the latrine (head for this forum) and a steam pipe bursting behind where he sat.  Nasty scalding that day.

January 14, 1944

Location: 290 miles northwest of Marcus
Course: Northwest
Attached to: TF 9
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 2
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 261
Orders: Escort Yamato back to Japan

---

“Riku looks a little green, don’t you think?” Yoshitake asks Oizuma.

Oizuma chuckles. “He’s looked like that ever since Shun released him from that oath. We’ll be in Japan is a few days and now he’s realizing he will actually have to talk to the girl.”

Shiro looks up. “He really does look a little green. Are you feeling okay, Riku?” Riku’s face not only has a greenish tinge, Shiro notes, but there are beads of sweat on his forehead and he has one arm across his stomach.

“I don’t think so,” says Riku through clenched teeth. “My stomach is in knots. In fact...” He suddenly turns his head to one side and one hand comes up quickly to cover his mouth.

“Riku, no, not on my hammock!” cries Oizuma, but too late. Riku vomits violently. Then there is a bubbling sound and a sudden stench fills the narrow bunk area. Riku looks up apologetically, then collapses to the floor.

“Both ends,” says Yoshitake. “He’s really sick. Come on, we have to get him to the dispensary.” Shiro hurries to help and the two sailors help Riku to his feet.

“I am sorry for the mess,” says Riku weakly as they help him along. He lurches as another cramp twists his guts. “Oh gods, I can’t get sick now!”

“Trust me,” says Yoshitake, wrinkling his nose against the smell, “you are sick.”

---

“We have nine cases so far this morning,” Lieutenant JG Nakagawa tells Captain Ishii, “and there are going to be more. I’ve ordered the water supply shut off and I’ll do some tests. With luck only one tank is contaminated and we will be able to resume using the other.”

“But what is it?” the captain asks.

Nakagawa shrugs. “I don’t know yet,” he says. “At worst it’s typhoid or cholera. If the ship’s luck holds it is only dysentery or some similar bacterial infection. I’ll know in a few hours. Fortunately all these men are young and healthy. If I can keep them hydrated they should be all right.”

“I am glad we are nearing port,” says Captain Ishii grimly.

Nakagawa nods. “Indeed. Anyone showing signs of illness should report to me immediately. And have the cooks boil all water before they use it. There is a lot of clean-up needed and all waste should go straight overboard and all mops and sponges, everything used, should be boiled or go over the side afterwards.”

“I will see to it,” says Captain Ishii. “Please inform me as soon as you know something more.”

“Yes sir,” says Nakagawa. Captain Ishii departs and Nakagawa hurries to treat another crewman lurching into the dispensary. It is going to be a very long day for the ship’s medic.

Here we go...

Uh oh.... less lookouts to spot torpedo wakes.

I think it was mentioned early in the thread, but anyone who like this thread should read "Japanese Destroyer Captain". I'm just finishing it and it is a great read.

http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Destroye ... 503&sr=8-1