The little ship that could.

[John 3rd]

Damned FINE work!

[1275psi]

2/4 /45

Victory tastes sweet

In war, its taste can quickly turn bitter.

55th division is spread across the plain, part of this great mass of men, moving for the hills
And there is the problem

Across the plain.................

The enemy air force, in all its might, spreads it wrath upon the almost helpless exposed troops.and kills, and kills, and kills.

There is too little cover, too many men...........

All day the bombers, the dive bombers, the fighters wheel over head, all day the cries."aircraft!!", the eating of dirt, the crump of bombs, the whistling superchargers snarling above, ............and the moans and cries of the dieing.

A true killing field.

Dusk brings no succuor, only more fear

The dajangas army, its armour, has finally come down onto the plain as well.

Hosho must truly hurry on those poor abused legs now, hurry for the hills, or be crushed.........

[1275psi]

2/4/45

kaga
Zuikaku
taiho
Ryuho
Ibuki

yamato
Musashi
Nachi
nagara
natori

14 destroyers

Our last spear, clears home waters safely

One last throw

let us pray the gods give us a steady aim, and the throw proves true.

[1275psi]

Hirate and Okano share a breather on the starboar side of Susuzuki, breathing in the cool crisp air, delighting in the breeze, air free of the stink of batavia, filled with sailor smells, salt, freshness, the sea again

The destroyer hisses through the water, trembling slightly, her blowers whistling nicely, the stacks clear, the heat shimmering above them
All her guns are manned, her tubes ready, her depth charges primed. White bone between her teeth, a successful flashup and sailing behind them.

But best of all.

They have begun the journey home.
Contented, the two men sit, and quietly dare to hope again.

[1275psi]

3/4/45
Manilla

Ogowa and Diogowa stand side by side on the edge of the main strip, watching the jacks return.
Two days ago they had wished them well, and watched them fly south to Cagayan, to the furnace.

Now, after just a day of combat, they return.
36 out, surprisingly, 25 return.

They circle, slide in, bouncing, tails twitching.
Silence descends.

LT Kurihama alights from his bird, face shining with sweat.
Stiffly he wanders over to the two veterans.

They have had a reputation, these Jacks. Hanger queens..........
They have seen little action, for the insults are tinged with reality.
"Well?" Okano gently asks
Kurihama shakes his head rufely............."we did well, considering, 20 plus kills.........but"
"But?"
"The numbers..........gods, hellcats, corsairs, T bolts............and the bombers............you fight off one of the buggars, and there are ten more lining up behind you"
Diogowa pats the squat beast behind them. "So...your bird, any good?"
Kurihama laughs, there is no humour in it, just bitterness.........."better than a zero...........those poor barsteds are just dieing down there............"

[1275psi]

55th division again wears the carriers full wrath.
There can be no route march now............just a mad scurrying from one hiding hole , tree, rock, to the next.
waiting for the chance to dash the next 100 metres
The army has lost all cohension

The rout may soon begin.




3 enemy divisions enter Davao
tomorrow it must fall


2 more striking from Cotabato towards cagayan attack.
They are repulsed.


And near okiwana, the Yamato task force is attacked.....................and avoids the spread.
But the allies have seen them, those underwater Buka's must now all be salivating...........
Yamamato gives the only order he can ...............full ahead all!

[1275psi]

4/4/45
0320 hours, 100 miles west of Kuching


For Okano, it has been a long watch.
The ship has drilled for most of the day, fighting imaginary fires, conducting AA firings against that most difficult of targets...........the floating balloon.
Watches in between have almost seen incidental to the barking orders, the barking guns

Susuzuki works hard, works hard at what matters....and this makes her a good ship
But since midnight she has cruised quietly, positioned far out on the port flank, awake, aware, ready.
Below, Okano and his watch have battled the next enemy, that oh so familiar one, weariness, sleep.
About him the turbines hum calls , that steady, lulling, stealthy call to sleep and disaster.

But now there is but 40 minutes to go, and at least 2 hours before dawn action stations, time enough to grab a few winks......gods willing
Okano will need it, he feels old, old this morning.

There is a clatter on the ladder, strange legs..............ah, Chief Petty officer Kato............a dour large man, Okano has yet to make his aquaintance in any meaningful way, but he does know he is in charge of the entire after unit.

Ah, Okano, isn't it?"
'yes Chief...........is all to order?"
The Chief looks about, sniffs the air...'I would expect you to know if it is not ney?................" then a small smile ......." yes, just taking advantage of this quiet period..................i want to conduct an oil change on the main circ pump.........can you secure it please?"

Okano glances instictively at the guage panel............revolutions for 14 knots...............enough for natural circulation to maintain vacuum...........
"At once Chief!"
"Good" . Kato glances about one last time.I will return in 10 minutes, able seaman Ito will be doing the oil change, if I can find the skulking little rat........."
Okano turns to his throttle watchkeeper...........'You have it............."

Its been a long watch..............sleep threatening, anything to remain awake
he moves down to the lower plates, trips the main circ, reaches overhead for the steam isolation valve, quickly begins to shut it,

Its not until the very last moment that he hears the rising whistle...........and horror filled realises he has closed the wrong valve, the exhaust valve, not the supply valve

With a horrible bang, the side of the circ pump casing flies away, and steam roars into the space.............................

[Smoky Stoker]

I hope the account of this particular mishap came to you second-hand.

[1275psi]

Hi Smokey stoker, nice to hear from you

Its hard to maintain a narrative with cantona so slow with turns lately...........




......................I regret to say, I was a young Able seaman at the time..............................[:o]

[british exil]

ORIGINAL: 1275psi

Hi Smokey stoker, nice to hear from you

Its hard to maintain a narrative with cantona so slow with turns lately...........

The summer holidays are aproaching, so it might get even worse. I hope not, but fear so.

Really enjoying the Japanese struggle to survive, but esp. the 1000 stabs you are inflicting upon the Allies.


Mat

[Smoky Stoker]

ORIGINAL: 1275psi
......................I regret to say, I was a young Able seaman at the time..............................[:o]

And since you finished a full career with the RAN, you were evidently neither too near to the burst,
nor held responsible afterwards. Not that being held responsible necessarily has anything to do
with actually being at fault.

[8|]

[1275psi]

5/4/45
Susuzuki lies at anchor off kuching, one of nearly 40 vessels now gathered here.
They are waiting for the last 6 big tankers at palembang to fill, then home.

It is, of course, a good thing that they are waiting, Okano's moment of stupidity (for this he calls it himself) has effectively crippled the destroyer for the last horrible twelve hours.
The bang, as horrifyingly as it was, was not of course the first sound of disaster Okano has heard in his career, instictively realising that he was not yet dead, not yet frying, he had done the only thing that cold be done, opened the exhaust, shut the bloody throttle, then , with the cursed exhaust again.

Not unnaturally, Chief kato amongst many others arrive.............
Rigidly at attention, Okano can only report
'I regret to inform Chief petty officer.that i have made a terrible mistake!"

He must be beaten..gods, how could I have been so stupid?
Kato barely gives him a glance, correctly he moves to the machine, inspects the damage.............
Another pair of overalls..............the Engineer................

Okano feels his stomach clench.................it cannot get any worse, can it?

behind him, he listens to the conversation............"The relief valve has not lifted properly, whole damn mounting plate has come away........you can see the stripped bolts..........we are lucky, this is fixable, a cracked casing would not be............"

The inevitable, vital question
"How long Chief?"

'Okano!, report here!"
'Hiei!"
"Do you see what you have done!"

Okano cannot speak............he barely nods.
The engineer suddenly speaks............."How long have you been aboard Okano?"
"several months, I think sir"
Before?
"Zuiho, Yamato, Hiyo.............chiburi............."
The engineer peers closely at Okano, as if seeing him for the first time
"have you ever really broken anything in that time?'
"No, this was the first sir"

"I see................."

The Engineer stands straight. "This war must end soon, Japan will need good men in the peace...........make this your one and only stupid mistake Okano..........you have 12 hours, fix your cock up.............."

That was twelve hours 6 minutes ago........ The re tapping of the holes, the turning up of the new bolts, the straightening of the cover, the refit of the relief...........
Hirate has had sense to say nothing...........and been with him every sweat filled hour.
The pump runs again
And Okano never does something as stupid again

[1275psi]

Long pig and bigglesworth stroll the quarter deck of the large frieghter, Sydney now two days behind them. Pearl is several weeks ahead, then gloriously, the canal, and home...........
The seas are calm, the air warm.
The war is a long, long, long way away.

The tannoy squeaks, hisses, whistles into life

"Do you here there.............Captain speaking. New orders I am afraid...........a slight detour. We have been ordered to cagayan, where there are a large number of wounded needing evacuation back to the states..........I know that many of you will be disapointed in the delay, but needs must..............."

Together, Biggleswoth and Long pig can but mutter the one word.

It rhymes with truck

[1275psi]

The carrier aircraft pound 55th division again.

there are no japanese planes left to oppose them.

4 miles covered.............every yard marked by the bodies of those who will march no more............

[1275psi]

Battleship Yamato lies in manilla harbour. here, at least, the ever present sound of combat patrol drones on. Ogowa and Diogowa are part of this umbrella, bored, but absolutely aware of the vulnerability of the ships at anchor below them.

Once agai the white uniforms have motored by sea boat to her massive quarterdeck, been led down her endless corridors, gathered in the wardroom, this room where so many battle and actions have been planned.

They gather now. Twenty five men. Men with wives, families, people they know that they probably will never see again. This will be the last mission, this they feel in their gut.
Death approaches.
They will not flinch.............


The mission is easy to explain.
A great convoy of tankers, the great bulk of what remains of japans merchant marine, will run to the West of the phillipines, the yamato Task force would be a shield to its east.
Convoy safely passed the great threat hanging near Cotabato.........and this task force would dash straight for it.
Gods willing, and Yamato's great guns might yet have one worthy last target............

[1275psi]

6/4/45

The war grinds on, in Malaya, in the southern Philipines, in the DEI, even at rabual.

they mean nothing today

It all fades into nothing

Today the B29s, 40 strong, strike Nagasaki................

[PaxMondo]

Wow, no strikes on the HI until 6/45. Amazing. You're setting a new standard here. BANZAI!!

[1275psi]

Hi Pax,
thats aussie dating, so its April.............but still, I cannot concieve now an invasion of japan in this game...........I have sunk too many ships, but more importantly wrecked too many divisions
Nice to hear from you

[1275psi]

7/4/45

The great anchors rise ever so slowly from the green depths, the black mud clinging to it. The routine here is as it is everywhere, any navy, any port.
The capstan groans, the chains clank, the fire hoses play upon the mud, the Chief chides the sailors struggling with the hoses.
Soon, from her great fat stern, the water whirls, swirls, foams
Waves gently build upon her bow, growing slowly into two white fans, and above her funnel the air turns faintlu brown.

Yamato goes to sea

Men swarm across her decks, around her guns. They begin to swing left, right, up, down, gun chiefs singing.
Drill.
There is never enough time for AA drill.

The accompaning carriers carry fighters only, and already the first of them rises from kaga's deck, replacing Ogowa's endless patrol
The AA crews drill, but all of them are aware of but one thing. Barely a man on Yamato does not this day share one thought.

Let her great rifles, just one last time, bark in defiance

[1275psi]

davao falls


There are no prisoners.

Let the historians make of that, what they will.