Cuttlefish,
I do not know how to attach a single picture, but on this website there is one of the best photos of the Hibiki that I have ever encountered. Apparently, it was taken as part of Admiral Kondo's Southern force, December 10, 1941.
oi
You can't just point that out and have us all hanging...... [:(]
Location: Osaka
Course: Docked
Attached to: TF 23
Mission: Air combat
System Damage: 1
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 447
Orders: Await further orders
---
“Radar, sir?” says Lieutenant Miharu.
“Yes, two sets, a Type 13 and a Type 22,” says the captain. He unrolls some plans across the desk in his cabin. “Take a look at this. Also they want to add more anti-aircraft guns, here, here, and here.”
The lieutenant studies the plans. “And when does this happen, sir?” he asks.
Ishii shrugs. “Next month, sometime. Scheduling will be tight, there are a lot of destroyers receiving this equipment. We will get a solid date soon, or so I am told.”
“I understand,” says Miharu. “Sir, I understand there was some trouble ashore with Takahashi while I was gone. Are there any official complications with that?”
“No, Exec,” says the captain, shaking his head. “It was clearly self-defense. He has been completely cleared.”
“Very good, sir,” says the lieutenant. “Then may I ask why there is still an order confining him to the ship unless he is under guard?’
“Ah, that,” says the captain. He relates the strange identity of one of the attackers and his concerns that the attack was not a mere attempt at theft. “So far only Takahashi and Shun know of this,” he says when he is done. “I would prefer to keep it that way for now. The crew would be seeing assassins in every shadow if they knew.”
“I agree, sir,” says Lieutenant Miharu.
“Shun is looking into it,” says Ishii, “as is the Tokeitai captain, Shimura. But I don’t know if they will learn anything. Takahashi himself has no idea why he was attacked.”
“Yes, such a quiet and polite young man,” says Miharu. “He hardly seems the sort to have such enemies.”
Location: Osaka
Course: Docked
Attached to: TF 23
Mission: Air combat
System Damage: 1
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 445
Orders: Await further orders
---
Shun is waiting by a low stone wall along a heavily wooded path. Behind the wall the ground slopes sharply down to the edge of a wide moat. On the other side of the moat mossy stone walls rise from the water to form an island where the central tower of Osaka Castle looms above the surrounding trees.
The sounds of the city seem very far away here. Shun has come to this spot lured by the promise of a meeting that will reveal, the informant promises, details about the attack on young Takahashi. Shun of course suspects a trap and is both wary and armed as he waits. Even so he does not at first notice the slender, unassuming man slipping quietly through the trees towards him.
It is obvious that the assassin knows enough about Shun to both respect and fear him or he would not be using the weapon that he now carries. His Winchester Model 97 short-barrel shotgun is of a type originally used by General Pershing’s men in World War I for work in clearing trenches and buildings. It is compact, reliable, and at close range very lethal.
Shun sees the movement as the gun comes up but it is already too late. The assassin wastes no motion. He does not stop to utter greetings from the Green Gang or to make a threat or a quip, he merely pumps the gun and fires. The blast catches Shun in the side as he turns and flings him back against the wall. Shun gives himself an additional push and topples over. His assailant keeps the trigger down and pumps again but this time the blast only sprays chips from the top of the wall.
Shun hits the slope on the far side and slides down towards the moat. He fetches up against a tree trunk right at the edge of the water and somehow manages to fumble his pistol out of his pocket. He fires twice as the assassin’s head appears over the wall above him. Neither shot comes really close but the assassin ducks out of sight. As Shun lies there he can hear the sound of running footsteps receding down the path.
With a curse Shun drops the pistol and tries to pull himself up against the trunk of the tree but his legs give out and his great strength seems for once to have deserted him. He slides back down, leaving the smooth bark smeared with blood. He groans and tries once again but does not even get as far as he did the first time. Then his eyes close and he lies still as the blood spreads beneath him and soaks slowly into the earth.
Cuttlefish,
I do not know how to attach a single picture, but on this website there is one of the best photos of the Hibiki that I have ever encountered. Apparently, it was taken as part of Admiral Kondo's Southern force, December 10, 1941.
oi
You can't just point that out and have us all hanging...... [:(]
I suspect the website oi is referring to may be this one (Give it time to load - it's worth the wait). Applied colouring: excellent. Original photographs: also excellent. Sad to say, in the picture forming the subject of the link Hibiki comes across as the scruffiest ship in the IJN!
Thanks Local Yokel. Yes, that was the picture I saw. Tremendous detail on a ship that Cuttlefish has made famous.
oi
Don't believe it. Someone heard the shots and will have called the police. Shun will be found and survive and then he's gonna be real upset.
Thanks Local Yokel. Yes, that was the picture I saw. Tremendous detail on a ship that Cuttlefish has made famous.
oi
Thanks oi, and Local Yokel, for bringing us that picture. It's a great shot. If it was taken on Dec. 10, 1941 then it looks as though Hibiki is probably escorting a Malaya troop convoy.
7/11/42 Looks like my opponents Hibiki wasen't so lucky...
Day Air attack on TF at 26,39
Allied aircraft
Liberator III x 19
B-17E Fortress x 43
LB-30 Liberator x 8
B-24D Liberator x 5
Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 3 damaged
Japanese Ships
DD Hibiki, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CA Haguro, Bomb hits 2, on fire
DD Ikazuchi
CA Aoba, Bomb hits 4
CL Isuzu, Bomb hits 2, on fire
Pinky: Hey Brain what are we goeing to do this evening?
Brain: The Usual Pinky we will try to take over the World;)
7/11/42 Looks like my opponents Hibiki wasen't so lucky...
Day Air attack on TF at 26,39
Allied aircraft
Liberator III x 19
B-17E Fortress x 43
LB-30 Liberator x 8
B-24D Liberator x 5
Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 3 damaged
Japanese Ships
DD Hibiki, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CA Haguro, Bomb hits 2, on fire
DD Ikazuchi
CA Aoba, Bomb hits 4
CL Isuzu, Bomb hits 2, on fire
Ouch! But it's worth remembering that my Hibiki has been hit like this twice, once off Singkawang and once off Wake. But the last hit was two years ago and since then the destroyer has seemed to lead a charmed life.
Location: Osaka
Course: Docked
Attached to: TF 23
Mission: Air combat
System Damage: 1
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 443
Orders: Await further orders
---
“The doctors tell me he really should be dead,” ship’s medic Lieutenant JG Nakagawa tells Captain Ishii. “He lost too much blood. His liver is also damaged, but that should heal. If he survives the next twenty-four hours without heart failure he might pull through. His vitality is amazing.” The two officers are standing outside the door to Shun’s hospital room. Nakagawa has just finished speaking with Shun’s doctors.
“I see,” says Ishii gravely. “Thank you, Lieutenant. Has he said anything?”
“He has not been fully conscious,” says Nakagawa, “but a nurse told me he has muttered ‘Big Ears’ a couple of times.”
Ishii swears. “I take it that means something to you, sir?” Nakagawa asks.
“Yes it does,” says the captain. “It means the sins of the past visiting the present. It means trouble.”
---
Shiro Kuramata sits at the end of the dock. As he waits for the ship’s boat he whittles, and as he whittles he thinks. Shiro does not possess Riku’s cunning or head for business or Taiki’s intelligence or gift of memory, but he is far from stupid. His thoughts turn slowly but efficiently, like rocks tumbling in a polisher, and he often comes up with insights that startle his two closest friends.
Right now Shiro is pondering recent events. First there was Petty Officer Okubo’s accident. Shiro does not buy the story that the man was injured in a fall; he knows Okubo all too well and ever since he was hurt the man has kept an uncharacteristically low profile. He has also seemed a bit twitchy, almost as if he suspects he is being followed but doesn’t know by whom.
Then there was the attack on Taiki, followed by the attack on Shun. Shun injured, perhaps dying! It seems almost impossible, like Mount Fuji crumbling into gravel. Yet it is true.
As Shiro’s hands work shavings of wood fly, and as they fly Shiro looks for connections. He feels they have to be there. He is worried about his friends and about his other shipmates as well.
A shadow fall over him. He looks up to see an old man standing there, watching him whittle. The man’s sparse hair is white and his face is deeply lined, but he still carries himself well. There is something about the set of the old man’s shoulders and the way he carries himself that convinces Shiro that he was once a Navy man.
“Hello,” he says.
The old man nods. “That’s nice work,” he comments, indicating the carving. A man’s face has begun to emerge from the block of wood. It is not an attractive face, quite the opposite, but the features are already developed enough to show strength and determination.
“I know that face,” says the old man. His bright eyes turn piercingly on Shiro. “Are you a friend of his?” he asks.
“Sir, I cannot claim that honor,” says Shiro. “I am just an enlisted man. But I respect him a great deal.”
The old man nods. “Your regard shows in your work,” he says. He seems to come to a decision. “My name is Nonaka. I have a message for your captain, if you would be good enough to deliver it.”
