Small Ship, Big War - The Voyages of the Hibiki

[Cuttlefish]

August 27, 1944

Location: Osaka/Kobe
Course: None
Attached to: Disbanded in port
Mission: None
System Damage: 3
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475

Orders: Proceed to Kobe for refit

---

Hibiki makes the journey into the Inland Sea and to Kobe without incident. By evening the destroyer is on berth at Kobe. In the morning yard workers will swarm aboard and begin installing the new radar gear and a number of additional anti-aircraft guns.

The work is expected to take about two weeks. Leaves are scheduled, as is training time on the new equipment. No one on board has had much experience with radar. Most are eager to learn, though. The enemy’s advantage in this area has been obvious and the crew is looking forward to no longer having to grope blindly through the darkness for an enemy that always seems to know exactly where they are.

[Cuttlefish]

August 28, 1944

Location: Osaka/Kobe
Course: None
Attached to: Disbanded in port
Mission: None
System Damage: 14
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475

Orders: Proceed to Kobe for refit

---

Work begins! Hibiki acquires two radar sets, one Type 13 (air search) and one Type 22 (air and surface search). The destroyer’s anti-aircraft rating also jumps from 116 to 172. This is Hibiki’s third and final refit of the war.

[Alikchi2]

Clearly the yard workers are building a camp fire somewhere near the torpedo launchers. :O

[NormS3]

That or a bbq for the upcoming wedding!

[Shark7]

ORIGINAL: Norm3

That or a bbq for the upcoming wedding!

Even though Captain Ishii burned the steaks, none of the crew dare speak a word...

[1EyedJacks]

ORIGINAL: Cuttlefish

August 28, 1944

Location: Osaka/Kobe
Course: None
Attached to: Disbanded in port
Mission: None
System Damage: 14
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475

Orders: Proceed to Kobe for refit

---

Work begins! Hibiki acquires two radar sets, one Type 13 (air search) and one Type 22 (air and surface search). The destroyer’s anti-aircraft rating also jumps from 116 to 172. This is Hibiki’s third and final refit of the war.

"Grandma - what big eyes you have!"

"All the better to see you with, my dear..."

[Cuttlefish]

August 29, 1944

Location: Osaka/Kobe
Course: None
Attached to: Disbanded in port
Mission: None
System Damage: 14
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475

Orders: Proceed to Kobe for refit

---

“I am happy to grant your request, Takahashi,” says Lieutenant Miharu. “It is for a worthy cause. But I can only give you one week. After that I need you in training.”

“Yes sir, thank you,” says Taiki. “One week should be plenty. If I may ask, sir, what sort of training?”

“Radar,” says the lieutenant. “I want you familiar with the new radar systems. Here is some light reading for you to go through when you are not busy with wedding plans.” He takes a mimeographed manual off his desk and hands it to Taiki. The cover proclaims it to be an operator’s guide to the Type 22 radar system.

“Um, thank you, sir,” says Taiki.

“I am always happy to help,” says Miharu with a slight smile. “But of course your first priority is to see Ariga and Miss Shun married. It has been a long and strange courtship but it is almost over. And regarding that, do you require any assistance?”

“Thank you for asking, sir,” says Taiki. “As it happens, yes, there is something...”

[cantona2]

Will Shun get plastered at the wedding? [:D]

[whippleofd]

ORIGINAL: cantona2

Will Shun get plastered at the wedding? [:D]

A Chief Petty Officer shall not drink, BUT

if a Chief Petty Officer should drink,

he shall not get drunk. BUT

If he should get drunk,

he should not stagger. BUT

If he should stagger,

he should not fall down. BUT

If he should fall down,

he should fall on his left side. WHY?

To hide his rating badge so people will think he is an officer.


Whipple

[thegreatwent]

Wipple just made my day

[ChezDaJez]

ORIGINAL: Whipple

ORIGINAL: cantona2

Will Shun get plastered at the wedding? [:D]

A Chief Petty Officer shall not drink, BUT

if a Chief Petty Officer should drink,

he shall not get drunk. BUT

If he should get drunk,

he should not stagger. BUT

If he should stagger,

he should not fall down. BUT

If he should fall down,

he should fall on his left side. WHY?

To hide his rating badge so people will think he is an officer.


Whipple

Ah, yes... the Chief Petty Officer creed! Words to live by...

Chez

[Cribtop]

Arrghhhh.

The problem with catching up with a 120 page AAR that is better than any novel I've read in a decade is that once you're caught up you have to wait for the next post.

No worries, though, CF.  I agree with previous posters who said take you time and maintain story quality.

Still, the pain of jonesing is, well, painful.

PS - not to spam, but Hook 'em Horns! UT 45 OU 35!

[Alikchi2]

I'm loving how you've stuck to principle when it comes to revealing the wider war. It helps the atmosphere immensely.

ORIGINAL: Cribtop

PS - not to spam, but Hook 'em Horns! UT 45 OU 35!

Haha, I was in Norman tonight. A very er.. quiet atmosphere.

[tocaff]

I'm really upset as my wedding invitation never arrived.  [&:]

[Cuttlefish]

ORIGINAL: Alikchi

I'm loving how you've stuck to principle when it comes to revealing the wider war. It helps the atmosphere immensely.

Thanks! It is not always easy to do. I have thought sometimes that surely the crew would know more about what is going on than they seem to. Lately, however, I think that if anything I show them as knowing too much. I have been reading "Japan at War", a compilation of Japanese accounts of their wartime experiences. One of the striking things that almost all the accounts have in common is that no one had any clear idea of how the war was really going outside of the bit of it that was right in front of them.

[Cuttlefish]

August 30, 1944

Location: Osaka/Kobe
Course: None
Attached to: Disbanded in port
Mission: None
System Damage: 13
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475

Orders: Proceed to Kobe for refit

---

One commodity that is at a premium on any destroyer is space. This is especially true for the Japanese, many of whose systems are bulkier than those used by their British and American counterparts. Nowhere is this more evident than in Japanese fire control system. The Shagekiban low-angle computer, for example, requires a crew of seven to operate. The equivalent American system, the Mark 8, requires a crew of one. The Sokutekiban, which relays information on a target’s course and speed to the Shagekiban, has a crew of eight.

This crowding presents those fitting older Japanese destroyers with radar with a simple problem; where to put the new radar consoles and their operators? They need to be in proximity to the command and fire control systems but there is already not enough room on the compass bridge. The fire director is far too crowded. It is the same story with the torpedo director, radio room, and other spaces. They were designed for maximum use of space in an era when fitting warships with radar was not yet contemplated.

Several solutions have been tried on other destroyers and one of these is now applied to Hibiki. The flag cabin at the base of the tower is ripped out and used to house the new equipment. The resulting space is cozy but conveniently located near the plot room. The new radars are not tied directly to the Shagekiban but they will provide additional targeting data.

Other changes are undertaken as well. The main mast is strengthened to handle the weight of the Type 13 radar and gun platforms are expanded to handle the additional anti-aircraft mounts. And of course the new equipment means that additional cable and electrical gear needs to be installed.

Hibiki’s profile will thus become even more cluttered, a sharp change from the clean, spare lines she presented at the start of the war. But aesthetics are not a consideration. What is important is the ability to effectively engage targets in the air, on the surface, and under the sea in an increasingly complex and dangerous environment.

[John 3rd]

That was a VIVID description that painted an excellent picture of Hibiki.
 
I didn't know any of the comparative information you just listed.  Where did you get the information?
 

[Cuttlefish]

August 31, 1944

Location: Osaka/Kobe
Course: None
Attached to: Disbanded in port
Mission: None
System Damage: 12
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475

Orders: Proceed to Kobe for refit

---

“Riku-san, please relax,” Taiki says. “Everything is arranged. When the time comes all you have to do is pick up your ceremonial kimono, put it on, and go to the shrine. You have the address for the kimono, correct?”

Taiki pats his pocket. “Yes, Petty Officer, right here.”

“Good. Miss Shun and her mother are already in Osaka. They are staying at her uncle’s house. No, you can’t see her before the wedding, so don’t ask. Everything else is ready for the wedding, and for the party to follow.”

“What about my family?” Riku asks worriedly. “I can just see them not appearing or doing something else to mess things up.”

“I thought of that,” Taiki says.”I’ve met your family, remember. Lieutenant Miharu has generously allowed me to recruit some help in that regard. Do not worry, they’ll be here. And they will behave.”

---

“Let’s go, let’s go,” says Senior Petty Officer Aikawa briskly. “Watch your step, ma’am, thank you.” He chivvies Riku’s mother, father, sister, and brother in law out the door. They go without a word of protest, though most of them are looking a trifle wild-eyed at being politely but firmly rousted from their home.

Out in front two sailors are loading suitcases into the back of a navy truck. Most of the luggage shows signs of hasty packing. The men help Riku’s family into the truck. One then closes the tailgate while another comes up to Aikawa.

“Inlaw-Go is complete, Petty Officer Aikawa,” he says. “We can depart at your convenience.”

Aikawa nods. “Well done,” he says. “Start the truck and let’s go. These people have a wedding to attend.”

[FeurerKrieg]

“Inlaw-Go is complete, Petty Officer Aikawa,” he says.

[:D]

[Cuttlefish]

ORIGINAL: John 3rd

That was a VIVID description that painted an excellent picture of Hibiki.

I didn't know any of the comparative information you just listed.  Where did you get the information?

I got some of it from some material I printed out a while back. I don't have the link handy but if I find it I'll post it. In the meantime this site has a good overview of the Japanese and American fire-control systems of the period.