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Big Ben descends the long, long ladder down to his steamers platform.
Its getting hotter below decks already, you can feel it.
His eyes critically scan about him the boiler, the pumps, one ear on the off going steamers
brief, the other on the machinery about him.
Nothing amiss.....

The off going watch scrambles up the ladder, he nods to the first burner man, who
takes the hint and begins his oils rounds.
The second burner man begins to gather 4 spare sprayers, they will do a sprayer change
shortly, around 1 am.
He will pull them down, clean them, inspect them.
Kill time with them.

This leaves the water tender, who, as he ahs for the last 2 months, establishes himself
on the other side of the steaming platform, directly under the ventilation outlet

Big Ben gains his eye, crooks a finger
"Over here "
The water tender rolls his eyes, wanders over
Over the noise of the blowers, Ben has to lean to his ear
"your duty is top plates Geoff, so get up there..and stay there"
"Öh come on Ben......you know how bloody hot...

The big man explodes
"Hot!.....don't blood give me hot!........"

1275psi
That's the boiler pressure.
Obviously, Geoff has no idea how quickly at 1275psi, things can go south.........

And God help them if they ever were forced to find out.

From
USS Enterprise
to
TF 78

Enemy submarines are active in these waters
All commands to maintain utmost vigilance.

The Japanese have launched a wide ranging and far flung war of aggression
Initial reports are favourable, the Japanese having lost a battleship believed to
be the Haranua near the Phillipines
General Mac Aurthur reports that initial landings have been repulsed.
The British are reporting attacks at Hong Kong, and minor landings Malaya, and Borneo.

Although our chance of engaging Japanese Carriers has escaped us, for the moment,
this Command will continue to seek them in battle.

Pearl Harbour will be revenged.

ORIGINAL: 1275psi

From
USS Enterprise
to
TF 78

Enemy submarines are active in these waters
All commands to maintain utmost vigilance.

The Japanese have launched a wide ranging and far flung war of aggression
Initial reports are favourable, the Japanese having lost a battleship believed to
be the Haranua near the Phillipines
General Mac Aurthur reports that initial landings have been repulsed.
The British are reporting attacks at Hong Kong, and minor landings Malaya, and Borneo.

Although our chance of engaging Japanese Carriers has escaped us, for the moment,
this Command will continue to seek them in battle.

Pearl Harbour will be revenged.

If these two notes are connected, cleverly written, sir! [&o]
And if they are not, "merely" compelling reading in all your posts! [&o][&o]
Thank you!

10 th DEC
Dawn see's greying skies, darkening seas, the white caps beginning to form on the
impulse of strengthening winds.
The task force forges on, bow waves creaming, destination unknown to but a very select few.
The great albatross weave endlessly behind them, imperious, eternal, as ever since
man has gone to sea.
Other than them, the ships about them, the pacific remains as ever, endless, empty, implacable.

Chester launches all four of her birds during the day.
Ironically, or maybe fated to...its Cross who again sights a submarine.

And again, fails to make an effective attack.

Getting all four birds back aboard becomes a real issue by days end, even with
Chester turning hard, her flank a mobile breakwater, the sea is lumpy, hungry.
All four crews are happy to get aboard, safe for today.
There will be no cruiser flights tomorrow.

DEC 11

From
USS Enterprise
to
USS Chester

You are to form the following task force (task force 110)
USS Chester
USS Northhampton
DDs
Blue
Helm
Mugford
Ralf Talbot
Farragut
Hull
Captain Shock T commanding

This task force is to immediately detach and proceed to New Zealand area.
Good hunting


Captain Shock reads the signal twice.
A deep , deep wave of satisfaction rises in him.
So, the barsteds said he would never make it. That crap shoot at the college, that collision.
That endless tour of the South America's........no wait, being under the Presidents eye
for so long, maybe, maybe at last ....
Task force Commander
At last
At bloody last

"Whats the word Peter?"

Peter hesitates. In the comms centre, there are signals, then, then there is everything else.
The signals have been few, revealing nothing.
The radio chatter, Military, civilian.......that has been another thing

The XO stares at him hard. Chester is operating under strict radio transmission silence.
Under him, nearly 700 men are literally tearing at the walls for news, any news

He has to give them something

"Its as confusing as anything sir........Destroyer actions near Legaspi, another naval
battle near Kuching........gee, I heard only an hour ago we have B17's operating from
Singapore........its all over the place.. And rumour has it that the Brits lost a
battle wagon too......"

"But we are fighting?"
Peter grins....."Like wildcats I thnk"

Wildcats. Fighting. Resisting.
Good, that's all the men need to hear right now.
Fighting. Punching back.
Perfect news

12 December

In the middle of God knows where

Port aft AA Mount

With another horrible, guttural heave, Scotty heaves his already
empty stomach over the side
There is a swell running, piling up, pushed by the now almost gale force breeze blowing
across Chesters Starboard flank
The cruiser, always a tender beast, rolls heavily with each swell.

Scotty is not alone in his misery of sea sicknesses, Chester's viscous rolling ensures that.

But does Scotty care
When you are as deep in misery as this, no one ever does.

Arizona has been reported sunk, his brothers probably with her.
Right now, Gunner Scotty would happily swap places with them.

It's good to have my morning read again. [:)]

Thanks pws 1225
maybe one day we can play each other

December 13th
The weather moderates as the day passes.
From horrid to merely un pleasant, Chester steams onwards across a still grey angry sea.
About midday, Captain Shock orders ASW patrols to commence again.
In these conditions, with this roll, poor visibility, its a big ask.

4 launches are conducted, and 4 successful recoveries are made.
Simple words for a hair raising exercise.
Ensign Powell, Clarke finish the day with 9 missions each.
Dwight, and Ensign Cross remain on 5, not tasked during the day at all.
Exactly the same number they had two days ago.

Its impossible for all in this small aviation department to miss.
2 pilots have flown all day. 2 haven't

Why?

Thanks pws 1225 maybe one day we can play each other

Only if I can follow your AAR. [:D]

Dec13

"Shoot!!!"

With its indescribable CRAAASH!, Chesters 9 eight inch guns slam a full salvo away
across the grey seas.
The salvo is accompanied with the usual clatter crash and tinkle of a hundred ships
fittings and items destructing.
Every salvo does not merely shake the cruiser, it slams her with a giants fist, jarring
her very bones, rattling mens teeth.
15 seconds later, the giants slam her again.


20000 yards away, the shells arrive, 1000 yards astern of Northamptons wake.
1000 yards aster, 500 over

DD Blue tracks the shot, signals the fall
The next salvo is better, 100 short.

The third, on, in, all around the creaming wake of Chesters companion.
She fires 20 salvos in all.

Shock lowers his Glasses at its end, deeply satisfied.
3 salvos to get on target, consistent "hits" once on. When the battle comes, when those yellow barsteds
crawl over the horizon.....................

He turns towards Ford.
'Not bad Ex?"
Ford cannot but agree. Disagreeing ..........well, one does not disagree with Shock, does one?
"Are we going to schedule a night shoot sir?"
For a moment Shocks face seems to say..Äre you mad?, "
Then, patiently, as if explaining to a small child
"Can't afford the ammo...not now.......besides, the Japs are little short sighted buggars
who are afraid of the dark......fight at night?......never
No, when we fight, its going to be just like this....."


Ford can't answer.
After all, in this case, the barsted is right.

December 14th

It is just on midnight. The Pacific has returned to her name, calm, the moon mirrored
on a flat inky surface.
Chester cruises at 14 knots, creating a warm breeze across her decks, her wake a pleasant
hiss along her sides. Scattered over the many miles about her, her companions are darker shadows
in the night.
All is quiet (as quiet as a ship can be with half her crew on watch can be)

Ford stands quietly at the back of the bridge, one eye on the young Lieutenant Officer of the Watch
, one on the helmsman, and that innate third one every Executive Officer has on everything else.
This is his favourite time.
Duties mostly done, the Captain snoring as loudly as ever in his sea cabin, the sea smooth, the ships
motion gentle.
And the realities of the world million miles away.

Peter enters the bridge, a flimsy in hand
Radio metrics , have it seems, improved.
Silently Peter hands him the flimsy.

From Marine detachment
Wake

Enemy forces landing with overwhelming force
Un able to hold beach head

Casualties at 50 percent
Will make final stand, and fight to the last
Remember us.

Quietly Ford hands it back, takes in the endless sea about him

Reality.
you can avoid it for only so long.

Thanks Herb ...

great morning ...

[&o][&o][&o]

December 15th
"Port Forward, one Engine"
Big Ben grimaces........he knows what is coming next.
"Port Forward"
He eyes his Boiler room crew, the two burnerman, his watertender ( still bloody well
lingering on the bottom plates)
They know what is coming too. Its going to be a long watch.
A bloody long, hard one

"Make preparations, and when ready, light off number 2 boiler, let me know when you have"

Boiler swing.
A barsted of a job.


Chester's plant is almost United Navy Standard
2 Boiler rooms forward, Port Forward, Starboard Forward
2 boilers, face to face in each, 1275 PSI superheated, 2 blowers each boiler, 3 feed pumps,
a de aerator, booster feed pumps, 2 fuel pumps in each.
These boiler rooms are relatively spacious, and right now, are brilliantly clean,
almost leak free.
4 men per room
And BiG Ben rules his like a God.

Aft of the forward room, Number one engine room, port shaft
53000 plus Shaft horsepower, contained in a solid cast case

Aft of here fuel tanks, then Port aft, port Starboard boiler rooms,
again 2 boilers again in each, these feeding the Starboard turbine nestled in number 2 engineroom, and
its (supposedly 53000 shaft horses......although her tenders will claim
they can get another 500 from her)
Standard design, unit steaming.
Designed to be flexible, to provide redundancy, to survive battle.

There's more to it all of course, and, I hope, we might join Big Ben a few times, and explore
it a little more.

If, of course Chester survives long enough.

Dec 16th

Dear Mum,
Well, here we are again. I can't tell you where we are, of course, except it
is very hot where we are. Conditions below decks are , well, pretty horrendous, its so hot
and humid, what with the ship closed up all the time.
I don't know what you hear about the war, of course, but we have caught a few snippets.

What ever happens, I am sure we will give a good accounting of ourselves.

Your son
Peter





This, of course, is the tricky bit.
You get the signals across your desk,
"Naval battle south of Manilla...........defeat"
"Cruiser Houston sunk, apparently on the first hour of the war.........whilst steaming at peacetime
stations"
"Destroyer vs destroyer actions in the Sulu sea........with a disturbing trend of
Japanese destroyers winning......."
And Mac in full retreat.

Yes, you get the signals, hear the news. And some how, how to avoid the censor, how to
tell Mother that all is well, when the news is so clearly not.

But its all rumours, isn't it?
The Japs aren't that good........surely??

December 17th

"It's un acceptable"
Captain Shocks accusation cuts across the bridge, making every man on it inwardly wince.
Its target, the Engineer, merely remains silent.
Ford does what he usually does when this scene begins to play out, moves casually
to the bridge wing, picks up his glasses, and studies the horizon.
On the other wing, the harangue is gaining steam
"I can't accept this Engines!........I might need that speed!.....why wasn't I told"
The horizon is empty, Ford notes, Destroyer Blue making a little smoke.......

The explosion reaches its peak........."and what if there I none when we reach there...!

A good question
The problem, is of course, fuel, the lack of it to be precise.
And why not?, thinks Ford.
When was the last time an American ship steamed these waters?
The twenties?
What was down here?......what could one expect at any Port?. God, as for the charts?
No, fuel , right now is going to be more than an issue.
Ford looks down at the forward turrets, the great guns.
And bullets.
And spares
And the rest

And they want us to fight a war down here??

Has anyone thought of all of that????

18 December

This is radio Fiji with the news.....
The British Admiralty today reports of "ä large and intensive Naval battle at Kota Bharu,
involving , to quote, both heavy and light forces of the eastern Fleet, unquote.
The Admiralty claims an entire enemy invasion force destroyed.
The Admiralty has again denied the loss of Prince of Wales and Repulse, despite repeated Japanese
claims to the contrary........

The radio fades into the seemingly ever present hiss and crackle of the tropics.
Ensign Cross whistles in admiration. "Now that was full on.....operating up there"
One of his fellow pilots, Dwight, agrees "Yes , but it shows something, we are fighting."
'But are we winning?"
"Why wouldn't we?"

To the last Man on Chester, I don't think anyone disagrees with him.

19 December

Its on a clear, bright day, clear blue sea, endless sky, the perfect tropical day,
one that truly defines the word "Pacific", that the war really arrives for Chester.

Ford is on the Port bridge wing, trying to interpret the latest signals from the Philippine waters.
The British are claiming a Jap battleship sunk, but one with four funnels???
"Excuse me sir....do you see that?" Its the lookout, pointing rather casually towards the forward quarter
of Chesters Bow.
Fords blood freezes.
"That".....Jesus. THEM......torpedoes......3 of them, all of them having already
passed UNDER Chesters keel.........
"TORPEDO!!!.......Call action stations!...Helmsman, Hard to starboard, full ahead flank!!"

Chester responds. Destroyer Hull responds, Ralph Talbot responds, Farragut responds.
And the dispatcher of those fish?
Nary a hint. Nada, Nothing.
For two hours they criss cross the calm seas hunting the submarine.
But the oceans remain calm, serene.
Inscrutable even.

19 dec

Suva

The big stoker faces Big Ben. He is a big man, almost as broad as Ben, a little shorter,
and some of his muscles are slowly turning to fat.
But he is of the size that it is rare, rare indeed that anyone would stand up to him.
The very large pipe spanner he holds in his left hand, looks small in that ham of a hand.
It isn't though.

Right now, he stands inches from Ben, coldly implacable.
"Skipper says that if you have any thought of taking his fuel, you might want to
reconsider"
Its not said that way. The inflection in the voice actually conveys:
If you don't leave this quarterdeck in 2 seconds, there will be violence. Blood,
damage, pain.........

Ben smiles. Looks around the slightly seedy merchantman.
Below his feet, in her holds, her own tanks is fuel enough to refill Chesters Bunkers,
Northamptons, even the escorts.
Suva has none. Not a drop.
Even if it did, the Kiwi's probably wouldn't release it.

Thus the visit to the 7 merchants anchored here.
Shock wants fuel. Violence, or not..........
But Ben still smiles, gains the scowling skippers eye.
"Buddy, do you know what awaits out there?. More submarines that fish my friend, all looking
for a nice fat slow target"
He spits on the weathered deck. "Now the way I figure it, we take the fuel, run the risks,
draw em away. You, you stay here, eating spitted pork, drinking beer, nice and safe, you know,
stuck in such an awful place........."

The Big stoker glances at the skipper.
A subtle nod.
"You want to use our pump, or your?....."


Stock gets his fuel.
And while Chester robs the merchantmen in the bay, he goes ashore to obtain something almost as important

News.

on holidays and forgot my notes...........buggar
story to resume in 3 or 4 days