Wobbly vs herb, ens hanamato

[1275psi]

3/6/42
My day
Our mess is deep in the bowels of the ship, 1 deck below the hanger deck, the old battleship this old lady was built from is the floor of our mess.
As midshipmen we have our own wardroom, and a recreation area not much bigger than my room at home
It is of course sparten, nothing that can burn is in it.
we rarely now spend any time in there.
I am awoken at 3.30 every morning, and quickly wash -from the basin.
yes, we all stink, our ship always has water restrictions.
I leave the war room, and go fwd down the passageway some ten metres
passing through several heavy doors, and the main hatch to below the armour deck.
Up one narrow ladder, directly out into the main hanger, a chaotic place of planes and mechanics -they never rest
Calisthetics for 20 minutes, although today i desist -i am really hurting
The ready room is here- our comfortable home, comfy chairs, coffee and tea, and other bits and pieces
you, as a pilot are always dressed it seems during the day for flight.
here we are briefed, 0415
At 0430 i always accompany my plane up to the deck, today i am standby, and i use the aft of kaga's 3 lifts
Its a tight fit
If I need to leave the plane, i can make my way below via the single door in the tower -the tower is so small, and always terribly crowded

Today i did not fly, and spent doing my second favourite activity, watching the oilers fuel us.
kaga is rolling today, we are very light for fuel, this old rust hog has quite a thirst
we have turned south again, the invasion fleet has turned the corner, we will cover it
The enemy is sliding north towards us -3 CA again reported.
he must come to us to disrupt the invasion, this rest will do us good.

Action stations today, a sub atttacks, it misses Akagi -and we watch 6 subs hunt it , it escapes
a reminder of the real danger we must fear at this time.
the enemy fliers do not scare us now -in 10 days we have become veterans.
Subs, on the other hand.
Stinking hot, and i feel for our troops besieging port moresby.

[1275psi]

ORIGINAL: String

An excellent AAR. I love the format you've picked, one of the best in the AARland right now, great read.

AAAAARRRGH, pressure to perform!!!

ta for comment[:'(]

[1275psi]

4/6/42

There is a horrible feeling knowing people you cannot see are hunting you, KB dodges another sub today, fortunately well out on the edges of our screen

We are moving toward Gilli,gilli, the invasion fleet went past us last night, it lands very soon

The desperation of the enmy is obvious, we passed a floating wreck in the water today -a C-47, one of many shot down again over PM
No flying again for me today, some clot put a foot through my stbd wing last night, and there are no spare planes left.

Its a great plane the zero, but so fragile!

[Alikchi2]

Have you ever played Pacific Fighters? I love to fly the Zero, but attacking bombers can be suicide unless you keep moving and try for slashing attacks. Just a second of level flight behind an SBD will totally ruin your day.

[1275psi]

My box struggles to handle things like that - however in the days when I used to fly , well lets just say i know how it feels when you put a foot straight through a wing [8|][8|][8|]

[1275psi]

5/6/42

the tension is almost palapatable
Again B17s over KB, they are so hard to intercept.
every submarine in the area must be coming this way

Tokyo rose announces that the invasion of port moresby has begun, I pray for the brave soldiers who will have to sieze this place

vals from the Hiryu attack a sub today, and a ALF claims one sunk to the east of us

Midday, a great sight, carving through the sea, CVLs Ryujo and Zuiho join the KB, we are now finally at full strength

Fuelling -we hope tomorrow -again1

[1275psi]

KB is marking time, the fuel state is very, very bad, and we are rolling like a pig.
Shokaka is providing the CAP, we cannot spare the fuel to manouvre.
Another anxiety filled day, as Vals from our decks attack 2 more submarines, and we believe they sank them both.

Midday, contrails to the south, B17s attacking Gilli, gilli, what magnifcent planes they are.

How is the invasion going? what of the rest of the war?
The ocean is full of menace, and one feels reluctant today to trabvel below the main deck.
how do the black gang feel?
At least this old girl has battleship armour.

[1275psi]

7/6/42
the landings at port moresby go ahead, the allies are claiming very very heavy losses to our troops as they land

I am sure their valour will carry the day
how anxious we are, if the invasion is a failure, then all our effort will be for nought.
Fight hard men of nippon, fight hard

We finally refuel today, and it is a terrifying affair, 2 more sub attacks upon us.
CS Nishin reports being struck, but the deadly weapons breakup with out exploding.
But we cannot seem to hit the enemy.
More B17s over us, very disturbing just sitting here -and not flying up there trying to hit them.
We await news from PM

[1275psi]

8/6/42
Still no news of a victory at port moresby, the allied radio are crowing about very heavy losses on the beaches

balanving their account, and Tokyo roses, the fighting must be bitter

I do not fly in the CAP today, as KB heads south east at cruising speed.
The rumour has filtered down from the bridge, Yamaguchi believes that we have done our job, the enemy will not interfere with the PM operation now.
he is eager to get us back into our major role -a startegic strike weapon.

Rumours abound - we are definately going to hit something -very, very close counting of our remaining aordinace stocks took place today

[1275psi]

9/6/42
6 hours CAP today
Absolutely nothing to report

No news, we are again seemingly alone in a shimmering sea, again moving south.
No B17's

3 Divisions, the south sea detachment, naval guard units, and a brigade have landed at PM, yet the place resists.
hearing this one feels an uneasy disquiet, this war may not be as easily won as we once thought.
Rib still giving me hell -i need to rest.

[1275psi]

10/6/42
Incredibly busy, LT Sato has approached me - I am to prepare an attack plan for Noumea today, and one for brisbane -tomorrow.

"I want alternative views"
"It will be good training"
"Ensigns will command -God help us -one day"

Busy busy.

More bad news - the black gangs still was sprung yesterday, the flow of Sake has been temporarily interupted

[1275psi]

11/6/42
We are still alone, still unsighted, again no B17's

I presented my plans -and collapsed into my bed
One cares little for glorious war plans when one has not slept all night.

[1275psi]

12/6/42
another exhausting day today -now LT sato wants a strike order put together for some place called efate

In the meantime, we wait for tankers, yet again.

yamaguchi makes an announcement
last night our battleships pounded Port moresby, destroying many supply dumps.
Our troops attacked and siezed many key objectives, and we expect the town to fall some time this week.
Good news at last.
Again another day not spotted by the dreaded B17's
Our submarines send in more and more contact reports, how brave the pilots of those little sea planes they carry, the glamour may go to us fighter pilots, but truly they have the courage, imagine leaving your airfield, and have it submerged when you return!

we fuel tomorrow, and probably the day after -then one last strike.
how I hope the mail has reached Truk

[1275psi]

13/6/42

Now 112 landings, how quick they add up

In te air was the only place to be today, Yamaguchi's wrath is terrible to behold
The ships refuelled today - what a day!

Broken hoses, collapsing rigs, spilt fuel, and 7 men lost overboard.
A destroyer remolded its bridge on Shokaka's under flight deck areas, and another lost a entire AA mounting against her tankers side.

The seas are large, and another day is needed to top the tanks.

How frustrating -one fast days steam away the enemy ASW groups pound away, the area is becoming thick with targets -and we cannot strike.

The allied radio speaks of an aborted attack by our troops last night, the issue may still be in doubt.
His radio also claims successful bombing raids in burma -where has our airforce gone to?, and a rampant AVG in China.

maybe the weather is against us?

[1275psi]

14/6/42
We continue to mark time today, more news from port Moresby, the attack has stalled again

Surely 3 divisions against 1 will be enough
Things are very poor when the army cannot defeat a single enemy division

More reports of shipping at noumea, and efate.
I present my plan to LT sato, he certaintly is keeping us Ensigns on the hop.

[1275psi]

15/6/42
Fully filled with fuel now, and We are briefed

The ready room as usual, stinks.
We do not notice. The weather is good, and the decks are spotted with our strike aircraft.
today the 3 CVLs detached, they will race across the sea eastwards north of Noumea, and attack the shipping we have spotted at Efate.

KB will continue very slowly moving south, and attempt to get south of noumea un sighted.

The CVLs it is hoped will flush south the shipping, and we will catch them.
After this we must return to truk, the ammo supply is low.

Our mission is shipping -and then the airfields, apparently the hammer of our battle cruisers is coming south as well -to catch out any shipping that returns to port once we are gone.

The best news of the day - the still -MK2 is up and running again -a beautiful fiery drop.
I feel closer in kin to the black gang every day.

[1275psi]

as we continue to check our aircraft, so many checks to do, KB sails slowly south
Tokyo rose announces a massive air battle over wunchow -the AVG is claimed destroyed over the city -40 planes shot down for a dozen lost

At dawn we will be a mere 120 miles off noumea, what will we find
Strangely I am not afraid today, just eager to attack.

[1275psi]

17/6/42

I am cursed
dawn, and our daitai is allocated to CAP, i am on the 5 minute ready roster again.
I silently curse LT Sato as I watch some of my buddies take off
The weather is cloudy, yet does not hide us
0500, and Kaisai, good man, gets a kill on the edge of our screen, the hudson never even knew what hit it.

Only a half strike goes today, yamaguchi is nervous, where are the carriers.
little CAP over the base, a handful of wildcats, some P-40's, and several old buffalos
surprise is complete, and we lost 1 kate only
Only AKs are hit, just 3, two will sink

We recover the planes, little celebration on board the ship, just a grim detirmination, many ships left in the harbour, and we know warships are about.
Kaga shudders as we continue south at speed.
tomorrow we hit the base again.

The evening ends with news of the cvl strike - we can hear her radio chatter from here-efate has been hit -several ships sunk, only merchantmen again.

But noumea is in a vice, us to the south, the CVLs to the north.
The day ends with fantastic good news, tomorrow, regardless, we will turn for home - only a sailor can understand what those words mean.

[1275psi]

18/6/42
An incredibly busy day on the Kaga .
But the crew know their jobs so well, the loading, fuelling, dispatching of aircraft seems to go on all day.
We steam steadily north, to the east of noumea, we launch many, many strikes against noumea, efate.

I miss out -again
I am starting to wonder -have i insulted Lt sato in some way -does he trust me?
We sink 3 tankers, and 3 AKs in the harbours, plus some minor warships.
We remain lucky still on kaga -no losses, although some are experienced on Akagi

resistance is light -and shot down quickly.
One of our pilots gets another hudson
The horizon is full of storm clouds
I am very depressed -I have no honour today it seems.

[1275psi]

19/6/42
i spend yet another day on 5 minute alert
Frustrating

Our mighty hammer reaches out to espirito today, more AKs sunk -and a sub -good

We are informed that the BB Hiei and haruna have ppounded Noumea harbour, sinking 2 more tankers, 2 more APs, and a destroyer

But there is no celebration onboard today -the allies are crowing on the radio of a savage defeat of our army near Port moresby.

can this be true?
I sleep , but barely -all of us are deeply disturbed.