Small Ship, Big War - The Voyages of the Hibiki

[Cuttlefish]

February 27, 1945

Location: 40 miles off Matsue
Course: Northeast
Attached to: TF 31
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 0
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 425

Orders: Escort damaged ships to Maizuru

---

Lieutenant Miharu knocks politely at the door of Ishii’s cabin. He hears a muffled “enter” from within and does so, holding a sheaf of personnel reports.

“Ah, the reports,” says Ishii. “Thank you, Exec.” He takes the papers and looks through them quickly, then sets them on his desk next to a battered old baseball glove. Lieutenant Miharu eyes the glove curiously.

“Just reminiscing,” says the captain when he notices. He picks up the glove and puts it back in the locker that sits under his narrow fold-down bed. “They aren’t going to play baseball this year, you know. They’ve kept the league going for morale but they cancelled the end of last season and won’t play at all this year.”

“Even if there were anyone left to play it would be dangerous to gather a crowd of people in a ballpark to watch them,” says Miharu. “With the bombing going on, I mean.”

Ishii looks slightly scandalized. “Surely the Americans would not bomb a baseball stadium!” he says.

“Well, perhaps not deliberately,” says the lieutenant, “but their big bombers do not aim with great precision.”

“Bomb a baseball stadium,” Ishii mutters. “Might as well bomb a church. I’ve heard that’s why Nagasaki hasn’t been bombed, in fact, because of all the Christians and their churches there.”

“The Americans have a wide sentimental streak,” says Lieutenant Miharu, “but they are quite able to set that aside. If they thought that winning the war required it I am sure they would bomb Santa Claus.”

“Santa Claus?” says Ishii. “Who the devil is that?”

"He's the elf who delivers toys to good little girls and...." he breaks off when he sees Ishii eyeing him strangely. "Never mind, sir, it's a long story."

[Cuttlefish]

February 28, 1945

Location: Maizuru
Course: None
Attached to: TF 27
Mission: Air Combat
System Damage: 0
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475

Orders: See below

---

Maizuru has a deep and scenic harbor and has been one of the Imperial Japanese Navy’s most important bases ever since the Russo-Japanese war. It is Hibiki’s first visit here since the war began but the crew is given no time to look around. The task force disbands as soon as they enter the harbor and new orders arrive almost at once.

“We are to be one of six destroyers tasked with escorting carrier Ryujo to Saigon,” Ishii tells his officers. “We depart tomorrow. The Navy wants no time wasted in getting the carrier away from Japan before the enemy’s carriers return.”

“Saigon?” asks Lieutenant Sugiyura. “Why Saigon, sir?”

“Because that is where the rest of our carriers are, apparently,” says Ishii. “The importance of getting Ryujo through undamaged has been stressed to me, gentlemen. We do not have all that many flight decks left and we will need every one of them if the British attempt to outflank the Mandalay Line by sea.”

This is a new thought for Hibiki’s officers. They have been so long away from the war on the mainland that most of them had all but forgotten it was still going on.

“All we will have time to do is refuel, I am afraid. Lieutenant Sakati, how are the engines?”

“They’ll get us there, sir,” says Sakati, “have no worries about that.”

Ishii nods and dismisses his men to get ready. Saigon was Hibiki’s first port of call after the war started. The journey there now will be much more dangerous than it was back in December 1941.

[John 3rd]

The Japanese still hold Mandalay.  Wow!  Don't let the Allies talk with my Forlorn Hopes opponent or the Japanese are truly in trouble over there...
 

[Capt. Harlock]

“Because that is where the rest of our carriers are, apparently,” says Ishii. “The importance of getting Ryujo through undamaged has been stressed to me, gentlemen. We do not have all that many flight decks left and we will need every one of them if the British attempt to outflank the Mandalay Line by sea.”

This is a new thought for Hibiki’s officers. They have been so long away from the war on the mainland that most of them had all but forgotten it was still going on.

Ahh -- I've been wondering about the war in the Burma-India theater. But it strikes me that Saigon is a bit far to react to an amphibious invasion near Rangoon.

[Cuttlefish]

March 1, 1945

Location: Off Ikitsuki
Course: Southwest
Attached to: TF 27
Mission: Air Combat
System Damage: 0
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 432

Orders: Escort Ryujo to Saigon

---

The task force gets underway as scheduled and a day later find themselves off scenic Ikitsuki. As dusk draws near the Japanese ships prepare to transit the Tsushima Strait and enter the East China Sea.

For the first day, at least, the six destroyers and their charge have no troubles. This is well. The fortunes have war have greatly magnified Ryujo’s importance to the Japanese. The small but capable carrier was of secondary consideration back when the war started. But with so many carriers lost every flight deck is now valuable.

But this is just the first day of a long voyage. Enemy submarines are occasionally spotted in the Tsushima Strait and they are almost always present in the East China Sea and around Formosa. Everyone’s greatest fear, however, is that they will run afoul of an enemy carrier sweep ahead of an invasion of Okinawa or the Philippines. It would be sheer bad luck were that to happen, of course, but that does not mean it could not occur. It might startle Hibiki's crew if they knew that the talk on the other ships is that such a thing is unlikely with Hibiki in the task force. Or, others suggest more darkly, if it did happen the enemy planes would ignore Hibiki and target them instead.

[Cuttlefish]

March 2, 1945

Location: 170 miles east-southeast of Shanghai
Course: South
Attached to: TF 27
Mission: Air Combat
System Damage: 0
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 396

Orders: Escort Ryujo to Saigon

---

“Hey, you remember that bar in Saigon we used to hang out at?”

“No, never been to Saigon. I came on board later.”

“That’s right. Hey, Ariga, what was the name of that place in Saigon?”

“Give me some more rice and I’ll tell you. Thanks. Le Matelot d’Ivre, I think. French name.”

“That was it! Anyway, there was this girl there. I don’t remember her name, but she had the most beautiful eyes. I wonder if she’s still there?”

“That was more than three years ago. She’s probably married and has a kid now.”

“They’re never still there, and if they are they are never as pretty as you remember. Don’t get your hopes up.”

“Hey, a guy can dream, can’t he?”

“Can you kiss a dream?”

“It’s been a long war. If Yoshitake wants to dream, let him dream.”

“I’m dreaming of some more of that fish. Pass it down here.”

“It’s all gone.”

“Damn. So much for dreams.”

---

Task force 27:

[Hornblower]

Only 14 planes.  Hows the Pilot / plane situation?   Good luck, i hope there are no USN CV's on react nearby.. Good luck

[Marc gto]

i think the ryujo would be just a snack

[Capt. Harlock]

It might startle Hibiki's crew if they knew that the talk on the other ships is that such a thing is unlikely with Hibiki in the task force. Or, others suggest more darkly, if it did happen the enemy planes would ignore Hibiki and target them instead.

I doubt it would startle Ishii or Shun. They must know that Hibiki has a reputation by now -- it's good to have her for an escort, but bad to have her in a combat TF.

[Cuttlefish]

March 3, 1945

Location: 60 miles southeast of Taipei
Course: South
Attached to: TF 27
Mission: Air Combat
System Damage: 0
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 353

Orders: Escort Ryujo to Saigon

---

Yoshitake is seated cross-legged on the metal deck plates across from Riku. He is about to lay down a card when Benzaiten comes coiling down a pipe and across the floor. Riku hastily picks up his cards as the snake slithers between them and over towards his box.

“Hey Snake Man,” calls Yoshitake. “Your wandering pet has returned.” There is a stir in a hammock slung overhead and Oizuma’s face peers down.

“So she has,” Oizuma says. He rolls out of his hammock and goes over to the elaborate inlaid box that is the python’s home. Benzaiten is already inside and the others can hear a faint dry slithering as the snake moves about inside.

“There you are,” says Oizuma to the snake. “Did you find any tasty rodents while you were out?” He reaches in to lift her out and the others hear a loud and distinct hiss from within. Oizuma pulls his hand back quickly.

“She nipped at me!” he says, startled. He peers in more closely. “She seems really agitated. What’s gotten into you, snake?”

“She’s a woman,” says Riku. “They all get like this sometimes. Best thing is to just take no offense and let it go. She’ll be back to herself after a while.”

“Thus speaks the old married man!” says Yoshitake. “Listen to him, Snake Man, he is an expert on the subject.” Oizuma turns reluctantly away.

“I guess so,” he says, “but I’ve hardly ever seen her like this before. Usually she is as gentle as a dove. I wonder what’s gotten into her?”

[thegreatwent]

Uh oh... Dark omens.[X(]

[John 3rd]

Let us hope she is simply...pregnant...

[kaleun]

And who is the father? Do tell.
I have a baaad feeling about this[:(]

[Cuttlefish]

March 4, 1945

Location: 60 miles south of Takao
Course: South
Attached to: TF 27
Mission: Air Combat
System Damage: 0
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 318

Orders: Escort Ryujo to Saigon

---

“I see it,” says Lieutenant Commander Laird, commander of submarine Blackfin, as he peers through the periscope. “It’s a destroyer. Too dark to be sure, but I think it’s a Fubuki-class.” Blackfin had picked up the Japanese task force on radar a couple of hours ago. After hurrying to get into position the submarine now has a target in her sights.

Up on the surface it is a dark, cloudy night. A stiff breeze has whipped up a moderate chop, but hovering at periscope depth the submarine’s crew takes no notice of this. More important, there is no sign that the Japanese ships have any idea that they are here.

Laird orders all six forward tubes loaded. A firing solution is calculated. It is an almost ideal attack against an unaware target. It is likely that all these destroyers are guarding an even more valuable prize but the Japs are moving too fast for Blackfin to try and find it. Laird knows he has only one shot and he does not intend to waste it. And he isn’t going to mind adding a Jap tin can to his score, not one bit.

Laird peers into the telescope and laconically orders all six tubes fired. He does not add “Sayonara, Jap” or anything like that – he’s a professional and doesn’t need feel the need for bravado – but he knows his business and doesn’t give that destroyer out there a chance in hell of surviving this attack. He lowers the periscope and orders the submarine to dive. The other destroyers out there are not going to be happy when his torpedoes find their target.

---

Lieutenant Miharu comes back onto the bridge and peers ahead through the oversized night vision binoculars at the next destroyer ahead in the column. Hibiki is currently bringing up the rear of the three destroyers screening Ryujo’s port side.

“We’re about seven hundred and fifty meters back,” he says to Ensign Konada, who currently has the helm. He does not raise his voice – he almost never does – but there is a note in it that indicates he is not pleased. “What interval are we supposed to maintain, Ensign?”

“Five hundred meters, sir,” Konada replies promptly, sweating a little.

“Some destroyers,” the ship’s executive officer observes, “wander away from station. Some destroyers have trouble maintaining the proper course and speed. This destroyer, Ensign Konada, is not one of them. Is that clear?”

“Sir, yes it is sir,” says Konada, sweating a little more now. The young officer is finding out the hard way that conning a ship is as much art as it is science. Konada has methodically studied the subject but despite knowing all the rules and principles it is no easy trick keeping Hibiki on station on a dark night with a quartering sea.

“This ship has a lot of power,” says Lieutenant Miharu a touch more gently. “Don’t hesitate to use it.” He rings the engine room and orders all ahead three-quarters. Hibiki rumbles as the engines respond and the destroyer begins to pick up speed.

---

Aboard Blackfin they mark the time to target. No explosions result. Laird orders the submarine back to periscope depth and does not immediately see their target. Then he finds it, a good two hundred yards ahead of where it should be. It is maintaining its course, though, apparently completely unaware of the attack.

The destroyer is now receding into the darkness and there is no chance of a second attack. Laird’s mouth narrows to a thin line but he says nothing. He orders a contact report broadcast and then Blackfin resumes the search for targets. There will be other days, other chances. It’s a long war.

---

[Cuttlefish]

Note on the last entry: can anyone spot the odd historical parallel here? It makes Hibiki’s latest narrow escape even more weird.

My opponent’s only comment after this turn was “Man, that is one lucky little ship.”

[String]

ORIGINAL: Cuttlefish

Note on the last entry: can anyone spot the odd historical parallel here? It makes Hibiki’s latest narrow escape even more weird.

My opponent’s only comment after this turn was “Man, that is one lucky little ship.”

Survivors, generally, tend to be the lucky ones [;)]

[Capt. Harlock]

My opponent’s only comment after this turn was “Man, that is one lucky little ship.”

I imagine Wolffpack's mouth narrowed to a thin line even as Blackfin's commander's did . . .[:D]

[Feinder]

Much earlier in "Small ship, big war"...
-F-

ORIGINAL: rtrapasso

ORIGINAL: Terminus

Cool idea... If you wanted a "lucky ship", you could also have chosen the Shigure; she lasted nearly the whole war through plenty of battles that saw horrendous casualties on the IJN side.

Yep - she was SOLE survivor in two major battles, iirc. At one point she went into drydock for steering problems, and found a nice round torpedo sized hole in it - where an USN torpedo had failed to detonate... but even her luck ran out eventually (a sub got her, iirc).

EDIT: from her TROM:
"24 January 1945:
Sunk: Torpedoed by USS BLACKFIN (SS-322) in Gulf of Siam, 160 miles east of Khota Bharu, Malaya (06 N, 103-48 E). Sank in 10 minutes with 37 killed, 17 injured; 270 survivors, including Lieutenant Commander Hagiwara (to C.O. KASHI), rescued by KANJU and MIYAKE."

[marky]

Hibiki has always been a lucky ship but good grief! that late in the war with a 6 fish spread and no hits? Ishii and company should be in Davy Jones Locker[:D]

[Hornblower]

i was on pins and needles for that one