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Minobes hunch was right

The order to sail came without preamble, "be at point x by time y, doing course z, at speed yada yada.
If only so simple.
Akizuki and her sisters leave takao in the deep dark, Hibiki not so lucky, she has apparently broken something
They shake themselves into a line abreast formation, and head south towards that distant X.
But to get there is going to require some revolutions, and then some

now it is dawn, and she moves swiftly at 30 knots, bone in her teeth.
'All good below Engines?" Minobe is lounging in his chair
Kizuka nods, hanging on beside him, The destroyers movements cannot by any stretch be called comfortable at the moment, spray sweeping up and onto the bridge with every swell
"Yes, but you are being a greedy pig with fuel Captain"
Minobe grins...'All good, we will be back to 12 knots in ten minutes"
he pokes a thumb back towards where they have come
'We have to wait for the rest, I think"
"the rest?"
Everybody, I believe, every bloody body"

The argument in ISE's wardroom is both loud and angry (as loud arguments usually are). It has not yet gotten to the ugly stage, but it well might.
The argument, as has been so many times before, concerns the "decisive battle"
What does it actually mean, what would it look like, what, if even possible, could you call a victory?
One third of the wardroom , it seemed to LT Tokiwana, expected nothing less than a Tsushima.
Another Third, destruction of the next invasion fleet
And some, destruction of some of the enemy.

The only common point it seemed, was the agreement that enough Americans had to die to force their public to think the war was costing too much, and give up.
Lt Tokiwana sat mostly quiet in the corner, watching the words fly back and forth.

Who knew, really?, what Victory might mean, he certaintly knew what defeat would mean.

His home, that little building overlooking Kure harbour, its vegetable patch, the little track leading down the hill, the little dam for the creek, all blasted to bits by bombardment , bombing, or both.
And what of his wife?, she could never cope...

Victory
A nice word, but how to come to grips with such an elusive foe, such a cautious Amarican who never risked anything?
Thats what the Argument should be about, before talk of "Victory"

Moulimien front

Wantambe is awoken abruptly, a lumpy hessian bag falling into his lap.
Wo Goto Grins, looking down at him
'Dont open it until you are out of sight in the beast "
"Oh, what is it?"
"Food you fool"
"Food?, where they hell did you get it from?"

"Stole it of course you idiot", now get in, so we can eat"

carrier support group 3
deep in the Heart of the South China sea

There are two Asada's here
2Nd Lt Asada on the Junyo, fighter pilot, currently kicking his heels on the bridge of Junyo, watching with a critical eye the TBDs lumber aloft for ASW patrol, and Smn Asada, deck hand on Shoho, who is currently helping launch her TBD's
for their ASW patrols.
One is sweating profusely, the other , not quite so much, but both sweat.

About them the sea glimmers, and the steady beat of aero engines fills the air, not only TBDs are out searching, but the louder, shriller sounds of multiple Pete floatplanes occasionally buzz by.
Reports are coming in, the hidden Bukas are about.

They have been beaten by the ASW patrols so far this war, harrassed, bombed, driven deep and away.
Both Asada's hope deeply, that this continues...

204 KUS-1 does not fly today

It rains
If you know what the tropics are like, that statement is enough

Pilot officer Asada launches of the deck of Junyo.
His fighter wobbles somewhat as he clears the deck and begins to climb away
As always, he lets out a big breath, and tries to relax from the tension every take off gives him

At almost the same time, PO kanda clears the strip a couple of hundred miles to the south of him, climbing rapidly awy from the dust below him

It is worthy to note the two flights
For Asada, this is his mere 16th mission since completing his training. One day, given time I suppose, he might make a good pilot.
Kanda is elite, 300 plus missions to his name

Asada grips the stick far too tightly, his movements are jerky, and he is continously over correcting, his feet on the rudders continously dancing, the zero more fishtailing through the air than flying

Kanda barely touches his, often 2 fingers are enough, and everything is smooth, smooth , smooth

Before manouvering, Asada actually still has to think it through, stick this way, this foot in, look thais way, watch that horizon. Nothing at this stage comes easily.
Kanda simply invisions his plane in such a such position, and it happens. No thought given, his plane needs to go There, and there it will go.

Asada spends far too much time looking ahead, watching his trim. Up and behind?. Sometimes, if the air isnt too rough....
Kanda's head sits on a swivel, and his eyes miss nothing

I suppose Asada will get to be a good pilot one day.
He's going to need a lot of luck though

28 June 44

Aligning machinery is a skill. A real skill. For first class Fitter ban, working deep in the port engine room of Hyuga, this one is his greatest challenge

The Blast of the torpedo that struck so many, many months ago has wrecked the port propulsion train. The gearbox fortunately has survived intact.
The shaft has now been replaced.
But the turbine, destroyed by overspeed caused by the shock, has to be replaced as well.
Now it sits on its foundations, literally a dozen heavy block and tackles supporting it. It has been no easy journey getting it here, and above Ban the welding on the "soft patches" is well underway.
But that doesnt concern Ban

He and his team have to get this turbine perfectly aligned with its gearbox coupling
perfectly.
15 Tons of metal, to be moved to within a thousandth of an inch.
He wipes his brow.
Where to begin?
At the beginning, of course

Not for the first time today WO Eto curses fate, Kaga, and above all Japanese Aero designers

The Jill, this version, the Mk2, is a good plane
Fast, capable of carrying a big torpedoe, and quite well liked by its pilots for its handling, she has has one almost fatal flaw.
Hanger Queen.
Hanger Bitch in Eto's eyes
14 of them currently are crowded into kaga's hanger, and 4!, damn it, 4! are unavailable.
2 require engine changes. 1 leaks hydraulics from heavens knows where.
One needs a new wing
Something (well years of experience) tells Eto that they will need a week to get them ready

Genda will be not well pleased...

There is no bombing of Moulmien today

Instead the allied planes stream south, Port Blair the target.

Rumours sweep 18th division, are the allies about to land south of them, and cut them off?
Goto goes and finds out

Later that night he is able to spread his own version of gossip

"Port Blair holds, the allies only brought a regiment, not nearly enough, I think High Command is reinforceing"
Wo Goto's sources are, as always a secret
But essentially, tonight, he is correct

From the aft conning tower on Ise, Lt Tokiwana has a fine view of the air ops taking place on her flightdeck.
The conning tower used to be the aft turrets gunnery control, this gear is gone, replaced with not much really, an extra platform, some search lights, and radio gear.

But from here the floatplanes are assigned, guided, and permissioned to launch
Its a fascinating process to the gunnery man
Each Rex sits on a wheeled cradle, these on essentially railway tracks.
The process is painfully manual
A plane is readied at its station, fuel, ammo. Then a great team of men push it along the tracks to a position alongside the great catapult.
A big crane lifts it free, swings it to another special cradle on the catapult
The pilot painfully climbs aboard
The engine starts, than, it seems to Tokiwana an intermitable wait, and bang!, it is flung into the sky
Currently 9 of the floatplanes circle the fleet, searching, searching

They give all who see them a feeling of confidence. They have elite pilots, and have scored already this war.
Tokiwana almost pities any allied magoo that comes within their range

extract from "To do glorious battle" from all good book stores

Page 244

Now deep in the south China sea, Japans Navy begins to concentrate.
The greatest threat is of course, allied Submarines. No less than 6 are known to be operating to the fleets south, and at least a dozen more in phillipine waters themselves. For Goto, this is one of the "tells". With every operation the Americans have conducted in the last year, the submarines have been used to try to isolate the invasion area

Now the SS packs lurk near Jolo island, or to the East of Minandao, off the suriago straight. The bombing intesifies
But Goto needs his hunch to be right, there is too little fuel for it to be wrong