Cuttlefish
Posts: 2454
Joined: 1/24/2007
From: Oregon, USA
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May 10, 1943
Location: 175 miles east of Normanby Island
Course: Northeast
Attached to: TF 36
Mission: Surface combat
System Damage: 3
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 177
Orders: Screen bombardment force from enemy attack
---
“It’s very dark,” says Shiro. Standing in the forward 25mm gun tub beside him Taiki concentrates on peering through his binoculars and does not reply. It is, in fact, very dark. The moon is a slender crescent and it and the stars are mostly obscured by cloud cover anyway. Gili Gili is now some five miles ahead. Aboard Hibiki and every other ship in the task force eyes are straining through the night, seeking any irregularity against the almost invisible horizon or any deeper shadow against the blackness of the sea.
“It’s very dark,” says Ensign Izu. He is standing on the port observation wing, peering through a set of the big 21 cm. binoculars. Standing beside him is Riku, peering through a pair of hand held binoculars. Suddenly Riku lowers the binoculars and cocks his head to one side.
“Keep a sharp look…” begins Izu, catching sight of him out of the corner of his eye.
“Shh!” hisses Riku in response. Izu is so shocked at being addressed this way by an ordinary seaman that he does not respond for a moment. And by then he hears it too. Somewhere out in the night, over the rumble of Hibiki’s own engines, comes the higher-pitched sound of Packard gasoline-fueled engines at high power.
“Enemy torpedo boats!” he yells. “Engine sounds from the port side!”
From another destroyer a searchlight stabs out as a lookout spots a phosphorescent wake. An enemy torpedo boat is caught in the beam for a moment. It slips away, and then the beam steadies on it again.
“Searchlights!” commands Captain Ishii from the bridge. Hibiki’s own searchlights send out spears of light, and suddenly the night is alive with the sound of engines and the roar of guns. Enemy torpedo boats seem to be everywhere.
“Course change 70 degrees to port!” snaps Ishii, aware that enemy torpedoes must already be in the water. As Hibiki makes the turn her searchlights pick out a torpedo boat heading in towards the task force. Hibiki plunges straight towards it. Guns fire aboard the PT boat and a line of splashes erupts in the water close off Hibiki’s starboard side.
“Open fire!” commands the captain. Gunnery officer Kuwaki needs no further urging. A moment later the forward 5” turret roars. Kuwaki watches the shots erupt behind the fast-moving boat and orders a correction. The second volley also misses, but the third is a direct hit. The PT boat bursts into flames.
Ishii orders another course change, and Hibiki, water curling away from her bow, sweeps past the burning boat. As they pass the starboard 25mm and 13mm guns open fire, raking the torpedo boat and leaving it to sink.
Hibiki continues back around in a sweeping turn, seeking new targets. Out of the darkness a destroyer suddenly looms ahead. It is down at the stern and dead in the water. Fires are licking from the aft superstructure.
“Hard to port!” yells the captain. Hibiki clears the stricken ship by thirty meters.
“That was Mikazuki, sir,” says Lieutenant Miharu in a tight voice. Ishii nods grimly. Hibiki continues around and rejoins the bulk of the task force, which is now in some disarray. The firing lessens as the surviving enemy boats withdraw. The torpedo boat Hibiki hit has sunk, but another PT boat continues to burn not too far away.
“Sir,” calls a lookout. “More torpedo boats, dead ahead!” Captain Ishii curses and orders Hibiki forward, ahead of Kongo and the cruisers.
This enemy squadron is coming straight in and does not seem to have spotted the Japanese ships yet. The darkness works against both sides.
“Target the ship on the far right,” orders Captain Ishii. “Fire!” Hibiki’s guns fire again, and despite the confusion and the darkness her gunnery is excellent. Four 5” shells tear into the PT boat in less than a minute, destroying the small craft.
“New target,” calls Ishii. “Bearing 30 degrees to port.” The order is relayed to Kuwaki, and Hibiki fires again. The enemy is straddled. Rather than slug it out with the destroyer this torpedo boat turns and speeds away into the darkness.
Other PT boats have closed with the Japanese ships and begin to return fire. From somewhere there is an explosion as another destroyer is hit by a torpedo. Captain Ishii orders Hibiki around in a tight turn. As she comes about he catches kaleidoscopic glimpses of the fight, including the image of one enemy boat racing alongside Kongo. A minnow attacking a whale, it futilely but defiantly rakes the battleship with its machine guns as it passes. Another torpedo boat explodes as a shell from a Japanese destroyer ignites its volatile avgas tank.
Again the surviving torpedo boats withdraw, chased by a final few shells from the Japanese ships. Looking around Captain Ishii is shocked to see that there are now only four destroyers still in the fight, and two of these have fires and other damage. Burning patches of oil are scattered on the water and flaming wreckage from torpedo boats dots the ocean.
“More torpedo boats, 2000 meters to port!” yells a lookout. Captain Ishii runs a hand across his face, then orders Hibiki to turn and meet the threat.
Most of the fire from this new attack is directed at disabled Mikazuki, by now left behind and to port of the main body. Other ships are hit before the disorganized Japanese destroyers can begin to fire back. At this point Kongo, the untouched giant at the center of the battle, has apparently had enough. Her big guns swing to port and fire, ripping the night apart. Huge geysers of water erupt among the oncoming torpedo boats. Kongo fires again, and one torpedo boat has the staggering misfortune to be hit by two 14” shells. The projectiles pass completely through the boat without detonating but the sheer kinetic impact, followed by the underwater detonation of the shells, tears the enemy craft apart. The remaining torpedo boats turn and flee.
No further threats emerge. Captain Koyanaji’s ships regroup as the bombardment group sweeps past a couple of miles to the north and begins to lob shells at Gili Gili.
Kongo and the three cruisers are untouched. Yugumo has taken a torpedo and some cannon fire. She reports 27 dead and many injured. Kasasagi has been hit hard by machine gun and cannon fire and has suffered heavy casualties. Kagero is down at the bows from a torpedo hit.
Mikazuki has already slipped beneath the waves. Hibiki and Tachikaze, the only undamaged destroyers, pull survivors from the water. Soon Hibiki’s decks are crowded with miserable, oil-fouled refugees. It is not easy to tell who is being pulled out the water in the darkness, and two American sailors end up aboard as well. Captain Ishii orders they be given the same comforts as the Japanese survivors but puts them under armed guard.
Off in the distance the bombardment ends. The night is waning and it is time to depart. Yugumo and Kasasagi limp into position, but it is obvious that there is no way Kagero can keep up. Aboard Kongo Captain Koyanaji reluctantly orders that Kagero be left behind.
Hibiki remains as the other ships depart and comes alongside Kagero to take aboard her wounded. These men will be transferred to the larger ships when time permits. During the operation Commander Arimoto, Kagero’s captain, comes aboard briefly. He is met by Captain Ishii.
“Sir,” says Captain Ishii worriedly, “you can’t get out of aircraft range by daybreak.” Arimoto nods.
“I know,” he says. “We will have to hope Yamato and the others have done their job well. If not…well, please take this.” He hands Captain Ishii two letters. “These are for my wife and children. If it is necessary…”
“I will take care of it,” Ishii assures him. “But I hope to see you come into port behind us, sir. Good luck.” The two men salute, and Captain Arimoto returns to his ship. All the wounded are now aboard. Captain Ishii tucks the letters away and gives orders for Hibiki to rejoin the task force. The destroyer’s engines rumble as she picks up speed in the darkness, leaving Kagero and the site of the battle behind.
---
Hibiki picks up her first night experience point of the war and is now at 77/67 (began the war at 72/66).
The first screenshot is from the second round of the battle, as Hibiki sinks PT-110 (her first victim was PT-62). The second shows the summary from the third and final round of the fight.
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RE: Small Ship, Big War - 
Good job, Hibiki! 
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