Matrix Games Forums

Forums  Register  Login  Photo Gallery  Member List  Search  Calendars  FAQ 

My Profile  Inbox  Address Book  My Subscription  My Forums  Log Out

RE: Small Ship, Big War

 
View related threads: (in this forum | in all forums)

Logged in as: Guest
Users viewing this topic: none
  Printable Version
All Forums >> [Current Games From Matrix.] >> [World War II] >> War In The Pacific - Struggle Against Japan 1941 - 1945 >> After Action Reports >> RE: Small Ship, Big War Page: <<   < prev  53 54 [55] 56 57   next >   >>
Login
Message << Older Topic   Newer Topic >>
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 10/27/2007 1:45:39 AM   
1EyedJacks


Posts: 2244
Joined: 3/12/2006
From: The Eastern Sierras
Status: offline
Shun's gunna kill that guy...

_____________________________

TTFN,

Mike

(in reply to Cuttlefish)
Post #: 1621
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 10/27/2007 1:54:35 AM   
Lecivius


Posts: 4845
Joined: 8/5/2007
From: Denver
Status: offline
By the twitching of Okubo's thumbs, something wicked his way comes.

Great reading!  I can almost feel the humidity in the air

< Message edited by Lecivius -- 10/29/2007 8:03:25 PM >

(in reply to Cuttlefish)
Post #: 1622
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 10/27/2007 3:11:25 AM   
tocaff


Posts: 4781
Joined: 10/12/2006
From: USA now in Brasil
Status: offline
This really keeps getting better and better.  I look forward to each episode and have to admit to being disappointed when there isn't a new installment available.  Beware of Shun.....

_____________________________

Todd

I never thought that doing an AAR would be so time consuming and difficult.
www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=2080768

(in reply to Lecivius)
Post #: 1623
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 10/27/2007 7:36:47 PM   
Ol_Dog


Posts: 317
Joined: 2/23/2003
From: Southern Illinois
Status: offline

The current date in the game is July 24, 1943, so I'm almost six weeks behind right now.


I am glad to see we have at least another six weeks to look forward to -

_____________________________

Common Sense is an uncommon virtue.
If you think you have everything under control, you don't fully understand the situation.

(in reply to Cuttlefish)
Post #: 1624
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 10/27/2007 7:46:42 PM   
saj42


Posts: 1125
Joined: 4/19/2005
From: Somerset, England
Status: offline
Shun is a harsh diciplinarian (sp?) - Okubo is just a bully
I wonder how well Capt Ishii and Lt Miharu can turn a blind eye to the 'punishment' that Shun will soon be dishing out.

Go Hibiki !!!!

_____________________________


Banner by rogueusmc

(in reply to 1EyedJacks)
Post #: 1625
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 10/27/2007 9:23:08 PM   
Cuttlefish

 

Posts: 2454
Joined: 1/24/2007
From: Oregon, USA
Status: offline
June 14, 1943

Location: Rabaul
Course: Docked
Attached to: TF 36
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 1
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475

Orders: Await further orders

---

The Gulf of Siam, 1919, aboard the French steamer Hier:

Young Hagumu Ishii stands in the front rank of the ship’s crew being held at bay by the Malay pirates. Not far away the ship’s first officer kneels defiantly in a pool of blood, hands bound behind him, as one of the pirates lifts his axe for the first stroke. Behind them other pirates hold guns on the remaining officers. The faces of the officers look stricken and ghostly in the light of the lanterns.

Ishii does not think about it. He just knows that it is an intolerably unjust that a man who has shown the courage the first officer has should have his head hacked off as if he were a beast in a slaughterhouse. His instinct makes the decision to act before his intellect can overrule it.

The guard only a few steps from him has his head turned, watching and grinning as he waits for the axe to fall. Ishii steps forward and wrenches the heavy Lebel rifle out of his grip. He rams the barrel of the rifle into the guard’s stomach and pulls the trigger.

The sudden noise shocks everyone into immobility for a second. Ishii works the bolt, raises the rifle, and shoots the man with the axe through the head. The axe clatters to the deck as the pirate crumples.

Ishii sees sixteen armed pirates turn to face him. His intellect, a bit on the tardy side, informs him that he has acted rashly and is now in deep trouble. He fumbles with the rifle as he drops to one knee and tries to work the bolt again.

The French officer reacts more quickly than anybody. He rolls onto his back, the blood soaking into his white shirt, and kicks out at the axe. It slides towards the crew, leaving a bloody streak across the deck, and comes to rest at the feet of only other Japanese crewman on board. This is Shun, a member of the black gang. Shun stoops and grasps the axe as the pirates fire their first ragged volley into the crew. Several are hit. The man just behind Ishii screams and falls.

Shun stands, holding the bloody axe. “At them!” he roars in the polyglot French that is the lingua franca among the crew. “For your lives!” He springs up to where the leader of the pirates is holding a Mauser C96 machine pistol. The pirate tries to turn and bring the gun to bear on him but Shun moves with astonishing speed. His axe takes off the pirate’s right arm below the elbow, and then the back swing lays open the man’s throat.

The crew are a mixed lot. Besides the two Japanese there are Chinese, Malayans, a pair of Punjabis, and an Australian, among others. These men recognize that they must now kill or be killed and surge forward. Several fall, but the rest close with the pirates.

Ishii has gotten a grip on the rifle again and begins to fire steadily, picking off another pair of the pirates. Shun leaps onward, leaving someone else to pick up the Mauser, and wields the axe with great strokes. His terrible grin and bloody, upraised axe spreads terror among the pirates facing him. The ship’s cook, a Gurkha, appears from somewhere wielding a kukri. With a ululating cry he hurls himself into the fray, spreading more fear and death.

The pirates are a tough bunch. There is little of violence that they have not seen, but they cannot stand against this. Panic spreads among them, and with that the crew’s victory is assured. Six of the crew are killed and several more injured, but in the end the last four pirates fling themselves over the side and swim for it.

Ishii stands holding the rifle and looks over the blood-washed deck, which is a macabre sight in the light of the slowly swaying lanterns. Now that the battle is over reaction sets in and his hands begin to tremble. Shun appears in front of him. The stocky, powerful man’s shirt is splashed with blood. The two young men look at each other for a moment.

They have spoken together on the journey, if only because it is good to hear another voice from home. Their very different backgrounds have prevented a close friendship from forming, however. But now Shun grins and claps him on the shoulder.

“So, maybe there is something to this samurai ancestor business after all!” he says. “You showed more guts than sense, but damn, that was well done!” He looks positively cheerful. Ishii stares at him for a long moment, his eyes still wide, then carefully sets down the rifle. He is able to make it to the rail before he starts to vomit.

---

Rabaul, 1943:

Chief Petty Officer Shun does not drink much. He likes to drink, but he is a man of iron discipline who knows that sometimes if he has too much to drink bad things happen. A cup of sake every now and then helps him think, however, and right now he is sitting in the corner of a gloomy bar in Rabaul sipping at the sake and thinking. There are a few other sailors in the quiet place, but none from Hibiki.

Captain Ishii steps into the bar. As his eyes adjust to the dimness he spots Shun and walks over to him. He takes off his cap and sets it on the table and sits down. The waiter, always quick to spot an officer, promptly brings him a cup of sake.

Shun is not surprised to see the captain. The two men have known each other for a long time. Ishii sips his sake and the two men sit in silence for a while.

“Tell me, Captain,” Shun says at last is his low, growling voice, “what do you think of Seaman Ariga?” Captain Ishii leans back in his chair and considers Shun for a moment.

“Speaking professionally, his evaluations are excellent,” says Ishii at last. “Lieutenant Kataoka cannot say enough good things about him. He is talented, works very hard, and always willing to help a shipmate.” He pauses and thinks for a moment. “If you had asked me eighteen months ago I would have said he was lazy and a bit of a shirker. But people change. The pressure of the war breaks some people, and it makes men out of others.

“And speaking otherwise?” asks Shun.

“Since you tried to kill him,” Ishii begins, and Shun winces slightly, “he has shown great courage and iron will in trying to become a better person. What he is trying to do, it is not easy. Many would fail. But I would say that today he is a good man, maybe even a promising one.” Shun gazes down at the table.

“You know why I dislike him,” he says. Ishii nods. “But I have taken pride in acting professionally towards him since…well, since…”

“Yes,” says Ishii. Shun sighs and continues.

“Yet I recently put him in a position where someone else would punish him,” says Shun. “If it were anyone else I would not have done it, or I would have done something to make sure my actions did not come back on him.” Captain Ishii nods. He does not know the whole story, but Miharu and Kataoka have recently spoken and Ishii knows something of what has gone on.

“And what will you do about that, Chief?” asks Captain Ishii. Both men know that this is not a matter of regulations. It is about honor, a deeper and more serious matter altogether.

“I have to make it right,” says Shun. Captain Ishii says nothing. Shun raises his head and looks at him.

“My daughter likes him,” he says, and there is stress in his voice.

“For what it is worth,” Ishii says, “I think Minori would have liked him a great deal,” Shun stirs. He never speaks of his dead wife, and Ishii seldom mentions her. After a moment Shun nods slowly.

“Perhaps,” he says. After this the two men do not speak for a while. They sit and sip their sake, each thinking his own thoughts. Overhead a fan slowly twirls, doing little to stir the humid tropical air.



(in reply to Cuttlefish)
Post #: 1626
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 10/27/2007 10:01:49 PM   
1EyedJacks


Posts: 2244
Joined: 3/12/2006
From: The Eastern Sierras
Status: offline
Hey Cuttlefish - what was the name of that fortune teller again? I might want to hunt him up for a reading... I still think Shun is gunna kill that guy - <laughter>.

Very cool plot - thanx!

Please add me to the list for a final copy - hopefully after your game gets thru 1946

_____________________________

TTFN,

Mike

(in reply to Cuttlefish)
Post #: 1627
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 10/28/2007 1:29:28 AM   
Capt. Harlock


Posts: 5358
Joined: 9/15/2001
From: Los Angeles
Status: offline
quote:

Hey Cuttlefish - what was the name of that fortune teller again? I might want to hunt him up for a reading... I still think Shun is gunna kill that guy


My humble bet is no. Shun believes he himself is partly responsible for what happened.

BTW, Cuttleffish, that was a great flashback scene to the Malay pirates. When a Gurkha shows up with a kukri, the other side is in deep trouble.

_____________________________

Civil war? What does that mean? Is there any foreign war? Isn't every war fought between men, between brothers?

--Victor Hugo

(in reply to 1EyedJacks)
Post #: 1628
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 10/28/2007 5:55:48 AM   
princep01

 

Posts: 943
Joined: 8/7/2006
From: Texas
Status: offline
Oh, no, Shun would not kill a fellow Petty Officer.  However, Okubo (may his tribe dwindle) may soon learn that many unfortunate accidents happen in times of war.   Some of these mishaps are fatal; all are painful.

(in reply to Capt. Harlock)
Post #: 1629
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 10/29/2007 6:09:09 PM   
Feinder


Posts: 6589
Joined: 9/4/2002
From: Land o' Lakes, FL
Status: offline
I hadn't been aboard Hibiki in a few days, and getting caught up with the latest happenings has been such a pleasure.

I don't know how you can -continue- writing good stuff constantly.  I get a brain-burp and can throw down a few moving paragraphs, but that's it.  I'm done.  The next installments are invariably much less inspired and ultimately suck in comparison.

I don't know you do CF, but keep it up!
-F-

_____________________________

"It is obvious that you have greatly over-estimated my regard for your opinion." - Me


(in reply to Cuttlefish)
Post #: 1630
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 10/29/2007 10:01:43 PM   
Cuttlefish

 

Posts: 2454
Joined: 1/24/2007
From: Oregon, USA
Status: offline
June 15, 1943

Location: Rabaul
Course: Docked
Attached to: TF 36
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 1
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475

Orders: Await further orders

---

It is fairly late. In the machine space behind the forward ammunition hoist several hammocks sway gently with the rocking of the ship. Riku lies in one of them, thinking. Shiro sits nearby on the floor, and Riku can hear the scratching of a pen as Shiro bends over a notebook. Faint sounds of machinery do nothing to hide the snoring of someone asleep in another hammock, and now and then comes a faint rustling as one of the snakes shifts in its crate.

“What do you think of Chokichi?” Riku suddenly asks Shiro. Shiro stops writing and looks up.

“Chokichi?” he says, confused. “There’s no one named Chokichi on board, is there?”

“No, no,” says Riku. “As a name for my first son.”

“Ah,” says Shiro. He notes that Riku does not mention the woman with whom he hopes to have these children. He wonders if Riku will have trouble breaking the habit of not talking directly about her or saying her name if he is ever released from his oath. “Well, a name that means ‘good fortune’ seems very appropriate,” is all he says.

“That’s what I thought,” says Riku. He turns and looks down at Shiro. “What are you doing down there, anyway?”

“Oh,” says Shiro, “I am trying to practice my writing. I think if I am ever going to write that book I need to improve a great deal.” He frowns down at his notebook. “I don’t think it is going very well, though.”

“Let’s hear something,” says Riku. “Maybe you are being too hard on yourself.”

“All right,” says Shiro. He clears his throat and begins to read. “We spent the early summer in Rabaul. Every one or two or three weeks we sailed to Gili Gili. That was dangerous, but the rest of the time we spent in port. It wasn’t a bad place, and we all liked the hot springs very much.” He stops and looks up at Riku.

“Well,” says Riku slowly. “It…”

“It stinks,” mumbles a voice from one of the other hammocks.

“Shut up, Yoshitake,” says Riku with a laugh. He addresses Shiro again. “It isn’t terrible, but it does sound like one of those essays we had to write in school about ‘my trip to the beach’ or something. It needs something to bring it to life, to make it feel to readers like they were there with us.”

“I know,” says Shiro with a sigh. “But I don’t know how to do that.”

“I don’t either,” says Riku. “But if you are serious I would talk to Lieutenant Miharu.”

“Talk to the Lieutenant!” says Shiro. “I could not bother him with something like this!”

“You would be surprised, I think,” says Riku. “I was in that English class he did, remember. He is a good teacher and the best educated man on the ship. I’ve heard he was a language instructor before the war. Not only that, but he likes to see people try to improve themselves even in ways that have nothing to do with fighting the war. I think he would be glad to help you.”

“Well,” says Shiro dubiously, “I guess all he would do for my presumption in asking is to have me clean the heads for a month or something.”

“That’s the spirit!” says Riku.


(in reply to Cuttlefish)
Post #: 1631
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 10/29/2007 10:02:56 PM   
Cuttlefish

 

Posts: 2454
Joined: 1/24/2007
From: Oregon, USA
Status: offline
June 16, 1943

Location: Rabaul
Course: Docked
Attached to: TF 36
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 1
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475

Orders: Await further orders

---

The harbor at Rabaul is crowded with Japanese warships and merchant vessels. There are three battleships, including Yamato and Musashi, and numerous cruisers and destroyers. A convoy of large tankers is in port, bringing in needed supplies of fuel. There are nearly twenty frieghters and transports.

Given this accumulation of what the enemy must obviously view as valuable targets, what happens during the afternoon is more than a bit of a mystery. For the fifth straight day no enemy planes appear to attack the airfield. In the early afternoon, however, the air raid warning sirens begin to sound. Anti-aircraft guns on shore and aboard ship are manned, and the gunners await the enemy.

Just coming back into the harbor from a morning anti-submarine sweep are four small patrol craft. These vessels are only about 150 feet long and are far from the most valuable targets available. Nonetheless eleven American type B-25 bombers appear over the hills and begin a determined attack run over the harbor with these ships as their target.

None of the Japanese watching can guess what orders these men have been given or why they are pursuing the sub chasers. That they have courage is unquestionable, however. The enemy planes are followed over the harbor by more than fifty Japanese fighters. Though fighters pick off six of them the remaining five, all damaged, stay on their targets.

The bombers are at six thousand feet, high enough to remain above the two volcanoes flanking the harbor entrance. They release their bombs, but the nimble little patrol craft evade them all. Trailing smoke and pursued by fighters, the surviving bombers swing out over the open sea and try to make their way back to Gili Gili. They are soon out of sight of the watchers in the harbor.


(in reply to Cuttlefish)
Post #: 1632
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 10/29/2007 10:31:49 PM   
Capt. Harlock


Posts: 5358
Joined: 9/15/2001
From: Los Angeles
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Cuttlefish

Just coming back into the harbor from a morning anti-submarine sweep are four small patrol craft. These vessels are only about 150 feet long and are far from the most valuable targets available. Nonetheless eleven American type B-25 bombers appear over the hills and begin a determined attack run over the harbor with these ships as their target.



Sounds like a major FUBAR at the American airfield . . .

_____________________________

Civil war? What does that mean? Is there any foreign war? Isn't every war fought between men, between brothers?

--Victor Hugo

(in reply to Cuttlefish)
Post #: 1633
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 10/29/2007 11:05:00 PM   
rtrapasso


Posts: 22653
Joined: 9/3/2002
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock


quote:

ORIGINAL: Cuttlefish

Just coming back into the harbor from a morning anti-submarine sweep are four small patrol craft. These vessels are only about 150 feet long and are far from the most valuable targets available. Nonetheless eleven American type B-25 bombers appear over the hills and begin a determined attack run over the harbor with these ships as their target.



Sounds like a major FUBAR at the American airfield . . .


Actually, sounds like a typical WITP naval attack mission...

(in reply to Capt. Harlock)
Post #: 1634
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 10/29/2007 11:18:40 PM   
Terminus


Posts: 41459
Joined: 4/23/2005
From: Denmark
Status: offline
Yup, that's not FUBAR, that's SNAFU...

_____________________________

We are all dreams of the Giant Space Butterfly.

(in reply to rtrapasso)
Post #: 1635
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 10/30/2007 2:47:29 AM   
Cuttlefish

 

Posts: 2454
Joined: 1/24/2007
From: Oregon, USA
Status: offline
June 17, 1943

Location: Rabaul
Course: Docked
Attached to: TF 36
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 1
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475

Orders: Await further orders

---

The old warehouse off the docks at Rabaul is mostly empty. Dust covers the floor and a few motes dance in the slanting rays of sunlight that come in through the narrow, dusty windows. Up in the rafters a few bats are asleep, hanging upside-down in the dimness.

A side door rattles, then creaks open. Chief Petty Officer Shun and Petty Officer Okubo step inside. Okubo looks around.

“What are we looking for here, Chief?” Okubo asks. Shun closes the door behind them.

“Nothing,” he says. “We are here to talk.” A slight feeling of disquiet creeps up Okubo’s spine. He has no idea what Shun might have against him, but the Chief has obviously not brought him to such a lonely spot to talk about the weather.

“Sure, Chief,” he says, trying to sound casual. “What are we going to talk about?” Shun paces slowly around to face Okubo.

“Relax, Okubo, I’m not going to hit you,” he says in his rumbling voice. Despite Shun’s assurance Okubo begins to sweat slightly. He has no idea where this is going, but it can’t be good. After a moment Shun continues. “I have hit you before, though, haven’t I?”

“Yes, Chief,” says Okubo.

“Tell me, did you ever figure out why I did that?” Okubo does not in fact really grasp why it happened, but he thinks he knows what Shun wants to hear.

“You correctly disciplined me for interfering with injured sailors getting food and treatment,” he says. He can see Shun smile grimly in the dim light.

“Yes,” says Shun. “But I should not have done it in front of ordinary seamen. It made you look weak in front of them and made it hard for you to feel in command, didn’t it?”

“Chief, I’m sure you took whatever action you thought was right,” Okubo says.

“Don’t bullshit me, Okubo,” growls Shun. “Tell me what you think, not what you think I want to hear.” Okubo swallows.

“In that case, yes,” he says. “You shouldn’t have done that in front of an enlisted man.” A note of resentment creeps into his voice. Shun nods.

“Good,” he says. “That is why you are going to hit me, Okubo.”

“Chief?”

“You heard me,” Shun says. “I owe you a punch. You get one for free, right now. Take your best shot.” Okubo thinks furiously, looking over this offer for traps. He has wanted to take a swing at Shun for a long time, but never thought he would have the chance. But he does not think this offer can be genuine. Shun watches him hesitate and growls. “Show some guts and do it,” he says. “I will not strike back.”

“All right,” says Okubo, finally realizing that even if it is a trick of some kind he has no choice. He takes a breath, lets it out, and balls his right hand into a fist. Then he puts everything he has into a right cross. Shun grunts and sways with the force of the blow, but does not move backwards even slightly.

“Not bad,” he says, rubbing his jaw. Okubo feels pain from the knuckles in his right hand. It was like hitting an anchor. Still, it was rather satisfying.

“That pays that debt,” says Shun. “Now I am going to tell you something.” He indicates the braid on Okubo’s sleeve. “That uniform is not to establish a pecking order so the strong can push around the weak. Wearing it is about your duty to your Emperor, your ship, and your shipmates.” Okubo starts to speak, but Shun cuts him off.

“Just listen,” says Shun. “When you stop being fair, when everyone on the ship can tell you favor some and are hard on others, that gets to be like rusted bearings. There’s friction and inefficiency. You were taught that. You should remember it. The Captain doesn’t like it when things stop working smoothly, and I don’t like it either.”

“Yes, Chief,” says Okubo. He has no doubt of what Shun is talking about.

“Good,” growls Shun. “Remember it. Or we will have another private talk, and you won’t enjoy that one nearly as much.” He gives Okubo a frightening smile. “I hope I am being clear.”

“Yes Chief, perfectly clear,” says Okubo quickly. Shun grunts, satisfied. There is one thing you can count on about men like Okubo, and that is that they understand threats perfectly well.


(in reply to Cuttlefish)
Post #: 1636
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 10/30/2007 2:59:42 AM   
Terminus


Posts: 41459
Joined: 4/23/2005
From: Denmark
Status: offline
From now on, I'm going to stop using superlatives. There simply aren't enough superlatives to describe this AAR.

_____________________________

We are all dreams of the Giant Space Butterfly.

(in reply to Cuttlefish)
Post #: 1637
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 10/30/2007 5:25:29 AM   
AU Tiger_MatrixForum


Posts: 1606
Joined: 10/9/2006
From: Deepest Dixie
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Terminus

From now on, I'm going to stop using superlatives. There simply aren't enough superlatives to describe this AAR.


I agree. This is the most superlativest AAR of them all!



< Message edited by AU Tiger -- 10/30/2007 6:43:57 AM >


_____________________________

"Never take counsel of your fears."

Tho. Jackson

(in reply to Terminus)
Post #: 1638
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 10/30/2007 6:13:14 PM   
kaleun

 

Posts: 5145
Joined: 5/29/2002
From: Colorado
Status: offline
I am back after a five day cold turkey withdrawal.
Agree on the superlatives; they would be superfluous and redundant!
I shall cease and desist!.

Sign me up for a copy!

_____________________________

Appear at places to which he must hasten; move swiftly where he does not expect you.
Sun Tzu

(in reply to AU Tiger_MatrixForum)
Post #: 1639
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 10/30/2007 6:20:40 PM   
Mike Solli


Posts: 15792
Joined: 10/18/2000
From: the flight deck of the Zuikaku
Status: offline
CF, what's the status/fate of the other 3 Akatsukis?

(in reply to kaleun)
Post #: 1640
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 10/30/2007 7:58:48 PM   
Cuttlefish

 

Posts: 2454
Joined: 1/24/2007
From: Oregon, USA
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

CF, what's the status/fate of the other 3 Akatsukis?


All three are still afloat, though none are currently present with Hibiki at Rabaul. Inazuma and Ikazuchi are known to be en route from the Home Islands, while Akatsuki is thought to be somewhere in the Marshalls (which probably means Kwajalein).

Inazuma was badly damaged during the Wake campaign a year ago but survived. The other two haven't been hurt. It might be interesting to check the experience levels of the other three ships and compare their gain during the war so far to Hibiki's.

(in reply to Mike Solli)
Post #: 1641
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 10/31/2007 2:07:31 AM   
Cuttlefish

 

Posts: 2454
Joined: 1/24/2007
From: Oregon, USA
Status: offline
June 18-21, 1943

Location: Rabaul
Course: Docked
Attached to: TF 36
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 1
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475

Orders: Await further orders

---

The next four days are quiet, both aboard Hibiki and at Rabaul in general. The skies remain clear of enemy planes and the Solomon Sea, currently the focus of both sides in the Pacific struggle, drowses under a watchful silence.

It has been nine days since the last major air raid. The Japanese begin to hope that the Allied effort to produce a crack in their defensive perimeter has been stymied. And if the enemy cannot succeed here, where they can bring their formidable air power to bear, how can they hope to succeed elsewhere while the Imperial Japanese Navy rules the seas?

These hopes, however, are about to be thoroughly dashed.


(in reply to Cuttlefish)
Post #: 1642
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 10/31/2007 2:10:00 AM   
Cuttlefish

 

Posts: 2454
Joined: 1/24/2007
From: Oregon, USA
Status: offline
June 22, 1943

Location: Rabaul
Course: Docked
Attached to: TF 36
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 1
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475

Orders: Await further orders

---

Second Lieutenant Iseya pilots his Mitsubishi Ki-46 reconnaissance plane northwest. This has been a restful patrol. Instead of dodging enemy fighters over Gili Gili he and Jurobei Sanda, his radio operator, have today been assigned to patrol over the Coral Sea and take a look for enemy ships. They haven’t seen anything but waves and water, and are now returning to Lae. Ahead looms the southern coast of New Guinea.

Visibility is excellent, not that there is anything to see. Between Port Moresby and Milne Bay at the tip of the peninsula is three hundred kilometers of nothing but mountains, swamps, and jungle. The Owen Stanley Range runs right down the middle of the peninsula all the way to the bay, and the land to either side is as wild and inaccessible as any place on earth.

Iseya will cross the coastline at Hood Bay, some seventy kilometers east of Port Moresby. As his plane approaches land, however, something catches his eye. It seems to him at first that he is viewing a giant column of ants on the march, a trail of movement stretching for miles up and down this remote area.

“Hey, Sanda!” he calls back through the camera bay to the rear compartment. “Take a look at this! And get the cameras ready!” He begins to drop down for a closer look. This cannot be what he thinks it is.

But it is. Enemy troops stretch in a line that covers miles. They are building a road as they go, spanning rivers, building causeways through swamps, and carving paths through the jungle. Behind the engineers are columns of infantry, lorries, tanks, and towed artillery. The road, a fresh brown line in the greenery, stretches out of sight back towards Gili Gili.

“Gods,” breaths Iseya as he takes in the amazing sight. He and Sanda overfly the column, taking pictures. They remain high enough to avoid most anti-aircraft fire. Iseya estimates that there may be as many as 75,000 troops on the march. Their progress may be slow, but it looks as though the 56th Division at Port Moresby will have a lot of company in a week or two.

---

This information has not yet reached Rabaul when the largest Allied air attack yet approaches the Japanese base. One hundred and fifty of the enemy’s B-24 bombers come in, escorted by over eighty fork-tailed fighters. The Japanese put up almost as many fighters in response.

The following air battle results in the loss of over thirty Allied planes. Some twenty Japanese fighters are lost in the air, and another forty are destroyed on the ground. Damage to the airfields, hangers, and other facilities is heavy.


(in reply to Cuttlefish)
Post #: 1643
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 10/31/2007 2:10:47 AM   
ny59giants


Posts: 9869
Joined: 1/10/2005
Status: offline
I think its called "the calm before the storm."  

_____________________________


(in reply to Cuttlefish)
Post #: 1644
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 10/31/2007 2:13:42 AM   
Cuttlefish

 

Posts: 2454
Joined: 1/24/2007
From: Oregon, USA
Status: offline
June 23, 1943

Location: Rabaul
Course: Docked
Attached to: TF 36
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 1
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475

Orders: Screen bombardment forces from enemy attack

---

“I still can’t get used to seeing that many planes,” mutters Captain Ishii. He is standing on Hibiki’s bridge watching another enemy air raid pound the airstrip. Lieutenant Miharu, awakened by the alert and standing next to him, nods.

“The size of it is unsettling,” he agrees. The two men watch the distant air battle raging, Japanese and American fighters swirling around bursts of flak while seemingly endless formations of B-24’s drone high overhead to release their bombs.

“You have tried to tell me about America, about its size and power,” says Ishii. “But I never really understood it until now.” One of the big bombers suddenly tumbles out of the sky, trailing fire and pieces of wing. “Hurt them,” Ishii implores the distant Japanese fighter pilots. The two men watch until the air raid is over. Here and there thin columns of smoke mark where an airplane went down into the jungle. Much more smoke rises from the airfields. Finally Captain Ishii speaks again.

“Go get some more sleep, Exec,” he says. “I have a feeling we are going to become busy very soon.”

---

Over the last two days the Japanese have lost over one hundred aircraft, most of them on the ground. The enemy has lost some fifty planes. How badly these losses have hurt the enemy is unknown, but it is certain that the Japanese base cannot continue to sustain this much damage. Another few raids like the last two and Japan’s ability to contest the skies over Rabaul will be shattered.

This possibility, combined with the news of the army advancing on Port Moresby, spurs the Japanese command into action. While they had not wanted to send ships back into Milne Bay they now see no other choice. One last effort must be made to destroy the enemy base there. To this end they mobilize the largest force Japan has assembled in many months.

Battleships Haruna, Hiei, and Kongo have just arrived from Japan. They are formed into a second bombardment group to compliment the existing one consisting of Yamato, Musashi, and Kirishima. Both bombardment groups are sent towards Gili Gili as soon as night falls. Preceding both of these groups is Captain Yoshimura’s Screening Force, with Hibiki in the lead.


(in reply to Cuttlefish)
Post #: 1645
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 10/31/2007 8:41:54 AM   
Grotius


Posts: 5798
Joined: 10/18/2002
From: The Imperial Palace.
Status: offline
Wow. June '43 and you're still hanging tough in New Guinea. Sounds like things are going reasonably well in the wider war.

Good luck to Hibiki on this mission. It sounds dangerous.

< Message edited by Grotius -- 10/31/2007 8:42:16 AM >

(in reply to Cuttlefish)
Post #: 1646
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 11/1/2007 2:22:34 AM   
Cuttlefish

 

Posts: 2454
Joined: 1/24/2007
From: Oregon, USA
Status: offline
June 24, 1943

Location: Off Gasmata
Course: Southeast
Attached to: TF 36
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 1
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 443

Orders: Screen bombardment forces from enemy attack

---

Despite relatively clear weather the Japanese task forces are not attacked during the day. They are certainly seen; enemy reconnaissance planes pick them up early in the morning and shadow them all day long.

By dusk the Japanese ships are off Gasmata. The enemy knows they are coming, but whether they care to contest the approach of six battleships, four heavy cruisers, and seventeen light cruisers and destroyers remains to be seen. The Japanese ships turn to the southeast and pick up speed. If all goes according to plan they will be reach Milne Bay by midnight, shell Gili Gili, and be back out of range of enemy torpedo-carrying aircraft by sunrise.



< Message edited by Cuttlefish -- 11/1/2007 2:29:01 AM >

(in reply to Cuttlefish)
Post #: 1647
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 11/1/2007 2:59:12 AM   
Cuttlefish

 

Posts: 2454
Joined: 1/24/2007
From: Oregon, USA
Status: offline
June 25, 1943

Location: 60 miles southeast of Gasmata
Course: Northwest
Attached to: TF 36
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 2
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 224

Orders: Screen bombardment forces from enemy attack

---

Hibiki leads the column through the darkness towards the mouth of Milne Bay. Behind Hibiki comes Tachikaze, then light cruiser Isuzu. Destroyers Nokaze, Namikaze, and Kuretake bring up the rear.

This is nothing new to Hibiki, by now a veteran of these bombardment runs. Soon, they know, they will encounter the inevitable torpedo boats. There are no indications yet of any heavier opposition, but the possibility cannot be discounted. Everyone is at combat stations and the lookouts are alert; they know by now that the key to fighting torpedo boats is to see them first and open fire before the small craft can get in close.

What happens next, however, is something new. From somewhere behind Hibiki comes an explosion. Isuzu lurches and slows, smoke and flames billowing from her forward port side.

“What was that?” demands Captain Ishii. “Torpedoes?”

“Sir,” calls a lookout, “Isuzu is signaling she has been hit by a mine!”

“Damn!” says Ishii. “Engines ahead one quarter. Extra lookouts to the bow.” Behind Hibiki the column is thrown into chaos. Nokaze and Namikaze swing to port to avoid the stricken Isuzu, and behind them Kuretake swings to starboard. Hibiki and Tachikaze slow, lookouts gazing into dark waters that suddenly bristle with hidden menace.

It is at this precise moment, with the Japanese slowed and in disorder, that the enemy torpedo boats strike. They could not ask for better targets; the Japanese are distracted and disorganized and their ships are illuminated by flames from Isuzu.

Nokaze and Namikaze are perfectly silhouetted in front of Isuzu. The first indication Hibiki has that they are under attack are towering explosions from both ships. At first Captain Ishii things these are more mines detonating.

“Torpedo boats!” screams a lookout from the port side. “One thousand meters and closing!” Now Captain Ishii can hear, above the explosions, the distinctive sound of the torpedo boat’s engines at full power. He doesn’t even waste time cursing.

“Engines ahead full!” he yells. Hibiki will just have to take her chances with the mines. “All guns, open fire!” Before the crew can respond comes the heavy, low rattle of American .50 caliber machine guns and the rapid bark of cannon fire. Glass shatters on the bridge. Captain Ishii hurls himself to the deck as machine gun bullets rip into the tower. As he lies there he can feel his ship shudder beneath him as it is struck by heavier shells. Frightened and angry cries come from the crew, and then, gratifyingly, he hears the boom of his ship’s 5” guns. He pulls himself to his feet.

No one on the bridge seems injured. Two of the windows have been shattered by bullets and glass crunches under his feet as he takes two steps and helps Lieutenant Sugiyura to stand.

Lookouts begin relay information again. Lieutenant Miharu steps onto the bridge from the observation platform. His hair is mussed and his cap is missing.

“They are passing behind the task force, sir”, he says. “Our rear ships are taking heavy fire.”

“Bring us around to starboard, one hundred eighty degrees,” orders Ishii. “Maintain fire. Slow to one half speed. Lieutenant, get me a casualty and damage report.” Ishii is relieved to feel helm and engines respond crisply to his commands.

As Hibiki comes about the main guns send a final volley chasing the retreating torpedo boats. No hits are scored. Captain Ishii’s attention, however, is riveted by the sight of the rest of the task force as it comes into view.

Isuzu is still on fire from the mine hit. Nokaze has been devastated and is blazing fiercely. Namikaze is scarcely in better shape and already has a distinct list. Kuretake did not take any torpedoes but her topsides have been wrecked and her hull perforated by cannon fire. Only Tachikaze seems relatively unhurt.

The torpedo boats withdraw into the night. The only sounds after they leave are the crackle of flames and occasional small secondary explosions from the damaged ships.

Captain Ishii utters bitter, low curses. Hibiki is the only ship that even managed to return fire. This is a disaster. Lieutenant Miharu climbs back onto the bridge, where he steps up to Captain Ishii and salutes.

“Your report, Exec?” says Ishii, bracing himself inwardly.

“Sir, no casualties and no damage,” says the lieutenant briskly. Captain Ishii stares at him.

“There are some bullet holes in the tower, sir,” continues Lieutenant Miharu, “and the main funnel has been riddled like a sieve. It looks like twenty millimeter cannon fire there. But no one has been hit and no systems damaged.” Captain Ishii shakes his head. He will ponder this amazing good fortune later. Right now there is a lot of work to do.

Moving slowly, once again wary of mines, Hibiki moves in to provide assistance. Aboard Isuzu Captain Yoshimura orders Hibiki and Tachikaze to help fight the fires and take wounded off the other ships. The task force will then withdraw at the best speed possible. Ships that cannot keep up will be left behind to fare as best they can.

---

As the sun comes up Hibiki finds herself leading Isuzu and Tachikaze to the northwest. Despite the mine hit Isuzu is able to make enough speed to keep up with the destroyers. The other three destroyers are strung out in a long, ragged line many behind. Out ahead are the bombardment groups. From the radio reports Hibiki has picked up the enemy torpedo boats continued on and ran into the massed firepower of the waiting battleship groups. The bombardment groups annihilated the torpedo boats without loss and then carried out their mission.

It does not take long for enemy torpedo bombers to find and attack the three destroyers behind them. Captain Ishii is almost grateful when a large flight of enemy B-25 type bombers appears in the distance. It gives him a reason to stop listening to the death throes of the three doomed ships.

As the enemy bombers come in Hibiki’s anti-aircraft guns open fire. It is far from a curtain of flak, but Hibiki needs all the help she can get right now. He calls down to Chief Engineer Sakati to overboost the engines.

“Course starboard 45 degrees,” he instructs the helmsman. Hibiki begins to zig zag as bombs come whistling down. One explodes less than a hundred feet ahead, sending water cascading over the ship as the destroyer races past the explosion. Black smoke belches from the stacks as the ship reaches maximum speed, and it emerges in twisted streamers from the holes in the main funnel.

Then the attack is over. Hibiki emerges unhurt, and Captain Ishii orders speed reduced. Isuzu has somehow also escaped damage. Tachikaze, however, has taken a hit directly on her stern. Captain Ishii feels sick as he thinks of the wounded that cover that destroyer’s deck. His own deck is similarly crowded.

Tachikaze brings the fire started by the bomb under control and limps up to rejoin Hibiki and Isuzu. Together the last three survivors of the Screening Force head for Rabaul.

---

Hibiki is hit twice by .50 caliber and once by 20mm fire:







Attachment (1)

(in reply to Cuttlefish)
Post #: 1648
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 11/1/2007 3:05:04 AM   
Cuttlefish

 

Posts: 2454
Joined: 1/24/2007
From: Oregon, USA
Status: offline
Task force 36 at the end of the battle against the torpedo boats and at the end of the turn:






Attachment (1)

(in reply to Cuttlefish)
Post #: 1649
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 11/1/2007 4:19:15 AM   
John 3rd


Posts: 17178
Joined: 9/8/2005
From: La Salle, Colorado
Status: offline
Wow!  Hibiki continues to have the luck of the Irish.  A close call.  Too bad about the other DDs.  I assume that they all have been sunk?  Let us hear it, once again, for the Captain and crew of the IJN Hibiki

What about the bombardment?  Did the BBs sink many of the PT-Boats?


_____________________________



Member: Treaty, Reluctant Admiral and Between the Storms Mod Team.

Reluctant Admiral Mod:
https://sites.google.com/site/reluctantadmiral/

(in reply to Cuttlefish)
Post #: 1650
Page:   <<   < prev  53 54 [55] 56 57   next >   >>
All Forums >> [Current Games From Matrix.] >> [World War II] >> War In The Pacific - Struggle Against Japan 1941 - 1945 >> After Action Reports >> RE: Small Ship, Big War Page: <<   < prev  53 54 [55] 56 57   next >   >>
Jump to:





New Messages No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages Locked w/o New Messages
 Post New Thread
 Reply to Message
 Post New Poll
 Submit Vote
 Delete My Own Post
 Delete My Own Thread
 Rate Posts


Forum Software © ASPPlayground.NET Advanced Edition 2.4.5 ANSI

0.750