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RE: The little ship that could. - 5/6/2011 11:32:29 PM   
1275psi

 

Posts: 7979
Joined: 4/17/2005
Status: offline 		5/7/42

They have carried you all this way.
You
Around you, they work every day –work extraordinary hours, work in the boiler rooms, work in the galley, work on the bridge.
A thousand men taking, Zuiho to this point.
You, you work -a little.
You train –a lot.
But mostly, you are carried here , to this point.
They have deferred to you. They give you the best food. The best care. They give you the honour, the glory, the glamour.
But now, fighter pilot, they give you something else.

The responsibility.

Zuiho will strike today.

And you, and your companions must make sure it gets through.



A dozen bombers –all from Ryujo –wing south west at 5000 feet, a neat formation, green camouflage stark against the brilliant blue below

Above them, gently weaving from side to side, 30 zeros provide cover.

Around them, scattered cloud –enough to hide a lurking flight of fighters, not enough to hide wake itself.

Diogawa leads.

Zuiho has brought him here.
He is glad to be here
He lives for this.
This is him
Fighter pilot.
The hunters blood surges through him.

And now –slanting in from the flank –still two miles or more away –the wildcats are coming in.
He smiles, weaves his wings, and peels of the formation, leading a dozen plus others straight towards them.
Fighter pilot
We have brought him here –so many of us –for this.
The point of the spear.
And it sparkles bright in the morning sun………………..




< Message edited by 1275psi -- 5/6/2011 11:33:36 PM >

(in reply to 1275psi)
Post #: 451
RE: The little ship that could. - 5/7/2011 1:03:20 AM   
witpqs


Posts: 26087
Joined: 10/4/2004
From: Argleton
Status: offline 		Don't stop now!

(in reply to 1275psi)
Post #: 452
RE: The little ship that could. - 5/7/2011 11:48:06 AM   
aprezto


Posts: 824
Joined: 1/29/2009
Status: offline 		Agreed. You bloody tease!

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Image courtesy of Divepac

(in reply to witpqs)
Post #: 453
RE: The little ship that could. - 5/7/2011 1:23:38 PM   
british exil


Posts: 1686
Joined: 5/4/2006
From: Lower Saxony Germany
Status: offline 		Just as it get's exciting. Will they get through or will the "bad guys" stop them?
Will our heroes suffer loses? Can't wait for the next post.

Mat

_____________________________

"It is not enough to expect a man to pay for the best, you must also give him what he pays for." Alfred Dunhill

WitE,UV,AT,ATG,FoF,FPCRS

(in reply to aprezto)
Post #: 454
RE: The little ship that could. - 5/7/2011 11:54:14 PM   
1275psi

 

Posts: 7979
Joined: 4/17/2005
Status: offline 		There are a neat dozen of them, tubby little things, marvelous how all those hours of recognition training pay of…..no doubt, even at this rapidly closing range what they are though.
The enemy.
Doigawa is banking in to the right, and the wildcats are banking into their right as well, interception………..
Now it is all about being calm, about being smooth, about , above all keeping your cool, eyes, hands, stick, all as one

He fires briefly at one of the hurtling by cats, neatly rolling up and over the fire coming the other way, wincing as something bangs hard some bloody where, and its now full hard bank and climb, head arching back, seeking, seeking, grunting under the gee forces, engine bellowing –yet silent-such is the concentration……
A zero, one wing gone, tumbles past, and another, and so do several wild cats.
The bank is almost a loop now –a target –500 yards or so, twisting right, and he latches on, spotted!, the wildcat lurching left –skidding, skidding in panic, smooth, smooth, eating up the distance……….and another zero flashes in from the right, the distinctive thud of the cannons, DAMN!, the target bursts into flame, plunges away out of sight…….

Haul her up again, up, around –and the sky is clear- how quickly it happens! –the strike –unmolested heads into wake.


Doigawa eases the throttle, watches the bombs fall – a wasted effort –this he can tell even from here –the field is empty………….




“result of the strike sir”
Yamamoto nods –‘yes?”
‘”enemy field struck sir –little damage inflicted, field not, repeat, not occupied by any bombers. Six enemy fighters shot down for two lost”

Silence fills Akagi’s bridge.
‘Do you think the coop had flown Hara?”
Akagi’s Captain contemplates the ocean about them, so big, so empty –so many places to hide…….
Yesterday, full of b17’s –today, empty. Isn’t the answer to that obvious Admiral?
‘Sir, I think……….”

“Aircraft!-bearing 180 degrees – range 4 miles! –Catalina flying boat sir!”

Hara does not finish his sentence. Its moot now. Everything is moot now, damn it to hell.
Mobile fleet has been sprung.




Hidaka watches them come in.
How keenly you seek signs of damage, how closely, heart in mouth do you count them.
He cannot rest easy until they all have got down.

Zuiho has launched 6 fighters on this strike, she has six in the air still.
Her Kates rest below – armed with fish, waiting for the unexpected.

Doigawa joins circuit, turns in, floats over the ramp, catches the second trap (always the second one does Doigawa), lurches to the halt.

Eager hands push him forward to safety.
Hidaka climbs up to his cockpit, waits until the engine stops. Sweating, Doigawa pulls of his helmet, looks up at his commander
“I think fighting Americans might be a bit different Hidaka”
‘How so?”
‘Unlike the British, these bakas have teeth”

Its then Hidaka spots it –the hole in the cockpits side –just above where Doigawa’s right knee rests, the exit just near his left hip………………..



Herbiesan reads the signal.
A bust.
Six months worth of fuel
An entire fleet deployed
For six wildcats!

“order combined fleet home!……………I will have heads for this!”


(in reply to 1275psi)
Post #: 455
RE: The little ship that could. - 5/8/2011 3:30:32 PM   
PaxMondo


Posts: 9750
Joined: 6/6/2008
Status: offline 		Zuiho did her duty though! 

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Pax

(in reply to 1275psi)
Post #: 456
RE: The little ship that could. - 5/9/2011 9:36:58 AM   
1275psi

 

Posts: 7979
Joined: 4/17/2005
Status: offline 		6/7/42

Zuiho’s ready room is a rough place at the best of times. Exuberance calls this place home. Three of the new pilots have proven themselves in combat –claiming kills.
Now, as dawn approaches, they josh and kid each other mercilessly, waiting for Hidaka to come in, give them the orders, let them loose over Wake again.

He enters, and the racket and noise slowly dies.
‘readiness –and 30% CAP”
Stunned silence
“No strike sir?”
Hidake grimaces. Plainly, plainly, he is disgusted as any of them.
“No, no strike. The mission is cancelled. …………we go to other climes I am afraid”
And then, he is gone

‘Truk!”

Nashiguchi smiles to himself. How easy to express disgust at lack of action, here, safe onboard. How easy to forget that the enemy have teeth too.
He gathers his stuff, heads towards the passageway, ladder to the flight deck –he will be on the first patrol regardless.
It will be good to escape the stink up there for a while anyway.

A figure blocks his path.
Kurihama –the great Gorilla. Just what he doesn’t need.
‘Pleased ney?’ it is almost a snarl
Nashiguchi stops, perplexed, pleased with what?
“That we miss action, that you don’t have to face the enemy hey?’

For a moment, he struggles to control himself. Why this hatred? Are they not warrior brothers? Where the hell is Kurihama coming from?
“I have four kills”
“And you will love one another!” –you are a joke Nashiguchi –a weak joke”
And the Kate pilot brushes past.

For a few moments the zero pilot can only stand and think. There is no one else on this ship he can talk to, nobody to whom he can turn.
Uniquely, in this problem, he is alone.

It is many moments before he can continue, up onto the flight deck, to his fighter –to another day.










On the bridge, they watch (but mostly hear) the last fighter roar overhead for todays duties.
It is just after dawn, a dawn after a very, very long night.
Twice the Catalina flying boats have prowled into view –raising high anxiety amongst everyone.
Catalina’s have been known to strike at night…………..

Now, the Officer of the watch takes his bearings from the binnacle –still nicely on the bow of Shoho. Any moment now he anticipates that growl from the corner as Hasegawa will pass his desires to change course, the trick is to be ready for the growl when it comes……………

But it doesn’t come.

What does is a gentle thud, and a stifled cry from the helmsman.
Horrified, the OOW turns to see Hasegawa collapsed on the deck, face pale, eyes rolled back……….

(in reply to 1275psi)
Post #: 457
RE: The little ship that could. - 5/9/2011 2:49:55 PM   
PaxMondo


Posts: 9750
Joined: 6/6/2008
Status: offline 		Great writing ... thanks!

< Message edited by PaxMondo -- 5/9/2011 2:50:37 PM >

_____________________________

Pax

(in reply to 1275psi)
Post #: 458
RE: The little ship that could. - 5/10/2011 11:19:09 AM   
1275psi

 

Posts: 7979
Joined: 4/17/2005
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Commander Korrii is a dapper little man. It’s a cliché –I know –but truly –it’s a look Zuiho’s medical officer actually pursues, from the neat little moustache –to the neat umbrella (always rolled up-but never opened) that continuously accompanies him.
He should have –truthfully again, been born an Englishman.
But he wasn’t, of course –but there it is.

Medics on ship know everything.
There are, can be absolutely no secrets kept from him, and he, like most medical staff, keeps them. It takes no effort really anyway –he knows that whatever problem you attend with –will be known through out the ship soon anyway………its damn hard to hide a problem when you live cheek and jowl with so many others

But this secret he did not know about.
And now, as he leans over the calm face of Hasegawa, he is almost angry, almost – dapper gentlemen don’t get angry –annoyed yes –but never angry.
‘And how long has this been going on?”
He eyes the Captain with a clinical eye (as you would hope he does!) –noting the thinness of the old mans body, the dark circles under the eyes –the pallor of the skin.
He knows much more of course – having done his examination while the Captain lay unconscious , and what he has found distresses him.

“Does it matter Korrii?. When its time, its time”
‘But it may not be. Shore time, rest-treatment. It may not be as bad as it might be. I cannot tell here –ashore……….”
The old eyes twinkle again “A lot of maybes Korrii there, a lot”

Silence for a moment fills the sickbay. It is currently empty, and undoubtedly the quietest place onboard at the moment.

The Old man sits up. “you know, I joined this outfit in 1900 –which my friend, feels like a long, long time ago. You know, I helped secure the Gilberts in 1914, didn’t see my first plane until 1930!. Can you imagine that!?. Battleships. Always battleships filled my blood. That’s what I wanted. Command of a battleship.”
He laughs –weakly, the irony trickling through “And now the day of the battlewagon passes for little sows like this, flying tin cans, and young men we don’t even understand”

‘But you command -yes?”

A deep sigh. “yes. Yes I do”
And suddenly the eyes stop twinkling, and fill with a fierce anger –and a fierce defiance. “you won’t put me ashore Korrii –I forbid it!”
Send me ashore –they pension me off. If japan is defeated –what of my pension then ? –yes? –have we considered that? And of my family – in a defeated nation, with a dead father no matter what happens? Defeated nations don’t pay pensions!”


“You are not going to die sir, I……….”

‘Oh crap Korrii!. I know the score. Better to die winning a future for my daughters, than to fade away –that, that I will never do –not now, not after all these years!”

Korrii considers the man. Considers the words –a defeated Japan? – a thought he had never even considered. Ever.
Disturbing.
‘Now – get me back on my feet Korrii –soon. I am sure there are plenty who think they can do better than I can –lets not give them a chance yes?’





It had been, thinks the Charge –a remarkable run. But that’s how steam plants can be –once you get em up and running, get them stabilized, and they will run like a dream.
Except for that cursed pump up forward, so few defects – a few leaking valves .

But now the good run has finished.
“Ok bitch, what have you got for me now?”
The call comes from Port Engine room –problems –major –with the main oil pump.

Even as he climbs down through the hatch, enters the bedlam of noise, ears tuned to years of this bedlam pick out the subtle –yet distinct RONK< RONK< RONK of a bearing, or something worse, coming from below the steaming platform.

Okano greets him
“Doesn’t sound too good hey Okano!?
‘Sounds pretty truked to me Chief!”
Lurch comes over too. He has his little oil drain tin with him –and he scoops a finger into it –withdrawing a finger covered in ‘lovely’ brass filings –sharp and jiggered.
The Charge really does not need to see the pump – he has seen this so many times before.
Japan lags many , many years behind the Americans and british in turbine design, and Gland seals are not their strong point.
“Main pinion wheel Okano – the gland will have failed. Bet you first beer in Tokyo that the Turbine seal is gone – the sump is full of water –and what passes for lubrication is now a nice slurry”
Okano grins. ‘No way I bet a beer against you Chief . Shut it down?”
‘Yes –swing to the Motor driven. It appears the bitch has woken up. Come on Lurch, lets go look……………”




“Its gone Chief?” Minobe eyes him, one eyebrow arching very high.
‘Yes sir”
‘Human failure –or design?’
“Definitely design sir”
“Like that pump up forward?’
Ahhh, crap, he suspects, or maybe even knows. Stuff it. What will the jelly fish do? –beat him as well?
‘yes sir –like up forward”
The lie sits there between them.
Minobe smiles –a genuine one. “you like the men too much Charge. One day you will see that the fist is better.”
The Charge says nothing to this, waits
“I will let Hasegawa know –apparently he has a cold or some crud……….”

(in reply to 1275psi)
Post #: 459
RE: The little ship that could. - 5/11/2011 10:03:49 AM   
1275psi

 

Posts: 7979
Joined: 4/17/2005
Status: offline 		8/7/42

In Japan, a small girl takes her very first steps.
Her father, on Zuiho, will miss it.

In Japan, a Son will turn 21
His Father, on Zuiho, will not be there to celebrate.

In Japan, a wife will struggle with a loose roof shingle.
A husband , on Zuiho, will not hear of it

In Japan, a father dies
On Zuiho, a Son will not hear –and be able to mourn, for many months yet.

War calls for all to sacrifice
Peace, or war, sailors will always sacrifice………….






Zuiho continues to transit. New orders. New mission.
Below, the repairs begin on the oil pump. Boilers are blown, soot is blown.
Planes are stripped, overhauled.
A thousand cans of paint suddenly appear, and the eternal war against rust, against the sea, resumes.

But quietly, secretly, a thousand hearts, here, and in Japan, wish things were different.

(in reply to 1275psi)
Post #: 460
RE: The little ship that could. - 5/12/2011 9:18:17 AM   
cantona2


Posts: 3749
Joined: 5/21/2007
From: Gibraltar
Status: offline 		Herb has asked for a little Cameo

Mid July 1942, 300 miles due East of Tarawa.

Mitchell stared into the blue waters of the Pacific Ocean. The fear started to rise again, the panic, the uncontrollable trembling, the cold sweats. Three time he was under the terrific shelling a battleship could give to a small atoll. Three times he saw buddies torn to shreds, three times he saw comrades maimed, three times he came through unscathed. For the millionth time since he landed on Tarawa he thanked the Almighty and Providence for his safe keeping.

All that was behind him now. He was sailing North by North East, first to Pearl (he assumed) then stateside. His regiment (8th Marines) were pretty much the only battle hardened in the Corps and as such were relieved by a regiment of Doggies on Tarawa. Veteran NCO's officers and PFC's would be spread out across newly formed regiments destined to make the 4th Marine Divison at a later date.

Mitchell was now a veteran, a mentally scarred one but a veteran. That allowed him to develop a well of seeled strength from which to combat the fear. He had accepted that the fear would not go away but he also knew that he could control the Fear under the most terrible of fire and continue to function as a Marine. All the greenhorns he would soon meet would reap the benefits of his soul shattering experiences.

_____________________________

1966 was a great year for English Football...Eric was born


(in reply to kaleun)
Post #: 461
RE: The little ship that could. - 5/12/2011 10:40:17 AM   
1275psi

 

Posts: 7979
Joined: 4/17/2005
Status: offline 		Ta mate

Awkward to ask after the effort -but can you bug out agin, so I can move swift eagle to the next area in secret?

9/july 42

Swift eagle makes a rendezvous today. Various people view the two carriers in various ways
Minobe –with bitter memories
Hidaka –with jealousy –how he would like to have some dive bombers to wield!
Hasegawa –with relief, no longer will he have to carry a task force and Zuiho as well.
Hiyo and Junyo join the fleet, and so do their attendant destroyers and cruisers.

Tomorrow, Truk –then a new mission.




In Tokyo, herbiesan faces the packed audience.
It is the tenth anniversary of “the revolution” and as always, this speech must , and will guide the empire for the year ahead.
It is –as usual, too long.
It is full of the usual lies, bulldust and deceptions –long on rhetoric, short on facts.

But in the front row, several ears **** up at a certain line.
“ Now, with all of our fellow Asians free of the Imperial yoke, Japan will , as soon as possible, seek peace negotiations with our enemies, she shall……….”

“Not, seek to impose”
Not – force the capitulation of”
And certainly not “demand negotiations”

She will ask.
And that is a very great difference……………….



Admiral Cantona reads the speech.
Many, a great many, have asked for his head these last months. But the president, and Churchill, both still back him.
And all three agree. (and these three are the only ones who matter)
Japans red tide has reached its high mark.
The dykes have held –just.
But that is enough
Now, where to begin the long road back?





Hasegawa gently takes his seat. A new piece of kit here on the bridge. The only compromise Korrii has been able to extract from him.
“The war Hidaka?’
“Almost quiet as the grave sir”
“Almost?”
“Three British R class battleships flattened Akyab a couple of days ago”
“Royal class?”
“Yes sir”
“Gutsy move…….who’d have thought rust could move that fast?”




(in reply to cantona2)
Post #: 462
RE: The little ship that could. - 5/15/2011 7:19:43 AM   
1275psi

 

Posts: 7979
Joined: 4/17/2005
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I cannot imagine things have changed for many years now. The technology may have advanced, men remain the same
The Captain will be on edge, and his officers will be on edge too.
He will –if things go as they usually do, grumble about the speed of reaction of the telegraphs, about the way she just steers that little bit slow.
But despite his grumblings, the grumbling from the XO, the navigator, the engineer –a steady cascade of grumbles that must inevitably end up on some poor seamans head, they will anchor safely –as they usually do.

Its pretty hard to muck it up in Truk lagoon anyway…………….

Mutsu, Nagato ride residence here, barrels still blistered from the last pounding they have given Tarawa.. So too, nearly a dozen of the fleets heavy cruisers.
Truk is certainly no little quiet backwater anymore.

The usual stuff occurs on arrival –a fat fuel barge comes alongside, so does a smaller ammo barge –and yet another –supplies.
The shuttle of boats begins to shore, white uniforms heading in, brown ones out to Zuiho.
The crew wash down the accumulated salt, begin to rig the awnings.
No –these come down again, ‘We are not staying –24 hr visit”
The crew, of course, will groan at this –leave would have been good.

Nagato –again, sends Hasegawa an invite for dinner

He ‘reluctantly” declines
(“No bloody way am I going to sit there while they gloat over Tarawa –no accident that they have not painted those guns yet –preening bloody peacocks!”)

So, Truk
A lot of work, a lot of restocking. No leave
But Hasegawa gives the next best thing, shortly after 1300 hrs, he orders a stand down.
Some times, a chance at a solid sleep, is better than all the hassle of a quick run ashore.

By dawn, restocked, refreshed, swift eagle continues her journey eastward……….



(in reply to 1275psi)
Post #: 463
RE: The little ship that could. - 5/16/2011 7:58:25 AM   
1275psi

 

Posts: 7979
Joined: 4/17/2005
Status: offline 		10/july/42


There is the usual palava of ceremony and tradition as Akagi gently edges alongside her pier deep in the heart of Tokyo.
Captain Hara keeps his eyes firmly upon the job, but his mind is only half engaged in the task.

Behind him, his Admiral broods
For five days now, Yamamoto has been missing from the bridge, confining himself to his cabin.
Now, as the black sedans await for them on the wharf -Herbiesan's invite to his lair blatant, he wonders what Yamamoto will do next.

"Finish with main engines". Home -at last. Home, and still in one piece. But home -with out the victory expected, and needed.

Now Yamamoto turns to his Captain, face dark and brooding "I feel, my friend, that his lordship, that baka, is keen to see us"
For a moment, just a moment Hara almost feels sorry for him.
he thinks, face impassive as ever -"for a year now, you arrogant fool, you have thought yourself invincible, always right, always invincible. I will smash the allies you said. Now you have not. What now then?
And under that, a deeper, hidden thought, barely dared to be allowed to surface "and who will replace you, who will be given Combined fleet?'

"yes Admiral. Such is war, there will be another chance"
Yamamoto merely grunts, and leads the way to the vehciles waiting.

The journey through the streets of Tokyo is conducted in silence. But as they approach central headquarters -that grey forbidding fortress, with its hidden terrors
buried so many levels below, Yamamotomakes a single, flat statement
"Herbiesan is mad, and will bring the destruction of the empire upon us.We must stop him Hara, we must"
And then the vehciles entered the belly of the beast


From
Imperial HQ
to
All Commands

Due to ill health, I have ordered command changes
Admiral Yamamoto is given command General HQ (reserve pool)
Vice Admiral Kongo, is given command Combined Fleet

As supreme commander, I thank Admiral Yamamoto for his service and early successes.
I wish him swift recovery, and an early return to sea service.

Herbiesan


Yamamoto -still shaken from his "encounter' broods in a small room, his new 'command" on the third floor of the Imperial HQ. it is only now, now
as the blood cools, and the shock wears of, that the realisation sinks in.
herbiesans threats -yes -that is what they actually were -against him!, against Yamamoto -Japans beloved, venerated Admiral! -that his very life was in the balance!

yes -he actually threatened his life!
The BAKA!
Silently, with great effort, Yamamoto struggles to turn the anger into something useful.
herbiesan must go.
He must.
He must take his time. Be patient. Be cunning. But a plan must be made...............




Zuiho slides across smooth, delightful seas. On her bows, half a dozen grey shapes slice back and forth, dolphins playing in the wake.
The charge has a problem
The main lube oil pump is now in a thousand bits, scattered in cardboard boxes all over the walkways, the body casting of the pump empty.
his diagnosis has been correct -partially.
Their is the expected failed bearings, the heavily worn teeth on the reduction gear, but there is another unexpected problem.
There is a small worm drive to the govenor assebly -and this small shaft, has cracked.

The main gear - they can (and alreay have begun to) machine anew
The bearings they have as spare
Other bits and pieces will be machined as required -or dug out from the bowels of the store rooms or tiller flat (the alladin cave of "just in case bits")
But this small shaft------- they don't have the index wheel for the lathe to allow a new one to be machined.
Nor obviously - or there would be no problem- a spare.
A new set of index gears for the lathe would take far, far to long to obtain, or make.

So, he must turn to plan two.

The Communications Officer views the request with mild amusement. Its not the first time the charge has asked for his Morse to flash, seeking bits. But as usual, nobody can understand what the hell he wants.
"Get the bloody charge up here will you -and interpret this crap for us"


Shoho too glides across the seas -her Dolphins taking to zooming from one side to the other.
Now she reads the flashing fromZuiho, and takes the letters down. It is a long message.
And on Shoho, the communications officer scratches his head "Bloody hell. get the Charge up here. What in the hell is part 33, oil pump,reference book 38?"

Shoho's great lamp begins to flash.
Across three miles of water, signalmen, burnt almost black in the sun, take down the letters.
The message means nothing to them, just another message amongst millions.
"Done -but can you swap for feed pump govenor -complete?"

On Zuiho, the charge smiles. "yes"

More lights flash, Shoho to Ryujo this time
"understand still require Feed pump govenor complete. have found same. Do you still have the locking spline for arrestor gear sought last week?'

From Ryujo to Zuiho
'Stores enquiry. seek reduction gear for oil pump, part number #$###$$##@"

From Zuiho to Ryujo
'Yes, can supply - you don't have a spare feed pump govenor by chance?'


And so it goes.
If walmart employed charges, naval storemen as managers -they would now rule the world................



(in reply to 1275psi)
Post #: 464
RE: The little ship that could. - 5/17/2011 8:57:44 AM   
1275psi

 

Posts: 7979
Joined: 4/17/2005
Status: offline 		It is Hoshos turn at the front.
behind him, literally, the entire 112th regiment is strung out in a line, many, many miles long. Ahead of them around them, pressing in from every side, the impenetrable jungle.. Thousands of men, and their equipment, swallowed up in this green hell.
Now it is his turn to carve the way. he takes the machette, handle slick with sweat from the soldier before him, takes his brother soldiers eye, and they begin.

You cannot force your way through this jungle. You must fight, hack, claw your way through it. You swing the machette, hack at the vines. You fling yourself bodily at it, cursing and swearing, sweating and spitting. It fights back, scratching, clawing, cutting.
112th is going due south, somewhere south, the Irrawady. Somewhere south of that, shattered British units fleeing east. On the map -112th,, 'will cut them off"
Right now, 112th can, and is going nowhere fast.
6 miles covered, in three horror filled days.

gasping, Hosho collapses. He has penetrated 25, maybe 30 yards. A good effort. The next man takes the machette, begins his attack.







They are together again
Okano and Hirate work together again on the lube oil pump. The work, side by side, stripped to mere underpants -sweat soaked, oil stained.
Arms, hands deep -almost like surgeons, inside the pump, fitting carefully, steadily, the jigsaw together.
As usual, they barely speak, a grunt or two is sufficient, a nod of the head will bring the required tool, the wave of a finger, the next bit.

Zuiho carries on around them -yet does not really exist. There is just this job, and each other.
Men are born, programmed it seems, to work, to produce, to create.
To manipulate something with your hands, to fit the pieces together just so...............
Food for the soul
Few , if you coldly consider them, would desire what they do right now.

Covered in crap, blasted by 100 degree heat, surrounded by machinery, buried away from the sun. Who would desire that?
The thinkers, the talkers, the paper shufflers of the world -they get satisfaction too -i suppose-but what tangible thing can they grasp?
What monument to their effort can they point to-and say -I built that?

So Okano, and Hirate work, in what some would call hell. But do not pity them today, for deep, deep where it matters most, in your heart, they are content.


Extract from Shattering the Sword.a cantona production

Ss salmon, lurking in the clear yet deep waters south east of Lae, sinks an AK this day, then, later in the afternoon, conducts a 'down the throat ' attack on a APD, and notes with satisfaction the large numbers of troops left struggling in the water.
Add to this, another large AK sunk in the South China Sea, and allied submarines account for three vessels today. In quiet panic now, Fifth fleet notes that this is the sixth day in a row that two, or more ships have been sunk by submarine action...................


< Message edited by 1275psi -- 5/17/2011 8:58:59 AM >

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Post #: 465
RE: The little ship that could. - 5/19/2011 7:56:43 AM   
1275psi

 

Posts: 7979
Joined: 4/17/2005
Status: offline 		apologies no posts -really hated last effort of writing, so deleted before posting.
new posting tomorrow

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Post #: 466
RE: The little ship that could. - 5/19/2011 12:48:32 PM   
witpqs


Posts: 26087
Joined: 10/4/2004
From: Argleton
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: 1275psi

apologies no posts -really hated last effort of writing, so deleted before posting.
new posting tomorrow


Artists!

Just kidding!

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Post #: 467
RE: The little ship that could. - 5/20/2011 5:07:03 AM   
1275psi

 

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Joined: 4/17/2005
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13/7/42

Captains Rounds

For a warship -in any Navy, these words indict many emotions.For some, the chance to shine. For others, a chance to finally communicate with that remote figure
who lives and works 'up there". For many, an occasion that simply spells more work, more effort. On a poor ship, a period damn sure to increase unhappiness, to breed resentment against "those barsteds" . On a good ship, a chance to show their Captain how good they are.
But which is Zuiho?.

Hasegawa sips his tea, waiting for the clock to tick over to 0800 hours- kick off time.
A beautiful day -smooth again. On the horizon, the smudge of land -that would be Tarakan.
I feel good today, he thinks, good, and strong. Hard to believe that this body of mine is slowly eating itself away, betraying me. Such a stupid thing ney?
But, I feel good, nevertheless.
Rounds. My rounds. What will I find today? It has been too long, far too long since my last walk around.
Time to see, time to question. Time for my crew to see me too.
That is important too, yes?.
So, a good day to feel strong. Be strong, be firm.
Ahh, here they come.

They crowd into the bridge -the coxswain, the executive officer, the medical officer, the gunnery officer, Hidaka.
Today -Zuihos warfighting departments.
Just how sharp is his sword?
Let us see yes?

"Do you hear there? -Captains rounds are now commencing, all those nominated, stand too!"

Hasegawa follows the coxswain, pipe shrilling the stand, and they head aft, the communications bin the first stop. A pale, nervous seaman stands rigid at the door.
He salutes, "Communications for your inspection sir!, seaman Akia reporting!'
Hasegawa eyes the young man -they are so young!. "from Nagasaki yes?'
'Hie"
A good trick, this ability to remember such details........
"All operational in there young man?"
"Yes sir"
'Let us see then"

And now for the hanger deck.
Even under the harsh lights, it is a world of shadows, the wings packed in , barely inches between each plane. Zuiho's full complement is below decks, here, or below in the lower hanger.
Hidaka cannot hide his smile, the hanger deck gleams.

The pilots, the crews, the support men, are lined up in division on the starboard side.
Hasegawa takes his time, stopping , as one must, to speak to individual men. Many, especially amongst the pilots, he now knows. Same too, the deck crews
"ahh, Po Nashiguchi -and how are the sea legs today?'
How funny, to have a pilot who gets sea sick, yet is so good in the air.......
'They are fine sir, stiff legs..."
'eager for action ?'
'Of course sir, anything to get into the air again"

Good. very good. Six months of war, and still eager for battle, ah, the resiliance of youth.
'One more for ace yes?'
a small smile from Nashiguchi.yes, one more.

PO. Okura.
A hesitation here. What to say?. Common knowledge now that his Father has been eliminated by the goverment -or what ever controlled the empire.
How to know what loyalty one would have now......
The hesitation drags into a moment, the moment dangerously close to a real pause.
He nods -and eyes meet.
loyalty?. yes. It is still there.
Must not betray it.

Inspection of men attended to, of equipment.Now for the real tools, the mind, the will.
A few words............ but what to say ?
The truth. This time, it must be the truth.
"We are going to the Indian ocean. We are going hunting. Then -we are going to strike targets in India."
he lets that sink in.
'So, action, soon. Be ready"


And so rounds go.
They take 4 hours. he watches a gun crew exercise the 4.7's, he inspects the galley. he walks the breadth and length of his ship -eyes keen to everything, every one.
It will be a long day, but a good day.

he finds what he hopes to find

Zuiho's sword is sharp.



14/7/42

Captains rounds.
Today, Engineering

Today, he aches. Legs hurt. Back hurts. It will probably be a crappy day.
Even the tea tastes off this morning.

They are waiting for him again, Minobe instead of the Gunnery officer. All replendent in spotless white overalls, all , equally, he supposes, as uncomfortable.
Only Minobe seems at ease.
Are you sober today, my engineer?. I guess you are.
Hasegawa takes a deep breath. "Are we ready engines? -I am told that we are good for 27 knots, and that all is sweetness and light below"
Minobe breaks into a small smile. "She's been a placid cow lately sir"
"So nothing broken?"
"Nothing sir"

We shall see then...............

They gather above the hatch to the port boiler room, even from here the noise and heat is daunting.
The Petty Officer reports, and they descend.

It is, of course, hot. And humid, incredibly humid. But it is the noise, the beating, thundering noise that presses in on you, pressures you.
Bottom plates, and the crew stand rigid, two burner men, the steamer, the watertender -somewhere above.
Hasegawa takes it all in. The glare of the furnace, the hiss of the recip fuel pumps, the whine of other machinery.
But it is clean, this maze of pipes. The brass shines, the guages gleam.
The bilges appear dry, free of oil.

They circle the space, looking, looking.
"The evaporator?'
'Yes sir -this is the vap"
'So, this is the bit of kit that caused us so much grief?'
"yes -this is the barsted piece of kit"

Hasegawa nods -pretending to understand. It does not look so big -or complicated. How, in the world could it have taken them so long to fix it?
Port boiler room seems, however, to be satisfactory.

"Starboard engine room for your inspection sir, PO Hirate reporting"
'Very good, PO. "I am glad to see you have recovered. All well below?'
"yes sir -all is satisfactory"
"Lead the way then"

Engine rooms are a slightly different version of hell. Slightly less noise, certainly less steam wandering about. Cooler.
But here there is more pressure -of the human kind -the bells tingle -and must be obeyed.

For a few minutes Hasegawa speaks to some of the seaman, watches the throttles, pretends to understand what the seaman tells him.
he is not really interested now -mind wandering to other things.
The spaces are clean
The ship is operating
That is enough.

But he will show Minobe that he knows his duty..........

They descend to the bottom plates, and discover a curious thing...........

Petty Officer Okano has his back turned to them, concentrating on getting the main worm gear onto the shaft -.
But its not his back actually. His hairy arse faces them, rude and pale.
Oblivious to the world, to the line of men behind him, a steady stream of curses emitt from the bowels of the pump
'get in , you bitch!'
"Go on, get in!"

Some what amused, Hasegawa watches, until , whatever bit the Po is wrestling with, "gets in" - and startled, notices the white overalls behind him

With alictricity, Okano comes rigidly to attention, salutes. The salute leaves a thick smaer of dark oil on his brow.
'Sir!'
"Going well, Petty officer?'
'"almost there sir, another day I think"
" and what are you repairing?'
The question is not really aimed at Okano, but, as all are instantly aware -at Minobe.
Nothing, according to him, is broken. patently, this , what ever it was, is
"main oil pump sir -replacing the main gear mainly"
'I see"
A long pause, a glance towards engines.
"Routine sir, no effect on our availability"
another pause
"Good" (except that I know that this only leaves me with a standby pump Minobe. What else , broken, are you hiding?. what else?)
'Carry on PO -get it fixed"

Rounds, as per the day before, takes hours.
He will be exhausted at the end.
He will tell the crew that he is satisfied, and confident in them. That Zuiho looks good, and appears ready for battle again.
But where in the hell, when in the hell, would that happen again.

Soon. It had to be soon.
Before he was unable to fight










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Post #: 468
RE: The little ship that could. - 5/20/2011 7:53:14 PM   
Smoky Stoker


Posts: 87
Joined: 3/25/2011
Status: offline 		"Now, this is no ****!"

Approximately a week before I reported aboard for my first tour at sea, my ship had a major propulsion inspection. That inspection lasted less than twenty minutes. The main fuel pump had been completely disassembled and then reassembled - very incorrectly. When the inspecting officer told them to light off the pump, a stream of hot NSFO knocked down the captain and the inspector. After a moment to recover from being bounced off of various hard objects, and an unsuccessful effort to find his cover, the inspecting officer said that the ship would not go to sea until he came back and personally declared the ship ready, and stormed away. And that is how my first tour of "sea duty" came to have only some 40 hours under way in eleven months.

She was really a hard-luck ship. They had renamed her after an admiral who suddenly dropped dead on the bridge during an exercise....

_____________________________

"Leveling large cities has a tendency to alienate the affections of the inhabitants and does not create an atmosphere of international good will after the war." -Rear Admiral Daniel V. Gallery

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Post #: 469
RE: The little ship that could. - 5/21/2011 11:58:09 AM   
1275psi

 

Posts: 7979
Joined: 4/17/2005
Status: offline 		Smoky stoker, yes -I am convinced -when a ship is a bitch, she is a bitch......................



15/7/42


It is time for Okano to see if his pump works. He gives the shaft a turn one last time with his hand –the pump rotates freely enough. Looks for any last things he may have forgotten. Checks the oil –again.
‘Ok, you bitch, lets get you back to work”
With effort, he aligns the pump end, and then opens the exhaust valve. Then, the drains, and finally, he cracks the throttle –just enough to warm through the turbine.
Water, condensate, spits happily out, he waits, and waits for the drains to emit steam only.
“All ready to run Okano?’
It is the Charge, and silently Okano curses, this is stressful enough as it is, with out the added pressure of the Charge watching.
“She turned neat by hand chief, I am sure she will go”
‘I am too, but lets see yes?”

Okano bites his lip, wipes his brow. Ok bitch, lets do it…………..
He opens the throttle a full turn, steam rushes in angry shrieks from the drains, the Charge helps shut them………… and the pump does not turn
‘Truk!”
Okano slams the throttle shut –ashamed………”I am so…..”
But the Charge is grinning “You measured the bearing clearance cold didn’t you PO?”
Why, yes he did – a neat two thousandth of an inch………
He nods, yes, but………..
“well –the bloody thing is hot now, isn’t it, give me that spanner Okano”
The Charge, confident, practiced, reaches for the bearing caps, undoes each nut maybe a quarter of a turn.
‘Try that”

That – that works. The pump runs up, delightfully smoothly
‘Good for another year heh!” the Charge –he can tell, is pleased. Okano isn’t half chuffed himself.
‘Thanks Chief petty officer”
“No, thank you Okano. With out men like you, we would never leave the bloody wharf”

And that is praise enough……………..


15/7/42

They come in, low and as fast as they can, the rising sun in their faces
15 albacore, 14 martletts, 17 swordfish, roughly split into two waves.
Ahead, the green hills that separate Palembang with its vital oil facilities, and its harbour packed with tankers.

But the Japanese , alerted by a sighting the day before, are waiting

Nevertheless, only a dozen Nates, a dozen Oscars, will intercept.
It will be more than enough.

The allied strike on Palembang achieves just a single hit on a tramp steamer.
In return, its strike is shredded, losing nearly half its number for one Japanese loss.

The swordfish, in particular, are heavily hit.

Hasegawa’s principle foe, the british carriers -has shattered its sword.


15/7/42

Batavia
‘prepare to receive fuel barge alongside’
Engine room - bridge. Remain at 30 minutes notice for sea, expect to sail immediately upon completion of fuelling’

“do you think the baka’s will be gone Hidaka?”
‘Long gone my Captain, long gone”
“Yes, you are probably right, but……………”
‘But you will go hunting nevertheless?’
‘But of course, and if we miss them –who knows what we will find!”


(in reply to Smoky Stoker)
Post #: 470
RE: The little ship that could. - 5/23/2011 7:51:28 AM   
1275psi

 

Posts: 7979
Joined: 4/17/2005
Status: offline 		17/7/42



Swift eagle refuels overnight, heads out to sea at dawn

There is little to note, and the day goes by routinely.

Simply, it is a journey that must be done, mile after mile.





For herbiesan, the great dictator, it is another day to.

There are several meeting after breakfast, one with the newly installed leader of the Phillipines, another with Borneo’s.



The meetings –as hoped for-achieve exactly nothing, the two leaders leaving satisfied with the vague promises and assurances of independence given by herbiesan –(all exactly worthless) –which is exactly what he wants



Then, an extended lunch with industry heads – and today –a hard decision –the third Yamato class build “is suspended temporarily”

Several contracts for new fighters are signed – and herbiesan is “gifted’ a nice new retreat home in the north of the country.



Nice.



After lunch – a ride on the stallion, then a disagree able daily war briefing –nothing new, no victories to report, nor any sign of the allies attacking. A long, acrimonious debate over the recent B-17 raids on Lunga, Port Moresby. Assurances that the new “NICK” fighter bomber would have the punch to stop them………..



And before you know it, dinner, a party, the mistress, and another day done.

A typical day, one in a stream of typical days.





How easy to drift into complacency………………….





18/7/42



Extract from “Shattering the Sword” a cantona production



…..success. Again the B17’s attack, Port Moresby alone today. This time however, they are met by nearly 20 twin engine fighters of a new design..

They, however, have no luck either at slowing or diverting the steady arrow like attack of the glittering bombers.

In fact, as one B17 gunner states “bigger planes to shoot down!”







19/7/42



It is still dark, two hours before dawn, a dark night with out moon.

But for the 3000 odd men facing the glinting river, it was light enough. The thick jungle , now that is impenetrably dark, and it hides them perfectly. But the river –that is a totally different story…………….



Hosho licks his lips, wipes his hands –symptom of the nervousness that infects them all. The river here, on the upper Irrawaddy is still nearly 30 metres wide, ugly, turbid.

It does not flow past with any great current, more a rolls past, the occasional branch or dead tree marking its passing.

Your eyes follow those debris –noting them., assessing them.

They move, however, faster than a man can swim…………



The opposite bank is utterly dark, utterly silent.



If the jungle here can swallow up 112th regiment –how many could be hiding on that bank?

They have to, of course, cross the river. Somewhere south of it, moving east, should be the shattered remains of Burma corp.

Should be.



And that, of course explains the nerves.

LT Bando touches his left shoulder. “ready Hosho?’

He nods –invisible in the dark, ready as he ever will be.



He slides down the river bank, lands ankle deep in the water, it is, surprisingly, freezing. Under the over hanging tree here, it is totally dark, even eyes adjusted cannot see a thing, and he goes by feel.

Private Suzuki almost lands on him, slidindg down the bank in a shower of mud and dirt,

“for Truks sake!, be careful”!

Above them, murmers in the forest, and the sound of activity.

Moments later , from the sound of it – the “canoe” is dumped onto them.



Not even faintly like the canoe you and I would imagine, this ‘vessel” is no more than a canvas box with a wooden bottom.

It has been laboriously carted all this way for this moment.

It is -of course –named “the titanic”



More muttered whisperings, and a thin rope comes down, it strikes Hosho in the face –fortunate –for it makes it easy to find



The mission is simple, get this rope across the river.

Wobbling, the two men begin to paddle across the sliver strip.

The night is still very dark, and very, very quiet.









A thousand yards to the west, on the southern bank, Lt Bartlett pulls up his pants- or the remains of them.

Dysentery is gripping him, a fact that amazes him. How can there be anything left to crap with so little being eaten?.

For the thousandth time he self assesses - yes, he is still strong enough. Has to be. He will do as he swore he would., get this battalion home, or die trying.





He surveys the Irrawady to his left – the great sweep of the next bend. Follow the river to the road, strike north, Myitkina, over the hills, home.

Easy.

If the airdrops keep up –there still remains hope.



But –and this is the but –it is a race -a race east.



In the dark of the jungle he whispers – “sergeant, get the men up –time we got going, I want to be at that point on the end of the bend by breakfast”



Breakfast. What a joke that was. Forty two miles to the road.

And maybe a proper one then………….



HQ Burma Corp, and the remains of 1st, 2nd Burma brigades, and the Indian 16th brigade stiffly, quietly climb to their feet, a great long ribbon of men hugging the shining waters.



Around them the night is still very dark, and very, very quiet








(in reply to 1275psi)
Post #: 471
RE: The little ship that could. - 5/24/2011 9:46:38 AM   
1275psi

 

Posts: 7979
Joined: 4/17/2005
Status: offline 		Hosho and Suzuki paddle furiously across the river, feeling very, very naked in this ridiculous vessel, the rope trailing behind. Surprisingly, they reach the other bank easily.

Getting ashore is not so easy, they are confronted with steep, sheer banks of dirt gouged by the river –nearly 15 feet high. For what seems an eternity, they both flounder about, until Suzuki grabs an overhead branch.

Almost instantly he is gone into the tree, the rope following.

Hosho finally gets ashore, hot, sweating, exhausted already.



Several other boats have followed, soon nearly a dozen men are dragging the bigger rope across using the smaller one.

In twenty minutes –at the most, there is going to be a functioning bridge……





And then, shattering the morning quiet –somewhere downstream – a shot.









Lt Bartlett will never find out who allows the shot , what idiot has failed to secure his weapon. It comes from somewhere behind him, a hundred yards at least.

It doesn’t matter. Not now. What matters is what he has just seen 500, maybe 600 yards ahead.

Something is moving across the river.

‘Glasses” he hisses. ‘’Private!~ your eyes are younger than mine –what do you see?”

The skinny lad drops his rifle, scrambles to the rivers edge, trains the only set of glasses the unit has left.

A curse cuts the night

“Japs! –truking dozens of the buggars crossing the river”



Damnation!. And thanks to that damn fool shot!.................

Thirty minutes to dawn……….and every minute another yellow monkey across the river, blocking the way………



“Platoon leaders on me!”

“First platoon - take the two MG’s – get forward as quick as you can –take that goddam bridge out as soon as you are in range.!”

“Second platoon – drop your crap –at the bridge –straight at it –engage, get their heads down!.



“Third platoon! –right hook em –we must stop them spreading south!”



Dysentery ridden, starving, exhausted, Lt Bartlett still has plenty of fight in him.





The shot freezes them all –but for a moment!

112th regiment bursts into action



They come across the half finished bridge like ants, and Hosho –senior man on the spot ,coolly directs them into battle.

He sends the first twenty straight down the river bank – dead men almost certainly - meet the enemy, tangle him up in a moving brawl……



Others he begins to set up in a arc 50 yards out from the bridge, digging into the jungle, melting into the green

Already the light is growing, he can see the distinction between the trees now.



Another twenty men –head south, 100 yards, dig in!

Another twenty men –south with you -200 yards! –tie in with the flank!



And now, down the river bank –from both sides –the chatter of Japanese guns, the banging of brens.

Battle is joined……….



























From

Combined Fleet

To

Swift eagle



Commence commerce raiding operations Indian ocean

To co ordinate with 1st fleet operations against Chittong, you are to strike Diego Garcia 1 Aug



Admiral Kongo





“Free to hunt Hidaka!’

“Yes” Oh yes, what pleasure this signal brings me. Free to hunt . Hasegawa’s smile is positively wolfish “ Let slip the dogs of war !”











1000hrs



Bullets crack and wiz, shredding the trees above his head

Hosho grins at Suzuki, he knows these bullets are being fired blind.



Shadows move –again, in the trees 30 yards away –he rises slightly, fires three times, ducks again as the return fire thuds into the dirt ahead., smacks the log he shelters behind.

Another figure thuds into the shelter besides him.

“Ah, private Bando –late to the party again?”

“Truk you Hosho! –you try getting across that bridge now –I felt just like a piñata does –trust me!”



Most of the Regiment is across now –those that are not yet across, are either dead, or not coming.

Fighting rages in an arc of about 500 yards circumference, although each man probably can only see ten, or twenty in the jungle.



It is now a very, very personal war –a thousand little individual engagements, spiteful, intense private battles, where men die alone, swallowed by the jungle.

The British have tried one rush – broken more by the tangle of green than anything, the Japanese, several.

Their bodies lie piled in untidy ugly heaps.



“We should Attack!” Bando hisses

‘Yes! –but we are ordered to hold . So hold we will” and damn good orders too. Attack? –attack what? –who? –where?.



Hosho has no idea of the overall situation.

No idea of the where abouts of his platoon, his company, his regimental flag

He has no idea of where his ammo or next orders will come from



He is –to be blunt –pretty damn disorganised.





And he, and a great many others on the south bank of the irrawady will be that way for many days yet………


(in reply to 1275psi)
Post #: 472
RE: The little ship that could. - 5/24/2011 9:50:35 AM   
1275psi

 

Posts: 7979
Joined: 4/17/2005
Status: offline 		20/7/42



Extract from



Falling Cherry blossoms_ a tale of an Imperial pilot –Amazon books


There are not many of them left now –these old, old men who once strode japans carrier decks, flew her eagles in the war.
Age is taking them all quickly now, and of those that remain, many. A great many still will not talk about what they did, how they served.
You must not press them.
This, above all, I have learnt over the years. You must not press them.
There are many reasons. Some –who fought so well, don’t wish to boast, still indoctrinated in Japan first, self second.
Others, undoubtedly ( I think) still feel shame in defeat –even after all these years.

There are other reasons too, I suppose.
So when I heard that a certain pilot from the Zuiho –from the Indian ocean raid no less, was willing to speak to me –(having heard , in the usual way from a friend of a friend in association X), I was more than willing to visit him.
The trip from Tokyo to Kure was un eventual – although I did spend quite some time trying to think of a gift deciding on the safe choice of a good bottle of sake.

Getting to his house, another matter.
The taxi dropped me off in the hills overlooking the harbour –and to my surprise, pointed to a cluster of small houses even further up the hill.
There was no road, just a small path climbing steeply around and up the small rice paddy terraces.
Quite a climb
His house, however, I found.
Small, incredibly clean, two rooms. A patch of farm –half an acre?
A stunning view over the harbour –and a vey telling feature in the room –a large telescope pointing to the docks.
Some ones interest in the navy has never waned.

He is smaller than I imagined, but still straight, and smiling.
An old man, slowed by age, but not defeated by it.
He greets me warmly, if some what awkwardly.
The Sake helps –yet he pours us a scotch, sure sigh of what to bring next time.

Where to begin?
Today though, I don’t have to ask the questions, probe gently, or even try to entice.
He simply begins, taking a large photo album of a small table.
‘Sit” he points beside him, “let me show you these first. For often, seeing is knowing.
A picture paints a thousand words yes?’
And his eyes twinkle. And somehow, instantly, I know I have found a friend.

The photos, quite simply, are priceless………
“These we took day one of –our little hunt”
There are a dozen or more. And still –despite what I have seen over the years, they still surprise me.

It’s a series of photos – flight deck operations. And what strikes you is the casual attitudes, the lack of clothing –so many in just shorts.
Shots of zeros departing Zuiho’s decks.
Staged photos of men before the bombers.
Other photos –the calm seas, the sun obvious, blurred images of ships long gone steaming sedately across the swells……

All the gun bays are crowded with onlookers.
“We did not expect action this day –so it was pretty relaxed. You normally needed to bring something to the gun crews to get a seat though…………..”
Another photo, men, young men, gathered around a small Pekinese dog –something new, the ship had a mascot
‘We were so young”
Yes, they were.

The last photo is the best. It means nothing to us, of course. But, for those that still could see it.
It is a “ships photo” –you know the type – the captain in the front, the officers to each side, the crew, row after row, blotting out the structure of the ship..

Its obviously taken alongside –Zuiho starboard side too.
‘Batavia –I had almost forgotten that day”



And then my new friend says something else to surprise me.

“The war was six months old – and you know – I don’t think a lot of us really realised what that meant yet……”






(in reply to 1275psi)
Post #: 473
RE: The little ship that could. - 5/25/2011 9:01:15 AM   
1275psi

 

Posts: 7979
Joined: 4/17/2005
Status: offline 		21/7/42

PO Okura is thinking the unthinkable for a Japanese.

He thinks it in the early hours before the call to dawn action stations.
He thinks it at breakfast

It bubbles away while Hidaka gives the morning brief – search patterns today for three kates –the rest on immediate notice, torpedo armed below decks.

It lies almost dormant as he pilots the Kate of the deck for yet another time, but rises to the boil as he heads out into the deep wastes of the Indian ocean.

He has a navigator, a gunner/lookout. Flying a steady course, maintaining lookout is almost automatic.

The beat of the engine isolates him into his own personal bubble, where there is little to do, but think.

He thinks –about his dead father, former Minister of production.
He thinks of his (almost certain) murder at Herbiesans hand

SO, He thinks the unthinkable.
How to kill herbiesan in return.

It is a fantasy that accompanies him for the many , many fruitless hours of patrol.
But given half a chance, he swears to himself, it will become reality.




Zuiho steams due east today –straight from Batavia, deep into the Indian ocean wastes.
She see’s nothing.



112th regiment simply is not large enough to hold the British.
Not that the British will try to go through them.

Holding 112th to its perimeter –anchored on that single flimsy bridge, -they slip around the defences, and begin to move units east.
LT Bartlett may yet get his breakfast on the Myitkina road.

112th however, get a consolation prize
Today the British airforce put in “a big effort’ to support the fighting, sending as many aircraft that can be found to support the battle.
5th air army has been waiting for the chance.
Clouds of KI-43’s are waiting over the battle, also part of their ‘big effort’
44 allied planes go down today –for 5 Japanese
The battle for supremacy over Burma’s airspace has yet to truly begin.




22/7/42

The sun burns down, baking Zuiho’s flight deck.
Around her the Indian ocean sparkles, another delightful day.
“Point A reached in five minutes sir”
Hasegawa awakens with a start. Damn, snoozing again. This damn seat.
For a moment he sits still, feeling the warmth of the sun on his face.

How long has he dozed? Five minutes?, more?
Almost angrily he looks around the bridge, looking for some one to chastise, and sees nobody –every face studiously turned to its work..
The rebuke dies in him.
After all –what is a doze with so little happening?

He stands, takes in the fleet about him. Junyo, Hiyo, 1000 yards on each flank, Shoho astern, that ugly buggar ahead.
A dozen zeros circling overhead.

Situation normal – boring as three day old sushi .

Point A.
On the map – that great map , point A is the I in Indian – as good a spot as any to aim for. An identifiable spot, one maybe the enemy might use for its convoys too.
But no luck today……….

“Alright then,………….Officer of the Watch, execute fleet turn when we are there”
“Aye sir!’
“Execute!’

Above them, the whipping of the flags.
“All units –new course 320 degrees”

Swift eagle gently swings to a new course, headed directly towards Diego Garcia, and what ever dragons it might find.






Evening
Nashiguchi, driven by the noise from the ready room, takes refuge on the starboard ‘balcony’

The sun is diving into the ocean, the mist already blurring the horizon. The ocean hissing past below is already losing focus in the fading light, but the breeze is now gentle and cooling.

Alone, (and how precious this is –to be alone on a ship) Nashiguchi reaches into his jacket, takes out that battered leather cover.

“But I tell you who hear me: Love you enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who ill treat you. If some one strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If some one takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you”


He closes the book, contemplates the dying day, this beautiful world

Kurihama
This war
Lord, what am I suppose to do?











(in reply to 1275psi)
Post #: 474
RE: The little ship that could. - 5/26/2011 7:53:54 AM   
1275psi

 

Posts: 7979
Joined: 4/17/2005
Status: offline 		23/7/42

Another man on another “balcony’
Minobe takes his turn, contemplating the surroundings.

500 yards on Zuiho’s flank, Junyo recovers her aircraft for today.
A cloud of smoke erupts from her funnel, (another sprayer lit off for sure), and she begins to peel away, into the wind.

Junyo




1940, and Junyo is nearly two thirds of her way through her transformation from stately liner to ugly carrier, and the pressure is on.

Pressure to complete the job.
Pressure to move her from the wharf she is at, to another, so that the massive crane here can be utilised on another ship.
Pressure to get the job done

Down Below, the beginning of the set to works .
Minobe supervises. It is his job to okay each step, to approve, and witness each trial.
Easy enough, easy enough to slope most of these tasks to the charge.
Even easier with a few drinks under the belt.

But this day is a little special, first light off on one of the boilers.
It is the third one, second in this boiler room.

A little unsteady, Minobe enters the crowd.
“Are we ready Chief petty Officer?’
‘Almost sir, ………a hitch”
‘A hitch?’ over what? –he can hear the fuel pump whine –see the gauge –good pressure. The blower rumbles nicely. What bloody hitch?
“I was told the final delivery manifold has passed the pressure test –but there is confusion on which one”
“Confusion? –didn’t you supervise the test Chief?”
“Not this one Sir, CPO Manzuki did, but he is on leave today”

Minobe stares at the boilers. Port boiler burns bright –the fuel pipe to it branches to this the starboard. If the Port is OK………..”
‘It must have been OK Chief –how else is Port OK, and not Starboard?”
‘Well Sir, I would prefer to find out for sure…..”

“Oh Truk that – it’s the same pipe!, lets light off……..”




Except, the final flex hose, is not the same pipe.
It burst, didn’t it.
Immediately
Bad luck to have the light off stick still burning…………

Damn it to hell – what bad luck. The thick oil should not have lit, should not have!
But it had………………

And the screams…………


Minobe contemplates Junyo.
And , inevitably, as it does still, nearly every nightmare filled night, his thoughts turn to the fire, and the horror of melting flesh…….
Minobe could die anyway, but , please God, not that way…………..screaming.




23/7/42

VADM Yamaguchi watches his flag rise, whip in the breeze.
Nagumo salutes. “Combined Fleet is your Vice Admiral”
‘Thank you Nagumo, I take it with pleasure”

The older man smiles. “Glad to be rid of the damn thing. Combined Fleet is a heavy thing you know”

Ahh, yes, yes it is –especially for a non flyer. Yet, you did not break it…….at least there is that.

“What are your plans Yamaguchi?’
The new commander of Japans carriers pauses. But he does not have to think hard, the answer is obvious. “get us out of these damn dockyards, get us to sea, get us back into the war”

Nagumo grins now. “Ah yes, you always were the fighter………….Did you hear?”
“No, hear what?”
“Allied surface raid on Guadacanal, our American friends are poking the stick I think”
“Good, I intend to use a baseball bat……..”



24/7/42

112th regiment has melted into the jungle
Like ants, the men have built, burrowed, constructed.
A tangled web of trees, dead trunks, logs, trenches now protects its bridgehead.

On the other side of the river, the artillery is in position.
It fires intermittently, more as a discouragement against movement than anything else.
It is raining.
Again
Belting down, pouring into the trenches, the crude bunkers, streaming of the jungle.
Hosho, as miserable as anyone else, hunkers down, and eats his scant meal.

He can hear his enemy, a mere 30 yards away, pulling out, trying to use the rain to cover the movement.
How galling to know that another unit is going to slip away.
How galling to know, that no matter how strong the will, you don’t have the strength to attack..



Zuiho:

‘refuelling completed sir”
Hasegawa nods, that should keep the tin cans happy for another few days.
“BFR? For us Navigator?”
Burnable fuel remaining is now just on 60% sir, the Tankers are expected, all going well in four days.
Four days………
“All going well……..we will be in the crud if they don’t”

The navigator does not answer. Everyone knows it. Deep in the enemies ocean, fuel already tight………

But Hasegawa can feel it. In his bones, intuition or not.
There are targets to the North. There has to be. Has to be……….

25/7/42

Captains Ships Log

Swift eagle continues on course 320, with nearly 20 aircraft on search. We maintain a CAP all day.

And we see nothing.
Not a goddam thing.

BFR at 50%
And still no word on the tankers.


From the diary of the Charge

Another day somewhere in the Indian Ocean.
Normal day, steaming both Port boilers today, starboard on 30 minutes each, both banked.

Continued with routine maintenance, conducted soot blows, bottom blows Port forward boiler.
Feed at 75%, potable at 60%, fuel down to 45%.
Refuelled Destroyers yesterday, buggar that for a draft! –too bloody small for me!
Each day seems like a peacetime cruise…Ship remains amazingly defect free, a few minor things, mostly Shipwright stuff.

26/7/42

LT Bartlett stares at the ribbon of dirt.
The Myitkina road.

He has made it, so far.
Ahead of him, however, news, bad news. A Burmese unit, coming to fight.
Buggar that.
If those nips behind could not stop them, then he would be blowed if some half arsed natives would.
1st Burma brigade was getting home.
He knew it. He would hang onto that, now and forever.


27/7/42

Extract from “Shattering the sword” a Cantona production.

On the Monday, 154 oscars sweeping over Dacca.
On the Tuesday, clouds of them over the Burma front
On the Wednesday, an entire Hudson Squadron decimated over Madang, the survivors reporting 60 plus enemy.
Japans big effort is truly underway. And for High command –the question –what could it possibly mean.?




28/7/42

“Open fire!”


The distant rumble of thunder

Foretaste

Of a million tears .



The Japanese battle line “nukes” Cox Bizaar.






Dusk
If your eyes are open, if you look, many things will no longer catch you by surprise

The Charge, catching some fresh air in a gun tub (cost, a free go at the washing machine) watches the last search kate land.

Normally, the pilot waits a moment, kills the engine before laboriously exiting.
But not today.
He fairly leaps out, scurries to the companion way to the bridge, disappears below.


Interest peeked, the charge watches.

The clatter of signal lamps –ah, yes, sending a message……….yes, Junyo replies.
Oh, look, they are all in on it –a veritable light show in the gathering gloom.

Now, wait………..

“LT Hidaka-report to Bridge”
Yes…….

The charge sighs, moves out of the gunbay
‘Leaving already Chief?”
‘yes, I sense that we might be busy soon”
The gunners laugh.
“You engineers, and your sensing stuff……..”

‘”LCDR Minobe –Bridge”


Charge takes five minutes to reach Port Engine room
‘Evening Okano”
‘Evening Chief., whats up.?”

‘I think we are about to find out” the charge grins, looks at some recordings
What is our fuel state now?
“40% Chief, getting bloody low.”
“And I suspect about to get bloody lower”

“Engine room bridge…………connect four boilers, report when connected”
Okano glances at the Charge..
“OK, whats really up?’
“Truked if I know, I am only an engineer……..”








Bridge, Engine room, , 4 boilers connected, full power available, request permission to blow soot on connected boilers”
‘Negative Engine room ………standby”


The bells tingle
Revolutions 296!

Battle speed ONE







(in reply to 1275psi)
Post #: 475
RE: The little ship that could. - 5/27/2011 10:22:02 AM   
1275psi

 

Posts: 7979
Joined: 4/17/2005
Status: offline 		29/7/42

Zuiho and swift eagle plunge through the night, trembling with the effort.
below, the blowers scream, and our stokers watch each guage like hawks.

The Charge stalks the spaces, as if he can sniff out trouble before it arises.

Three months ago now, hasegawa accused him of not supporting him properly
Now Zuiho slices through the ocean with out a missed beat......................


In the hangers, the labour is finished. The planes are armed, fuelled. Only the pilots have to be awoken before dawn.
The sword glitters sharp.
Hasegawa, Hidaka stalk the bridge, both almost bursting with energy, anticipation.

For Hasegawa, only the fear of swift eagle plowing into some surface task force worries him, but that only a little.
The cruiser, all those long lances will deal with that.

They plow on, into the growing dark.

1 am, and it happens.
First just a drop, but then another. Rain. Steady, pouring rain. And the darkness deepens, the moon blotted by the clouds.
Nobody speaks on the bridge.
But a dozen minds pray for a clear dawn.

They do not get it

Swift eagle punches on through a grey, grey world, a sky at 1000 feet, and solid, solid rain.
Visibility is terrible.
The targets -wherever they could be -will not be found today.

"Message from Junyo sir"
"battle speed three -new course 140, intend to find tankers"

Hasegawa curses. As if.............
"refuel destroyers"

A missed opportunity
refuelling in the rain.
from anticipation, to intense gloom.............

(in reply to 1275psi)
Post #: 476
RE: The little ship that could. - 5/27/2011 10:22:31 AM   
1275psi

 

Posts: 7979
Joined: 4/17/2005
Status: offline 		cantona having computer issues, so we hang five...............

(in reply to 1275psi)
Post #: 477
RE: The little ship that could. - 5/30/2011 7:52:58 AM   
1275psi

 

Posts: 7979
Joined: 4/17/2005
Status: offline 		30/7/42

It stops raining
The skies clear, the ocean returns to a brilliant, calm blue
A brilliant day.
And nothing, absolutely nothing sighted.

Do not go to the bridge today if you expect to keep it on your shoulders.
I for one, would find something else to do to avoid that seething pit of frustration and anger.




Lurch tends his machinery
another day, another watch.
Oil rounds.

'Cup of tea please Lurch?'
"Just swing to the other pump can you?'
'Are you sure it reads that? -OK, I believe you, sort it out can you?'
'already finished ? -OK, good!"

How long to master a craft, a job?.
It does not happen overnight, in fact, it often happens so slowly one does not notice.
But someone so derided once, is now an indispensible brick in the team.

(in reply to 1275psi)
Post #: 478
RE: The little ship that could. - 5/30/2011 8:00:22 AM   
1275psi

 

Posts: 7979
Joined: 4/17/2005
Status: offline 		30/7/42

112th have attacked.
Not the screaming suicidal charges that will soon characterise the japanese Army, but a steady, careful effort, that will attempt to push the allied troops back, curve them into a pocket against the river.

It has failed
The Jungle has foiled them, isolating the companies, seperating them from the artillery, breaking them into small little pockets.

Hosho survives.
His company survives.
Enemy action that is.
malaria, berri, berri, dysentry, jungle sores, malnutrition.....................death has plenty of tools in his case.
Soon, Hosho feels -his stomach growling -death will begin unpacking that case.

(in reply to 1275psi)
Post #: 479
RE: The little ship that could. - 5/30/2011 8:04:27 AM   
1275psi

 

Posts: 7979
Joined: 4/17/2005
Status: offline 		31/7/42

'Fuelling complete sir -all vessels are at 95%"

Hasegawa nods his acknowledgement. He is calm today. As he should be. Why rile against the fates?. War is never certain is it?
He looks across the ocean, at Junyo, the flagship
The decision, at least, is not his. So why should he worry?

But he really, really would like to see action...............

But not today. Swift eagle marks time 400 miles south of Diego garcia, lurking.

(in reply to 1275psi)
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