1275psi
Posts: 7979
Joined: 4/17/2005 Status: offline
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1 June 1945 Under a brilliant summer sun, and across calm bright blue seas barely disturbed by any breeze, task force 44 steams steadily south east, aiming to skirt Naha to the south before trying to penetrate the waters south of takao. Susuzuki steadily shakes herself down, there are the usual calls to action station, a quick fire drill, but it is not long before these finish and the real work begins. These waters are deadly now, and her crew soon are at state two, guns manned, depth charge racks at the ready. A quiet tension fills her decks and passageways. This is, of course, normal. But there is another new tension , one that Susuzuki has not experienced for a long time, a new,. very, very serious one, this new captain, this Ashada..........is he any good? They have watched him carefully, watched the manouvres at the wharf..............a lot of orders, yes............but maybe he needs to get the feel of this greyhound ?.....maybe. Now he stands at the starboard bridge wing, passive. equally observing his crew as they observe him "Bridge, One engine!" The navigator, who currently has the helm , bends to the speaker tube "Bridge" "request to commence surface blows 2 b boiler " The Navigator turns his head towards Ashada. A slight nod "Approved, steady revolutions for 15 minutes" "Roger Bridge, thankyou!" the voice from below carries clearly across the bridge Ashada speaks 'Who is that nav?" ""That would be petty Officer Okano sir" Ashada merely nods So. That is the man, or one of them. A confident man,, I must be very careful................ The morning passes swiftly At 0930 hours, the first attack. SS Carp, from well outside the task force's outer rim, flings a long range hail mercy strike at the Cruiser, the fish spreading across the still blue. It is a wise move, to strike from so far, the fish leave tracks all too easy to see in these calm waters, the response swift. Admiral Yamada dispatches three destroyers to the attack, Yikikaze, Oyashio, and Susuzuki. Funnels suddenly belching black, the three grey hounds, these gray wolves, swing, take bones into their teeth, and race toward the source of those deadly tracks.
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