RE: The little ship that could.

RE: The little ship that could. (Full Version)

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Smoky Stoker -> RE: The little ship that could. (9/26/2014 3:11:20 AM)
Hosho is a fictional character. Really. Really!!! [:(] (Dammit)

1275psi -> RE: The little ship that could. (9/26/2014 9:41:28 AM)
In the sanctuary of the Imperial palace, their are more than enough peaceful and quiet areas to hold conversations, to argue, to give orders, to plot............... In the gardens of the Imperial palace, it truly can be said that here is the world of mice and men, of wax paper and black ink.............. The Emperor and general Sugiyama, (who now with out doubt holds the reins of power in what remains of the empire) stand side by side near one of the ponds, the Koi swirling, circling below their feet. They are utterly alone "And so, general, what have you discovered?' 'Quite a tale your highness, quite a tale" "Aaah......but what would life be like without a good story ney?' The General takes some bread, casts it upon the waters. The fish feed. "The facts, as we know them, are this.............On the 1st of of december, 4 men of herbiesans guard, through an utterly delightful ruse, removed a considerable amount of gold from the vaults." 'My vaults general........." the Emperor gently reminds his council leader "yes, yes of course.....continuing.........on the 2nd of december these same men board a slightly rusty E class vessel , a vessel captained by a certain Captain Ugaki....... "A fellow revolutionary of our late herbiesan" "A very close revolutionary friend.............along with several heavy crates marked machinery parts" 'The gold?" "Undoubtably" The General casts more bread...........the bare cheek of the theft..........almost unbelievable, even if the facts slotted so neatly... "Chiburi sails , without Combined fleets, or any fleets knowledge that very day...........destination, until now, unknown" The Emperor nods............in recent conversations (secret to all but the most trusted) with the Russians, a name has consistantly came up, a name of a man, The Russians it seemed were convinced remmained alive under his care....... "Rovaasski?" "Yes your Highness...........Rovasski" Silence falls between them The Gold, no doubt now, had gone North, been delivered, but failed to arrive.............. "Do you know where Chuburi went general? "No, we have some idea, but nothing definate...........she returned December 16th, herbiesan boarded on the 18th...........he died somewhere on the journey north again, how the barsted died we do not know, but that he did there is no doubt. Chiburi then deployed to manilla..." "And was sunk with all hands............and the trail goes cold general" 'Not necessarily" The emperor looks at Sugiyama sharply "two crew members still live............how they got of her, too long to relate.........but they live still. " "Where?" The paymaster general tells me they are posted to destroyer Susuzuki, refitting in Hiroshima" And you will bring them in for questioning? "No ..............they are stokers............they will probably know nothing, have no idea where Chuburi went, if they do, what can they say?...........that we went north, it was cold?. They will not be able to "help us" in that manner. If they DO know something, all we will get still, is it was cold, we were in Northern waters...........no, we need something more subtle................ The Emperor nods And in the quiet of the garden, another dark plot begins to grow..............

hosho -> RE: The little ship that could. (9/26/2014 8:30:42 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Smoky Stoker Hosho is a fictional character. Really. Really!!! [:(] (Dammit) them who die honorably, they live for ever... fictional or not [;)]

Lowpe -> RE: The little ship that could. (9/26/2014 9:38:17 PM)
Egads, I was so wrong.[:(] Actually, I knew we were in trouble when Japan was waiting for the turn...I had they had played ahead.

1275psi -> RE: The little ship that could. (9/30/2014 10:01:16 AM)
24May 1945 B-29s bomb Takao Bombers bomb other places.............routine, routine, routine. Amazingly, the tankers have arrived again into the DEI ports, and are yet again filling tanks Amazing Cagayan SGT Yates ( and had that name caused a few issues over the years) rested easily on the sand bags around his machine gun nest. carefully, with fingers still trembling slightly (fingers that had actually been doing this ever since that nightmare of the landings.......christ, how long ago now) he lights a smoke. It fails utterly to drown out the smell of the battle, of the stink of war. War is messy. Not the chaos of action, of orders mislaid, of mistakes made, its just so goddam messy About him, piles upon piles of cartridge cases, of discarded ammo boxes, of mess kit, of ruined weapons, of cloth, of blood stained bandages...........let alone the wreck of the town about him He has always been a neat man has SGT yates, its not right to think, but it was honest too though, to find the mess about him more disturbing than the twisted bodies lying in almost drifts in front of the machine gun nest........... They has almost gotten through...almost. The night, THE NIGHT........too raw to think about...............but how could he forget............the tracers.....the screams,,a wall of shadows, yelling, screaming, jigging, dancing in his sights...............waves........collapsing......... Stupid, crude............. But gods, they came so close. Some of his men are warily searching the battle ground, poking, probing the dead. To his left, where the enemy penetrated deepest (where those barsteds almost outflanked him), several men struggle with a japanese machine gun. It stikes SGT yale just then, that if all of those barsteds had attacked with such skill and detirmination...........no , don't think of that........ "SGT!".the yell brings him back into focus...... His Corporal at the Machine gun is poking something..........."This one is still alive, should I finish him off?" The affirmative rises in his throat......but something cuts it off............. Maybe its respect for for a fellow grunt who has done so well........... "Will he live?" the corporal peers closer...........".maybe..easier to shoot him sarge........." But just then, the LT arrives, and the chance is too late War is hard war is messy war..............war is cruel. Hosho lives, but will soon, I think, wishes he did not. For a Japanese soldier..........a fate worse than death...............capture

1275psi -> RE: The little ship that could. (9/30/2014 10:26:34 AM)
A friend posed the question.............what does a sailor do in refit? For our men.............what don't they do? Dawn, the reville..........clear and stow the mess.scrub and clean PT............a hard 30 minutes of PT Breakfast Morning muster.............salute the flag, sing the anthem, listen to the days orders, assign the work, plan the work......(and how easy it is in these days............"lets see if we can get that prig of a machine to go today ney?) And then too it. The hours will fly by ,a million and one tasks................a hurried meal, and the work continues The day ends (or slows somewhat) with a muster of compartments head in damage control central With three days of refit offically left, the atmosphere is tense The engineer , as always begins at the forward Boiler room "Hirate?' Hirate winces............it has not been a good day. "The boiler brickwork is in, the new tubes are rolled, but the burner throat work is not yet set. Internals are in, but the second safety is not yet repaired. Both feed pumps................(are never going to go again sir, but i cannot say that, can I?)........I have not received the rotating assembies...............these, these I cannot manufacture." The engineer stares at him hard............and nods with acknowledgement. A wry smile breaks out............."we can but hope, ..........continue hirate...." Hirate does.............the list of woes remains long, and his list is the shortest...Okano is missing an entire Turbo generator throttle valve assembly......... Susuzuki is meant to come out of refit in three days.............. She is not, at this rate, going to make it. On the other hand, who is going to lament extra days alongside in Japan?

kaleun -> RE: The little ship that could. (10/4/2014 8:05:38 PM)
What? This thread on page 2? Outrageous[:@]

Ol_Dog -> RE: The little ship that could. (10/4/2014 8:41:53 PM)
I shall write the Times!

1275psi -> RE: The little ship that could. (10/5/2014 1:43:56 AM)
sorry guys major turns issues, cantona sends turns, I no recieve said turns.............no bloody idea what is happening

Mike McCreery -> RE: The little ship that could. (10/5/2014 2:45:49 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: 1275psi sorry guys major turns issues, cantona sends turns, I no recieve said turns.............no bloody idea what is happening There are lots of things to check but one might be the file size. You are probably at about 5 megabytes right now and maybe there is a size issue with the transfer.

british exil -> RE: The little ship that could. (10/5/2014 9:40:26 AM)
TURKEY TROTS TO WATER GG FROM CINCPAC ACTION COM THIRD FLEET INFO COMINCH CTF SEVENTY-SEVEN X WHERE IS RPT WHERE IS MY GAME FILE RR THE WORLD WONDERS Mat

1275psi -> RE: The little ship that could. (10/5/2014 9:53:48 PM)
And at last, some turns! 25th of May, 1945 The underwater Bukas are still there. Carpets of them in the straights between Takao and the phillipines Allied B-29's operating from China arrogantly sweep aside what little air opposition exists on the island, and pound the airfields, the ports, the people With supplies at critical levels, the Anti submarine air patrols remain grounded, the small escort vessels tied alongside..........or sunk. The Bukas prowl relentlessly Japan has some 42 tankers left.........right now 10 are at soerabaya, 10 at Miri, 8 at Palembang, 8 in northern waters, and 6 running this terrible gauntlet. No longer are there destroyers to spare for escorts, nor now, even sufficient E class, or SC class boats. Motor launches have been flung into the fray. They cannot cut it. SS sanspor kills twice today, so confident in the situation that she uses but a single fish in the first attacks......hunts for another victim, strikes, and has time to return to her first victim, and put her down. The Motor launches are too slow, have no sonar........... Bitter tears cannot assuage lives and ships so poorly used and wasted... Japan has but 40 tankers left........a species plunging towards extinction.

1275psi -> RE: The little ship that could. (10/5/2014 10:09:39 PM)
Hirate and Okano are resting on the starboard side of Suszuki, sharing a precious smoke. Both men are filthy, covered in oil, grease and muck. Things below are no going well. In the forward unit three attempts at obtaining a squeeze( proving the boilers tightness) have utterly failed. Pressure has climbed nicely to 90%..but then failed. It is obviously the safety valve failing...........gagged or not...........and that means its seat is (as they just know in their hearts) completely trucked. Which means, in this case, a new valve...........there is no metal left in the seat for yet another machining job. Hirate has, of course, ordered a new valve..........but it, like so many pieces has not been delivered. "So sorry, supply is impossible, so sorry, we have been promised, we regret that that factory has temporarily ceased production, we are seeking another..........." The engineer comes out of the mid way passage way.........our men stiffen, they still do not know this man, but no Japanese Officer can ever accept failure, can they? "No squeeze Hirate?" Hirate barely can look into his eyes......."No , we cannot .........it is the damned valve" The engineer looks down the wharf........there 6 other destroyers are nestled alongside and behind the cruiser. he smiles, with out humour.......'I hear you two are men of some initative........I wonder how vigilant the quartermasters are on our friends down there...." Hirate and Okano relax, and exchange knowing looks.Ahh......a man after their own hearts after all............ "I will, of course, deny all knowledge" As the Engineer leaves Okano turns towards Hirate."and what else do we need?" "whatever we can unbolt in 15 minutes I would think................."

1275psi -> RE: The little ship that could. (10/5/2014 10:20:21 PM)
26th of may Bigglesworth lazily props himself onto one elbow,, opens a single eye against the sun "You are getting burnt Longpig" Lazily Longpig looks down towards his belly........."yes..........bit of a problem that.........." The two men lie on the vast expanse of hawaii's main beach, baking in the sun, absorbing the ambience Both men are brown, and (don't mention this too loudly), piling on the pounds. Longpig closes his eyes again, wriggles in the sand, contemplates the situation it is....well, its terrible...........in no way at all. The assignment is the most rum thing one could imagine. Assigned to a squadron..........that officially does not exist yet. To observe and report on a weapon..thet nobody seems to know exists To be totally un assigned, yet to be under command at the very, very highest level......... A rum do "when the weapon arrives men, we will let you know.until then, report at 8 every day, after that..........well, you don't really exist, you know..........." A real rum do........... Long pig scratches...........a pay packet, no duties...........and an accent that seems to dry the local ladies into a tizz. "The fried chicken tonight Bigglesworth?" ""With the shrimp" 'Done' Gods. War is hell, hey what?"

1275psi -> RE: The little ship that could. (10/8/2014 9:26:37 AM)
27th May (turns are still slow, cantona on another trip) There are 6 destroyers parked along the wharf aft of the Susuzuki, each one dark and almost silent, still upon the dark waters here at Hiroshima bay Like the Majority of what remains of Japans first class warships, they have been nestled here for months now, waiting, waiting for the Allies to make a major move. With the lack of allied action of late, they seem almost despondant, if you believe that ships can have personalities For the men aboard, these have been long, long boring days A factor our two thieves are banking upon Two of them are Akisuki class, sisters to Hirates and Okano's latest berth. Now, with the sun well and truly set, they set their chests towards one of the gangways, and boldly mount it. The Quartermaster looks up, almost idly "yes men?" Okano opens his coat, the glint of a bottle of scotch glimmers in the dull quarterdeck lights "Socials..........any Senior sailors aboard? The QM leans, inspects the state board. "Never mind QM. PO Iota is aboard......he will do" Okano interupts his search.......who PO Iota is he has not a clue, but who to tell ney?.and the ashore pegs heavily outwiegh the onboard.......... 'Will I pipe for him petty officer?" "No, we know the way......" The bottle glimmers."We will save you some" The QM nods.........who the hell cares anyway? The two stokers move swiftly into the ship, Okano stopping at the Senior sailors mess door. Hirate keeps going........ Okano knocks on the door. A sleepy eyed petty officer......a stoker too...........answers it The man eyes Okano cautiously. "Are you duty my friend?" asks Okano The thin man shakes his head, "No, the duty Chief is on the bridge.........." 'And you are onboard?" "Fight with the wife" Okano breaks into a great grin..........the bottle magically appearing........"I ws lonely myself, and I have just a cure for THAT sort of thing" Petty Officer Iota's hang dog attitude vanishes like a mist under the sun........."Welcome my friend!.come on in!" Hirate needs only 30 minutes The bottle gives him far more than that.................. They make no attempt to hide the valve as they stumble down the gangway........why should they, who in the world really understands what the black gang do, except that they seem to work stupid hours........... The QM gets his promise, and all is good with the world.........

1275psi -> RE: The little ship that could. (10/8/2014 9:33:44 AM)
The Chinese enter Suchow. The northen armies have shattered. The central have collapsed. The western, southern front flees. The remaining divisions have been ordered to concentrate about Shanghia /Nanchang area. But there are too few now against the hordes sweeping back over despoiled lands, too many divisions lost in Burma and Thialand, or trapped in laos. But it is the only place where any action takes place......otherwise the entire war is as quiet as it has ever been. And many, too many maybe, in the home land think about a negotiated peace again.

1275psi -> RE: The little ship that could. (10/8/2014 9:45:41 AM)
dawn, may 28th Okano greets the message with a thumping head "With his complements, the Engineer would like to see you on the gangway Damnation. is this a good thing, or a bad thing. Or have we really gotten us into hot water again? Well, we will see. He makes his way to the quarterdeck.joins the Engineer and Hirate against the guardrail. "Were you successful last night Okano?" "Hiei" The Engineer laughs."You might want to think about giving it back. Damdest thing I have ever seen...he nods towards the wharf There, in a line, half a dozen trucks..........packed with stores, parts........seemingly enough crap to rebuild a destroyer from scratch, let alone finish Susuzuki's refit... 'Somebody somewhere has moved heaven and earth to ensure we sail.......not so sure i am happy with the implications of that when you think about it"

PaxMondo -> RE: The little ship that could. (10/8/2014 12:09:40 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: 1275psi The Chinese enter Suchow. The northen armies have shattered. The central have collapsed. The western, southern front flees. The remaining divisions have been ordered to concentrate about Shanghia /Nanchang area. But there are too few now against the hordes sweeping back over despoiled lands, too many divisions lost in Burma and Thialand, or trapped in laos. I hate Burma, really hate it, for exactly this reason. Very difficult to avoid this outcome, very easy for the allies to achieve this. [:@]

1275psi -> RE: The little ship that could. (10/12/2014 1:29:46 AM)
hi Pax me too..........at the start of the game we agreed that chinese units could go to burma with out penalty to give japan a chance to hold there, it worked, but now i have to pay the price, no complaints though, No turns for another 3 days I believe, Cantona is a school teacher, things to do...........and all that[8\|]

Smoky Stoker -> RE: The little ship that could. (10/13/2014 10:22:50 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: 1275psi me too..........at the start of the game we agreed that chinese units could go to burma with out penalty to give japan a chance to hold there, it worked, but now i have to pay the price, no complaints though, My brain did about three 360� circles before I realized that you meant "Japanese units in China" rather than "Chinese units".

1275psi -> RE: The little ship that could. (10/14/2014 10:16:26 AM)
yeah Smokey Stoker,, for a story teller i use good english-----------not! [:D] A turn, a turn!.at last, a turn And buggar all happened.......Suchow China falls, allied armies in malaya come to within 120 miles of singapore. But lots of tankers leave the DEI's, bellies full again............... 28 May, 1945 Susuzuki's arse kicks gently against the boiler, and white foam boils about it. from here funnels two heat hazes, a thin brown cloud rising rapidly into the spring air. Miricles have occured. the impossible has been done before time. Once again, the destroyer is alive, below decks at least. Nothingin naval life is as amazing as these days, where a ship seemingly tied to a wharf forever, shakes herself free, and becomes independant again. Cables vanish. Hoses are disconnected. A Thousand half finished jobs come together, rubbish is swept away, decks buried, emerge shining. And mens spirits rise The war is being lost, the position appears hopless, yet against all reason, minds turn to taking a warship to sea, taking it to sea, taking to sea, to fight. And why not? This is after all Susuzuki, the lucky ship, the ship that has survived all battles. But today, a cloud sweeps over them. Just after Midday, three cars (rare indeed in Hiroshima these days) roll down the wharf. They disgorge three men in uniform, and many who are not. They come up the gangway, take startled salutes from the gangway staff, and make for the bridge There are no explanations, there is no ceremony. Within the hour the men leave, all but the three in uniform. They take Susuzuki's captain with them. Two days before end of refit, a new team on her bridge. A new Navigator, a new XO, , and a new Captain CDR Asada takes command Hirate is one of the few to see this new man this day, polishing the telegraphs on the bridge after an adjustment. He wastes no time in making his assessment of the short thin man. he notes the caution, the wariness, the (is this possible in a Captain?) the unsureness............. "this is no destroyer captain" And Hirate has it right. ASHADA.A Leadership 31 Inspiration 25 naval 35 land 12 Air 19 Admin 41 Aggression21 "a cautious captain, suitable for command of a cargo or transport vessel................." One more, unlisted trait "Political toady............91"

1275psi -> RE: The little ship that could. (10/14/2014 10:17:02 AM)
dble post

ny59giants -> RE: The little ship that could. (10/14/2014 11:21:56 AM)
Getting orders to go and guard the precious tankers with their liquid gold back to Japan, me thinks. [;)]

BBfanboy -> RE: The little ship that could. (10/15/2014 7:34:13 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: ny59giants Getting orders to go and guard the precious tankers with their liquid gold back to Japan, me thinks. [;)] I think they somehow want to get Susuzuki into the area where the yellow gold disappeared, and then arrange for our stokers to have some leave ... with spooks monitoring their every move ...

1275psi -> RE: The little ship that could. (10/17/2014 11:07:23 AM)
Crises After what, 2 turns in a month, cantona tells me, "too busy with masters degree, work and family" fair enough, but I gently (actually fairly bluntly) let him know that I fel hung out to dry, and that the experience of this game is being ruined for me, with no flow, and all this stop , wait a bloody week, 2 weeks stuff. I don't think he really is too committed to it any more So, I said I have (I am sure) others who would like the challenge to finish this game...and too think seriously about the way ahead. I don't think I am being unreasonable, with only 2 exceptions in the last 6 years playing him have I not returned turns the same day, now I frequently wait a week, and this as we know is just getting worse So, I probably hurt feelings, ....but.there are two in the game, and I think now one is not being fair Now I await the reply, and we will see what happens If he wants to continue................i will probably call this game done......sorry I will be! herbie

Mike McCreery -> RE: The little ship that could. (10/17/2014 11:16:33 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: 1275psi Crises After what, 2 turns in a month, cantona tells me, "too busy with masters degree, work and family" fair enough, but I gently (actually fairly bluntly) let him know that I fel hung out to dry, and that the experience of this game is being ruined for me, with no flow, and all this stop , wait a bloody week, 2 weeks stuff. I don't think he really is too committed to it any more So, I said I have (I am sure) others who would like the challenge to finish this game...and too think seriously about the way ahead. I don't think I am being unreasonable, with only 2 exceptions in the last 6 years playing him have I not returned turns the same day, now I frequently wait a week, and this as we know is just getting worse So, I probably hurt feelings, ....but.there are two in the game, and I think now one is not being fair Now I await the reply, and we will see what happens If he wants to continue................i will probably call this game done......sorry I will be! herbie I am sure there are many players that would look forward to the opportunity of picking up this game and carrying it to the end. Sorry this game ends as so many do. These games take so long and so much effort they are more like relationships :]

Lowpe -> RE: The little ship that could. (10/17/2014 11:39:07 AM)
Argh. [:(]

PaxMondo -> RE: The little ship that could. (10/17/2014 1:27:38 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: 1275psi Crises .... cantona tells me, "too busy with masters degree, work and family" .... Not justifying his action here, but I do understand it. Its why I have never yet started a PBEM. The games are really long, and if the time in your life isn't right things can change (dramatically as in his case), to where you simply cannot find the hours in the day. Since you started this game he has moved and started a family. Those eat a lot of time. And he's working and pursuing a degree (needed now to feed that extra mouth). I feel bad for you Herb, as you are right, you are being left out to dry. OTOH, it is a risk everyone takes when they start one of these games. Pick a younger opponent, their life can change. Pick an older one, they may not survive to finish. We've all seen enough of both to know this. So, you've had a really good two year game with cantona. Sadly, his life has evolved to where he can't support the game. Hopefully, he will agree to let someone else take up the sword and continue on. I suspect that he feels just as bad as you do about this.

Mike McCreery -> RE: The little ship that could. (10/17/2014 3:52:56 PM)
To add to my previous post. I would be happy to pick up the game and continue it although I have one deep into 1944 already and I am SURE there are others just itching to play a late game Allied scenario. What Pax Mondo said too :]

Lecivius -> RE: The little ship that could. (10/17/2014 4:31:18 PM)
What, one of my 'Sanity Checks' might come to an end? [sm=nono.gif]

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