The little ship that could.

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1275psi
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by 1275psi »

Ogowa calls the men around him

They form a pack of rough leather and fur, sunburn and sweat about him.
All eyes are upon him

'The enemy fighters, as expected, are sweeping takao. A carrier task force is operating 300 miles North of here........."

He lets THAT set in

"Our orders are to defend Manilla, in particular the port, the oil tanks, the fuel farms. I am asking for 100% CAP tomorrow......."

He smile."We have gotten fat my friends.
Time to pay the bill"
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
1275psi
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by 1275psi »

During her anchoring Susuzuki has swung to the aft unit, allowing some urgent maintenance to occur on the fwd plant. Its 4 am now, and at 10 this morning,she will sail again

Hirate will have the job of flashing the fwd unit again. Since the exchange of looks with the Captain, he has buried himself below, buried himself in work.
Irrationally, he feels that at sea, he will be safer
To be sailing south again, even better..........


he works almost automatically, the routine so well ingrained now, (that should he survive to be 80 years old, he would still be able to do it) thAt he only barely has to think about it.
Today is an easy one, with steam available from aft.

Cross connect the auxilliary steam, cross the drains, cross the condensate return.
Start the fuel pumps stroking. Roll the feed pumps, top the boiler, stroke the feed regulator.
Roll a blower
Light the bitch off
Shut the vents, shut the drains......open the aux stop, shut the cross, open the main stop, shut the cross, open the feed guard wide, shut the drain crosses, the condensate cross.

It will go smoothly this morning, the temperatures rising, the glare of the burners growing, the whine of the blowers rising
By 0900, Susuzuki is ready.

Specials are called, the anchor clangs aboard, the fire hoses clean the mud from the pick. The throttles turn, the water stirs at the stern

The convoy sails, considerably higher in the water now, returning to Ominato.
here, apparently, to collect another Division.

But there are rumours

After that..........the russians.......
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
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Gridley380
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by Gridley380 »

Finally caught up after so long away!

Awesome story, I'm really glad you're keeping it going!
1275psi
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by 1275psi »

Thank you gridley, your comments appreciated. I am curious, how much did you read to catch up?, I do hope it kept your attention.

OK, LOTS coming up.............and I must give certain characters the attention they deserve, patience please cherished journeymen!
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
1275psi
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by 1275psi »

20/6/42

Diogowa rests easily on his arse, feeling the hardness of mother earth, a strangley comforting feeling, a return, almost to childhood, so so many lifetimes ago.

It is barely light, the sun yet to break over Manilla, the air cold, calm, sweet.
Before him rests Number 189.
His eagle
NK1 George, Mk 2 version.
The best fighter japan has.
There is dew glistening on her wings, oil stains around her cowling. The paint is all but gone from her leading edges, and the rubber on her wheels is dark, cracked.


But her canopy glistens, and the oil glistens on the guns.
Japans best
Diogowa has never, ever taken this job, this task seriously. It has always been so unreal, so unexpected, that a buffoon like himself should somehow find himself in fighter school.
That, somehow, he should pass that brutal process.
That so many landings on that ridiculous little deck of Zuiho's did not kill him.
That he should survive so long.

But he has 7 kills now..........and someone thinks that he deserves this, japans best.

And all he ever wanted to do was to escape the rice paddies..........and fly

The sun cracks the horizon, flooding the world with gentle yellow light.

Fly
yes, today, he will.
Battle today............undoubtably
Deep in his mind, a part of him is telling him that he should be worried, even fearful for the day ahead.
But he doesn't feel that at all. No fear, no trepidation. Not even today.
NK1 George. The fighter pilots dream machine.

Diogowa stands, approaches HIS machine, lovingly rubs his hand along a leading edge, then the sharp massive blade of the propeller.
He smiles

Today, he flies again. One of the very best, in the very best.
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
1275psi
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by 1275psi »

Ogowa steps down from the intelligence office

Behind him the radio chatter hums, the morse chiming, the clatter of the typewriters.the background sounds of war. Sometimes almost as deadly as bullets.........


The enemy carriers are coming.
dawn launching stations, 200 miles north of Vigan.......
It takes little imagination to see in his minds eye the activity on those decks..........

They will come..........arrogant, expecting.................expecting little, he would think.
They will come, face into the sun......

About him mailla field is bursting into life, clouds of blue rising as engine after engine bursts, snarls, growls into life.

Oh yes........they will come.
And I will have them..................


Scramble!
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Smoky Stoker
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by Smoky Stoker »

Tennouheika Banzai!

Image
Image
Image
"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
pws1225
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by pws1225 »

Great pictures! Thanks for sharing. The pictures are a George I presume.
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Gridley380
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by Gridley380 »

I was about a year and a half behind I think; been off the fora for a while due to other things. This was the first thread I looked for when I came back.

To borrow one of your phrases... make of that what you will. :-)
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Smoky Stoker
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by Smoky Stoker »

ORIGINAL: pws1225
Great pictures! Thanks for sharing. The pictures are a George I presume.

All N1K Georges. The bottom picture is captioned.
"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
1275psi
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by 1275psi »

In one easy motion Ogowa swings his right leg into the office, foot automatically resting on the pedal, both arms support himself, and the other follows.
The checks come quickly, circle the stick, kick the rudders, flaps out, in, set. Trim, mix, brake...a glance at the ground chief, contact!, the blade hesitates, swings, stutters, the explosive bang of first cylinder firing, the blade vanishes into the blur, and everything begins the mad vibration that will live in his bones forever.
Diogowa, dust billowing taxi's past...Ogowa smiles, the barsted is yes, eating again, gods knows what.
Eyes back to the few instruments, manifolds, oils, temps, climb and bank indicator
All is good, the great radial beats its discordant dance, the stick rests easily in his right, the flaps, the throttle in his left.
Wave away!

Manilla rumbles, dust and exhaust.
The ground crew, still faithful, still doing their duty, line the taxi ways, and wave them away

Now the strip lies before him, diogowa on his left, Oda, his right.
The familiar excitement rises in him.
So much power.................

The rumbles rise to a roar, to a bellow.....





In the streets of Manilla, they have been waiting for the Americans to arrive for months now, ever since the word of the landings at Minando.
The Japanese are leaving, the streets say, they are finished.........gone forever.


Snarling, eagle after eagle races overhead, shadows racing across street and home.
Windows rattle, cats howl, a hundred thousand faces turn upwards
Eagle after eagle, after eagle..after eagle .

If they are going, soon to be gone, Ogowa will give them a memory they will never forget..............
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
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british exil
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by british exil »

The eagles are flying again.

Suspense!

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
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Smoky Stoker
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by Smoky Stoker »

Note for historical technogeeks:

The first picture in my post above is labeled as N1K2-j in most locations online. It is actually an N1K1-j, which can be distinguished by the wings being mounted higher on the fuselage than the later version, seen here:

Image

More N1K1s were lost to collapse of their landing gear than to American action. Also interesting is that the fighter was originally designed as a float plane fighter (spotter code name 'Rex') and then converted. The landing gear actually was an afterthought.
"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
1275psi
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by 1275psi »

20000 feet.
The air cold, sharp, clear

Below at 10000 feet, the haze.
Below, somewhere, the world

Up here. Freedom. Power. Honour. Bushido

Ogowas wings rocks
Diogowa has heard the radio call too. His hands tighten.
Deliberately, he releases the stick, flexes his hand........better.
And there, growing black dots...........coming in from the north..same altitude..........those deadly gull shaped wings...........
And the heart leaps
36 strong!
And we have a 100 plus

The throttle goes forward to the wall, the stick gently back........hieght, hieght, hieght is life itself......
But the corsairs are climbing too............and behind them, more dots, and even more.
And the radio tells of many more behind them


The barsteds are curling in onto them now, a glance to his right.........Ogowa watches.........face inscrutable behind the mask
A nod.
Easily, smoothly, as he has done so many times before, Diogowa picks his target and swings his fighter into battle............
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
1275psi
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by 1275psi »

In the mountains of Minando, 35th army is holed up
Daily the americans march into the hills, and the skirmishes have become clashes are becoming battles

35th Army sees a chance

Just after midnight, it emerges from the caves, the ridges, the gullies, and attacks the enemy
Final attack
Special attack
Final effort
a Hundred thousand human bullets.

Call it what you will

Flesh against armour

The attack will collapse
The survivors will drag themselves away

They have not heard of the term zombies in these years. That term is 15 years away yet
But this is 35 army now
The walking deadl
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
1275psi
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by 1275psi »

The corsair fills Diogowas mirror, big blue, the buka seemingly attached to his tail by an invisible string.
Diogowa weaves, rolls, the roll flowing into as hard a bank as he can handle.
The Buka sticks with him

A curse

Tracers race past, a hammer blow somewhere behind him, another to his right.
Instantly the stick losses its tightness, vibrates.a glance, the right aeriolan is shredded

Buka!
He has to rid himself of this barsted........and quick!
The bank levels out, more tracer.........another fighter, Ogowa, , on this barsteds rear....
The corsair inverts, and falls away.........

Ogowa comes alongside him
Points to the aeriolan.Diogowa shrugs......abandon this furball?.you have to be kidding right?

120 plus corsairs have piled into the fight, and it spreads across the heavens, a snarling howling brawl, hundreds of whining wasps, all detirmined to sting their enemies to death

There are no advantages here, no bounces, no overwhelming numbers against the other, just men, machines, skill, courage, cowardice, luck, and death

Oda kills again, thats 12 now, but niether Ogowa and diogowa will score.
Both, in fact, will barely escape with their lives, both landing utterly spent, machines badly damaged.


It will take the rest of the day to gather the score........a dribble of pilots will return via various ways and means
11 never will.

19 george are lost.
58 corsairs are killed

The enemy carriers retire, towards Hong kong
They must return.

Ogowa's eagles lick their wounds
Tankers are coming. manilla MUST be defended.

And diogowa lies in his bunk, staring at the canvas
he is good, one of the best of the best
But there is an American out there who is even better.
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
1275psi
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by 1275psi »

that heart stopping moment where you watch one plane exchange shots with another, again and again........I was so relieved to see those two vanish from the combat replay.
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John 3rd
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by John 3rd »

Well written as always Sir.
Image

Member: Treaty, Reluctant Admiral and Between the Storms Mod Team.
1275psi
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by 1275psi »

Thank you sir!

21/6/45
It takes more than bushidio to keep the fighters in the air
The men are willing, despite the fatigue.
But it takes fuel, spares, oxygen, bullets, tyres, map boards for gods sake, to keep them up there
100 percent CAP is ordered by Ogowa again today, and some 60 fly
Thankfully, no enemy appear, the carriers are in Hong kong.

At days end , Ogowa has no choice. There are critical shortages of everything...............
They must stand down.
Replacement fighters are coming. Good. But a case of sparkplugs would be far more appreciated.
10000 litres of aviation fuel would be even better...................
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
1275psi
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by 1275psi »

22 June

Enemy carriers arrive off Palembang, wreck the port, sink no less than 7 escorts, and then head south.
Amoy falls
Swatow falls

6 nells launch a night strike on Hong kong, they sink 3 enemy ss
But not the carriers.............

Susuzuki will arive Ominato tomorrow
She will refuel, and immediately sail again, there are SS everywhere, the seas must be swept clean around here again.
They are worse than cockroaches, the more you kill, the more seemingly take their place!
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
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