The little ship that could.

Post descriptions of your brilliant victories and unfortunate defeats here.

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1275psi
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by 1275psi »

23rd

Stand down.
In the movies, the Commander barks at the Sergeant."get them ready for battle , I want them all on the line by dawn!"
And magically, there they are.
I have never seen a movie where real life logistics comes into play........

Real life is screwing Ogowa over now, big time.
5 days, 4 days, 5 days,......... so many fighters broken, so few parts.
The enemy are destroying batavia, palembang, Soerabaya..........the 50000 tons of oil here becomes more precious by the day.

Ogowa will not scream or rant. he is, actually, too tired for that.
He takes the worst crate flying into the air, he leads by example.
This is duty.
No glory.
Just duty
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
1275psi
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by 1275psi »

24th of June

Extract from shattering the sword, a cantona production.

The landings at Loemadjang remained un opposed for 4 days, a slow but steady transferring of men and machines across empty beaches.
The sudden attack by just two of japans oldest DDs, Hokaze and Nokaze, achieves total surprise.
They are old, poorly armed, these two, but they have fish, and courage.
Before they are sunk at dawn, 4 APA, a LCI, 2 AP's have been sunk
The invasion has been lightly escorted.
Lack of ships (hardly)..........or indications that they are somewhere else, gathering............
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by 1275psi »

Midnight

ss trout raises her scope, her skipper bends to the glass.
Sonar has the target right.
Multiple targets, warships, at least 6 or seven, moving north, 2000 yards away.
'Down scope!"
He will have to be quick

'Sir, sonar...change of bearing, possible destroyer, turning towards us, bearing 010 degrees"
'Up scope!"

A destroyer......almost ahead on............coming fast
'Standby, tubes 1 and 2................"

The calculations are done........the enemy races closer.....
'Fire 1, fire 2!.......down scope, hard to port, take her deep!"

Nearly two tons of explosives, oxygen and steel races towards destroyer Susuzuki..............
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ny59giants
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by ny59giants »

Your last posting could be from the classic movie, "Run Silent, Run Deep." [&o]
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by BBfanboy »

No calculations needed for a "down the throat shot"! Zero gyro angle, Zero spread, depth shallow, Fire!
No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth
1275psi
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by 1275psi »

Asada turns to the OOW..eyebrows cocked in enquiry
"Emergency steering drills complete sir"
'Good, Port ten...........and get me the communications officer"

The fish do not hit. The turn comes moments in tiime They are, in fact, never seen, vanishing into the depths.

The allied submarine is briefly detected by vessels more skilled, (or dutiful) than Susuzuki.

Asada however has bigger things on his mind
The "steering gear failure" has placed Susuzuki well to the north of the rest of the task force, and now The destroyer sends a single message to 4th fleet HQ
"Am in position"
She will linger here, alone for some thirty minutes, as Asada awaits the impact of his message to filter through
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by 1275psi »

Captain Yakabe of I-184 looks yet again at the signal in his hand, and yet again at the silent russian forests on the horizon.
The order makes no sense to him, but he can guess.
Someone, somewhere, wants to pull the russian bears chain.............but didn't the empire have troubles enough already?

He sighs...whatever the reason, its above his pay grade.
And orders, after all are orders...........
"Comms, to the tower!"

The signal man climbs up from below, hot and sweating.
"Send this"
"I -184 aground postion..................require assistsnce. Damage minimal, remain undetected"
"But we are not aground sir?"
"No lad, but our careers may be if you don't send that ey?
Signal sent, the ss slips back into the depths again.

big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
1275psi
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by 1275psi »

From CA Chokia
to DD Susuzuki

SS I-184 reported aground position ...........
You will render assistance

Critical that your prescence, and that of I-184 remains undetected
Should SS be unrecoverable, you are to scuttle her and rescue crew

Detach immediately"


Asada smiles

'new course, due north, make speed 22 knots"
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
1275psi
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by 1275psi »

The emperor nods

"And the mission begins?"
General Sugiyama nods. 'if they are discovered, the russians will have more than an excuse to declare war upon us.....'
The Emperor dismissively waves his hand.........'they are going to anyway, you know that, i know that"
"And nothing will stop that?'

I am going to lead my country to its ruin...........No matter what I do. The river of History has us in its grasp, sweeping us away.......
I must save what I can.........

I need that gold..........I must have it

'No general, I do not think so..........."
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1275psi
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by 1275psi »

25th June 1945

They slide into manilla harbour, sides streaked with rust, paint fading, funnels dark with soot from engines and boilers well passed overhaul date.
A dozen great fat tankers, the big ones, the ones the allies have failed to find all this long, long war.
A CVE , kaiyo, the last of them, shepherds them, her planes almost as care worn as her charges.

The Tankers moor, many come alongside, and begin to suck the tanks at manilla dry.
Overhead, Ogowa's eagles growl, 60% CAP today
He only has to keep his eagles aloft until the ships are full, the tanks empty.
Only until then...........
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
1275psi
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by 1275psi »

Hirate stands at the wake of Susuzuki streaming aft, face a picture of gloom
Okano joins him, the proffered smoke, rejected this time

"Your thoughts, you ugly buggar?" he gently asks

'it was just about here".and the voice cracks
Alarmed, Okano turns to him
'What was?"

Hirate does not immediately answer.
Then, anguish in him, he turns to Okano. "It was here, where this whole sorry tale began, where I murdered herbiesan"
'You what?"
'I threw him overboard............he , he, ...the barsted sank like a stone...."

"Gods"

'Do you know what is going to happen Okano.....we are going to that bay, Asada will take us ashore, we will find those cursed crates, ..........and then Asada will kill us"

Carefully, Okano takes his Brother in law by the shoulders, stares him in the face
"Not on my watch, never. Stokesr are too tough for that.................
Now, about herbiesan.............."
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
1275psi
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by 1275psi »

26th June 1945

"there is little chance we will receive any more supply runs"
Okano listens to the Commander of Clarke airfield. It is not that hard to believe him either. The news from Hiroshima was uniformley bad, the enemy carriers roam the oceans unchallenged it seemed.
Damnation
Damnation to hell

"How long can you support us?"
The Commander considers.........undoubtably balancing the demands of Ogowa's eagles against the needs of himself once they depart, as they must.
'A week.........perhaps. We are running low on oil.........fuel..........gods, everything"

In manilla harbour the tankers suck, but oh so slowly. The Enemy CVs remain in Hongkong, others are south of Davao.
Ogowa feels the fatigue in his bones
There are 100 army fighters at san fernando. They must take the weight

He will stand the men down tomorrow, conserve fuel, conserve men.
A risk.
One he must take.
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
1275psi
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by 1275psi »

I-184 emerges from the depths, a darker shadow in the dark waters.

Susuzuki lies at rest.
behind them, 500 yards away, the dark, still quiet forests of the Russian bay

A lamp flashes from the Submarine
'many thanks, but help no longer required"
With a quiet steady beat, her diesels throb faintly, and she slides away, mission complete, for home waters.

An hour later Susuzuki's boat slides onto the shingle beach.
Hirate shivers.
This spot looks far too familiar for him. Far too familiar indeed.
Captain Asada steps ashore. The boat contains himself, Hirate, 2 others.

Quietly Asada draws a pistol. "it looks familiar, ney?..........does it?"

Hirate cannot answer. The barsted knows....................
The pistol raises
'I thought so'


A shot rings out across the silent bay
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by pws1225 »

Argh! [X(]
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by british exil »

Nail biting stuff.

[&o]

Keep it coming.

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

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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by Long pig »

Where is Okano? Please let him be nearby!
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by british exil »

ORIGINAL: Long pig

Where is Okano? Please let him be nearby!


And alive!!

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

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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by 1275psi »

But it is not Asada's gun that fires, even as Hirate involunttry flinches against the expected hammer blow, a neat round black dot appears on Asada's forehead, and his brains exit in a horrible spray behind him.
The body collapses, the gun still firmly in his grip.
Other shots, a volley of them , burst from the forest, but these Russian gunners don't have the aim of that first shot.
All three remaining men do exactly the same thing, dive for the cover of the boat on the beach.

50 yards away, 10 men emerge from the forest, running swiftly down the beach towards them, sub machine guns spitting.

Bravely one of Asada's compatriots tries to shoot back, he raise , aims, cries in distress, spins away, face already the pale shadow of death

Bullets churn the beach, smack into the boat, Hirate cringes.......Asada's gun is close, has he the courage to go for it?
No,.gods, yes......NO!

250 yards away, Susuzuki opens fire.
The 25mm triple mount AA gun is a lousy weapon at what its meant to do.

But at this range, against infantry, its more than adequate for the job.............

Barely a handful of the russians survive the hurricane of fire, they melt back into the forest.
And now Susuzuki's main armament is flinging rapid fire into the forest, a hideous noise of shattering explosions, smashing timber, screams, and howling shells

Hirate and the surving sailor grab their chance, they fling themselves into the boat, Hirate starts the motor, ducking as low as he can as yet more bullets churn the sea about him
The other man slumsp, bright red blood spraying



Susuzuki pounds the beach, the forests,
from ashore, a tank perhaps? sends shells her way, they miss.
Five minutes later, Hirate is onboard, her stern boils, and she is away, her executive officer cursing.
He has no idea why Asada needed to go ashore so desperately..now he has to explain to the fleet commander how single handledly Susuzuki has declared war on the russians..............


big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
1275psi
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by 1275psi »

From
Commander
16th red Army
to
STAVKA

Large Japanese naval forces have bombarded our positions in northern areas
Request advice!






From
Commander Combined Fleet

OkHa Invasion fleet at sea, and in position
Request advice



from
DD Susuzuki
to
Imperial Command
Commanders X eyes only

Mission has failed
The pigeon remains in the nest



from
general Sugiyama, High Military Council

Execute operation winter storm




damnation
damnation
damnation









On the borders of Russia and china
100000 japanese soldiers move eastward
They will shortly, horribly shortly, cross the border


Russians will very shortly be ACTIVATED!
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
1275psi
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RE: The little ship that could.

Post by 1275psi »

27th June

The B-29s come for san fernardo

Only a handful of Ogowa's eagles take to the air.
Not a single army fighter does



When the dust and flames and smoke settles, nearly 60 of them lie smashed on the field, mute testimony to stupidity, arrogance and laxity.

The enemy carriers come south from Honkers, and arrogantly sail south of takao. Another fleet approaches Leyte.
A mix of 70 fighters and bombers try for the enemy carriers.........and not a single one returns.

It is a day of horror

Ogowa , stunned, takes the news in.
The carriers cut the phillipines off............


"there is nothing we can do here anymore..........lets get the hell out while we can"
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
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