Kirov III: Pacific Storm

Nagara, Yura and Jintsu, fast as the rivers they were named for at 36 knots. He could turn them loose and have them try and run this sea dragon down. The enemy seemed in no hurry, or better yet, it seemed to be limping north now, perhaps even crippled as it fled. Let them harry her, he thought, and we will see if Kuroshima is correct. Well enough. They can put their torpedoes to good use if they catch up with the enemy. If the cruisers find themselves overmatched, they can always fall off and simply shadow this beast. It seemed a good idea, and he called for an orderly, telling him to convey his wishes to Rear Admiral Takayanagi on the bridge at once.

The chase was on, but Yamamoto reserved a measure of caution, even if he was in the most powerful ship in the world, or so he believed. A wounded animal is most dangerous, he thought. This ship has eluded our forces for days. It must be stalked carefully, professionally, and dealt with mercilessly. And I will see it at the bottom of the sea, one small flower I can take to the Emperor.

One small flower…

~ ~ ~

Captain Sanji Iwabuchi received the order with much excitement. At last, he thought. I am no longer chained to Hara’s carriers. I am free to find and kill this enemy ship again, and avenge the insult and shame I have suffered in losing command of Kirishima. Captain Okada has been more than accommodating to have me here aboard Tone, and I cannot dishonor him, or myself, any further.

When the Kirishima struck those mines in the narrow waters of the Torres Strait, Iwabuchi had been ordered to wait and escort Hara’s carriers through the narrow passage, to sweep the channels so they could move east and do what he had abjectly failed to do.

Yet now old King Kong knows what it feels like, neh? Hara’s neck is a red as mine! His entire carrier air wing was nearly wiped out, and now he, too, was eager for revenge. With Yamamoto’s orders to protect his carriers with everything he had left, I have little doubt he would still have his hand on my waistband, keeping me close. But with the arrival of two more light cruisers and three destroyers in the Ryuho group, he now has enough ships to screen his precious fleet carriers, and I am once again unleashed, the rabid dog set loose again.

Tone is a good ship, fast and with good eyes in the six seaplanes she carries. True, she does not have the power I once commanded with Kirishima, but at least I can catch this Mizuchi now. It can no longer edge away in the night to set cowardly traps as it did in the straits. Yes, I can catch it, but can I kill it?

He considered what had happened to Haguro, and the damage that had been sustained by Myoko and Nachi. The 8 inch guns he had in front of him now were much weaker than the 14 inch guns on Kirishima. No matter. He would use speed this time, get in close and run this sea dragon through with his torpedoes. It was more than duty, more than his need to stand for his comrades in arms here. Now it was personal.

If I do not prevail, he thought, then it is very likely that I will be relieved of my command when this is all over and the children in the Naval General Staff start asking their questions about what happened here. Before I stand accused of incompetence, and endure their insults, I will first have a victory to hand them—to silence the whispers behind my back, to make an end of the sullen eyes that follow me, and most of all, to have my just vengeance.

He had been cruising almost due east for the last hour and a half, on a course that would both screen Hara’s carriers and race to cut off the advance of the enemy. This time things are different, he thought, this time I am ahead of this beast. But soon he was disheartened to learn that one of his seaplane scouts had reported the enemy had altered course and was now steering due north. Now he was again behind the action, and forced to run at his best speed to creep up on this demon. He gave the order to swing round to a heading of five degrees north and all ahead full. In doing so he knew he would begin to outpace both Nachi and Myoko, as they could not quite match his speed. So be it.

Somewhere to the east he knew Admiral Yamamoto was watching, and steaming even now to find and punish this interloper. Captain Iwabuchi wanted to get there first, and with a nine knot speed advantage over Yamato, he had a very good chance of doing exactly that.

I may not be able to match this ship on my own, he thought, but I can take hold of its ankle, and sink my teeth into it nonetheless. He smiled when the bell rang out the course change, the helmsman’s voice rising and falling in echo to his own.

Heavy cruiser Tone turned smartly about, and surged north, her sharp bow cutting the seas with her haste and a long white wake behind her for the other cruisers to follow.

The chase was on.

Part X CLASH OF TITANS

“Now shall I become a common tale,
A ruin’d fragment of a worn-out world;
Unchanging record of unceasing change.
Eternal landmark to the tide of time.
Swift generations, that forget each other,
Shall still keep up the memory of my shame
Till I am grown an unbelieved fable.”

~ Hartley Coleridge, Prometheus

Chapter 28

Rodenko watched the slow approach of the enemy, wishing he had his Fregat system to get better data, but doing what he could with the Top Mast antenna. The first two hours were the most difficult. He could see the enemy task force to the east clear enough. It had been heading about 247 degrees southwest at twenty-five knots on a course to intercept the ship, but sometime after Kirov turned north he saw it come round on 292 degrees and by 15:00 hours it had closed to a range of 125 kilometers east of their position.

When Dobrynin reported his maintenance procedure was complete, Fedorov gave the order to go to full battle speed and turned the ship on a parallel heading, running away from the Yamato group, but the Japanese had a surprise for them.

“My contact to the east is splitting,” he said. It looks like they are sending out a faster ships to try and run us down. He could see a group of contacts moving ahead of his primary, and to make matters worse there was a very fast contact coming up from the south as well, and moving at all of thirty-six knots.

“That would have to be the heavy cruiser Tone,” Fedorov confirmed. It’s moving ahead of those other cruisers we faced earlier. It looks like we have a bit of a foot race on our hands now.”

“But where are we going, sir? This course will take us back up to the Torres Strait.”

“Leave that to me,” Fedorov was squinting at his charts. “There’s plenty of room in the Coral Sea for the moment. We’ll give them a run for their money.”

“But what about those other two battleships, Captain?”