WesWorld

Submarine I-401, 3 nm south of Tempurung Island.
July 13, 1941

"Anything?" the XO asked.

Miyuki was looking at the darkness through the periscope. "Nothing. Well there are some ships out there that I can see but ours is not among them."

"Perhaps the ship ran into some delays."

"Perhaps... but we can't waste our time here waiting and wondering. We'll just have to use one of the other ships."

"We can't do it just like this. We won't be able to keep up and we're not sure what kind of route that ship will take through the strait."

Miyuki nodded. "Take her up. First watch, get your rain gear ready."



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I've had trouble finding good depth maps of the DEI, but much of the north end is shallow, with much of the Karimata Strait region seems to be 75feet or less. Google Earth ranges from -50 to -140 in the area.

Haven't found anything useful either. While it's probably not 100% accurate, I think that Google Earth will do and what you mentioned is what I noticed as well.

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and likewise have a lot more above the waterline to effectively submerge, I'd think.

Especialy with that hangar up there.

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There is a presumption of speed in the mission of the I-401, transiting from a point south of Okinawa to a point south of Diego Garcia in but ten days. Surfaced the I-401 should be able to accomplish this; transiting the entire length of the DEI submerged - if even possible - would totally defeat the timetable set for its mission.

At an average speed of 18 knots (the baseline I use) it takes less than 10 days. Top speed of the submarine... I would have to recalculate it but surfaced, it is in excess of 21 knots. So submerged for several short periods of time should still work out.

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The last time the sentoku's came up, the only explanation was "Snorkel"...which still limits the ship's speed to around 10 knots, iirc.

Actually the "Ninjatousaya" (= the scabbard of a Ninja's sword). I thought we had that discussion here the last time we were talking about that but I could not find anything with the search option. Recently however, I found out that it was not here where I read it, but over at Navalism where it was mentioned. Speed mentioned there was 5 knots.

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It's Japan. It obviously contains a nuclear reactor capable of producing a shaft horsepower of over 35,000 hp, and has rubber bottoms to rebound off of the ocean floor.

You're forgetting the SLBMs.

Location unknown, several weeks ago, exact date unknown

"Admiral, have you ever seen this gentleman before? Met the general or myself?" the Colonel asked, motioning to the general and the civilian man who accompanied him.

"No, sir. Not personally," Ryoko replied politely.

The Colonel looked through a few notes he had with him "You have worked a lot on your own, haven't you ma'am?" He looked up. "Non naval work that is."

"Yes, sir. I have."

"Your report specify intelligence, counter-intelligence, with Kokuryuukai's ComSec?."

"I'm not presently disposed to discuss these operations, sir."

"Did you not work for the ISS in the Yokosuka Naval District?"

"No, sir."

"Did you not assasinate a government tax collector in Quang Tri province, June 19th, 1939, ma'am?"

"Sir, I am unaware of any such activity or operation - nor would I be disposed to discuss such an operation if it did in fact exist, sir."

"You heard of Inca Gómez Suárez de la Vega, Admiral?" the civilian man asked.

"Yes, sir. A little."

"He is one of the richest men in Bolivia and used his rising wealth to buy off local police and army units. He has a virtual production monopoly on Borandis."

"Why hasn't Bolivia done anything about it?"

"Growing borandis is not illegal in Bolivia, Admiral," the General told. "De la Vega may have influenced the Bolivian supreme court's decision to strike down a law prohibiting the growth, production, and sale of borandis. Since he's not doing anything 'illegal', Bolivia can't really do anything about it."

"He's a real thorn in the side of the Chileans," the civilian added. "His Borandis is also threatening Japan and perhaps the whole of Asia. One intercepted cargo load does not tell much about how much of the stuff may be coming your way and any possible destinations. One intercepted cargo load does not tell how big this problem could be for Asia."

The Colonel handed over an envelope with some paperwork. "Your mission is to travel to South America to meet up with one of my men there. From there, proceed into Bolivia. Pick up de la Vega's path there, follow it and learn what you can along the way. When you find de la Vega, infiltrate his compound by whatever means available and terminate de la Vega's command."

Ryoko frowned slightly. "Terminate de la Vega?"

"He's out there operating without any decent restraint, totally beyond the pale of any acceptable human conduct," the General said. "He commands a sizeable army there bought using Borandis money."

"Terminate with extreme prejudice," the civilian stated firmly.

The General looked at Ryoko. "You understand, Admiral, that this mission does not exist, nor will it ever exist..."


Submarine I-401, 60 nm south of Diego Garcia.
July 18, 1941

"You're late," Ryoko grumbled as she climbed down the ladder into the I-401

"Well, we had a little bit of a problem getting through the Sunda Strait, Admiral. The scheduled freighter wasn't there at the indicated time. We waited for a while but in the end decided to move on. We did continue at full speed to make up for the time lost."

"I'm not here to listen to your excuses, captain Iida. Just be glad I decided to wait a bit longer."

Miyuki stuck out her tongue at Ryoko after she turned her back to the captain.

"We need to get moving as soon as possible," Ryoko stated.

"Where to?"

"Would you believe me if I told you that we are going to the Atlantic where we will engage and sink a bunch of arrogant Germans and their warships who think they own the whole Atlantic?"

"... not really, no."

"Oh... okay..."

"So where are we going?"

"Sorry, that's classified."

A large crate was being lowered into the submarine.

"Ah, Johnny is here, too," Ryoko said as the crate is put down on the floor.

"Who the hell is Johnny?" Miyuki asked.

Ryoko grinned as she opened up the crate. "Heeere's Johnny!"

Miyuki looked into the crate. "HolY! What on earth are you planning to do with that thing?!"

"Why, shoot someone of course."

(no bonus point for guessing where some of the text came from)

Well the first part comes from Heart of Darkness...

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Well the first part comes from Heart of Darkness...

... so I hope you don't mind that I copy/pasted and then altered it from the Apocalypse Now script.

Is there any good surfing in South America?

"Nah. There aren't any good peaks in that whole, sh*tty region. It's all g*dd*mn beach break."

Actually, there's quite a lot of good surfing on the western coast of South America, particularly in the region of the Peru-Chile border, and on the Peruvian coast near Piura.

And sometimes, particularly following an earthquake, there's Really Good Surfing. Though you might end up several miles inland when you run out of water...

"What do you know about surfing? You're from g*dd*mn New Jersey!"

... oh wait... You're not from NJ. Nevermind. Sorry for insulting you.

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Originally posted by Rooijen10
"What do you know about surfing? You're from g*dd*mn New Jersey!"

... oh wait... You're not from NJ. Nevermind. Sorry for insulting you.

No, I'm from New Jersey. You have a problem with that?

Sorry for insulting you by calling Brock a... uhm... a... *looks on internet* ... a New Jerseyite.

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Originally posted by Rooijen10
"What do you know about surfing? You're from g*dd*mn New Jersey!"

... oh wait... You're not from NJ. Nevermind. Sorry for insulting you.

No, I'm not from New Jersey. I presume you're quoting some sort of movie?

Apocalypse Now. The beach break bit as well.

Ah. That would explain why I didn't recognize it.

September 1, 1941

Pacifica anounced today that it has sold the uninhabited northern islands of the Mariana Isands to an unnamed private citizen.

The islands in question are Farallon de Pajaros, Maug Islands, Asuncion, Agrihan, Pagan, Alamagan, Guguan, Zealandia Bank, Sarigan, Anatahan, and Farallon de Medinilla.

Pacifica President Andon Haglelgam: "Not sure what kind of idiot wants to buy a bunch of actively volcanic islands... I mean, this person has a good eye for beautiful islands and we are glad that we can be of service and sell them for a very reasonable price. The money from this deal will be used to improve air and sea transportation between the many islands of our nation."

There is no report about the amount of money involved in the deal.


November 20, 1941

Numerous ships have gathered at Etorofu Island in Hitokappu bay. An eye witness reports a fleet of 10 carriers, 6 capital ships and at least 80 smaller vessels in and near the bay.


November 26, 1941

The fleet gathered at Etorofu Island left Hitokappu Bay today. There is no information regarding the fleet's mission or destination.


December 4, 1941

Today marks the start of operations of the new Beardmore Glacier Base on Antarctica. The base was built near upper part of the Beardmore Glacier and will serve as an observation station as well as a base to resupply passing explorers as well as the new base at the South Pole.

The South Pole Base, officially known as the Nobu Shirase Base, is expected to become operational for the first time in the next few weeks.

Matsuda Masayuki, team leader of Operation Hyouzan (=Iceberg), is pleased with the accomplishments. "With the two new bases, we have additional points for our scientists to operate from. It was quite a challenge to get these two bases up in such remote and barren areas under extreme conditions. We were quite fortunate to have some modified cargo planes available as well as modified Swamp Vehicles in order to move the construction materials and goods. The Army is not too happy with all the damaged and broken down planes and vehicles we sent back to Japan for repairs, but apparently they do not understand that the conditions here are harsh and that increases the chances of breakdowns. Unfortunately we did have a few planes that got onto the surface and are now unable to take off again (*) and a couple of vehicles got permanently stuck."

In the mean time, the Imperial Department for Antarctic Research and Exploration is looking at plans to expand the Japanese Antarctic Station for Environmental Observation and the Mount Erebus Volcanic Observation Station, as well as looking into the feasability of a permanent year-round presence at these two bases.






(*) In other words, they crashed.

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Originally posted by Rooijen10
The South Pole Base, officially known as the Nobu Shirase Base, is expected to become operational for the first time in the next few weeks.

Oh, you've built a South Pole base too?

Looking with the search options, there are numerous bases on Antarctica but there are no bases at the South Pole itself.

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Originally posted by Rooijen10
Looking with the search options, there are numerous bases on Antarctica but there are no bases at the South Pole itself.

ARC set one up in 1939, actually. It's not at the South Pole proper, but just a bit offset so it's in the French, Atlantean, and Chilean wedges of the territory. I'm looking now for where it was posted.

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I'm looking now for where it was posted.

You're not the only one.

I did find that the Chileans dropped the Chilean flag from an airship at the South Pole in 1939. If they had crashed it at the South Pole, the airship's frame would have worked perfectly as part of the structure of a base.

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Originally posted by Rooijen10

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I'm looking now for where it was posted.

You're not the only one.

I did find that the Chileans dropped the Chilean flag from an airship at the South Pole in 1939. If they had crashed it at the South Pole, the airship's frame would have worked perfectly as part of the structure of a base.

Not really. All of the Chilean airships are metalclads, so they don't have a frame.

There was a dedicated thread about it called "ARC News", but I'm not seeing it anywhere. I think I've still got the news posts in an old file, though. Might even have the maps.

Per my notes, ARC set up a South Pole station during the 1939-1940 Antarctic Summer. It's currently composed of a permanent structure suitable for long-term habitation by a dozen men, plus some outlying buildings for vehicles, supplies, scientific equipment, and a fuel stockpile. A blue ice runway was also constructed to allow for flights in from the Beta Site. When that runway is operational and not socked in by the weather, it's possible to fly from Punta Arenas to the South Pole via Magnus Station, the Alpha Site, and the Beta Site. I'm presuming that ARC, as part of the general survey of the immediate Pole region, set up a marker at the Pole itself.

If you'd like, Walter - since there's no point to senselessly reproducing major infrastructure in such a hostile environment - I'd like to offer to make the ARC runway an international airstrip, to allow for peaceful use by Japan or any other interested party.