Author's Note: So, this will be my first foray into the world of Kancolle. I watched the anime, and the movie, read a few fics but when I went to play the game it had been taken down. Anyway, this will have elements from Silent Hunter 4 Wolves of the Pacific. Well…only one element really but you get the idea. So, there's a mod for Silent Hunter that allows you to start the game with the conceptual BB-67 USS Montana, the name-ship of the Montana class of battleship. Let's see how this goes, eh?
The ship rocked under his feet as another shell slammed into her superstructure. 'Their accuracy is improving.' A man wearing the Officer's Khaki Work Uniform grunted as his ships own guns roared out in defiance of their current situation. 'This is the end.' the same man thought grimly as he watched through his binoculars as the shells straddled an enemy cruiser. As he started to pan to his left to get eyes on anymore of the enemy fleet, the cruiser bulged alarmingly then detonated, throwing twisted metal, and body parts across this expanse of the Pacific. A shark-like grin split his face as he watched the scene, they may all end up dead by the end of the day, but by God and all things holy they were going to send as many enemy ships to Hell first as they could.
In the early 1930's Germany fell under the sway of then Chancellor Adolf Hitler turning the country fully to Nazism and began their build up for Hitler's war. On the other side of the world, Imperial Japan had already begun their conquest of Mainland Asia with the occupation of Manchuria in Northern China. There was plenty of fist shaking and words spoken about the Imperial Japanese aggression, however nothing of any substance was done to check their expansion. In 1937, a year after President Roosevelt gained the Oval Office, Japan attacked China and began the Second Sino-Japanese war. In protest, President Roosevelt began an embargo of all crude oil and rubber to the Empire of Japan, effectively crippling their war effort. With dwindling local reserves, the Empire began planning the conquest of the Dutch East Indies and other territories in that area.
In January of the same year the US received an anonymous packet of information about the Imperial Japanese Navies super-battleship, the Yamato. With this information a group of ship-wrights and designers met in secret to design a ship that could counter her, having already concluded that war with Imperial Japan was inevitable. They spent most of the year locked up in their design room before emerging on September 1st with a design they put before congress. The new battleship was designated the Montana-Class and would displace 70,965 long tons (72,104t) at full combat load with a length of 921ft 3in, a beam of 121ft 2in and a draft of 36ft. For propulsion 8 Babcock and Wilcox 2-drum boilers powering 4 sets of Westinghouse geared steam turbines allowed the ship to put out 172,000hp which would push the massive ship along at 28kn. She would carry 12-16in/50cal Mark 7 guns in four three-gun turrets two fore and two aft for her main armament with her secondaries consisting of 20-5in/54cal Mark 16 guns and a plethora of 40mm Bofors and 20mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft cannons. An armor belt of 16.1 inches would protect her from enemy fire while her seaplanes would spot for her big guns.
The Montana's beam would restrict her from using the Panama Canal but when the US Congress approved the design, plans were put into motion to add a third set of locks that would be strictly for warship use that would be large enough to accommodate the Montana and her sisters. Two months later, the money was allocated, slips were designated, and the keel was laid for the USS Montana, two of her sisters the USS Ohio and USS Maine, the first two of the North Carolina-class and the first two of the Iowa-class. A series of small accidents and delays slowed the construction of all the ships except the USS Montana, she was the first ship to be launched on the 16th of June 1940 thus her hull designation became BB-55 and she was commissioned in Norfolk on April 16th, 1941 under the command of Captain Matthew Reynolds. A month later, the third set of locks on the Panama Canal were completed and Montana received her first set of orders, transit the Canal and berth at Pearl Harbor.
She arrived in Pearl Harbor on June 22nd, 1941 to the awe of the Sailors, Soldiers and Marines stationed there. Over the next few months, while the shipyards in the US pumped out more ships, USS Montana completed drills and gunnery practice in the waters around Hawaii. On December 1st of that year the USS Montana left for a week-long training cruise, planning to return on the 8th of the same month. When word reached the Montana of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor she adjusted course and steamed at flank speed back to Oahu. She was too late to help defend the base arriving almost an hour after the last plane returned to their carriers. Passing by the burnt-out hulks of the once mighty Pacific Fleet filled the men with a terrible resolve to bring ruin to the Empire of Japan.
It took almost a week to convince the various Admirals to not horde the Montana and keep her close. Matthew's argument being that while she was too slow to keep up with the Carriers, which had jumped in importance after the sinking of the battleships, that wasn't her original purpose in the first place. Eventually, the Admiral's caved, promoted him to Rear-Admiral and gave him five destroyers to fill out his small fleet. The destroyers were of the Fletcher-class having come into service just before the war began the USS Radford, USS Saufley, USS Waller, USS Walker and USS Mahan DD-446, DD-465, DD-466, DD-517 and DD-518 respectively. This small flotilla was given one order 'Disrupt Japanese operations in any way possible.' Thus, began a five-month long reign of terror in the Pacific.
From December 18th, 1941 to the current date of May 28th, 1942 the Montana and her escorts ran almost unchecked against Japanese shipping and strongholds. With a confirmed ship kill count in the hundreds and her ability to swat aside all resistance, Japanese ship commanders began referring to her as the 'Shiroi Akuma' the White Demon. A week before, on the 22nd of May, the Montana and her escorts had slipped past the Japanese defenses and in the dead of night had bombarded Tokyo Bay itself, mirroring the Doolittle raid from the month previous, with far more devastating results. All six ships let loose with their guns for two hours before calling it quits and retreating.
The next morning disaster struck when a Japanese scout had spotted them and vectored land-based bombers onto them. For two full days, while the Japanese pulled together a surface fleet to go after the American squadron, the ships of Admiral Reynolds's fleet were under constant air attack. USS Radford and Saufley were struck by multiple bombs and sank while the Montana suffered a few hits that reduced her speed though they were able to inflict multiple casualties on the Japanese Betty Bombers. On the third day, they managed to finally pass the point where the bombers could come after them but that opened a new can of worms. With the damage to the Montana she was only able to make 19 knots, allowing the Japanese surface squadron to easily catch them. Admiral Reynolds had sent up one of his few remaining scout craft to get a better picture of the enemy fleet and the information had not been soothing. A Yamato-class battleship, The Musashi, considering her sister The Yamato was currently steaming toward Midway, two Kongō-class fast-battleships, both Nagato-class battleships and a smattering of heavy and light cruisers and destroyers.
Destroyers and cruisers were not much cause for concern nor were the two Kongō-class and the Montana could out-range the two Nagato battleships, it was the Musashi that was the problem. Though the Japanese ships were faster due to their undamaged state it still took almost two days before the two forces were in firing range. Admiral Reynolds took the initiative and ordered his remaining destroyers to launch a torpedo attack on the enemy fleet, drop smoke then run like hell for friendly waters. The captains had initially refused but eventually complied with the order, offering good luck and god speed. With torpedoes out and smoke-screen laid, Montana turned and presented her broadside to the enemy fleet. Of the thirty torpedoes that were launched six found purchase in the Japanese fleet destroying two destroyers, and a heavy cruiser while crippling a second. With the Jap fleet in disarray Montana opened fire with her big guns and began the Battle of the North Philippine Sea.
That had been a day ago and Reynolds knew now without a shadow of a doubt that his ship was going to sink here. Though, with the way he was smashing the enemy fleet he may just further cripple the IJN. He switched his binoculars from the sinking cruiser and swept his gaze over the enemy fleet. There, that was perfect "Concentrate fire on the lead Kongo!" he barked. There was a series of acknowledgements from the bridge crew and the great guns traversed around until the ship was in sight. The guns roared, spewing their deadly cargo across the ocean and in an unprecedented show of marksmanship, or more likely luck, all twelve rounds slammed into the fast-battleship, causing her to explode in spectacular fashion. The men on the bridge cheered for the kill for a moment before returning to their tasks, hoping for another grand display of pyrotechnics. Reynolds paned his binoculars across the enemy fleet looking for another target when he was violently thrown to the deck. Regaining his footing, he looked his ship up and down for the damage and cringed when his gaze went aft.
Montana's number four turret was now a burning wreck as was almost everything aft of that turret. Reynolds grabbed his binoculars and scanned the enemy fleet for the one responsible for causing such damage to his ship. Finding the rapidly expanding cloud of burnt propellant was easy enough and following it back to it's mother-ship was even easier and didn't really surprise him. It was the Musashi who had fired and damaged his ship, which again wasn't all that surprising. Only the Yamato-class would have the range and firepower to deal such damage, which set his blood ablaze. "Target the Musashi and pour everything we have into her fat ass!" he barked. There was an undercurrent of icy rage that now permeated the bridge, their Mama was hurt and bleeding, so they would return the favor a thousand-fold. It was a rather depressing story on how she received her American nick-name Mama Monty. While their real mothers were back home and safe, Montana had provided just as much a sense of security as sleeping at ma's house and though no one ever said anything, occasionally, when the going got rough, homesickness set in hard, or hearing about friends getting killed in combat, a calm and motherly voice would comfort the stricken sailor. Thus, the Admiral was unofficially known as Pops, and, what many secretly believed to be the spirit of the ship, the ghostly woman became Ma.
The next few minutes were a flurry of shouts, gunfire, and smoke as the Montana fought off the far numerically superior foe. It was the most recent volley from her big guns that would cement Montana's place in history and as a Navel Legend. One of her shells slammed into the bridge of the Musashi, taking out her senior officers and range-finders, another skidded across her deck and punched through the gap between Musashi's A-turret before detonating, blowing the turret clean off the ship and almost blowing the entire bow off. A third shell punched through her weaker aft armor and detonated in her engineering spaces drastically reducing her speed and maneuverability while the few other hits smashed her secondary and AA armaments, radio aerials and life boats. While the ship could still be fought though at a greatly reduced capacity one of the surviving junior officers who now found himself in command probably panicked. That was the only logical explanation for what happened next, Musashi began turning away from the battle-zone.
There was a shocked silence aboard the Montana's bridge as they watched in disbelief as Musashi turned tail and ran. Then a ragged cheer began on the bridge before quickly spreading throughout the ship as the news was passed around. "Our radio still working?" Reynolds asked. "Yes sir." "Broadcast in the clear and to anyone who can hear us, 'Musashi fleeing from battle.'" There was a feral grin stretched across his face which combined with the blood running down from a head wound made him look maniacal as he spoke. Of course, his own ship hadn't weathered the firestorm unscathed either. Great gapping holes poured thick black smoke into the sky as fires burned unchecked across her deck. Her secondaries were gone on her port side as well as all AA guns on the same side, her number 3 turret followed in the same vein as her number 4 further reducing her firepower to half of her original complement leaving her with six of her starting twelve guns.
The other ships in the enemy fleet were not idle during this time and kept blasting away at Montana with every gun they had, landing plenty of hits though most detonated harmlessly on what was left of her armor or ricocheted. Though she was burning fiercely and her aft was low in the water, Montana still spat defiance at the jap fleet. Turning the bridge of the Nagato to flames and destroying her A and B turrets, striking the Citadel on Mutsu nearly splitting her in half, scoring a hit on Hiei's aft magazine and separating the engineering section from the rest of the ship, and managing to sink another pair of destroyers.
That was when Montana's luck finally ran out, one of her lookouts watched as what was left of the enemy fleet turned while the remaining destroyers rushed forward. Already having an idea as to what they were doing he spoke into his headset. "Jap destroyers on approach! Most likely coming in for a torpedo run!" he shouted, trying to be heard over the gunfire and sirens. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your point of view he was heard and everyone on the bridge went silent as they processed the information. There was a melancholic chuckle from the admiral "So that's it then." he sighed. He stepped over to the bridge wing facing the Japanese fleet and simply stood there for a time even as gunfire continued to be exchanged. Watching as the enemy destroyer's zig-zagged in an attempt to dodge shellfire Reynolds began singing.
"Gafflwn Dihenydd
O'r Fuddugol wiriol sydd
Ni fydd neb yn ein drechu
Falch ydy ni i drochu
Draed o'r flaen i'r Annwn
Mewn y gwybodaeth fe godwn ni"
When he started the second line the rest of the crew began singing as well, soon the ship was reverberating with the voices of over 1,000 men, the survivors out of her original complement of 2,355. At the last syllable, Montana was stuck by no less than 15 torpedoes, tearing gaping holes in her port side. With catastrophic flooding, secondary explosions, and raging fires gutting the stricken ship she slipped beneath the waves.
USS Montana sank on May 28th, 1942 at 12:15pm taking some 1,500 men with her to her grave. Of those that survived the sinking, some 50 men were 'rescued' by the Japanese with the rest being gunned down in the water and left for the sharks and other scavengers. Those who were picked up were transferred to POW camps on mainland Japan and were guests of the Japanese until the end of the war. Of those 50 men recovered that day, only ten survived the war and returned home after Japan's surrender on August 15th, 1945.
Montana's sinking had both a negative and positive effect on the United States once it was formally announced. After such a massive string of victories she had finally been put down, though the sting of her sinking was blunted both by the number of ships she had been put up against and the number of ships she sent to Davy Jones' Locker. And while the populace mourned for the ship's destruction a fire was lit in the Navy, after all if a single battleship could cause so much damage on her own with a small group of escorts just imagine what a full fleet would be able to accomplish. The nations battle cry may have been 'Remember Pearl Harbor' but for the Navy 'The Montana could have done it' became the new motivator.
Author's Note: Thus, concludes the first chapter of my first Kancolle story. I'll see ya'll in the next one.