Hisagawa Maru

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Hisagawa Maru p1
Ship data
flag Japanese EmpireJapanese Empire Japan
Ship type Transport ship for mixed use
class Standard ship type 2A
Owner Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha , Kobe
Shipyard Mitsubishi Jūkōgyō , Hiroshima
shipyard
Launch 1943
Commissioning 1944
Whereabouts On January 9, 1945 in the Taiwan Strait at 23 ° 4 '  N , 119 ° 51'  O sunk by air attack
Ship dimensions and crew
length
129.91 m ( Lüa )
width 18.2 m
Draft Max. 11.10 m
measurement Design: 6600 GRT
In use: 6886 GRT
Transport capacities
Load capacity 11200 dw

The Hisagawa Maru ( Japanese. 久 川 丸 ) was a Japanese cargo and passenger transport ship that was used as a troop transport during World War II ( Pacific War ) . It was one of 131 built units of the standard ship type 2A . The ship was ordered by Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ( “K” Line ) and built by Mitsubishi Jūkōgyō in Hiroshima . The launch took place in 1943, the commissioning in 1944.

The Hisagawa Maru belonged to the convoy Mo-Ta-30 , which left Moji ( Kyūshū ) on January 1, 1945 and had Takao ( Formosa ) as its destination. From there the transported goods should be brought to the embattled Philippines . Other ships in the convoy were the An'yō Maru ( 安 洋 丸 ), the Meihō Maru ( 明 宝 丸 ), the Rashin Maru ( 羅 津 丸 ), the Daiga Maru ( 大雅 丸 ) and the tankers Hikoshima Maru ( 彦 島 丸 ), San ' yō Maru ( 三洋 丸 ), Tatsuyō Maru ( 辰 洋 丸 ) and Manju Maru ( 滿 珠 丸 ). As an escort , the convoy was escorted by four escort ships ( Kaibōkan CD-26 (or 112), 36, 39, 67) and four smaller patrol boats. The Hisagawa Maru transported military vehicles, horses and around 3,500 men of the 3rd transport unit of the 19th Infantry Division of the Imperial Japanese Army . The An'yō Maru also transported soldiers.

The association stayed near the Chinese coast to go south undetected. On January 8, however, the convoy was sighted and attacked in the northern Formosa Strait by an American submarine Wolfpack , consisting of USS Barb ( Cdr Fluckey ), USS Picuda (LtCdr Shepard) and USS Queenfish ( Cdr Loughlin ). The Tatsuyō Maru exploded immediately after a hit, the An'yō Maru was sunk along with most of the soldiers on board; the San'yō Maru , the Hikoshima Maru and the Manju Maru were badly damaged and ran aground. The Hisagawa Maru was also hit and damaged. The convoy broke up, part of the ships tried to reach Keelung ; the Hisagawa Maru and the Rashin Maru and two or three escort ships, however, continued to sail towards Takao.

On the morning of the next day (January 9), the remaining ships were targeted and bombed by aircraft belonging to Task Force 38 , the main American carrier fleet, which at that time was in support of the landing on Luzon between the Philippines and Formosa . The Hisagawa Maru was badly hit and threatened to sink. The association tried to reach the nearby Pescadoren , but around noon the Hisagawa Maru was sunk by another air raid 25  miles west of Tainan ⊙ ; 2117 (according to other data 2283) soldiers, 84 gunmen and all 86 sailors were killed. Mo-Ta-30 thus became one of the most loss-making Japanese convoys.

The remaining ships reached Takao or Keelung. Task Force 38 sank a number of other ships around Formosa that day and pushed into the South China Sea the next day to bomb Japanese bases in Indochina as part of Operation Gratitude .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ SC Heal: The Ugly Ducklings: Japan's Liberty Ship Equivalents of WWII , in: Steamboat Bill: Journal of the Steamship Historical Society of America , 2003, pp. 37f. There also information on the shipyard and launch.
  2. ↑ David L Williams: In the Shadow of the Titanic: Merchant Ships Lost With Greater Fatalities , The History Press, 2012, entry Hisagawa Maru ( Google Books ). There also information on commissioning and sinking.
  3. ^ Robert Cressman: The official chronology of the US Navy in World War II , Naval Institute Press, 2000, p. 287
  4. ↑ Syd C. Heal: Ugly Ducklings: Japan's WWII Liberty Type Standard Ships , Naval Institute Press, 2003, table p. 87. There also information on width, draft, measurement, carrying capacity and number of units built.
    On the other hand, according to schiffswrackliste.de , the length should be 137.3 m.
  5. ↑ 6600 GRT was the nominal measurement of the type; 6886 BRT is mentioned at the time of the sinking (cf. Jürgen Rohwer, Gerhard Hümmelchen: Chronik des Seekrieges 1939–1945 , Bibliothek für Zeitgeschichte, WLB, 2007; LOSSES OF JAPANESE MERCHANT SHIPS G to J ).
  6. ↑ Eugene B. Fluckey (Commander of the USS Barb): Thunder Below !: The USS Barb Revolutionizes Submarine Warfare in World War II , University of Illinois Press, 1997, pp. 239ff
  7. ↑ Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp, Peter Cundall, combinedfleet.com : IJN Escort CD-36 and IJN Escort CD-67
  8. ↑ Jürgen Rohwer, Gerhard Hümmelchen: Chronik des Maritime War 1939–1945, Library for Contemporary History, WLB, 2007; LOOSES OF JAPANESE MERCHANT SHIPS, January 1945