''Akagi Maru'' was one of three of the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

, and was launched in 1936. ''Akagi Maru'' was used initially used as a refrigerated cargo/passenger ship between ports in Japan, Europe and South America. The ship took part in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in the Pacific Ocean and was sunk with great loss of life by air attack on 17 February 1944 in

Chuuk Lagoon Chuuk Lagoon, previously Truk Atoll, is an atoll in the central Pacific. It lies about northeast of New Guinea, and is part of Chuuk State within the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). A protective reef, around, encloses a natural harbou ...

as a part of the

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

Operation Hailstone Operation Hailstone ( ja, トラック島空襲, Torakku-tō Kūshū, lit=airstrike on Truk Island), 17–18 February 1944, was a massive United States Navy air and surface attack on Truk Lagoon conducted as part of the American offensive drive ...

Description

''Akagi Maru'' was initially a refrigerated cargo/

passenger ship A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freig ...

that was

long between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the ster ...

with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of and a draught of . The ship was powered by an 8-cylinder, 2-stroke

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...

Sulzer

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

rated at driving one shaft. This gave the ship a maximum speed of . The ship's gross register tonnage while a passenger ship was 7,387 tons. After conversion to an

armed merchantman An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in lo ...

, ''Akagi Maru'' was fitted with four /50

calibre In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the finished bore match ...

low-angle guns and light anti-aircraft guns.

Construction and early service

''Akagi Maru'' was built in 1936 at

's shipyard in

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...

with the

yard number __NOTOC__ M ...

627 for the

Nippon Yusen Kaisha Nippon Yūsen Kabushiki Kaisha (Japan Mail Shipping Line), also known as NYK Line, is a Japanese shipping company and is a member of the Mitsubishi '' keiretsu''. The company headquarters are located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It operates a ...

(NYK). The ship's

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 2 December 1935 and was launched and named on 6 June 1936. The ship was registered in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. After completion on 10 September, ''Akagi Maru'' sailed for NYK between Japan, Europe and South America until it was requisitioned by the

in November 1941 and converted to an

auxiliary cruiser An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in lo ...

Naval history

The armed merchant cruiser returned to service in December 1941 following her conversion. ''Akagi Maru'' then performed patrol missions in northern waters for most of 1942, operating mainly from

Kushiro is a city in Kushiro Subprefecture on the island of Hokkaido, Japan. It serves as the subprefecture's capital and it is the most populated city in the eastern part of the island. Geography Mountains * Mount Oakan * Mount Meakan * Mount Akan ...

and

Yokosuka is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 409,478, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city ...

. During this period, ''Akagi Maru'' took part in the searches for the lost

picket boat A picket boat is a type of small naval craft. These are used for harbor patrol and other close inshore work, and have often been carried by larger warships as a ship's boat. They range in size between 30 and 55 feet. Patrol boats, or any craft en ...

s ''Eikichi Maru'' and ''Ebisu Maru No.5''. Both were found and returned to port, with the latter having been shelled by the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

. Beginning on 10 March 1943, ''Akagi Maru'' began a

troop transport A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable land troops directly on shore, typicall ...

mission, carrying the Fifth Independent Mixed Regiment. Following the transport mission, the armed merchantman returned to patrol duty operating out of Yokosuka. In December, ''Akagi Maru'' performed its second trooping mission, carrying units to

Wake Island Wake Island ( mh, Ānen Kio, translation=island of the kio flower; also known as Wake Atoll) is a coral atoll in the western Pacific Ocean in the northeastern area of the Micronesia subregion, east of Guam, west of Honolulu, southeast of To ...

. The following month on 15 January 1944, ''Akagi Maru'' sailed for Wake Island again, but the

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

was intercepted by the submarine . The submarine fired four

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

es at the convoy, with two of them striking the escorting

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

. Following the attack, ''Akagi Maru'' was directed to return to Japan.

Sinking

On 25 January 1944 she departed Tateyama for Truk as a troop transport, which arrived there on 1 February 1944. In the morning of 18 February 1944, ''Akagi Maru'' departed Truk for Yokosuka, with 617 passengers in convoy 4215. She was escorted by the

light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...

, destroyers and , and minesweeping trawler ''Shonan Maru No. 15''. Half an hour later, the convoy came under a massive attack from

Grumman F6F Hellcat The Grumman F6F Hellcat is an American Carrier-based aircraft, carrier-based fighter aircraft of World War II. Designed to replace the earlier Grumman F4F Wildcat, F4F Wildcat and to counter the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero, it was the United St ...

fighters and

Grumman TBF Avenger The Grumman TBF Avenger (designated TBM for aircraft manufactured by General Motors) is an American World War II-era torpedo bomber developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and eventually used by several air and naval av ...

torpedo bombers from the United States

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

s , , , and . At 0730, a bomb hit her forward hold No. 2 and caused heavy damage. At 0910, she took a direct hit by another 500 lb bomb in her starboard hold No. 5. The bomb ignited fuel in nearby tanks and a large fire broke out. At 0955, ''Akagi Maru'' took a third hit by a bomb in her port No. 5 hold, which made the ship stop and caused several large explosions. At 1030, Abandon Ship was ordered, and survivors were taken aboard ''Katori'' but perished later in the morning with her. ''Akagi Maru'' sank at 1047 at position 07-50N, 151-25E in the vicinity of the North Pass. A total of 512 passengers and 788 sailors were lost.

References

{{Coord, 07, 50, N, 151, 25, E, type:waterbody, display=title Ships built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries 1936 ships Maritime incidents in February 1944 Auxiliary ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy Shipwrecks of Truk Lagoon Ships sunk by US aircraft