The was a class of

ocean liner An ocean liner is a passenger ship primarily used as a form of transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). Ca ...

s of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, serving during the 1930s, and after

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 ...

Background

In 1927-28, the NYK Line placed an order for eight ocean liners to reinforce the

–

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

route (3 × ''Hikawa Maru'' class), Japan–

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

route (3 × ''Asama Maru'' class), and Japan–

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

route (2 × ''Terukuni Maru'' class). The ''Hikawa Maru'' class were named the ''Hikawa Maru'', ''Hiye Maru'' (later ''Hei Maru'') and ''Heian Maru''.

Service

''Hikawa Maru'' was completed on 25 April 1930. Her maiden voyage was 13 May 1930 for

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

–Seattle. Arrived at Seattle on 27 May. She sailed 73 times until August 1941. Her service was popular, and the cuisine was well-regarded, as NYK Line employed a chef trained in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. ''Hie Maru'' was completed on 31 July 1930. Her maiden voyage was 23 August 1930 from

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

. ''Heian Maru'' was completed on 24 November 1930. Her maiden voyage was 18 December 1930 from

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. All of them were enlisted by 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 ...

(IJN) in October–November 1941.

Ships in class

Service in World War II

* ''Hikawa Maru'' was classified to auxiliary hospital ship on 1 December 1941, and she was assigned to the 4th Fleet. * ''Hie Maru'' was classified to auxiliary submarine tender on 15 February 1942, and she was assigned to the 6th Fleet. * ''Heian Maru'' was classified to auxiliary submarine tender on 15 October 1941, and she was assigned to the 6th Fleet. * 17 November 1943, ''Hie Maru'' was sunk by USN submarine. * 18 February 1944, ''Heian Maru'' was sunk by air raid at Chuuk. * 10 August 1946, ''Hikawa Maru'' survived war, and she was reverted to the NYK Line.

Ships in class as naval vessel

Photos

Image:Hie Maru.jpg, NYK Line ''Hie Maru'' Image:Heian Maru.jpg, NYK Line ''Heian Maru'' in 1937 Image:Hikawa Maru-inWartime.jpg, IJN ''Hikawa Maru'' in wartime Image:Japanese 5th Fleet in 1943.jpg, IJN ''Heian Maru'' (center) in May 1943 Image:Heian Maru-1943.jpg, IJN ''Heian Maru'' in June 1943 Image:Hikawa Maru-1947.JPG, NYK Line ''Hikawa Maru'' in 1947 Image:Hikawamaru.JPG, ''Hikawa Maru'' on 16 December 2006

Footnotes

Bibliography

* Tashirō Iwashige, ''The visual guide of Japanese wartime merchant marine'', (Japan), May 2009 *''Ships of the World special issue, The Golden Age of Japanese Passenger Liners'', , (Japan), May 2004 *''Voyage of a Century "Photo Collection of NYK Ships"'', , (Japan), October 1985 * ''The Maru Special, Japanese Naval Vessels No.29, "Japanese submarine tenders w/ auxiliary submarine tenders"'', (Japan), July 1979 * ''The Maru Special, Japanese Naval Vessels No.53, "Japanese support vessels"'', Ushio Shobō (Japan), July 1981 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hikawa Maru Ocean liner classes World War II naval ships of Japan Hospital ships of Japan Submarine tenders Ships of the NYK Line World War II merchant ships of Japan