was a unique

ammunition ship An ammunition ship is an auxiliary ship specially configured to carry ammunition, usually for naval ships and aircraft. An ammunition ship's cargo handling systems, designed with extreme safety in mind, include ammunition hoists with airlocks bet ...

operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy from 1940 until she was sunk by a United States Navy submarine in 1942. She was built to carry the 's main battery from the Kure Naval Arsenal to the shipyards where the battleships were being constructed. When the ships were completed, ''Kashino'' was converted to carry

ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...

and other supplies.

Service history

''Kashino'' was specifically designed and constructed to transport the ''Yamato''-class battleships' 46 cm (18.1 in) guns and

turrets Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * M ...

from Kure Naval Arsenal to the other shipyards where the battleships were being built. The ship was required as the guns were too large and heavy to be moved by land and could not be carried by conventional cargo ships. She was equipped with two large cargo

holds A hold (abbreviated HLD, H or HD) is awarded to a relief pitcher who meets the following three conditions: :1. Enters the game in a save (baseball), save situation; that is, when all of the following three conditions apply: :: (a) He appears i ...

which could embark the turrets, and required more ballast than comparable ships to provide stability when she was not carrying these heavy loads. ''Kashino'' was built at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries shipyard in Nagasaki. She was laid down on 1 July 1939, launched on 26 January 1940 and entered service on 10 July that year. She was initially rated as an "auxiliary turret conveyance warship". The ship made her first voyage from Kure to Nagasaki in October transporting one of s turrets and a gun. The turret and gun were covered by a canvas after being hoisted onto the battleship as a security measure. Following this voyage, ''Kashino'' regularly transported ordnance and supplies between Kure and Nagasaki. While Japan had originally intended to build at least three ''Yamato''-class battleships, it was decided in June 1942 to complete the third ship, , as an

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 ...

. As no other battleships were under construction, the Navy did not need a ship capable of carrying gun turrets, and so ''Kashino'' was converted to an ammunition transport by covering her holds. When this work was completed she was used to transport ammunition and other supplies until 4 September 1942, when she was torpedoed and sunk by the

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 ...

north-east of

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territorie ...

( Taiwan) at .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kashino 1940 ships Auxiliary ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy Ships sunk by American submarines Taiwan in World War II Cargo ships of Japan Ships built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean Maritime incidents in September 1942