''Tama Maru'' (Japanese: 玉丸) was an auxiliary

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

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 ...

during

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 ...

History

''Tama Maru'' 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 28 May 1936 at the shipyard of Mitsubishi Jukogyo Kobe Zosensho at the behest of shipping company, Taiyo Hogei. She was launched on 5 August 1936 and completed 28 September 1936. She was the first of 8 ships built of her class (''Tama Maru'', ''Tama Maru No. 2'', ''Tama Maru No. 3'', ''Tama Maru No. 5'', ''Tama Maru No. 6'', ''Tama Maru No. 7'', ''Tama Maru No. 8'', ''Tama Maru No. 9'' (later ''Nagato Maru'')). On 15 August 1941, she was requisitioned by the

and converted to an auxiliary minesweeper under Reserve Lieutenant Shiihara. She was assigned to the Port Moresby Operation (

Operation MO or the Port Moresby Operation was a Japanese plan to take control of the Australian Territory of New Guinea during World War II as well as other locations in the South Pacific. The goal was to isolate Australia and New Zealand from the Allied ...

) tasked with the occupation of the Australian

Territory of New Guinea The Territory of New Guinea was an Australian-administered United Nations trust territory on the island of New Guinea from 1914 until 1975. In 1949, the Territory and the Territory of Papua were established in an administrative union by the nam ...

in order to isolate

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The operation was also to seize the islands of

Tulagi Tulagi, less commonly known as Tulaghi, is a small island——in Solomon Islands, just off the south coast of Ngella Sule. The town of the same name on the island (pop. 1,750) was the capital of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate from 18 ...

and

Samarai Samarai is an island and former administrative capital in Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea. The island is historically significant as the site of a trading port and stop-over between Australia and East Asia. Samarai town was established on ...

, and the

Deboyne Islands The Deboyne Islands are an atoll, composed of a group of reefs and islands in the north of the Louisiade Archipelago, Papua New Guinea. Geography They are located from Misima and from the Torlesse Islands. Islands in the Deboyne Islands incl ...

(where seaplane bases were to be established) as well as

Nauru Nauru ( or ; na, Naoero), officially the Republic of Nauru ( na, Repubrikin Naoero) and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in Oceania, in the Central Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in Ki ...

and

Banaba Island BanabaThe correct spelling and etymology in Gilbertese should be ''Bwanaba'' but the Constitution of Kiribati writes Banaba. Because of the spelling in English or French, the name was very often written Paanapa or Paanopa, as it was in 1901 Ac ...

(due to their valuable

phosphate In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid . The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phospho ...

deposits). ''Tama Maru'' was assigned to the Tulagi invasion force commanded by

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

Kiyohide Shima was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. Biography A native of Miyazaki prefecture, Shima was a graduate of the 39th class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1911, ranking 69th out of 148 cadets. As a midshipman, h ...

and consisting of the flagship

minelayer A minelayer is any warship, submarine or military aircraft deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for installing controll ...

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...

, 1 auxiliary minelayer (''Kōei Maru''), 2 destroyers ( and ), 5

s (''Tama Maru'' along with , , ''Hagoromo Maru'', and ''Noshiro Maru No. 2''), 2 subchasers (''Toshi Maru No. 3'', ''Tama Maru No. 8''), and 1 transport () carrying 400 men of the 3rd Kure Special Naval Landing Force. The light carrier provided air support accompanied by 4 cruisers (, , , ) and 1 destroyer (). The force departed from Rabaul on 30 April 1942 and on 3 May 1942, landed on Tulagi unopposed. ''Shōhō'' with its escorts left the area to support the main Port Moresby operation which allowed planes from of Task Force 17 under Rear Admiral

Frank Jack Fletcher Frank Jack Fletcher (April 29, 1885 – April 25, 1973) was an admiral in the United States Navy during World War II. Fletcher commanded five different task forces through WWII; he was the operational task force commander at the pivotal battle ...

to attack the ships of the invasion force. On 4 May 1942, ''Tama Maru'' was patrolling with ''Wa-1'' and ''Wa-2'' north of

Savo Island Savo Island is an island in Solomon Islands in the southwest South Pacific ocean. Administratively, Savo Island is a part of the Central Province of the Solomon Islands. It is about from the capital Honiara. The principal village is Alialia, ...

when it was spotted by a squadron of

Douglas TBD Devastator The Douglas TBD Devastator was an American torpedo bomber of the United States Navy. Ordered in 1934, it first flew in 1935 and entered service in 1937. At that point, it was the most advanced aircraft flying for the Navy and possibly for any na ...

s from the Yorktown. ''Wa-1'' and ''Wa-2'' were immediately sunk while ''Tama Maru'' was significantly damaged and sank on 6 May 1942. She was struck from the Navy list on 25 May 1942.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tama Maru 1936 ships Ships built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Maritime incidents in May 1942 Minesweepers sunk by aircraft World War II minesweepers of Japan Mine warfare vessels of the Imperial Japanese Navy Auxiliary ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy