''Nagara Maru'' (''Japanese:'' 長良丸) was a Japanese cargo ship that was requisitioned 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 surrend ...

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 opposing ...

and converted into an auxiliary netlayer.

History

She was laid down 25 April 1939 at the Goshi Kaisha Urabe Zosen Tekkosho shipyard for the benefit of Sankyo Kaiun K.K. She was launched on 21 February 1940, completed on 8 April 1940, and registered in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

. She worked as a cargo ship until 12 September 1941, when she was requisitioned by the

. She was designated as an auxiliary net-layer and her conversion was started on 24 September 1941 at the shipyard of Niigata Iron Works Company Limited. Her sister ships, ''Uji Maru'' and ''Kumano Maru'', were also requisitioned and converted into auxiliary netlayers. She was assigned to the

Third Fleet The United States Third Fleet is one of the numbered fleets in the United States Navy. Third Fleet's area of responsibility includes approximately fifty million square miles of the eastern and northern Pacific Ocean areas including the Bering ...

, as part of the 54th Subchaser Division (along with subchasers ''Shonan Maru No. 1'' and ''Shonan Maru No. 2''). The division was attached to the 2nd Base Force based at Takao, Formosa. Her commanding officer was Lieutenant Sadazo Takezawa (竹澤定三).

Invasion of Batan Island

She was assigned to the Batan Island occupation force which began simultaneously with the

Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, ju ...

tasked with establishing an air base to support future operations against American forces on

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

during the invasion of the Philippines. On 7 December 1941, the 54th Subchaser division along with the 52nd Subchaser Division ( ''Shonan Maru No. 17'', ''Takunan Maru No. 5'', '' Fukuei Maru No. 15'') and the 53rd Subchaser Division ('' Korei Maru'', ''Kyo Maru No. 2'', ''Kyo Maru No.11'') left Takao with

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

transport ''Teiun Maru'' carrying part of the 24th Airfield Battalion. On 8 December 1941, she met with remainder of the occupation force off the coast of Batan Island consisting of transport ''Kumagawa Maru'', destroyer , four ''Chidori''-class torpedo boats (''Chidori'', ''Manazuru'', ''Tomozuru'', ''Hatsukari''), two ''W-13''-class minesweepers (''W-13'', ''W-14''), two patrol boats ( ''Patrol Boat No. 1'', ''Patrol Boat No. 2''), two ''Tsubame''-class minelayers (''Kamome'', ''Tsubame''), three converted gunboats ('' Aso Maru'', ''Koso Maru'', ''Nampo Maru''), and seaplane tender, '' Sanuki Maru'' escorted by destroyer '' Tachikaze''.

Demise

After Batan, she primarily was involved in escort and anti-submarine duties around the islands of the Philippines and Indonesia. On 1 January 1945, Lieutenant Toru Kato (加藤徹) was named commander. On 5 March 1945, she was sunk by torpedoes from the submarine USS ''Sea Robin'' at () 145 km east-northeast of

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...

. On 10 May 1945, she was struck from the Navy List.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nagara Maru 1940 ships Auxiliary ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy Ships sunk by American submarines Net laying ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy