''Kumagawa Maru'' (jp:球磨川丸) was a transport 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

She was laid down on 23 January 1933 at the

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 ...

shipyard of

Mitsubishi Shipbuilding & Engineering is a Japanese multinational engineering, electrical equipment and electronics corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. MHI is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group and its automobile division is the predecessor of Mitsubishi Motor ...

for the benefit of Toyo Steamship Company Ltd of

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 ...

. She was launched on 5 December 1933, completed on 31 March 1934, and given the name ''Nichiyo Maru'' (日洋丸). In 1936, she was sold to Taiyo Kogyo Company Ltd. of Tokyo. On 9 December 1936, she was sold to Toyo Kaiun Company Ltd. of Tokyo. On 13 September 1937, she was requisitioned by the

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 ...

for service in China; she was released from service on 1 April 1940. On 17 April 1940, she was renamed ''Kumagawa Maru'' (球磨川丸) (Her name is also translated as ''Tamagawa Maru'' and ''Shumagawa Maru''). On 27 August 1941, she was requisitioned by the

and assigned to the

Maizuru Naval District was one of four main administrative districts of the pre-war Imperial Japanese Navy. Its territory included the entire Sea of Japan coastline from northern Kyūshū to western Hokkaidō. History The strategic importance of the location of Maizur ...

with Captain Shiro Yoshida as commanding officer. Her conversion commenced at the

Osaka Iron Works is a major Japanese industrial and engineering corporation. It produces waste treatment plants, industrial plants, precision machinery, industrial machinery, steel mill process equipment, steel structures, Heavy equipment (construction), construc ...

and was completed on 1941 October 26. She was assigned to the Second Base Force,

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 ...

. She participated in the invasion of Batan Island, the opening campaign of the invasion of the Philippines, 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 ...

. On 21 January 1942, she arrived at

Tarakan Tarakan is an island and the largest city of the Indonesian province of North Kalimantan. The island city is located in northern Borneo, midway along the coast of the province. The city boundaries are co-extensive with the island (including a co ...

, Dutch Borneo where she formed up with the Balikpapan Invasion Force as part of the greater

Dutch East Indies campaign The Dutch East Indies campaign of 1941–1942 was the conquest of the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia) by forces from the Empire of Japan in the early days of the Pacific campaign of World War II. Forces from the Allies attempted u ...

consisting of 14 transports (''Kumagawa Maru'' along with ''Sumanoura Maru'', ''Tsuruga Maru'', ''Kuretake Maru'', ''Liverpool Maru'', ''Hiteru Maru'', ''Ehime Maru'', ''Havana Maru'', ''Hankow Maru'', ''Teiryu Maru'', ''Asahisan Maru'', ''Nittei Maru'', ''Kanayamasan Maru'', ''Toei Maru'') carrying the 56th Mixed Infantry Group of Major General Sakaguchi Shizuo (known as the Sakaguchi Brigade) and the 2nd Kure

Special Naval Landing Force The Special Naval Landing Forces (SNLF; ja, 海軍特別陸戦隊, Kaigun Tokubetsu Rikusentai) were naval infantry units of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and were a part of the IJN Land Forces. They saw extensive service in the Second Sino ...

References

{{reflist 1933 ships Auxiliary ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy Ships of the Imperial Japanese Army