was a

landing craft carrier Landing craft carriers or landing craft depot ships were an innovative type of amphibious warfare ship developed by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. The prototype was developed in secrecy under the pseudonyms ''Ryujo Maru'' and ''Fus ...

with a small flight deck built for 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 ...

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 ...

. Launched and completed in early 1945, the ship saw no significant action.

Construction

''Kumano Maru'' was laid down at the Hitachi Shipbuilding yard at

Innoshima is an island and former city in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The island is located within the Geiyo Islands of the Seto Inland Sea. The city was founded on May 1, 1953. , the city had an estimated population of 27,465 and a population density o ...

as a standard ''Type M'' wartime cargo ship. The ship was taken over by the Army during construction, redesigned as a

landing craft Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force (infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are larger. Pr ...

transport, and designated a Type B landing ship. It could carry up to a dozen and thirteen landing craft in its

hold Hold may refer to: Physical spaces * Hold (ship), interior cargo space * Baggage hold, cargo space on an airplane * Stronghold, a castle or other fortified place Arts, entertainment, and media * Hold (musical term), a pause, also called a Ferm ...

. They were launched on rails through two large doors in the stern.Gardiner, p. 214 The ship was also designed to transport anywhere from 8 to 37

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...

, depending on their size and the number of landing craft aboard. A

flight deck The flight deck of an aircraft carrier is the surface from which its aircraft take off and land, essentially a miniature airfield at sea. On smaller naval ships which do not have aviation as a primary mission, the landing area for helicopters ...

was mounted above the main deck with an elevator aft. This permitted the stored aircraft to be flown off the ship to onshore airfields. The deck was not large enough to allow aircraft to land. The ship's funnel was mounted on the starboard side and vented horizontally outward to keep the flight deck clear.

Operational history

''Kumano Maru'' was launched 28 January 1945 and completed on 31 March. She survived the war, and was used until 1947 to repatriate Japanese forces abroad. The ship was sold to Kawasaki Kisen K. K. Line in 1947 and converted to a conventional merchant ship. Afterward, she was scrapped in 1948.

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * * * Ships built by Hitachi Zosen Corporation 1945 ships Amphibious warfare vessels Postwar Japan Kawasaki Heavy Industries {{Japan-mil-ship-stub