was an OSK Line

cargo Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including trans ...

and passenger steamship that was built in Japan in 1927. In 1941 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 ...

requisitioned her. US aircraft damaged her during the first week of the

Japanese invasion of the Philippines Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

. In 1942 she was declared a

total loss In insurance claims, a total loss or write-off is a situation where the lost value, repair cost or salvage cost of a damaged property exceeds its insured value, and simply replacing the old property with a new equivalent is more cost-effect ...

Building and registration

The

Uraga Dock Company was a major privately owned shipyard in Uraga, Japan, which built numerous warships for the Imperial Japanese Navy. History Uraga Dock Company was founded by Enomoto Takeaki in 1869. A shipyard had already existed in Uraga from the end of the ...

in Uraga, Kanagawa built ''Takao Maru'' as yard number 317. She 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 19 July 1926, launched on 2 April 1927, and completed that May. ''Takao Maru''s registered length was , her beam was , her depth was and her

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

was . Her

tonnage Tonnage is a measure of the cargo-carrying capacity of a ship, and is commonly used to assess fees on commercial shipping. The term derives from the taxation paid on ''tuns'' or casks of wine. In modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically r ...

s were and . She had berths for 70 passengers: six in first class, and 64 in third class. ''Takao Maru'' had a single

screw A screw and a bolt (see '' Differentiation between bolt and screw'' below) are similar types of fastener typically made of metal and characterized by a helical ridge, called a ''male thread'' (external thread). Screws and bolts are used to f ...

, driven by two Mitsubishi steam turbines via double-reduction gearing. Their combined power output was rated at 782 NHP or 3,915 shp, and gave her a speed of . She was designed as a high-speed banana ship, and had an advanced mechanical ventilation system to cool her cargo holds. The

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...

Dock Company built a sister ship, ''Koshun Maru'', which was also completed in May 1927. OSK registered ''Takao Maru'' 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 ...

. Her code letters were TKCQ. By 1934 her

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assign ...

was JPOB, and this had superseded her code letters.

1931 collision

On 1 February 1931 the refrigerated cargo ship ''Arabia Maru'', also owned by OSK, collided with ''Takao Maru'' off

Kannonzaki Lighthouse Kannonzaki Lighthouse (観音埼灯台) is a lighthouse on Cape Kannon, on Miura Peninsula, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan. History The original Kannonzaki Lighthouse was the first lighthouse built in Japan. It was one of the eight lighthouses who ...

Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan, and spans the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. The Tokyo Bay region is both the most populous ...

. ''Arabia Maru'' took on water in her

engine room On a ship, the engine room (ER) is the compartment where the machinery for marine propulsion is located. To increase a vessel's safety and chances of surviving damage, the machinery necessary for the ship's operation may be segregated into var ...

, and was beached to prevent her from sinking.

War service and loss

At 16:30 hrs 7 October 1941 the Japanese Army requisitoned ''Takao Maru''. She was converted into a

troopship A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable land troops directly on shore, typicall ...

and given the Army number 638. On 7 December, the eve of the Japanese invasion of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, she left Mako in the Pescadores islands (now

Magong Magong ( POJ: ''Má-keng'') is a county-administered city and seat of Penghu County, Taiwan. Magong City is located on Penghu's main island. Name The settlement's temple honoring the Chinese Goddess Mazu, the deified form of Lin Moniang ...

in Penghu) as one of six troopships with 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 ...

. She carried 2,000 troops of the 48th Division to take part in an amphibious assault on the island of

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 ...

. At 02:00 hrs on 10 December the ships land their troops at Pandan, near

Vigan Vigan, officially the City of Vigan ( ilo, Siudad ti Vigan; fil, Lungsod ng Vigan), is a 4th class component city and capital of the province of Ilocos Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 53,935 people. Loc ...

. The US Far East Air Force bombed and strafed the ships with

Boeing B-17 The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...

bombers and

Curtiss P-40 The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and ...

and

Seversky P-35 The Seversky P-35 is an American fighter aircraft built by the Seversky Aircraft Company in the late 1930s. A contemporary of the Hawker Hurricane and Messerschmitt Bf 109, the P-35 was the first single-seat fighter in United States Army Air Co ...

fighters. The air attack damages ''Takao Maru'' and another troop ship, ''Oigawa Maru'', and both ships are beached to prevent their sinking. ''Takao Maru'' was beached at . On 5 March 1942 Filipino guerillas attached the beached ''Takao Maru'', putting her beyond repair. On 30 September she was officially declared a

References

Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Takao Maru 1927 ships Maritime incidents in December 1941 Ships built by Uraga Dock Company Ships sunk by US aircraft Shipwrecks of the Philippines Steamships of Japan World War II merchant ships of Japan