The was a Japanese
cargo ship
A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...
owned by
Nippon Yusen Kaisha
Nippon Yūsen Kabushiki Kaisha (Japan Mail Shipping Line), also known as NYK Line, is a Japanese shipping company and is a member of the Mitsubishi '' keiretsu''. The company headquarters are located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It operates a ...
. The ship was built in 1941 by Hakodate Dock at
Hakodate
is a city and port located in Oshima Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital city of Oshima Subprefecture. As of July 31, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 279,851 with 143,221 households, and a population density of 412.8 ...
on the northern island of Hokkaidō.
History
The ''Yoshida Maru'' was built at Hakodate; and she left port in August 1941 on her maiden voyage.
[Haworth, R.B]
Miramar Ship Index''Yoshida Maru,'' ID#4048724
The 2,921-ton vessel had a length of 310 feet (93 m), and her beam was 45 feet (13.8 m). The single turbine, single screw propulsion produced an average speed of .
World War II
''Yoshida Maru'' was requisitioned as an auxiliary gunboat/minelayer 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 ...
. She was armed with 3 guns of 12 cm and machineguns.
On 1 October, 1943 reregistered as an auxiliary transport.
On 18 January 1944, she was sunk by the submarine ''
USS Flasher'' at 140 miles west-southwest of
Minami-Tori-shima
, also known as Marcus Island, is an isolated Japanese coral atoll in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, located some southeast of Tokyo and east of the closest Japanese island, South Iwo Jima of the Ogasawara Islands, and nearly on a straight li ...
, .
See also
*
List of Japanese hell ships
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
*
Foreign commerce and shipping of Empire of Japan
During the Empire of Japan and up to 1945, Japan was dependent on imported foods and raw materials for industry. At the time, Japan had one of the largest merchant fleets in the world with a total of approximately 6 million tonnes of displacement b ...
Notes
References
* Blair, Clay. (2001)
''Silent Victory: The U.S. Submarine War Against Japan.''Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ;
*
Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1935)
''The Nomenclature of the N.Y.K. Fleet.''Tokyo : Nippon Yusen Kaisha
OCLC 27933596* Tate, E. Mowbray. (1986)
''Transpacific steam: the story of steam navigation from the Pacific Coast of North America to the Far East and the Antipodes, 1867-1941.''New York: Cornwall Books. ;
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yoshida Maru
1941 ships
Ships of the NYK Line
Steamships of Japan
World War II merchant ships of Japan
Auxiliary ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy
Ships sunk by American submarines
World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean
Maritime incidents in January 1944
Japanese hell ships