was a

Japanese 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 ...

landing craft depot ship and

escort aircraft carrier The escort carrier or escort aircraft carrier (U.S. hull classification symbol CVE), also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the United States Navy (USN) or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, was a small and slow type of aircraft ...

operated 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 ...

(IJA). In some sources ''Akitsu Maru'' and her sister ship are also considered to be the first

amphibious assault ship An amphibious assault ship is a type of amphibious warfare ship employed to land and support ground forces on enemy territory by an amphibious assault. The design evolved from aircraft carriers converted for use as helicopter carriers (and, a ...

Design features

''Akitsu Maru'' was a

passenger liner A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freig ...

taken over before completion by the

. The ship was fitted with a flight deck above the hull, but had no hangar so the aircraft were stored below the flight deck on the original main deck. Conventional aircraft were able to fly off from her deck but could not land aboard due to lack of landing mechanisms, although in July 1944 ''KX'' arresting gear was fitted on the flight deck. The

Kokusai Ki-76 The Kokusai Ki-76, or Liaison Aircraft Type 3 (in ja, 三式指揮連絡機), was a Japanese high-wing monoplane artillery spotter and liaison aircraft that served in World War II. The Allied reporting name was "Stella". Design and development ...

and Kayaba Ka-1 were flown off ''Akitsu Maru'', as the former was a small, slow aircraft that could land on its short deck and the latter was an

autogyro An autogyro (from Greek and , "self-turning"), also known as a ''gyroplane'', is a type of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift. Forward thrust is provided independently, by an engine-driven propeller. Whi ...

which could even more easily land on a short deck without assistance. She could also carry 27 . ''Akitsu Maru''s planned role was to provide aircover during amphibious and landing operations; in practice the ship was essentially an aircraft ferry. With the deployment of the '' Shinshū Maru'' and a further refinement, the larger ''Akitsu Maru'', the Japanese amphibious forces had in hand prototypes for all-purpose amphibious ships. In 1937, British and American observers watched ''Shinshū Maru'' at work off

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

and immediately recognized a significant development in amphibious warfare. The ship carried landing craft in a

well deck In traditional nautical use, well decks were decks lower than decks fore and aft, usually at the main deck level, so that breaks appear in the main deck profile, as opposed to a flush deck profile. The term goes back to the days of sail. Late-20 ...

that could be flooded, which allowed the landing craft to float free from an open stern gate. The ship could also hold additional craft on davits, but its next-most impressive function was an ability to discharge vehicles from a deck-level parking garage directly onto a pier. It also carried two catapults for aircraft but did not embark operational seaplanes. It could, however, transport and unload aircraft if necessary, a capability further developed in the ''Akitsu Maru'', which even had a short take-off

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 helicopte ...

Fate

While a part of Convoy HI-81 ''Akitsu Maru'' was

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...

ed by . One of the torpedoes set off her aft magazine holding depth charges, the explosion shattering the aft portion of the ship. As the seas hit her boilers, they exploded and she sank in the Korean Strait () on 15 November 1944. 2,046 men, mainly of the Imperial Japanese Army's 64th Infantry Regiment, including the commander, were killed. Also 104 Maru-ni explosive motor boats (EMB) go down with the ship. The escorts rescued 310 survivors. Her sister ship was sunk by the submarine on 12 January 1944, with the loss of 574 men.

References

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Akitsu Maru Escort carriers of the Imperial Japanese Army Ships built by IHI Corporation 1941 ships World War II escort carriers of Japan Amphibious warfare vessels Ships sunk by American submarines Japanese inventions

Design features

Fate

See also

References

Sources