''Mayasan Maru'' (摩耶山丸) was a Japanese landing craft depot ship used extensively to transport

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) troops during 1943 and 1944. After avoiding damage in seven separate submarine attacks in earlier convoys, she was sunk in the East China Sea by the submarine on 17 November 1944 while part of

Convoy Hi-81 was the designation for a formation of Japanese transports that carried soldiers bound for Singapore and the Philippines during World War II. The transports were escorted by a large force of surface combatants including the escort carriers ' ...

. The sinking caused one of the highest maritime casualty counts of

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 opposing ...

. Some 3,536 people died.

Service history

The ship was laid down at the Mitsui shipyard in

Tamano is a city located in southern Okayama Prefecture, Japan. The city was officially founded on August 3, 1940. As of October 1, 2016, the city has an estimated population of 60,101 and a population density of 580 persons per km². The total area i ...

on 27 August 1941 as a Type M cargo ship for the Mitsui Line. While still under construction the ship was requisitioned by the Imperial Navy and converted to a Landing Craft Depot Ship. She was fitted with 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 helicopte ...

above the hull, but no hangar. Launched on 29 June 1942, the ship was completed and commissioned in December 1942.

1943

Her maiden voyage was from Hiroshima to Rabaul and return with

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

B-2 in January 1943. ''Mayasan Maru'' made a second voyage with convoy B-2 carrying IJA troops from

Pusan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, ...

to Rabaul in February. She then traveled to

Palau Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the ...

in March, Rabaul in April, and Truk in May. She avoided damage while returning to Japan in convoy No. 4508 attacked by from May 9 through 11th, 1943; and completed a round trip from Japan to

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

in June. She joined convoy 0-603 from Japan to Palau in late August and convoy N-404 from Palau to Rabaul in September. While returning to Palau, she avoided damage when convoy O-602A was attacked by on 18 September 1943. She completed two trips from Palau to Japan in October with convoys FU-202 and FU-302 before joining convoy SA-17 for a trip to Singapore in November. She traveled from Singapore to Pusan in December; and avoided damage when return convoy Hi-27 was attacked by in the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phi ...

on 26 December 1943.

1944

''Mayasan Maru'' returned to Japan with convoy Q to load the 3rd Battalion of the 119th Infantry Regiment with the 53rd Engineer Regiment, 53rd Signal Regiment, and headquarters of the IJA 53rd Division for transport to Manila with convoy Hi-37. She returned to Japan in February 1944 to load the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the IJA 151st Infantry Regiment with the 53rd Artillery Regiment and the 53rd Reconnaissance Regiment for transport to Singapore in April with convoy HI-57. While returning to Japan she avoided damage when convoy Hi-58 was attacked by on 24 April 1944. She traveled from Japan to Manila in May and returned to Japan in June to load the 378th, 379th and 380th Independent Infantry Battalions with other elements of the IJA 58th Independent Mixed Brigade. She avoided damage in the 12 July 1944 attack by and while transporting these troops to the Philippines with convoy MOMA-01. She similarly avoided damage when return convoy Hi-68 was attacked by , and on July 25 and 26. ''Mayasan Maru'' was attached to convoy Hi-71 carrying Operation ''Shō'' reinforcements to the Philippines. The convoy sailed into the

from

Mako , better known by the mononym name Mako (sometimes stylised MAKO), is a Japanese voice actress, singer and a member of the band Bon-Bon Blanco, in which her prominent role is as the maraca player. She has also performed in a Japanese television ...

naval base in the

Pescadores The Penghu (, Hokkien POJ: ''Phîⁿ-ô͘'' or ''Phêⁿ-ô͘'' ) or Pescadores Islands are an archipelago of 90 islands and islets in the Taiwan Strait, located approximately west from the main island of Taiwan, covering an area ...

on 17 August, and was discovered that evening by . ''Redfish'' assembled , and for a

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, we ...

-assisted wolfpack attack in

typhoon A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...

conditions on the night of 18/19 August. Although nearly half of the ships in convoy Hi-71 were torpedoed, ''Mayasan Maru'' again avoided damage and returned to Japan with convoy MAMO-02. She then made six trips transporting troops from Pusan to Japan in September and October.

Sinking

''Mayasan Maru'', as part of Convoy Hi-81, set sail from Imari Bay on 14 November 1944. On board were 4,387 soldiers of the 23rd Division, including the divisional headquarters,

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

and

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

companies. Also aboard was the 24th Sea Raiding Battalion with '' Maru-Ni'' explosive motorboats, 740 replacements for the Southern Army, 88 Army communications school graduates, various specialists in artillery, communications, engineering, ordnance and transport, and 204 horses. At 18:15 on 17 November 1944 at position , the ''Mayasan Maru'' was torpedoed by the in rising seas, and sank in two and a half minutes taking with her 3,536 men. The escorts rescued about 1,300 men.

References

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