Japanese aircraft carrier Nigitsu Maru

Nigitsu Maru (にぎつ丸) was a Japanese landing craft depot ship operated by the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). There is disagreement on the fact that Nigitsu Maru was fitted with a flight deck or not.

Design features
Nigitsu Maru was a passenger liner taken over before completion and refitted by the Imperial Japanese Army. Her sister ship was JAPANESE AIRCRAFT CARRIER Akitsu Maru. On 9 January 1944 Nigitsu Maru left Palau for Ujina in convoy FU-901 as the sole merchant ship escorted by the destroyer JAPANESE DESTROYER Amagiri. She carried about 2,000 troops, mainly soldiers of the 12th Independent Engineer Regiment. Three days later off the Okino-Daito Island, southeast of Okinawa, Nigitsu Maru was attacked by the US submarine USS Hake (SS-256) which fired four torpedoes from the surface. Two hit Nigitsu Maru which sank in eight minutes at 23.25°N, 132.85°W. 456 soldiers, 83 gunners and 35 crewmen were killed. Amagiri picked up the survivors and landed them in Japan.