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Takasago Maru
File:TakasagoMaru1937.JPG
Takasago Maru underway in 1937
Career (Japan) Flag of Japan
Name:
  • Takasago Maru
  • (たかさほ まる)
Owner:
  • Mitsui O.S.K. Lines logo Mitsui O.S.K. Lines
  • (OSK Line)
  • Operator:
  • Mitsui O.S.K. Lines logo OSK Line (1937–41)
  • Empire of Japan Imperial Japanese Navy (1941–1945)
  • Japan SCAJAP (1945–56)
  • Builder: Mitsubishi, Nagasaki
    Laid down: 9 June 1936
    Launched: 1 December 1936
    Completed: 28 April 1937
    Commissioned: 28 April 1937
    Decommissioned: 23 March 1956
    Reclassified: 1 December 1941
    Refit: 20 December 1941
    Fate: Scrapped in 1956
    General characteristics
    Type: Cargo liner
    Displacement: 9,315-347 long tons
    Length: 142.09 m (466 ft 2 in)
    Beam: 18.50 m (60 ft 8 in)
    Draft: 7.524 m (24 ft 8.2 in)
    Depth: 11.60 m (38 ft 1 in)
    Installed power: 12,641 hp (9,426 kW)
    Propulsion:
    • 2 x Mitsubishi steam turbines
    • 2 x shafts
    Speed: 15.34–20.15 knots (28.41–37.32 km/h; 17.65–23.19 mph)
    Boats & landing
    craft carried:
    4 x life boats
    Capacity: 901–958 passengers

    Takasago Maru was a passenger-cargo liner of OSK Line which later transferred to the Imperial Japanese Navy as a hospital ship.[1]

    Construction and career[]

    She was laid down on 9 June 1936 and launched on 1 December 1986 by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Nagasaki. She was commissioned on 28 April 1937 into the Mitsui OSK Line.

    Throughout 1937 to 1941, she made trips to Kobe, Keelung and Moji.[2]

    On 12 November 1941, she was acquired by the Imperial Japanese Navy and converted to a hospital ship by Kure Naval Arsenal on 1 December. On 8 April 1942, she was mistakenly lightly damaged by USS Porpoise and again on 26 April by USS Pickerel in the Manipa Strait despite her clear designation as a hospital ship. On 14 June 1941, she carried 500 patients while being escorted by the cruiser Nagara. On 15 June, Rear Admiral Matome Ugaki departed the battleship Yamato to pay a visit aboard  Hikawa Maru and Takasago Maru. She was attacked by aircraft but no damage was sustained from it while anchored off Shortland on 1 November of the same year.

    Takasago Maru was escorted by the destroyer Akebono as they arrived at Truk on 5 September 1943. On 18 December, she transferred medical supplies to the cruiser Katori at Harujima. She departed Singapore on 28 February 1944 for Saigon. The supply ship Mamiya replenish with Takasago Maru on 17 April.

    USS Pilotfish encountered Takasago Maru on 5 February 1945 and was let go as she was clearly marked as a hospital ship. On 19 March, she was anchored near the battleships Ise and Haruna during the attack on Kure and escaped the harbor undamaged. USS Murray conducted an onboard search for violations and contrabands but found her to be clear and let her continue to Wake Island on 2 July. Same thing happened again five days later on 7 July, when USS McDermut conducted a search. While she was in Maizuru on 25 July, planes from the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown attacked the harbor but with no hits on Takasago Maru. On 1 December, she was assigned to the Allied Repatriation Service at Kure.

    Between 1947 and 1956, she made trips to evacuate Japanese prisoners of war in Siberia and Nakhodka. On 23 March 1956, she was sold to Namura Shipbuilding, K. K., Osaka for scrapping.

    Gallery[]

    References[]

    External links[]

    All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
    The original article can be found at Takasago Maru and the edit history here.
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