Kamikawa Maru-class seaplane tender

Class overview
Kamikawa Maru
Name:	Kamikawa Maru-class Cargo ship
Builders:	Kawasaki Shipbuilding Corporation
Operators:	Kawasaki Line Imperial Japanese Navy Imperial Japanese Army Kōbe Line
Built:	1936–1940
In commission:	1937–1969
Planned:	5
Completed:	5
Lost:	4
Retired:	1 (Kiyokawa Maru)
General characteristics
Type:	Cargo ship/Seaplane tender
Displacement:	Kamikawa Maru 6,853 long tons (6,963 t) gross Kiyokawa Maru 6,862 long tons (6,972 t) gross Kimikawa Maru and Kunikawa Maru 6,863 long tons (6,973 t) gross Hirokawa Maru 6,872 long tons (6,982 t) gross
Length:	145.0 m (475 ft 9 in) Lpp 146.15 m (479 ft 6 in) waterline
Beam:	19.0 m (62 ft 4 in)
Draught:	8.23 m (27 ft 0 in)
Propulsion:	Kamikawa Maru 1 × MAN-Kawasaki D7Z-70/120T diesel single shaft, 9,137 bhp Kiyokawa Maru 1 × MAN-Kawasaki D7Z-70/120T diesel single shaft, 8,810 bhp Kimikawa Maru 1 × MAN-Kawasaki D7Z-70/120T diesel single shaft, 8,867 bhp Kunikawa Maru 1 × MAN-Kawasaki D7Z-70/120T diesel single shaft, 8,880 bhp Hirokawa Maru 1 × MAN-Kawasaki D8Z-70/120T diesel, single shaft, 9,980 bhp
Speed:	Kamikawa Maru and Kiyokawa Maru 19.5 knots (22.4 mph; 36.1 km/h) Kimikawa Maru and Kunikawa Maru 19.4 knots (22.3 mph; 35.9 km/h) Hirokawa Maru 19.2 knots (22.1 mph; 35.6 km/h)
Capacity:	650,000 cbft freight as cargo ship
Crew:	65 as cargo ship
Armament:	Kamikawa Maru, 1937 2 × 120 mm (4.7 in) L/45 AA guns 2 × 7.7 mm machine guns Kiyokawa Maru, Kimikawa Maru and Kunikawa Maru, 1941 2 × 150 mm (5.9 in) L/40 naval guns 2 × 76.2 mm (3.00 in) L/23.5 AA guns 4 × Type 96 25 mm AA guns 2 × 7.7 mm machine guns Hirokawa Maru, 1941 6 × Type 88 75 mm AA guns 4 × Type 98 20 mm AA guns
Aircraft carried:	**Kamikawa Maru, Kiyokawa Maru, Kimikawa Maru and Kunikawa Maru** up to 12 float plane
Aviation facilities:	**Kamikawa Maru, Kiyokawa Maru, Kimikawa Maru and Kunikawa Maru** catapult and deck

The Kamikawa Maru-class cargo ship (神川丸型貨物船, Kamikawa Maru-gata Kamotsusen) was a type of cargo ship of Japan, serving during the 1930s and World War II. Four of the five ships of the class were converted to seaplane tenders during the war.

Background

In 1930, the Ōsaka Mercantile Steamship Co.Ltd. (O.S.K. Lines) let Kinai Maru-class cargo ship^[1] go into service to Japan-New York route.
Japanese steamship companies sent a lot of new cargo ships to North America route to oppose this.
In 1936, the Kawasaki Line was fully prepared and built four Kamikawa Maru-class ships. They overwhelmed other cargo ships at high cruising speed and the big capacity.
However, they were commandeered in sequence and did not survive to the end of the war.

Ships in class

Name	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Completed	Owner
Kamikawa Maru (神川丸)	Kawasaki, Kōbe Shipyard	5 August 1936	13 December 1936	15 March 1937	Kawasaki Line
Kiyokawa Maru (聖川丸)	Kawasaki, Kōbe Shipyard	21 October 1936	16 February 1937	15 May 1937	Kawasaki Line Kōbe Line (and after 15 August 1963)
Kimikawa Maru (君川丸)	Kawasaki, Kōbe Shipyard	2 November 1936	11 March 1937	15 July 1937	Kawasaki Line
Kunikawa Maru (國川丸)	Kawasaki, Kōbe Shipyard	11 March 1937	12 June 1937	1 November 1937	Kawasaki Line
Hirokawa Maru (宏川丸)	Kawasaki, Kōbe Shipyard	6 April 1939	10 May 1940	12 October 1940	Kawasaki Line

Service

Kamikawa Maru

Career (extract), fate
Date	Contents
18 September 1937	Enlisted by the Navy. On 19 September, classified to Auxiliary seaplane tender.
1 October 1937	Assigned to the 3rd Fleet.
1 December 1937	Assigned to the 3rd Carrier Division, 3rd Fleet.
1 February 1938	3rd Carrier Division was transferred to the 5th Fleet.
1 July 1938	Assigned to the 3rd Fleet.
15 December 1938	Classified to Auxiliary aircraft transport.
15 November 1939	Classified to Auxiliary seaplane tender, assigned to the China Area Fleet.
1 April 1940	Assigned to the 2nd China Expeditionary Fleet.
15 November 1940	Assigned to the 6th Carrier Division, Combined Fleet.
10 April 1941	Assigned to the 12th Carrier Division, 3rd Fleet.
7 December 1941	Sortie for the Battle of Malaya.
10 March 1942	Assigned to the 4th Fleet.
18 April 1942	Sortie for the Operation MO.
20 May 1942	Assigned to the 11th Carrier Division, Southeast Area Fleet.
28 May 1942	Sortie for the Operation MI.
15 June 1942	Sortie for the Operation AL.
14 July 1942	11th Carrier Division was moved to the 2nd Fleet.
23 August 1942	Sortie for the Guadalcanal Campaign.
1 April 1943	11th Carrier Division was moved to the Southeast Area Fleet.
15 April 1943	11th Carrier Division was disbanded.
29 May 1943	Sunk by USS Scamp at northwest of Kavieng 01°36′S 150°24′E / 1.600°S 150.400°E / -1.600; 150.400.
15 July 1943	Removed from naval ship list and discharged.

Kiyokawa Maru

Career (extract), fate
Date	Contents
28 September 1941	Enlisted by the Navy.
5 October 1941	Classified to Auxiliary seaplane tender.
10 November 1941	Assigned to the 4th Fleet.
6 December 1941	Sortie for the Battle of Guam.
23 December 1941	Sortie for the Battle of Wake Island.
6 January 1942	Sortie for the Battle of Rabaul.
1 December 1942	Classified to Auxiliary transport, and assigned to the Yokosuka Naval District.
1 April 1943	Classified to Auxiliary seaplane tender, and assigned to the 2nd Southern Expeditionary Fleet, Southwest Area Fleet.
1 July 1943	Assigned to the Southwest Area Fleet.
1 October 1943	Classified to Auxiliary transport.
1 June 1944	Assigned to the Yokosuka Naval District.
14 July 1944	Entry to the Hi-68 Convoy.
20 August 1944	Entry to the TaMo-26 Convoy.
14 November 1944	Entry to the Hi-81 Convoy.
8 December 1944	Entry to the MaMo-25 Convoy.
29 January 1945	Entry to the Hi-93 Convoy.
11 February 1945	Entry to the Hi-88C Convoy.
25 February 1945	Entry to the TaMo-44 Convoy.
16 March 1945	Entry to the MoTa-43 Convoy.
1 April 1945	Entry to the TaMo-53 Convoy.
20 July 1945	Sunk by air raid at Kaminoseki.
30 November 1945	Discharged.
9 December 1947	Refloated.
20 October 1949	Repairs were completed.
15 August 1963	Sold to Kōbe Line.
14 December 1969	Scrapped.

Kimikawa Maru

Career (extract), fate
Date	Contents
6 July 1941	Enlisted by the Navy.
25 July 1941	Classified to Auxiliary seaplane tender.
1 September 1941	Assigned to the 5th Fleet.
10 December 1941	Assigned to the 21st Division, 5th Fleet.
1 September 1941	Removed from 21st Division.
8 June 1942	Sortie for the Operation AL.
1 October 1943	Classified to Auxiliary transport and assigned to the Northeast Area Fleet.
20 November 1943	Assigned to the Combined Fleet.
13 July 1944	Entry to the Hi-69 Convoy.
2 October 1944	Entry to the Hi-76 Convoy.
21 October 1944	Entry to the Mata-30 Convoy.
23 October 1944	Sunk by USS Sawfish at WNW of Cape Bojeador 18°58′S 118°40′E / 18.967°S 118.667°E / -18.967; 118.667.
10 December 1944	Removed from naval ship list and discharged.

Kunikawa Maru

Career (extract), fate
Date	Contents
31 October 1941	Enlisted by the Navy.
10 November 1941	Classified to Auxiliary transport.
10 December 1941	Assigned to the Combined Fleet.
14 July 1942	Classified to Auxiliary seaplane tender, and assigned to the 4th Fleet.
24 August 1942	Sortie for the Solomon Islands campaign.
1 April 1943	Assigned to the 11th Carrier Division, Southeast Area Fleet.
15 April 1943	Removed from 11th Carrier Division.
3 May 1943	Entry to the No. 2023 Convoy.
8 May 1943	Entry to the No. 4508 Convoy.
1 June 1943	Entry to the No. 3601A Convoy.
5 August 1943	Entry to the No. 4805 Convoy.
15 September 1943	Entry to the No. 3914 Convoy.
28 September 1943	Entry to the No. 1292 Convoy.
1 October 1943	Classified to Auxiliary transport, and assigned to the Kure Naval District.
16 October 1943	Entry to the O-602B Convoy.
1 November 1943	Entry to the No. 7101 Convoy.
21 December 1943	Entry to the Hi-27 Convoy.
20 March 1944	Entry to the H-22 Convoy.
29 March 1944	Struck a naval mine at Balikpapan.
8 May 1944	Temporary repairs were completed, however struck a naval mine once again. Later sank in shallow water.
26 September 1944	Refloated and temporary repairs were completed.
21 May 1945	Sunk by air raid.
30 November 1945	Discharged.
3 May 1947	Removed from naval ship list.

Hirokawa Maru

Career (extract), fate
Date	Contents
8 February 1941	Enlisted by the Army. Classified to Nucleus Anti-Aircraft vessel.
8 December 1941	Sortie for the Battle of Malaya. She landing the Andō Detachment, 5th Infantry Division at Pattani.
20 February 1942	Sortie for the Dutch East Indies campaign. She landing the 16th Army at Palembang.
23 March 1942	Sortie for the Invasion of the Andaman Islands. She landing the one battalion of the 18th Division at Ross Island.
14 October 1942	Sortie for the Guadalcanal Campaign.
15 October 1942	She landing the one battalion of the 38th Division at Guadalcanal. Sunk by U.S. aircraft, artillery bombardment from U.S. Forces and USS Meade at Tassafaronga Point.

Photos

Kawasaki Line Kiyokawa Maru
Kawasaki Line Kimikawa Maru
Kawasaki Line Kunikawa Maru
Kawasaki Line Hirokawa Maru

IJN Kamikawa Maru circa 1939 at Xiamen
IJN Kamikawa Maru in June 1942 at Kiska
IJN Kimikawa Maru in Autumn 1942 at Ōminato Naval Base
IJN Kimikawa Maru in April 1943 at Ōminato Naval Base

IJN Kamikawa Maru-class in 1943
IJN Kimikawa Maru in Summer 1943
IJN Kiyokawa Maru (above) on 10 March 1942

Footnotes

↑ 8300 tons, 18.5 kt. Kinai Maru (畿内丸), Hokuriku Maru (北陸丸), Tōkai Maru (東海丸), San'yō Maru (山陽丸), Nankai Maru (南海丸), Hokkai Maru (北海丸), Kantō Maru (関東丸), and Kansai Maru (関西丸).

Bibliography

Tashirō Iwashige, The visual guide of Japanese wartime merchant marine, "Dainippon Kaiga". (Japan), May 2009
Shinshichirō Komamiya, The Wartime Convoy Histories, "Shuppan Kyōdōsha". (Japan), October 1987
Monthly Ships of the World, "Kaijinsha". (Japan)
- No. 481, Special issue Vol. 40, History of Japanese aircraft carriers, May 1994
- No. 525, June 1997
- No. 600, September 2002
Science of the Ships No. 403, Ministry of Transport, May 1982
The Maru Special, Japanese Naval Vessels No. 25, Japanese seaplane tenders w/ auxiliary seaplane tenders, "Ushio Shobō". (Japan), March 1979

Kamikawa Maru-class seaplane tender

Seaplane tenders	Kamikawa Maru Kimikawa Maru Kiyokawa Maru Kunikawa Maru

Cargo ships	Hirokawa Maru

List of ships of the Japanese Navy

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