Kasuga Maru

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Career (Japan) Civil naval ensign ([Hinmaru])
Name: Kasuga Maru
Operator: Nippon Yusen (NYK)
Builder: Mitsubishi Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. Nagasaki, Japan
Laid down: 1938
Completed: 1939
Out of service: 1944
Fate: lost in war
General characteristics
Tonnage: 17,150 gross register tons (GRT)
Length: 591 ft (180 m)
Beam: 73 ft (22 m)
Speed: 18 knots
Notes: Steel construction

The Kasuga Maru (春日丸?) was a Japanese ocean liner owned by Nippon Yusen Kaisha. The ship was built in 1938-1940 by Mitsubishi Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. at Nagasaki, Japan. The vessel's pre-war design anticipated passenger service; but when work was completed, the onset of war had created somewhat different priorities.

Bow of the Kasuga Maru in drydock.

The vessel was created as a sister ship of the Yawata Maru, and the Nitta Maru. None of the three survived the Second World War. Each in succession was re-fitted as a troopship; and each was later converted to an aircraft carrier.

In 1941, Kasuga Maru was re-commissioned as the Japanese aircraft carrier Taiyō.[1] In 1942, the Yawata Maru was recommissioned as the Japanese aircraft carrier Unyō and the Nitta Maru was recommissioned as the Japanese aircraft carrier Chūyō.[2]

When first launched, this ship was named after an important Shinto shrine.[3]

History

The ship was built by Mitsubishi at Nagasaki on the southern island of Kyushu. Work on the Kasuga Maru was completed in 1939.[4]

The 17,150-ton vessel had a length of 591 feet (180 m), and her beam was 73 feet (22 m). The ship's steam turbines and twin screw propulsion produced an average speed of 18-knots.[4]

Pacific War

After two years of service as a conventional passenger liner, Yawata Maru was requisitioned by the Imperial Japanese Navy. Initially, the ship was assigned for transporting prisoners of war; and then she was refitted as an aircraft carrier renamed Unyo. The warship was sunk by the submarine USS Barb on September 17, 1944.

See also

Notes

References