Yawata Maru
 Yawata Maru | |
| Career (Japan) | ![Civil naval ensign ([Hinmaru])](/File:Flag_of_Japan.svg){kind=small} |
|---|---|
| Name: | Yawata Maru |
| Operator: | Nippon Yusen (NYK) |
| Builder: | Mitsubishi Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. Nagasaki, Japan |
| Yard number: | 751 |
| Laid down: | 14 December 1938 |
| Launched: | 31 October 1939 |
| Completed: | 31 July 1940 |
| In service: | 1940 |
| Out of service: | 1944 |
| Fate: | lost in war |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 17,128 gross register tons (GRT) |
| Length: | 170.3 m (559 ft) |
| Beam: | 22.5 m (74 ft) |
| Speed: | 18.5 knots |
| Notes: | Steel construction |
The Yawata Maru (八幡丸) 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.
The vessel was created as a sister ship of the Kasuga 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 and in late 1942, the Nitta Maru was recommissioned as the Japanese aircraft carrier Chūyō.[1]
Somewhat earlier in 1942, the Yawata Maru was recommissioned as the Japanese aircraft carrier Unyō.[1]
When first launched, this ship was named after an important Shinto shrine.[2]
History
The ship was built by Mitsubishi at Nagasaki on the southern island of Kyushu. The Yawata Maru was launched on October 31, 1939. She left port on July 31, 1940 on her maiden voyage.[3]
The 17,163-ton vessel had a length of 559.3 feet (170 m), and her beam was 74 feet (22.5 m). The ship had an average speed of 18.5 knots.[3]
Pacific War
After two years of service as a passenger liner, Yawata Maru was requisitioned by the Imperial Japanese Navy. Initially, the ship was assigned for transporting prisoners of war, then refitted as an aircraft carrier renamed Unyo. The warship was sunk by the submarine USS Barb on September 17, 1944, at position 220 nautical miles southeast of Hong Kong, 19°08'N, 116°36'E .
See also
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 CombinedFleet: Taiyō class, Imperial Japanese Navy.
- ↑ Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1935). The Nomeclature of the N.Y.K. Fleet, p. 50.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Haworth, R.B. Miramar Ship Index: ID #4047477.
References
- Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1935). The Nomeclature of the N.Y.K. Fleet. Tokyo : NYK. OCLC 27933596
- Tate, E. Mowbray. (1986). Transpacific steam: the story of steam navigation from the Pacific Coast of North America to the Far East and the Antipodes, 1867-1941. New York: Cornwall Books. 10-ISBN 0845347926; 13-ISBN 9780845347928; OCLC 12370774
