The 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.

History In 1930, the Ōsaka Mercantile Steamship Co.Ltd. (O.S.K. Lines) put into service the Kinai Maru-class cargo ship8300 tons, 18.5 kt. , , , , , , , and . on the Japan-New York route. Competing Japanese steamship companies produced and placed their own cargo ships on the North America route.

In 1936, the Kawasaki Line built four Kamikawa Maru-class ships. They had much higher cruising speeds and capacity than their competitors. However, they were commandeered in sequence and did not survive to the end of the war.

Ships in class + Construction data Name Kanji Builder Laid down Launched Completed Owner Kawasaki, Kōbe Shipyard 5 August 1936 13 December 1936 15 March 1937 Kawasaki Line 21 October 1936 16 February 1937 15 May 1937 Kawasaki Line; Kōbe Line (and after 15 August 1963) 2 November 1936 11 March 1937 15 July 1937 Kawasaki Line 11 March 1937 12 June 1937 1 November 1937 Kawasaki Line 6 April 1939 10 May 1940 12 October 1940 Kawasaki Line

Service

+Kamikawa Maru Date Event 18 September 1937 Enlisted by the Navy 19 September 1937 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 Operation MO 20 May 1942 Assigned to the 11th Carrier Division, Southeast Area Fleet 28 May 1942 Sortie for Operation MI 15 June 1942 Sortie for 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 15 July 1943 Removed from naval ship list and discharged

+Kiyokawa Maru Date Event 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 Convoy Hi-81 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 Date Event 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 submarine USS Sawfish at WNW of Cape Bojeador 10 December 1944 Removed from naval ship list and discharged

+Kunikawa Maru Date Event 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 Date Event 8 February 1941 Enlisted by the Army; Classified to Nucleus Anti-Aircraft vessel 8 December 1941 Sortie for the Battle of Malaya; Landed the Andō Detachment, 5th Infantry Division at Pattani 20 February 1942 Sortie for the Dutch East Indies campaign; Landed the 16th Army at Palembang 23 March 1942 Sortie for the Invasion of the Andaman Islands; Landed the one battalion of the 18th Division at Ross Island 14 October 1942 Sortie for the Guadalcanal Campaign 15 October 1942 Landed the one battalion of the 38th Division at Guadalcanal; Damaged by U.S. aircraft and artillery, sunk by destroyer USS Meade at Tassafaronga Point

Photos

Footnotes

Bibliography Tashirō Iwashige, The visual guide of Japanese wartime merchant marine, (Japan), May 2009 Shinshichirō Komamiya, The Wartime Convoy Histories, (Japan), October 1987 Monthly Ships of the World, (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, (Japan), March 1979