Chichibu Maru
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Kamakura Maru arriving at Yokohama with the ashes of the four submariners killed in the attack on Sydney Harbour
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| History | |
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 Japan |
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| Operator: |  Nippon Yusen Kaisha |
| Builder: | Yokohama Dock Co., Yokohama, Japan |
| Yard number: | 170 |
| Launched: | 1930 |
| Fate: | Sunk, 28 April 1943 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | Passenger liner |
| Tonnage: | 17,526 GRT |
| Length: | 170.7 m (560 ft 0 in) |
| Beam: | 22.6 m (74 ft 2 in) |
| Depth: | 13 m (42 ft 8 in) |
| Propulsion: | 2 Burmeister & Wain diesels, twin screws |
| Speed: | 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) |
| Capacity: | 817 passengers |
The Chichibu Maru (秩父丸?) was a Japanese passenger ship which, renamed Kamakura Maru, was sunk during World World II, killing 2,035 soldiers and civilians on board.
The Chichibu Maru was built for the Nippon Yusen shipping company by the Yokohama Dock Company in 1930. She had a beam of 22.6 meters, a length of 178 meters and a tonnage of 17,498. Cruising speed was 19 knots, with a maximum of 21 knots. The ship could carry 817 passengers. She differed from her half-sisters, the Asama Maru and the Tatsuta Maru, in her propulsion system, and in having one (rather than two) funnels.
Before the war, the ship carried passengers between Yokohama and San Francisco. Prince Takamatsu and Princess Takamatsu also traveled on this ship. She had her name altered twice: first re-spelt Titibu Maru in 1938, following the adoption of Kunrei-shiki romanization; then - upon realizing the name's resemblance to "tit" (a vulgar English term for the female breast) - renamed Kamakura Maru in 1939.
In 1942 she was confiscated by the Imperial Japanese Navy to serve as a troop transport ship, and also as hospital ship. On April 28, 1943, the Kamakura Maru, sailing from Manila to Singapore and carrying some 2,500 soldiers and civilians, was torpedoed by the US submarine USS Gudgeon. The ship was hit by two torpedoes and sank within 12 minutes. Four days later, 465 survivors were rescued from the sea by Japanese ships, meaning some 2,035 people were killed.
See also
- List by death toll of ships sunk by submarines
- Foreign commerce and shipping of Empire of Japan
- Attack on Sydney Harbour: Aftermath
References
- Articles containing Japanese-language text
- 1930 ships
- Empire of Japan
- Ships of the NYK Line
- Steamships
- Ocean liners
- Auxiliary ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy
- World War II passenger ships of Japan
- World War II merchant ships of Japan
- Ships sunk by American submarines
- World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean
- Maritime incidents in April 1943
