Fuso Maru
Postcard of the Mitsui O.S.K. Lines ship Fuso Maru
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History | |
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Name | |
Owner | Osaka Shosen K. K. - OSK Line |
Port of registry | Osaka, Japan |
Route |
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Builder | Barcay Curle Co. Ltd. |
Yard number | 470 |
Laid down | 1907 |
Launched | 19 March 1908 |
Completed | February 1909 |
Maiden voyage | 2 June 1909 |
Fate | Sunk by USS Steelhead, 31 July 1944 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Ocean liner |
Tonnage | 8,596 GRT |
Length | 144.78 metres (475 ft 0 in) |
Beam | 17.53 metres (57 ft 6 in) |
Depth | 11.2 metres (36 ft 9 in) |
Installed power | 2 triple expansion steam engines |
Propulsion | Double screw propeller |
Speed | 16 knots |
Capacity | 1724 |
Crew | 144 |
SS Fuso Maru was a Japanese
Construction
Fuso Maru was laid down in 1907 at the Barcay Curle Co. Ltd. shipyard in
Fuso Maru was 144.78 metres (475 ft 0 in) long, with a beam of 17.53 metres (57 ft 6 in) and a depth of 11.2 metres (36 ft 9 in). The ship was assessed at 8,596
Pre-World War II career
As Russia, the ship completed her maiden voyage from Libau, Russia, to New York City, United States, on 2 June 1909, and her last voyage on 26 June 1914. She was then laid up at Kronstadt, Russia, until 1917, when she was renamed Rossija and later Russ. As the S.S. Russ, at the end of the First World War, she operated as a Danish Hospital Ship, and was used to repatriate British troops and civilians held as Prisoners of War in Germany. This included a sailing from Danzig to Leith, Scotland, via Copenhagen and arriving on 1st December 1918.
In 1921 she was transferred to the
Fuso Maru operated on the
World War II career
In November 1941, the Imperial Japanese Army charted Fuso Maru for use as a
Fuso Maru participated as a troopship in Operation "E", the
Shortly after sunrise on 15 April 1943, Allied aircraft attacked Fuso Maru three times near the Shortland Islands near (03°33′S 152°20′E / 3.550°S 152.333°E).[citation needed] Fuso Maru returned to service as a troopship later in 1943 and was repainted overall grey and again armed with antiaircraft guns.
Sinking
On 31 July 1944 Fuso Maru was part of Convoy MI-11, which consisted of 23 ships, including the
At 3:32 AM, Parche torpedoed and sank Koei Maru with four torpedoes. Although she was carrying a unit of 1,050 Imperial Japanese Army troops, the casualties aboard her were relatively light; about 150 troops and nine crewmen were killed. About the same time, tanker Ogura Maru No. 1 was hit by two torpedoes, killing five men, but she did not sink. At 3:40 AM, Parche torpedoed and sank Yoshino Maru with four torpedoes; she carried down 2,442 of the 5,063 Imperial Japanese Army troops she was carrying, as well as 18 gunners, 35 crewmen, and 400 cubic meters (14,120 cubic feet) of ammunition. At 4:20 AM, Steelhead hit Dakar Maru with two torpedoes, killing six men, but Dakar Maru did not sink and quickly beached herself.
Aboard Fuso Maru, 40 men were assigned to duty as lookouts, including Imperial Japanese Army artillerymen and infantrymen. At 4:55 AM, one lookout spotted a torpedo approaching the ship and her captain ordered her rudder turned hard to port, but it was too late. Steelhead′s torpedo hit Fuso Maru′s engine room on the port side of the ship. Fuso Maru bucked and trembled from the explosion and the blast blew upwards, destroying several lifeboats that were on deck. Fuso Maru took on a 25-degree list to port in heavy seas when the order to abandon ship was issued. The ground vehicles carried as deck cargo broke loose and fell onto men swimming in the water.
At 5:10 AM, Fuso Maru sank only 15 minutes after the torpedo hit, taking down 1,316 of 4,500 troops aboard. Seventy men of the 2nd Company, Sixth Aviation Signal Regiment, 12 other passengers, and 22 crew members also perished, bringing the death toll to 1,384 people. A cargo consisting of food and medical supplies, oil, trucks, 36
At 5:14 AM, Parche torpedoed and sank Manko Maru. She carried several hundred Imperial Japanese Navy personnel, 17 crewmen, about 20 gunners, and a cargo of ammunition down with her. Altogether, four of the 23 ships of Convoy MI-11 sank and two were damaged. The ships took down several thousand military personnel, gunners, and crewmen, as well as their cargoes of ammunition and other supplies. Thousands of troops were left floating in the waters of the Balintang Channel.[2]
Wreck
The wreck of Fuso Maru lies at (18°51′N 122°55′E / 18.850°N 122.917°E).[3]
Gallery
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SS Russija docked at Katajanokka, Helsinki between 1914 and 1917
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Hospital ships Russ and Joulan around 1918
References
- ^ "Fuso Maru". combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
- ^ "Fuso Maru". combinedfleet.com. 7 November 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
- ^ "Fuso Maru (+1944)". Wrecksite.eu. Retrieved 10 November 2015.