SS Cap Finisterre
Tagus River in Lisbon, photographed in 1912 by Joshua Benoliel
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 German Empire | |
| Name | Cap Finisterre |
| Operator | Hamburg-South America Line |
| Builder | Blohm & Voss, Hamburg (Germany) |
| Yard number | 208 |
| Laid down | 1910 |
| Launched | 8 August 1911 |
| Completed | 18 November 1911 |
| Out of service | August 1914 |
| Identification | Call sign SHVK     |
| Fate | Seized by Allies on 4 April 1919 |
 United States | |
| Name | USS Cap Finisterre |
| Acquired | 11 April 1919 |
| Out of service | 25 November 1919 |
| Identification | Call sign GJBR     |
| Fate | transferred to UK then to Japan |
 Empire of Japan | |
| Name | Taiyō Maru |
| Operator |  Nippon Yusen (NYK) |
| Acquired | 1920 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Torpedoed and sunk by USS Grenadier, 8 May 1942 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage | 14,458 GRT |
| Length | 180 m (590 ft 7 in) pp |
| Beam | 19.788 m (64 ft 11.1 in) |
| Draught | 10.57 m (34 ft 8 in) |
| Propulsion | 2 quadruple reciprocating steam engines, 10,711 hp (7,987 kW) |
| Speed | 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) |
| Capacity | 855 (184 first class, 221 second class, 450 third class) |
| Notes | Steel construction |
The steam ship Cap Finisterre was a German transatlantic ocean liner of the early 20th century, which was transferred to Japan in 1920 as German war reparations, and renamed Taiyō Maru (大洋丸) on trans-Pacific routes. She was sunk on army service by an American submarine in 1942, during World War II, with the loss of over 800 lives, mostly civilians.
History
German career
Cap Finisterre was built in
On her arrival in Buenos Aires after only 13.5 days, she was advertised as the largest, fastest, and most luxurious ocean liner in service between Europe and South America. She continued to serve on routes to South America until the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, when she was laid up at Hamburg.
Cap Finisterre was ear-marked by the
On 4 April 1919, she was handed over to the Allies as part of Germany's war reparations.
American career
On 11 April 1919, Cap Finisterre was initially transferred to the United States, and commissioned into the
On 25 November 1919, she was decommissioned, and transferred to the United Kingdom, and placed under the Shipping Controller. However, the British government never placed the liner into service, but transferred her instead to the Imperial Japanese government as part of Japan's share of the German war reparations.
Japanese civilian career
Cap Finisterre was renamed Taiyō Maru in 1920, and managed by Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK). However, NYK was initially at a loss as to what to do with such a large and expensive to operate vessel. Japanese Prime Minister Takahashi Korekiyo finally called upon Asano Sōichirō, founder of Tōyō Kisen (Oriental Steamship Company) to accept the ship, and to place it on the company’s trans-Pacific route between Hong Kong, Shanghai, Kobe, Yokohama, Honolulu, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Asano addressed issues about the possible stability of vessel by lowering her funnels and adding more ballast to give her a lower profile in the water. He also sponsored a cruise from Yokohama to Hong Kong, on which he invited numerous luminaries from the business and political world (including Yasuda Zenjirō) to publicise vessel and its luxurious fittings. On arrival in San Francisco after its maiden crossing on 25 June 1921, it was lauded by the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper for bringing the largest number of passengers ever to come on a single ship.[3]
However, on 10 March 1926, these routes were transferred from Tōyō Kisen to NYK, and Asano was forced to sell the ship to the Japanese government. The vessel was operated on the same route under NYK, which purchased the ship from the government for 120,000 Yen on 4 May 1929.
Shortly after this, NYK faced issues on routes to North America due to the Great Depression and increasing restrictions by the American government on immigration to California. Taiyō Maru also faced competition from the newer and faster Asama Maru and Yasukuni Maru on the same route.
Langston Hughes was a passenger on Taiyō Maru on his way back to the United States after his 1932 visit to the Soviet Union, China and Korea.[4]
Taiyō Maru carried many members of the Japanese Olympic Team for the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Its third class area was transformed into a practice area for the wrestling team and its swimming pool was used for practice by the women's swimming team, including Hideko Maehata and Hatsuho Matsuzawa.
On 22 October 1941 Taiyō Maru departed Yokohama with the last 301 foreign nationals remaining in Japan. Her crew included three
Japanese military service
In early May 1942, Taiyō Maru was requisitioned by the
Peking Maru rescued 15 survivors, and the destroyer Minekaze and auxiliary gunboat Tomitsu Maru rescued 480 more survivors under gale-force conditions. A small fishing vessel rescued 48 more, for a total of 543 survivors. Captain Harada and 156 of his 263-man crew, 656 of 1,044 passengers and four of 53 armed guards/gunners died (total 817). The famous engineer Yoichi Hatta, who built Wushantou Dam and Chianan Irrigation, was a passenger of the ship when it sank. His body was found in Hagi, Yamaguchi, and after cremation, his ashes were returned to Taiwan.[citation needed]
30°45′N 127°40′E / 30.750°N 127.667°E
Wreck
In August 2018 the wreck of Taiyō Maru was discovered by divers of the Society La Plongée for Deep Sea Technology, lying on her
See also
Notes
- ^ Nevitt, Allyn D. (1997). "Rikugun Haitosen Transport Taiyo Maru: Tabular Record of Movement". Combinedfleet.com.
- ^ Schmalenbach p46
- OCLC 12370774.
- ASIN B01K0V7MRW.
- ISBN 0140157344.
- ^ "Taiyo Maru (+1942)". Wrecksite. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
- ^ Ishikura, Tetsuya (5 September 2018). "Passenger ship sunk in U.S. torpedo attack found 76 years later". The Asahi Shimbun. Archived from the original on 7 September 2018. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
- ^ "World War 2 ship sunk by US submarine discovered off Japan coast". Express. London. 7 September 2018. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
References
- Brown, David (1990). Warship Losses of World War Two. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-914-X.
- Williams, David (1997). Wartime Passenger Ship Disasters. Haynes Publishing. ISBN 1-85260-565-0.
External links
