Tamatsu Maru
History | |
---|---|
Japan | |
Builder | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries |
Laid down | 4 November 1942 |
Launched | 18 August 1943 |
Completed | 20 January 1944 |
Fate | Sunk, 19 August 1944 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Landing craft carrier |
Tonnage | 11,910 tons |
Length | 459.1 ft (139.9 m) |
Beam | 62.4 ft (19.0 m) |
Draft | 23.1 ft (7.0 m) |
Installed power | Diesel engines, 10,800 hp (8,100 kW) |
Speed | 20.8 knots (38.5 km/h; 23.9 mph) |
Armament |
|
Notes | [1] |
Tamatsu Maru was a
Early history
Tamatsu Maru was laid down at Mitsui Shipbuilding on 4 November 1942, launched on 18 August 1943, and completed on 20 January 1944. Its first military loading was from
Loss
Tamatsu Maru departed Pusan on 8 August 1944 carrying the Japanese 2nd Battalion and regimental headquarters of the 13th Independent Infantry Regiment from Korea for defense of the Philippines. It joined
As the convoy was scattered by heavy seas and evasive maneuvers, Tamatsu Maru apparently became separated from convoy escorts. Spadefish found Tamatsu Maru on a northerly course[5] about 0330 19 August and fired a salvo of six torpedoes. Spadefish heard two torpedoes hit. Convoy escorts were unaware of the ship's location (17°34′N 119°24′E / 17.567°N 119.400°E) until one of them discovered thousands of floating bodies that afternoon.[3] The sinking of Tamatsu Maru was the fourth worst loss of life on any Japanese vessel during the war taking down 4,755 troops and 135 merchant seamen.[6]
See also
- List by death toll of ships sunk by submarines
Notes
- ^ Hackett, Bob; Cundall, Peter (January 2011). "IJA Landing Craft Depot Ships". Combined Fleet.
- ^ a b Cressman, p. 248
- ^ a b c d Hackett, Bob; Cundall, Peter (2011). "IJA Landing Craft Depot Ship Tamatsu Maru: Tabular Record of Movement". Combined Fleet.
- ^ "Convoy Hi-71 (ヒ71船団)" (PDF). All Japan Seamen's Union. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
- ^ a b Blair, pp. 676–680
- ^ "Japanese Landing Craft Depot Ships". combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
Sources
- ISBN 9780397007530.
- Cressman, Robert J. (2000). The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II. ISBN 1-55750-149-1.
- "Tamatsu Maru (+1944)". WreckSite. Retrieved 18 July 2013.