Japanese seaplane tender Kamikawa Maru
 Kamikawa Maru at Amoi, China sometime between 1938 and 1940. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Japan | |
| Name: | Kamikawa Maru |
| Builder: | Kawasaki, Kōbe Shipyard |
| Laid down: | August 5, 1936 |
| Launched: | December 13, 1936 |
| Acquired: | March 15, 1937 |
| Commissioned: | September 18, 1937 |
| Out of service: | May 29, 1943 |
| Struck: | July 15, 1943 |
| Fate: | Torpedoed and sunk by United States Navy submarine Scamp |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Kamikawa Maru-class seaplane tender |
| Displacement: | 6,863 tons standard |
| Length: | 479 feet |
| Beam: | 62 feet |
| Draft: | 30 feet td> |
| Installed power: | 7,600 shp |
| Propulsion: | 1 Kawasaki-M. A. N. diesel, 1 shaft |
| Speed: | 28 knots |
| Armament: | 2 x 5.9-inch, 2 x 25mm AA, 2 x 13mm MG |
| Aircraft carried: | 12 seaplanes (24 stored) |
| Aviation facilities: | Two catapults, cranes |
Kamikawa Maru (神川丸) was a seaplane tender in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). The ship was initially built at Kawasaki's Kōbe Shipyard and launched on 13 December 1936 as a merchant vessel for the Kawasaki Kisen K. K. Line. On 18 September 1937 the IJN requisitioned her as an aircraft transport ship and she was refitted in 1939 as a seaplane tender. The ship subsequently saw service in the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific Campaign of World War II. On May 4, 1943 Kamikawa Maru was torpedoed by the submarine USS Wahoo, but managed to survive the attack. However, on May 29, 1943, Kamikawa Maru was torpedoed again, and sunk by the submarine USS Scamp approximately 250 miles northwest of Kavieng, New Ireland at 01°36′S 150°24′E / 1.600°S 150.400°E.
References
- Global Security (2009). "IJN Kamikawa Maru Seaplane Tender". Military. GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 10 May 2009.
- Hackett, Bob; Sander Kingsepp; Allan Alsleben (2006). "IJN Seaplane Tender Kamikawa Maru: Tabular Record of Movement". Tokusetsu Suijoki-Bokan!. Combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 10 May 2009.
- Hackett, Bob; Sander Kingsepp; Allan Alsleben (2006). "Kamikawa Maru Class". Tokusetsu Suijoki-Bokan!. Combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 10 May 2009.