KYURYOSEN!

(BANSHU MARU No. 16 prewar)

IJN BANSHU MARU No. 16:
Tabular Record of Movement


© 2017-2018 Gilbert Casse, Berend van der Wal and Peter Cundall

Revision 1

E 1922:
Osaka, laid down by Aizawa Zosen Tekko K.K. for Nakabe Ikujiro as a 122-tons fishing trawler.

September 1922:
Launched and named BANSHU MARU No. 16.

E 1922:
Completed and registered at Osaka with Net Registered Tonnage (NRT) of 72-tons. [1].

1925:
Registry port is changed to Kobe.

1928:
Ownership is changed to Hayashikane Shoten K.K.

21 November 1940:
Requisitioned by the IJN as a general transport (stores ship).

1940:
NRT is changed to 58-tons. [1]

16 December 1940:
Replenishes survey ship KYODO MARU No. 36 with fresh food.

27 December 1940:
Replenishes survey ship KYODO MARU No. 36 with fresh food.

4 January 1941:
Replenishes survey ship KYODO MARU No. 36 with fresh food.

13 January 1941:
Replenishes survey ship KYODO MARU No. 36 with fresh food.

20 January 1941:
Replenishes survey ship KYODO MARU No. 36 with fresh food.

29 January 1941:
Replenishes survey ship KYODO MARU No. 36 with fresh food.

13 February 1941:
Replenishes survey ship KYODO MARU No. 36 with fresh food.

16 February 1941:
Replenishes survey ship KYODO MARU No. 36 with fresh food.

26 February 1941:
Replenishes survey ship KYODO MARU No. 36 with fresh food.

18 March 1941:
Replenishes survey ship KYODO MARU No. 36 with fresh food.

21 March 1941:
Replenishes survey ship KYODO MARU No. 36 with fresh food.

4 June 1941:
Replenishes survey ship KYODO MARU No. 36 with fresh food.

2 January 1942:
Replenishes auxiliary gunboat NISSHO MARU No. 12 with fresh food.

E 3 ~ 4 January 1942:
Departs Shipu.

5 January 1942:
Replenishes auxiliary gunboat DAIGEN MARU No. 7 with fresh food.

15 October 1942:
Departs Shanghai.

18 October 1942:
Arrives at Shimonoseki.

12 January 1943:
At Ssu Chiao Shan (Sijiao Island) replenishes auxiliary gunboat HYAKUFUKU MARU with fresh food.

E 13 ~ 14 January 1943:
Departs Sijiao Island for Shipu.

15 January 1943:
Replenishes auxiliary gunboat TOSHO MARU with fresh food. Thereafter departs Shipu for Fu Du Shuidao.

16 January 1943:
Replenishes auxiliary gunboat SHINKO MARU No. 1 GO with fresh food.

E 17 ~ 24 January 1943:
Departs Fu Du Shuidao for Dinghai.

25 January 1943:
Replenishes auxiliary gunboat TOSHO MARU with fresh food. Thereupon departs Dinghai for Ingog Island.

26 January 1943:
Replenishes auxiliary gunboat DAIGEN MARU No. 7 with fresh food.

E 27 January ~ 3 February 1943:
Departs Ingog Island for Sijiao Island.

4 February 1943:
Replenishes auxiliary gunboat UNKAI MARU No. 10 with fresh food.

E 5 February 1943:
Departs Sijiao Island.

6 February 1943:
Replenishes auxiliary gunboat TOSHO MARU with fresh food.

E 7 ~ 8 February 1943:
Arrives at Dinghai.

9 February 1943:
Replenishes auxiliary gunboat DAIGEN MARU No. 7 with fresh food.

E 10 ~ 15 February 1943:
Departs Dinghai for Sijiao Island.

16 February 1943:
Replenishes auxiliary gunboats UNKAI MARU No. 10 and HYAKUFUKU MARU with fresh food.

17 February 1943:
Departs Sijiao Island for Taichow (now Taizhou) Islands.

18 February 1943:
At Shipu replenishes old destroyer TSUGA.

20 February 1943:
Replenishes auxiliary gunboat DAIGEN MARU No. 7 with fresh food.

E 21 ~ 27 February 1943:
Departs Taichow Islands for Shanghai.

28 February 1943:
Departs Shanghai and arrives at Hengsha. Replenishes auxiliary gunboat UNKAI MARU No. 10 with fresh food. Thereafter departs Hengsha and arrives at Sijiao Island later this day. Replenishes auxiliary gunboat HYAKUFUKU MARU with fresh food.

E 1 ~ 4 March 1943:
Departs Sijiao Island for Taichow Islands.

5 March 1943:
Replenishes auxiliary gunboat DAIGEN MARU No. 7 with fresh food.

E 6 ~ 11 March 1943:
Departs Taichow Islands for Sijiao Island.

12 March 1943:
Replenishes auxiliary gunboat UNKAI MARU No. 10 with fresh food.

14 March 1943:
Replenishes auxiliary gunboat DAIGEN MARU No. 7 with fresh food.

E 15 ~ 26 March 1943:
Departs Sijiao Island for Taichow Islands.

27 March1943:
Replenishes auxiliary gunboats DAIGEN MARU No. 7 and SHINKO MARU No. 1 GO with fresh food.

31 March 1943:
Owner is changed to Nishi Taiyo Gyogyo K.K.

15 April 1943:
Registered as an auxiliary stores ship attached to the Sasebo Naval district under instruction No. 739. Attached directly to the Combined Fleet as a special transport (Otsu) category. Departs Shimonoseki that same day. [2]

3 May 1944:
Departs Koniya in convoy RIN-OKI also consisting of NICHIRIN, HAKKA, YORIHIME and SHOTO MARUs and six unidentified merchant ships escorted by torpedo boat MANAZURU, subchaser CH-49, auxiliary subchaser CHIKUTO MARU and auxiliary minesweeper SHONAN MARU No. 16 . The convoy is bound for Kagoshima.

12 July 1944:
At 1500, departs Moji in convoy MI-11 also consisting of cargo/transports EIKYU, YOSHINO, MIHO, ENOSHIMA, HACHIJIN, DAKAR, FUSO, TEIRITSU (ex-French LECONTE DE LISLE), BAIKAL, TOUN and FUKUJU MARUs and tankers ZUIYO, KOEI, TAKETOYO, AYAYUKI, SHICHIYO, AYAGUMO MARUs and OGURA MARU No. 1 escorted by destroyer SHIOKAZE, minesweepers W-38 and W-39, kaibokan SHIMUSHU, subchaser CH-55 and auxiliary gunboat HUASHAN (KAZAN) MARU.

20 July 1944:
BAIKAL MARU is detached from the convoy and arrives at Kirun (Keelung), Formosa (now Jilong, Taiwan).

21 July 1944:
At 1800, arrives at Takao, Formosa (now Kaoshiung, Taiwan). ZUIYO and TOUN MARUs are detached from the convoy.

29 July 1944:
At 0500, departs Takao still in convoy MI-11 for Miri, Borneo joined by auxiliary transport MANKO MARU, tanker HARIMA MARU and minesweeper W-28. Destroyer SHIOKAZE is detached. Soon after leaving, EIKYU MARU develops engine problems and returns to Takao.

30 July 1944:
At 2200, after rudder failure collides with auxiliary transport MANKO MARU. MANKO MARU damages her bow. Both are able to proceed.

31 July 1944:
Luzon Strait. A wolfpack patrols the Strait under Captain (later Rear Admiral) Lewis S. Parks ( USNA '25) consisting of LtCdr (later Vice Admiral/MOH/COMSUBLANT) Lawson P. Ramage's (USNA ’31) USS PARCHE (SS-384)(F), LtCdr (later Captain) David L. Whelchel's (USNA ’30) USS STEELHEAD (SS-280) and LtCdr John C. Martin's (USNA ’34) USS HAMMERHEAD (SS-364).

280 miles NNW of Cape Mayraira, Luzon. At 0332, LtCdr Ramage's USS PARCHE torpedoes and sinks KOEI MARU carrying 1,050 Army troops of whom 150 along with nine crewmen are KIA. About the same time, oiler OGURA MARU No. 1 is hit by a torpedo, but does not sink. Five crewmen are KIA.

At 0340, Ramage torpedoes and sinks YOSHINO MARU carrying 5,012 soldiers of the Kwantung Army. She carries down 2,442 soldiers, 18 naval gunners and 35 sailors and 400 m3 of ammunition. [3][4]

At 0420, Whelchel's USS STEELHEAD torpedoes DAKAR MARU, but she does not sink. At 0455, Whelchel torpedoes and sinks FUSO MARU. She takes down 1,384 troops and crewmen and a cargo of 36 railway carriages and 1,120-tons of other military supplies.

At 0514, Ramage's USS PARCHE torpedoes and sinks MANKO MARU. She carries down several hundred naval personnel, 17 escort troops and 20 crewmen and a cargo of ammunition.

2 August 1944:
W-38 detaches and heads towards Calayan.

3 August 1944:
At 1730, arrives with the remainder of the convoy at Manila.

15 August 1944:
Attached to the Yokosuka Naval District.

15 April 1945:
Assigned to transport troops under Yokosuka Naval District instruction No. 93.

15 August 1945:
Remains in service as SCAJAP No. B-011.

December 1945:
Owners restyled Taiyo Gyogyo K.K.

10 August 1946:
Released to her owners.

3 May 1947:
Removed from the Navy’s list under instruction No. 327. Remained in active service as a fishing boat.

1961:
Sold to Nisshin Tanker K.K., Shimonoseki and converted to a tanker (124 gt). Renamed NAGATO MARU No. 14. Japanese coastal service.

1979:
Deleted Lloyds Register. Date of scrapping unknown but probably before 1972.

Authors' Notes:

[1] NRT is a ship's cargo volume capacity expressed in "register tons", one of which equals to a volume of 100 cubic feet (2.83 m3). It is calculated by subtracting non-revenue-earning spaces i.e. spaces not available for carrying cargo, for example engine rooms, fuel tanks and crew quarters, from the ship's gross register tonnage (GRT). Net register tonnage (NRT) is not a measure of the weight of the ship or its cargo, and should not be confused with terms such as deadweight tonnage or displacement.

[2] There were two categories of Kyuryosen. (Ko) category with an IJN Captain as supervisor aboard and (Otsu) category without.

[3] For his actions in the Luzon Strait that night, Ramage was awarded the Medal of Honor.

[4] Both USS PARCHE and USS STEELHEAD received 1/2 credit for sinking YOSHINO MARU.

Thanks go to Gengoro S. Toda of Japan.

- Berend van der Wal, Gilbert Casse and Peter Cundall.

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