KYURYOSEN!
(BANSHU MARU No. 88, prior to 1939 – Peter Cundall collection)
IJN BANSHU MARU No. 3:
Tabular Record of Movement
© 2017 Gilbert Casse, Berend van der Wal and Peter Cundall
Revision 1
December 1933:
Osaka. Laid down by Mihara Zosen Tekkosho shipyard for Hayashikane Shoten K.K. as a 725-tons refrigerated cargo ship.
May 1934:
Launched and named BANSHU MARU No. 88.
July 1934:
Completed with a GRT (gross registered tonnage) of 725-ton and NRT (net registered tonnage) of 392-ton. Registered at Shimonoseki. [1]
3 December 1937 ~ 24 May 1938:
Chartered by Taiyo Hogei K.K., the whaling division of Hayashikane Shoten K.K., later Taiyo Gyogyo (now Maruha) K.K.
9 November 1938 ~ 25 March 1939:
Chartered by Taiyo Hogei K.K.
26 October 1939:
Renamed BANSHU MARU No. 3.
7 November 1939 ~ 19 May 1940:
Chartered by Taiyo Hogei K.K.
26 October 1940:
Chartered by Taiyo Hogei K.K.
9 September 1941:
Requisitioned by the IJN.
20 September 1941:
Registered as an auxiliary stores ship attached to the Kure Naval District under instruction No. 1093.
15 October 1941:
Osaka. Conversion for military duty is completed at Urabe Zosen Tekkosho G.K. shipyard.
E 16 ~ 19 October 1941:
Attached directly to the Combined Fleet as an auxiliary stores ship, Otsu category. [2]
20 October 1941:
Departs Yokosuka for the Japanese mandated Islands.
2 December 1941:
Arrives at Yokosuka.
6 December 1941:
Attached to invasion forces auxiliary supply forces under Yokosuka Naval District secret instruction No. 14.
3 May 1942:
Departs Kure.
9 May 1942:
Arrives at Takao, Formosa (now Kaoshiung, Taiwan).
11 May 1942:
Departs Takao.
E 14 May 1942:
Arrives at Koepang (Kupang), Timor, Netherlands East Indies (NEI).
2 June 1942:
Provisions auxiliary gunboat MANYO MARU with fresh food.
E 16 June 1942:
Departs Koepang.
24 June 1942:
Arrives at Kure.
28 August 1942:
Departs Shimonoseki.
E 11 December 1942:
Arrives at Surabaya, Java, NEI.
12 December 1942:
Loads frozen raw meat from auxiliary stores ship HAKUREI MARU.
3 January 1943:
Departs Yokohama in convoy No. 1103 also consisting of HOKUTO, MATSUMOTO and SHINFUKU MARUs escorted by minesweeper W-18.
6 January 1943:
Arrives at Muroran, Hokkaido.
January 1943:
Departs Surabaya and calls at Waingapoe, Sumba (NEI), Ende, Flores (NEI), Koepang, Dilly (Portuguese Timor) and Boa, Bali (NEI).
22 January 1943:
Arrives at Surabaya. Loads frozen raw meat from auxiliary stores ship HAKUREI MARU.
15 March 1943:
Loads frozen raw meat and salted meat from auxiliary stores ship HAKUREI MARU.
31 March 1943:
Her owners changed to Nishi Taiyo Gyogyo K.K. Departs Surabaya and arrives at Waingapoe. Departs there later that day.
1 April 1943:
Arrives at Boa.
2 April 1943:
Loads frozen raw meat from auxiliary stores ship HAKUREI MARU.
16 April 1943:
Departs Palau in a convoy also consisting of NIKKI, NISSHUN, KURAMASAN and TEIKAI (ex-German FULDA) MARUs escorted by subchaser CH-38.
18 April 1943:
At 1230, LtCdr (later Rear Admiral) Bernard F. McMahon's (USNA ’31) USS DRUM (SS-228) torpedoes and sinks NISSHUN MARU at 02-02N, 148-27E. Loaded with foodstuffs and general cargo, the ship takes down 35 crewmen. CH-18 rescues the survivors that include a number of impressed Korean "comfort" women.
22 April 1943:
At 0445, CH-18 arrives at Rabaul.
24 April 1943:
Arrives at Rabaul with the rest of the convoy.
E 1 May 1943:
Departs Boa for Sorong, New Guinea (NEI).
7 May 1943:
Departs Sorong.
13 May 1943:
Arrives at Boa.
14 May 1943:
Loads frozen raw meat from auxiliary stores ship HAKUREI MARU.
8 June 1943:
In Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) port.
24 June 1943:
Arrives at Shimonoseki.
9 August 1943:
Departs Shimonoseki.
10 August 1943:
Arrives at Kure.
16 August 1943:
Departs Kure.
23 August 1943:
Arrives at Shimonoseki.
28 August 1943:
Departs Shimonoseki for Kagoshima in SHI-608 convoy also consisting of ENJU, WAKAMATSU, KAZAN, HIGANE, SANKA, NANKA, HORAI and SEIWA MARUs, and RYOYU MARU No. 11 escorted by subchaser KAII (ex-Chinese light cruiser HAI WEI). Apart from RYOYU MARU No. 11 the ships are bound for the China. At an unknown date and time BANSHU MARU No. 3 is detached for Kagoshima.
31 August 1943:
At 0500, departs Kagoshima in convoy ROKU-102 also consisting of auxiliary transport NICHIRIN MARU (1,020 GRT) escorted by auxiliary netlayer KOGA MARU, and auxiliary minesweeper CHITOSE MARU. The ships sail at 8 knots.
1 September 1943:
Arrives at Koniya. CHITOSE MARU is detached.
2 September 1943:
Arrives at Naha, Okinawa.
E 3 September 1943:
Departs Naha.
7 September 1943:
Arrives at Mako, Pescadores.
11 September 1943:
Departs Mako for Surabaya.
9-10 October 1943:
At Surabaya loads frozen raw meat from auxiliary stores ship HAKUREI MARU.
9 November 1943:
At 0900, departs Surabaya.
14 November 1943:
Due to arrive at Kendari.
15 November 1943:
Due to depart Kendari.
17 November 1943:
Due to arrive at Ambon.
18 November 1943:
Due to depart Ambon.
20 November 1943:
Due to arrive at Sorong.
21 November 1943:
Due to depart Sorong.
23 November 1943:
Due to arrive at Kau.
24 November 1943:
Due to depart Kau.
1 December 1943:
Due to arrive at Surabaya.
22 February 1944:
At 0400, at Lingga anchorage, stores heavy cruiser KUMANO.
8 May 1944:
At Lingga anchorage provides 67 tons of stores to heavy cruiser TONE.
25 February 1945:
Auxiliary submarine chaser SHONAN MARU No. 17 is scheduled to meet BANSHU MARU No. 3 and TENKAI No. 5 and escort them from Jakarta to Surabaya.
3 March 1945:
Departs Jakarta, Java (NEI).
4 March 1945:
Arrives at Surabaya.
30 June 1945:
Derequisitioned under instruction No. 610-14. Removed from the Navy’s list under instruction No. 577. Requisitioned again by the ship steering board.
15 August 1945:
After the war the call sign becomes SCAJAP No. B-008.
31 December 1945:
Derequisitioned and subsequently released to her owners.
20 August 1946:
Singapore Roads. Caught fire and scuttled.
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.
Thanks go to Gengoro S. Toda of Japan.
- Berend van der Wal, Gilbert Casse and Peter Cundall.
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