Tabular Record of Movement
© 2008-2021 Bob Hackett and Peter Cundall.
Revision 1
10 May 1944:
Kobe. Laid down at Kawasaki Shipbuilding as a 10,798-ton Standard Merchant 1TL tanker for Nippon Kaiyo Gyogyo K.K., Tokyo.
17 September 1944 :
Launched and named HASHIDATE MARU.
30 October 1944:
Her owners receive a ship transfer dispatch:
Transfer place is Kobe.
Transfer date is 31 October 1944.
31 October 1944:
Completed and registered at Tokyo with Gross Registered Tonnage (GRT) and Net Registered Tonnage (NRT) of respectively 10,798-tons and 8,294-tons. Her Call sign is JWPM. [1]
1 ~ 4 November 1944:
Loads 62-tons of cargo.
4 November 1944:
Departs Kobe.
5 November 1944:
Arrives at Tokuyama.
5 ~6 November 1944:
Refuels.
6 November 1944:
Departs Tokuyama.
8 November 1944:
Arrives at Kobe.
8 ~ 13 November 1944:
Offloads 62-tons of cargo. Loads 150-tons of cargo and embarks 350 soldiers.
13 November 1944:
Departs Moji.
14 November 1944:
Departs Imari Bay for Singapore in convoy HI-81 consisting of HASHIDATE, SHINSHU, KIBITSU, AKITSU, ARITA, OTOWASAN, KIYOKAWA, MAYASAN, MIRII and TOA MARUs escorted by escort carrier SHINYO, destroyer KASHI and kaibokan ETOROFU (F), TSUSHIMA, DAITO, KUME, SHONAN, CD-9 and CD-61. The convoy stops overnight at Goto Island.
15 November 1944:
Departs Goto Island. Escort carrier SHINYO takes up position at the rear of the center of three columns of vessels. At 1156, LtCdr (later Rear Admiral) Charles E. Loughlin's USS QUEENFISH (SS-393) torpedoes and sinks AKITSU MARU with the loss of 2,046 men of the IJA's 64th Infantry Regiment and other units aboard. SHINYO's planes attempt to locate and destroy the
submarine, but fail to find her.
16 November 1944:
Off Chosen (now Korea). The convoy anchors near Strange Island and shelters there.
17 November 1944:
At 0800, convoy HI-81 departs for the Shushan Islands near Shanghai, China. At 1815, USS PICUDA (SS-382) torpedoes and sinks MAYASAN MARU with the loss of 3,482 including crew and troops of the 4,500 men and 204 horses of IJA’s 23rd Division she was carrying. At 2309, LtCdr Gordon W. Underwood’s USS SPADEFISH (SS-411) torpedoes and sinks escort carrier SHINYO.Escort destroyer KASHI counterattacks with uncertain results.
18 November 1944:
At 0315, kaibokan TSUSHIMA attacks a submarine with fifteen depth-charges. At 1600, the convoy arrives at an anchorage E of Shanghai.
21 November 1944:
The convoy departs for Mako, Pescadores (now Magong, Penghu Islands, Taiwan).
23 November 1944:
Formosa Strait (Now Taiwan Strait). The convoy anchors in the Nanjih Channel (Lam Yit Channel, now Nanri Channel), China.
24 November 1944:
At 0730 departs the Nanjih area.
25 November 1944:
Arrives at Mako.
27 November 1944:
At 1600, convoy HI-81 departs Mako for Singapore. It now consists of HASHIDATE, OTOWASAN, ARITA and TOA MARUs escorted by kaibokan ETOROFU (F), KUME, CD-9 and CD-61 and escort destroyer KASHI.
4 December 1944:
Arrives at Singapore.
12 December 1944:
At 1600, HASHIDATE MARU departs Singapore in convoy HI-82 consisting of tankers OMUROSAN, OTOWASAN, ARITA and PALEMBANG MARUs escorted by kaibokan ETOROFU, SHONAN, KUME, CD-9 and CD-19. OTOWASAN MARU carries a cargo of gasoline.
17 December 1944:
Arrives at Camranh Bay, French Indochina (now Vinh Cam Ranh, Vietnam).
19 December 1944:
Departs Camranh Bay.
22 December 1944:
25 miles E of Quang Ngai, French Indochina (now Vietnam), Indo-China. At 0550, OMUROSAN, OTOWASAN and ARITA MARUs are torpedoed by LtCdr George W. Grider's USS FLASHER (SS-249). All three tankers burst into flames. At 0550, after being hit amidships by two torpedoes, OMUROSAN MARU sinks at 15-02N, 109-08E. OTOWASAN and ARITA MARUs also sink.
23 December 1944:
HASHIDATE and PALEMBANG MARUs escorted by kaibokan CD-32 arrive at Yulin, Hainan Island, China.
24 December 1944:
HASHIDATE MARU departs Yulin for Takao, Formosa (now Kaoshiung, Taiwan) with PALEMBANG MARU escorted by kaibokan CD-32. Soon after departure, CD-32 is detached to investigate the wreck of USS DARTER (SS-227) that grounded on Bombay Shoal, Palawan, Philippines. At 0900, HASHIDATE and PALEMBANG MARUs arrive at Takao.
At Takao, HASHIDATE MARU offloads 16,000-tons of oil, then departs for Singapore.
10 January 1945:
Takao, Formosa. HASHIDATE MARU joins convoy HI-87 consisting of fleet oiler KAMOI and tankers SARAWAK, MATSUSHIMA, MITSUSHIMA MARUs escorted by destroyer SHIGURE, kaibokan MIYAKE, KANJU, KURAHASHI, NOMI, SHINNAN, YASHIRO, CD-13, CD-60 and CD-205. At 1700, the convoy departs Takao for
Mako, Pescadores. At 1830, MITSUSHIMA MARU suffers an engine breakdown and returns to Takao.
12 January 1945:
At 0600, TENEI MARU's steering breaks down and the ship is escorted by CD-60 to Hong Kong. Soon after, the rest of the convoy is advised of a pending air raid on Mako and turns about and heads for Hong Kong.
13 January 1945:
At 1100, enters Hong Kong port.
15 January 1945:
At 0915, carrier aircraft begin attacks that harry the ships all day, but they escape major damage, but HASHIDATE MARU is damaged by near misses and moves to the dockyard for repairs. Lies alongside work department No. 2 later this day.
16 January 1945:
Kyuryu (Kowloon) dockyard, Hong Kong. The air attacks continue from 0820. HASHIDATE MARU is damaged slightly by near misses. A gas explosion in one of the tanks badly damages the ship. At 1240, KAMOI and TENEI MARU both suffer direct hits. At 1540, MATSUSHIMA MARU suffers a direct
hit and is set on fire. At 1644, NOMI suffers damage to her aft gun platform from a near miss. At 1830, the battle ends. The Japanese claim 22 aircraft shot down, but acknowledge serious damage to three tankers and light damage to three escorts.
18 January 1945:
Anchors in front of Yau Ma Tei (Yaumati), Kowloon, Hongkong.
20 January 1945:
At 1900 believed departs Hong Kong for Hainan Straits in convoy HI-87B escorted by kaibokan KURAHASHI and SHINNAN.
22 January 1945:
At 1800 departs Hainan straits still escorted by kaibokan KURAHASHI and SHINNAN.
