Japanese Ammunition Ships

KYUHEIKAN!

(HIDE MARU prewar)

IJN HIDE MARU: Tabular Record of Movement
© 2009-2020 Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp and Peter Cundall.
Revision 4

9 August 1929:
Aioi. Laid down at Harima Zosensho K.K. as a 5,182-ton cargo ship for Tochigi Shoji K. K.
12 February 1930:
Launched and named HIDE MARU [1].
26 March 1930:
Completed and registered at Kobe with Gross Registered Tonnage (GRT) and Net Registered Tonnage (NRT) of respectively 5,182-tons and 3,181-tons. Her call sign is JIOC. [2]
1930:
Her GRT changes to 5,181-tons. [2]
1932:
Requisitioned by the IJA as Army transport No. 16.
1932:
Her GRT and NRT respectively change to 5,256-tons and 3,231-tons. [2]
16 June 1932:
Departs Ujina.
17 June 1932:
Arrives at Moji and later that day departs.
20 June 1932:
Arrives at Futami.
23 June 1932:
Departs Futami.
27 June 1932:
Arrives at Ishigaki.
28 June 1932:
Departs Ishigaki.
7 July 1932:
Arrives at Yokohama.
E July 1932:
Released to her owners.
16 August 1932:
Inland Sea, off Tsurushima Lighhouse. Collides with NIPPUKU (NICHIFUKU) MARU.
15 August 1941:
Requisitioned by the IJN.
23 August 1941:
Arrives at Osaka Iron Works. Begins conversion.
5 September 1941:
Registered in the Maizuru Naval District as an auxiliary ammunition transport under Ordinance instruction No. 1025. Capt. Takanabe Sankichi is appointed Supervisor.
18 October 1941:
Arrives at Kure Navy yard. Completes conversion. Assigned directly to HQ, Combined Fleet as a Ko category auxiliary transport. [3]
1 December 1941 to 10 February 1942:
At Kure.
11 February 1942:
Departs Kure.
16 February 1942:
Arrives at Mako, Pescadores (now Magong, Penghu Islands, Taiwan).
19 February 1942:
Departs Mako.
24 February 1942:
Arrives at Davao, Mindanao, Philippines.
5 March 1942:
Departs Davao.
13 March 1942:
At 0330, at 7 nautical miles southeast of Miyakoizaki torpedoed by an enemy submarine but isn’t damaged (presumably hit by a dud torpedo).
14 March 1942:
Arrives at Kure.
10 April 1942:
Attachment is changed to the Maizuru Naval District and she is rerated as an auxiliary transport ship under Ordinance instruction No. 659. Assigned to the Naval Department belonging to the Maizuru Naval District.
11 April 1942:
Installation of residential facilities, cooking facilities, toilets etc for 500 passengers under telegraph No. 413.
22 April 1942:
At 0700 departs Sasebo.
28 April 1942:
Arrives at Kirun, Formosa (now Keelung, Taiwan).
2 May 1942:
Scheduled for rangefinder and telescope supply and equipment under instruction No. 5289.
3 May 1942:
Departs Takao, Formosa (now Kaoshiung, Taiwan) for Port Courbet (also known as Honghai Bay or Port Hongay), French Indochina (now Vietnam).
1 June 1942:
Captain Takanabe Sankichi (33) is appointed Supervisor.
5 June 1942:
Arrives at Moji.
6 June 1942:
Departs Moji and later that day arrives at Wakamatsu. Probably loads munitions.
8 June 1942:
Departs Wakamatsu.
9 June 1942:
Arrives at Tsukumi.
12 June 1942:
Departs Tsukumi.
18 June 1942:
Arrives at Saipan, Marianas. Probably off-loads munitions.
22 June 1942:
Departs Saipan.
27 June 1942:
Arrives at Palau.
1 July 1942:
Departs Palau and later that day arrives at Garasumao, Palau.
6 July 1942:
Departs Garasumao.
14 July 1942:
Arrives at Yokohama.
19 July 1942:
Departs Yokohama.
24 July 1942:
Arrives at Dairen, Manchuria (now Dalian, northern China).
28 July 1942:
Departs Dairen. Scheduled to be changed to an Otsu category auxiliary transport on 20 august 1942 under type change instruction No. 17-7-52. [3]
31 July 1942:
Arrives at Kure.
7 August 1942:
Departs Kure.
8 August 1942:
Arrives at Kobe.
11 August 1942:
Departs Kobe.
12 August 1942:
Arrives at Moji and departs that same day.
15 August 1942:
Arrives at Dairen.
19 August 1942:
Departs Dairen.
20 August 1942:
Changed to an Otsu category auxiliary transport under instruction No. 574-31. [3]
23 August 1942:
Arrives at Kure.
28 August 1942:
Departs Kure.
29 August 1942:
Arrives at Osaka.
31 August 1942:
Departs Osaka.
1 September 1942:
Arrives at Innoshima. Weapons are fitted and annual inspection and repairs of the ship are begun.
25 September 1942:
Work is completed.
26 September 1942:
Departs Innoshima and later that day arrives at Kure. Probably loads munitions.
2 October 1942:
Departs Kure.
11 October 1942:
Arrives at Truk, Carolines. Probably off-loads munitions.
13 October 1942:
Departs Truk in convoy also consisting of ammunition ship ONOE MARU and storeship KINEZAKI escorted by destroyer YUZUKI. The convoy splits at some point and YUZUKI and ONOE MARU head to Shortland, Bougainville, Solomons (now Papua New Guinea).
15 October 1942:
At 1721, departs Kavieng, New Ireland, Bismarcks led by minesweeper W-22. W-22 begins escort.
17 October 1942:
At 0940 minesweeper W-22 ends escort. At 1005 arrives at Rabaul, New Britain, Bismarck Islands, Australia (now Papua New Guinea). Probably off-loads munitions.
4 November 1942:
Departs Rabaul.
5 November 1942:
Arrives at Buka, Bougainville, Solomons (now Papua New Guinea). Probably off-loads munitions.
1 December 1942:
Departs Buka.
2 December 1942:
Arrives at Rabaul.
7 December 1942:
Departs Rabaul.
14 December 1942:
Arrives at Angaur Island, SW of Peleliu, Palau. Probably off-loads munitions.
16 December 1942:
Departs Angaur Island and later that day arrives at Palau.
28 December 1942:
Departs Palau.
6 January 1943:
Arrives at Yokohama.
13 January 1943:
Departs Yokohama and later that day arrives at Shibaura.
19 January 1943:
Departs Shibaura and later that day arrives at Yokosuka.
21 January 1943:
Departs Yokosuka.
1 February 1943:
Arrives at Taroa, Marshall Islands. Probably off-loads munitions.
8 February 1943:
Departs Taroa.
9 February 1943:
Arrives at Mille Atoll. Marshalls. Probably off-loads munitions.
22 February 1943:
Departs Mille.
23 February 1943:
Arrives at Jaluit, Marshalls Probably off loads munitions.
26 February 1943:
Departs Jaluit. Arrives at Emidji, Marshalls Probably off-loads munitions.
2 March 1943:
Departs Emidji.
3 March 1943:
Arrives at Kwajalein Atoll, Marshalls.
11 March 1943:
Departs Kwajalein in a convoy with IJN transport HINO MARU No. 5 escorted by auxiliary patrol boat SHONAN MARU No. 11.
E 13 March 1943:
Auxiliary patrol boat SHONAN MARU No. 11 is detached.
E 15 March 1943:
HINO MARU No. 5 is detached for Saipan. HIDE MARU proceeds alone.
21 March 1943:
Arrives at Yokohama.
8 April 1943:
At 0750, HIDE MARU departs Yokohama in convoy No. 3408 also consisting of of auxiliary transport (former seaplane tender) KAGU and auxiliary minelayer TATSUMIYA MARUs escorted by minelayer UKISHIMA as far as Saipan.
16 April 1943:
At 0700 arrives at Saipan. UKISHIMA is detached.
18 April 1943:
At 1020, arrives at Truk now escorted by destroyer YUZUKI.
21 April 1943:
At 1000 departs Truk in convoy with auxiliary minelayer TATSUMIYA and auxiliary transport (former seaplane tender) KAGU MARUs and NANYO MARU No. 1 escorted by destroyer YUZUKI.
25 April 1943:
At 0900 arrives at Rabaul.
25 May 1943:
An unknown officer assumes command.
7 June 1943:
Rabaul. Loads weapons, scrap iron, and empty drums. Embarks 98 passengers.
8 June 1943:
Departs Rabaul for Truk in convoy No. 2082 with auxiliary storeship MANKO MARU escorted by destroyer ASANAGI and one unidentified warship.
11 June 1943:
At 0104, LtCdr (later Rear Admiral-Ret) Creed C. Burlingame’s (USNA ’27) USS SILVERSIDES (SS-236), running on the surface, visually fires four torpedoes at HIDE MARU carrying empty drums, scrap iron and ashes of 236 war dead. Burlingame claims three hits. HIDE MARU bursts into flames. The escorts open fire and shells hit near USS SILVERSIDES. Burlingame fires a stern torpedo at an escort that breaks off pursuit to avoid being hit while the submarine crash dives. The escorts then mount a severe, though unsuccessful, depth charge attack. At about 0540, HIDE MARU sinks at 02-45N, 152-06E with only one crewman KIA.
Auxiliary patrol boat OSEI MARU is ordered to proceed to the disaster site to ascertain if HIDE MARU is still afloat.
15 October 1943:
Removed from the Navy List.

Authors note:
[1] Also known as HINODE MARU.
[2] 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.
[3] There were two categories of Kyuheikan. (Ko) category with an IJN Captain as supervisor aboard and (Otsu) category without.

- Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp and Peter Cundall.

Thanks to Mr. Gilbert Casse of France, Berend van der Wal of Netherlands and Gengoro Toda of Japan.

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