Japanese Army Tankers

RIKUGUN YUSOSEN!

(GALLIA, later KYODO MARU, prewar)

KYODO MARU: Tabular Record of Movement
© 2014-2024 Bob Hackett, Berend van der Wal and Peter Cundall

E 1913:
Bolnes, Netherlands. Laid down at Scheepswerf Gebroeders Pot shipyard as a 1,090 ton tanker for N.V. Maatschappij m.s. Gallia.
January 1914:
Launched and named GALLIA.
March 1914:
Completed and registered at Rotterdam, The Netherlands with a Gross Registered Tonnage (GRT) of 1113 tons and a Net Registered Tonnage (NRT) of 690 tons. Her call sign is NSFT. [1]
1919:
Placed on Rotterdam and Antwerp, Netherlands ~ New York service for Phs. van Ommeren of Rotterdam.
1924:
Sold to Seikyo Kyodo Hanbaisho, K. K. and registered in and registered in Hakodate with a Gross Registered Tonnage (GRT) of 1,084 tons and a Net Registered Tonnage (NRT) of 761 tons. Renamed KYODO MARU.
September 1924:
Her call sign is changed to SGPH.
26 October 1925:
Her NRT is changed to 741 tons. [1]
25 June 1926:
Her port of registry is changed to Niigata.
1 February 1933:
Her call sign is changed to JFOE and to be implemented on 13 February under Ministry of Commuication notfication No. 261.
October 1935:
Sold to Kagitomi Shosaku, K. K. and registered in Niigata.
16 December 1938:
Her GRT is changed to 1,090 tons. [1]
2 December 1941:
Undergoes a regular survey.
7 December 1941:
3.5 nms from Kannon-saki Lighthouse (E of Uraga Town) KYODO MARU is damaged lightly by a Japanese mine.
22 February 1942:
Requisitioned by the Imperial Army (IJA). Allotted Army No. 759. Departs Moji for Takao, Formosa (now Kaoshiung, Taiwan).
4 March 1942:
At 0700 departs Moji in convoy with IJA transport LONDON MARU and tanker HOKKO MARU with unknown escort, bound for Takao.
22 March 1942:
Arrives at St. Jacques, French Indochina (now Vung Tau, Vietnam).
23 March 1942:
Departa St. Jacques.
24 March 1942:
Arrives at Singapore.
24 March ~ 21 April 1942:
Departs Singapore for Palembang, Sumatra, Netherlands East Indies (now Indonesia).
22 April 1942:
Departs Palembang.
25 April 1942:
Arrives at Singapore.
2 May 1942:
Departs Singapore.
7 May 1942:
Arrives at Batavia, Java, Netherlands East Indies (now Indonesia).
12 May 1942:
Departs Batavia.
17 May 1942:
Arrives at Singapore.
20 May 1942:
Departs Singapore.
26 May 1942:
Arrives at Batavia.
31 May 1942:
Departs Batavia.
5 June 1942:
Arrives at Singapore.
10 June 1942:
Departs Singapore.
14 June 1942:
Arrives at Palembang.
15 June 1942:
Departs Palembang.
18 June 1942:
Arrives at Singapore.
20 June 1942:
Departs Singapore.
24 June 1942:
Arrives at Palembang.
25 June 1942:
Departs Palembang.
28 June 1942:
Arrives at Singapore.
12 July 1942:
Departs Singapore.
19 July 1942:
Arrives at Surabaya, Java.
22 July 1942:
Departs Surabaya.
31 July 1942:
Arrives at Singapore.
15 August 1942:
Departs Singapore.
18 August 1942:
Arrives at Palembang.
19 August 1942:
Departs Palembang.
22 August 1942:
Arrives at Singapore.
23 August 1942:
Departs Singapore in convoy No. 626 also consisting of TAIKAI and OYO MARUs and three unidentified merchant ships. The ships sail without surface escort.
26 August 1942:
Arrives at St Jacques.
28 August 1942:
Arrives at Shimonoseki. (NB an evident error as 5 days was too quicker passage)
6 October 1942:
Likely departed Mako, Pescadores, Formosa (now Magong, Penghu Islands, Taiwan) in convoy No. 272 with one other unidentified ship.
12 October 1942:
The convoy arrives at Mutsure.
14 October 1942:
KYODO MARU arrives at Moji.
4 December 1942:
Departs Ujina.
18 December 1942:
KYODO MARU departs Saeki in Transportation Movement No. 8’s convoy “L” also consisting of IJA oiler KUROSHIO MARU and IJA transport TOUN MARU escorted initially by auxiliary minesweeper OI MARU to 29N. KYODO MARU carries a cargo of aviation gasoline.
E 19 December 1942:
At 29N, OI MARU is detached.
10 January 1943:
Arrives at Rabaul, New Britain, Bismarck Islands, Australia (now Papua New Guinea).
10 January ~ 28 February 1943:
According to one source departs Rabaul for Saipan, Marianas and then back to Rabaul. Arrives back at Rabaul with gasoline.
24 January 1943:
Departs Rabaul in a convoy also consisting of TOUN, TOMIOKA and NICHIUN MARUs escorted by submarine chasers CH-16 and CH-17.
26 January 1942:
Arrives at Shortland, Bougainville, Solomons, Australia (now Papua New Guinea).
11 February 1943:
Departs Rabaul in a convoy also consisting of KAMOI, SHINSOKU, MADRAS, YUKI and HEIMEI MARUs escorted by unknown escort.
18 February 1943:
Arrives at Palau.
28 February 1943:
Arrives at Rabaul.
1 April 1943:
At 0730, KYODO MARU departs Rabaul for Palau in a convoy also consisting of IJA transports HORAI, INDUS, SEKKO and TOYO MARUs escorted by subchasers CH-37, CH-38 and CH-39.
8 April 1943:
TOYO MARU is lost through unknown causes in 05.04N 139.43E.
E 4 April 1943:
CH-37 and CH-39 are detached.
15 April 1943:
At 1300 arrives at Palau.
27 May 1943:
Departs Rabaul for Wewak, New Guinea (now Papua New Guinea).
3 June 1943:
Departs Wewak.
10 June 1943:
Arrives at Rabaul.
16 June 1943:
Reported unloading at Rabaul.
1 July 1943:
Departs Rabaul.
11 July 1943:
Arrives at Palau.
20 July 1943:
Departs Palau.
31 July 1943:
Arrives at Rabaul.
25 December 1943:
Departs Rabaul.
2 January 1944:
Departs Lorengau, Manus Island, Amdiralty Island for Hollandia, New Guinea, Netherlands East Indies. (now Jayapura, Indonesia).
4 January 1944:
Departs Hollandia.
11 January 1944:
Arrives at Halmahera, Moluccas, Netherlands East Indies (now Indonesia).
18 January 1944:
Departs Halmahera,
23 January 1944:
Arrives at Davao, Mindanao, Philippines.
27 January 1944:
Departs Davao.
29 January 1944:
Arrives at Zamboanga, Mindanao, Philippines.
4 February 1944:
Departs Zamboanga.
5 February 1944:
Arrives at Cebu, Philippines. Departs later this day.
8 February 1944:
Arives at Manila, Philippines.
4 March 1944:
Departs Manila.
8 March 1944:
Arrives at Kirun, Formosa (now Keelung, Taiwan).
19 March 1944:
Departs Kirun.
21 March 1944:
Arrives at Singapore.
25 March 1944:
Departs Singapore.
26 March 1944:
Arrives at Palembang.
28 March 1944:
Departs Palembang.
30 March 1944:
Arrives at Singapore.
12 May 1944:
Released back to her owners.
12 May 1944 ~ January 1945:
Operates under civilian control. [2]
17 May 1944:
Departs Kobe in convoy 8517B with 2TE tanker YAEI MARU. KYODO MARU is bound for Tsurumi.
18 May 1944:
Departs Gobo and later that day arrives at Owase.
19 May 1944:
Departs Owase and later that day arrives at Irako (Irago).
4 July 1944:
Departs Naha, Okinawa in convoy KATA-412 Part 2 also consisting of HOZAN, TOYO and SHOHO MARUs, HORAI MARU No. 3, NANSHIN MARU No. 19, NANSHIN MARU No. 20 and nine unidentified ships with unknown escort.
7 July 1944:
Arrives at Kirun.
3 January 1945:
Departs Manila.
5 January 1945:
Arrives at San Fernando, Luzon, Philippines.
January 1945:
Operating under civilain control ends. [2]
6 January 1945:
Lingayen Gulf, Philippines. Carrier-based planes of Vice Admiral (Admiral, posthumously) John S. McCain’s (USNA ’06) Task Force 38 bomb and sink KYODO MARU. 10 crew members are KIA. [3]
10 December 1948:
Register of KYODO MARU officially closed at Niigata, her port of registry.

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] Possibly operated as an A/C-AO, but no clear evidence of this has been found.
[3] At the time of her sinking, some sources report KYODO MARU was an IJA cargo ship.
Thanks go to Erich.Muehlthaler of Germany. Thanks also go to Gengora S Toda of Japan.

- Bob Hackett, Berend van der Wal and Peter Cundall

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