Kyokuyo Maru Class Class Auxiliary Oiler

(KYOKUYO MARU in ballast in May 1941)

Built as a whaling factory ship in 1938. Her sister ship NISSHIN MARU No. 2 was built in 1937 and was sunk by explosions from unknown causes (possibly drifting mines from a defensive barrage, although submarine attack was claimed as the cause) off Ishigaki Jima in April 1943. They were the same as NISSHIN MARU in design except for having two decks of accommodation aft rather than one, as NISSHIN MARU. See NISSHIN MARU class for more information.

Ex-whale oil factory ship KYOKUYO MARU was caught in a Typhoon and sank in the East China Sea off Amami-O-Shima in September 1943 and abandoned as a constructive total loss.
From 1943-1945, the beached hulk of KYOKUYO MARU was bombed and torpedoed by USN aircraft. In 1946, the hulk was scrapped at an unknown location, possibly Keelung, Taiwan.

Builder and
Year Completed:		 Kawasaki, Kobe
1938
Gross tonnage: 17, 549-tons (nominal).
Dimensions: 532' x 73.4' x 3?'
Propulsion: 1 diesel, 13 knots.
Oil Cargo Capacity: Unknown
Armament: Unknown