KYURYOKAN

(NOJIMA in 1935)

IJN NOJIMA:
Tabular Record of Movement

© 2007-2018 Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp and Peter Cundall.

Revision 5

15 December 1917:
Designated transport ship NOJIMA

16 July 1918:
Kobe. Laid down at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. shipyard.

3 February 1919:
Launched.

31 March 1919:
Completed.

1 December 1920:
Captain (later Vice Admiral) Kanesaka Takashi (27) assumes command.

1 April 1920:
Rated an auxiliary transport (coaling) ship.

1 April 1921:
Captain (later Rear Admiral) Migita Kumagoro (29) assumes command.

1 November 1921:
An unknown officer assumes command.

10 May 1924:
Cdr (later Rear Admiral) Mihori Denzo (33) assumes command.

10 November 1924:
Cdr (later Vice Admiral) Inoue Choji (32) assumes command.

15 April 1925:
Captain (later Vice Admiral) Idemitsu Manbei (33) assumes command.

10 July 1925:
An unknown officer assumes command.

30 November 1929:
Cdr (later Vice Admiral) Horie Rokuro (36) assumes command.

1 April 1930:
An unknown officer assumes command.

1 December 1930:
Cdr (later Vice Admiral) Hara Kiyoshi (38) is promoted Captain and assumes command the same day.

1 April 1931:
An unknown officer assumes command.

16 February 1932:
Captain (later Rear Admiral) Aihara Aritaka (38) assumes command.

1 December 1932:
An unknown officer assumes command.

15 November 1933:
Cdr (later Vice Admiral) Sato Genzo (40) is promoted Captain and assumes command the same day.

1 November 1934:
Cdr (later Rear Admiral) Iwagoe Kanki (38) assumes command.

15 November 1934:
Cdr Iwagoe is promoted Captain.

7 July 1937: The First "China" Incident:
Peking (now Beijing). Japanese troops on night maneuvers at the Marco Polo Bridge fire blank cartridges. Chinese troops fire back, but do not cause injuries. The Japanese discover a soldier missing and assume the Chinese captured him. They demand entry to a suburb of Peking to look for him, but the Chinese refuse. The Japanese then shell the city and undeclared war begins.

10 July 1935:
An unknown officer assumes command.

Late 1937:
Operates off Shanghai in support of the fleet.

15 November 1938:
Cdr (Rear Admiral, posthumously) Ito Jotaro (41) is promoted Captain and assumes command the same day.

15 November 1939:
An unknown officer assumes command.

5 February 1940:
Captain (Rear Admiral, posthumously) Sawa Masao (42) assumes command.

20 August 1940:
Captain (Rear Admiral, posthumously) Nagao Motoo (42) assumes command.

6 November 1940:
Captain (later Rear Admiral) Ohashi Tatsuo (40) assumes command.

1941:
Refitted as a supply ship.

20 September 1941:
Captain (Rear Admiral, posthumously) Itagaki Koichi (38) assumes command.

27 December 1941:
South China Sea. 30 nms SW of Hong Kong. LtCdr David A. Hurt’s (USNA ’25) USS PERCH (SS-176) torpedoes and blows the bow off NOJIMA at 22-14N, 115-13E. Stranded.

28 December 1941:
Auxiliary gunboat SHOSEI MARU arrives to attend damaged NOJIMA, which remains stranded in Hunghai Bay.

29 December 1941:
Rice and barley foodstuffs are transferred to SHOSEI MARU. Auxiliary gunboat CHOHAKUSAN MARU arrives to render assistance.

January 1942:
At an unknown point during the month, auxiliary gunboat KOSHO MARU also arrives to support salvage operations.

3-4 January 1942:
Small auxiliary HEIYU MARU urgently transfers timber and cement to NOJIMA. On 3 January auxiliary gunboat CHOHAKUSAN MARU departs for Mako.

18 January 1942:
Auxiliary gunboat SHOSEI MARU transfers more salvage material to NOJIMA.

19 January 1942:
Auxiliary gunboat SHOSEI MARU departs area for Amoy.

29 January 1942:
Arrives at Hong Kong. Undergoes battle-damage repairs.

15 September 1942:
Hong Kong. Captain Itagaki is KIA under unknown circumstances, perhaps by bombing. He is promoted Rear Admiral, posthumously. An unknown officer, probably NOJIMA's XO, assumes command.

November 1942:
Captain Matsumoto Kametaro (45) assumes command.

8 December 1942:
Battle-damage repairs are completed.

10 December 1942:
At 1100 departs Hong Kong.

January 1943:
Arrives at Sasebo. Undergoes some reconstruction work.

18 January 1943:
Arrives at Rabaul escorted for a short way by subchaser CH-21 from Rabaul.

14 February 1943:
At Buin when a air-raid by 13th AF aircraft takes place. The 9 PB4Ys's escorted by 10 P-38s and 12 F4Us are attacked by Mitsubishi A6M2 Zeros and Mitsubishi F1M2s Petes. 2PB4Ys, 4 P-38s and 2 F4Us are shot down for the loss of 3 Zeros. From 1015 bombs fall across the Buin anchorage straddling HITACHI MARU and KISARAGI MARU that suffer damage but missing TOYU MARU and NISSAN MARU No. 3. HIBARI MARU and NOJIMA are undamaged.

17 February 1943:
Arrives at Rabaul.

March 1943:
An unknown officer assumes command.

1 March 1943: Operation 81:
Departs Rabaul for Lae, New Guinea carrying 1,225 men of the IJA’s 51st Division, the Navy’s 3rd Air Defense Unit and 600 Special Naval Landing Force (SNLF) troops to reinforce the Lae-Salamaua area in a convoy consisting of cargo vessels KYOKUSEI, OIGAWA, AIYO, SHINAI, TAIMEI and KEMBU MARUs and transport TEIYO MARU carrying 6,000 troops of the 51st Division escorted by Rear Admiral (later Vice Admiral) Kimura Masatomi’s (41) destroyers SHIRAYUKI (F), ASASHIO, ARASHIO, TOKITSUKAZE, URANAMI, SHIKINAMI, YUKIKAZE and ASAGUMO.

2 March 1943: The Battle of the Bismarck Sea:
USAAF and RAAF planes bomb the convoy. USAAF B-17 "Flying Fortresses" sink Army cargo ship KYOKUSEI MARU. On board is Major Nishikawa and the 115th Infantry Regiment, 51st Division. Also on board are infantry guns and mortars, trucks, landing craft, 2,000m3 of ammunition and fuel drums. One crewman and 485 troops of are KIA. Destroyers YUKIKAZE and ASAGUMO rescue survivors, steam to Lae to disembark them and then rejoin the convoy.

3 March 1943:
The battle continues as Allied aircraft make low-level bombing and strafing runs against the convoy. Rear Admiral Kimura is wounded. During the fighting, destroyers ASASHIO (lost with all hands, including Comdesdiv 8, Captain (Vice Admiral posthumously) Sato Yasuo (44), ARASHIO (176 survivors later rescued by YUKIKAZE), TOKITSUKAZE (19 sailors KIA) and flagship SHIRAYUKI (32 sailors KIA) are sunk as are IJA transports OIGAWA MARU (78 crewmen and 1,151 troops of the 51st Division KIA), AIYO MARU carrying 51st Division troops, provisions, ammunition and five Daihatsu barges. (45 crewmen and 278 soldiers KIA), SHINAI with men of the 51st Division and SNLF (18 crew, 45 gunners and unknown number of troops KIA), TAIMEI MARU with 51st Division and SNLF troops (44 crew and 35 soldiers KIA), KEMBU MARU with troops, compressed gas cylinders and drummed fuel (20 troops KIA) and TEIYO MARU carrying 1923 troops, two 100mm cannons, two field guns, one pick-up vehicle, one passenger vehicle, five trucks, one tractor, 23 carts, six Daihatsu barges, 15 collapsible boats, six row boats, 500 unsinkable drums and 1,500 m3 of war supplies (17 crewmen, 15 gunners and 1,882 troops KIA).

Dampier Strait, Northern New Guinea. NOJIMA is damaged both by aircraft and in a collision with destroyer ARASHIO. Later, NOJIMA sinks 50 miles SE of Finschafen, New Guinea at 07-15S, 148-30E. 400 men are KIA.

7 March 1943:
S of Dampier Strait. LtCdr (later Captain, JMSDF) Orita Zenji's submarine RO-101 rescues Captain Matsumoto and 44 infantrymen from lifeboats.

30 April 1943:
Removed from the Navy List.

Authors' Notes:

Thanks go to John Whitman of Virgina, Gilbert Casse of France and Matt Jones of Mississippi for various inputs to the revisions.

-Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp and Peter Cundall.

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