Japanese Oilers

YUSOSEN!

(Standard 2AT Tanker KENJO MARU by Ueda Kihachiro)

OJIKASAN MARU
Tabular Record of Movement
© 2011-2012 Bob Hackett and Erich Muehlthaler

August 1944:
Tamano. Laid down at the Mitsubishi Zosen K. K. shipyard as a 6,892-ton Type 2A Standard Cargo Ship for Mitsui Sempaku K.K., Tokyo.
1944:
Converted to a Standard 2AT Tanker while on the ways.
1944:
Launched and named OJIKASAN MARU [1]
15 October 1944:
Completed in only 58 days, the shortest construction time for a 2AT up to that point.
22 October 1944:
Departs Ujina.
3 November 1944:
At 1000, OJIKASAN MARU departs Moji for Miri, Borneo in convoy MI-25 also consisting of KACHOSAN, NIKKO, DAIA, AKAGISAN, NICHIYO, KENSEI, HINAGA, KINSEN and SHOEI MARUs and tankers ATAGO, DAIRETSU, DAITO, RYUSHO, GYOSHIN, OTSUSAN, DAISHU, DAIEI and YAMAMURA MARUs and YUZAN MARU No. 2 and two unidentified ships escorted by kaibokan CD-23, CD-33, CD-51, CD-52 and CD-130.
8 November 1944:
DAIA, KINSEN, NIKKO MARUs and NIKKO MARUs are detached for Kirun (Keelung), Formosa. AKAGISAN and NICHIYO MARUs, both destined for Manila, are also detached for Kirun. KACHOSAN MARU, destined for Hong Kong, is also detached for Kirun and Takao, as are two unidentified ships.
OJIKASAN MARU develops engine trouble and is detached for Mako. The convoy’s 13 remaining ships are diverted from Miri and head for Cap St. Jacques, Indochina. [2]
13 November 1944:
In the evening, the convoy anchors in Xuan Dai Bay on the coast of Indochina at 13-22N, 109-17E.
14 November 1944:
At 0800, the convoy departs Xuan Dai Bay.
15 November 1944:
18 km SE of Cap Padaran. At 0100, LtCdr Albert S. Fuhrman's (USNA '37) USS JACK (SS-259) torpedoes HINAGA MARU and YUZAN MARU No. 2 at 11-16N 108-54E. Both ships were bound for Singapore. HINAGA MARU sinks immediately, 35 men are KIA. YUZAN MARU No. 2 is run aground and later becomes a total loss. Seven men are KIA.
16 November 1944:
Eleven ships arrive at St Jacques. Most of the convoy is ordered to divert to Singapore.
18 November 1944:
Departs St Jacques.
22 November 1944:
Arrives at Singapore.
8 December 1944:
Departs Singapore.
E 12 December 1944:
OJIKASAN MARU arrives at Cape St. Jacques.
20 December 1944:
At 1000, OJIKASAN MARU departs St. Jacques for Takao and Moji in convoy SATA-04 consisting of YAMAMURA, DAITO, DAIRETSU and DAIEI MARUs and an unidentified ship escorted by kaibokan CD-14, CD-16 and CD-46.
21 December 1944:
At 2300, arrives at Nha Trang Bay.
22 December 1944:
At 0700, departs Nha Trang Bay for Xuan Dai Bay. At 2200, arrives at Xuan Dai Bay.
23 December 1944:
At 0700, departs Xuan Dai Bay for Batangan Bay.
24 December 1944:
At 0100, the convoy arrives at Batangan Bay. Kaibokan CD-9 joins the escort.
25 December 1944:
CD-32, from Yulin, Hainan Island, China joins the escort of convoy SATA-04 after being detached from convoy HI-82 to investigate the wreck of USS USS DARTER (SS-227), stranded on Bombay Shoal.
30 December 1944:
Arrives in the Takao area, but at 0633 a radio message is received warning of possibile air raids on the port. The convoy makes for Keelung.
31 December 1944:
At 2230, arrives at Keelung.
2 January 1945:
At 0100, the convoy, now called TAMO-34, departs Keelung for Moji with destroyer KIRI, minesweeper W-17 and subchaser CH-37 as additional escorts.
4 January 1945:
Off the Taichow Islands, China coast. Grumman fighters strafe the convoy, but only OJIKASAN MARU suffers some minor damage and a number of casualties.
8 January 1945:
At 2250, anchors in Fukuoka Bay.
9 January 1945:
At 0700, departs Fukuoka Bay. At 1200, arrives at Moji.
20 March 1945:
OJIKASAN MARU completes conversion to a dry cargo carrier.
9 June 1945: “Operation Barney":
Sea of Japan. Vice Admiral Charles A. Lockwood (ComSubPac) sends nine submarines through the Tsushima Straits into the “Emperor’s Lake” – the heavily mined Sea of Japan. Each submarine is equipped with a new FM sonar designed to detect and evade the mines. Cdr Earl T. Hydeman (USNA '37) leads the wolf pack of consisting of USS SPADEFISH (SS-411), SEA DOG (SS-401) CREVALLE (SS-291), SKATE (SS-302), TUNNY (SS-282), TINOSA (SS-283), FLYING FISH (SS-229), BOWFIN (SS-287) and BONEFISH (SS-223).
E 12 June 1945:
Departs Niigata for Chongjin, Korea in ballast.
13 June 1945:
Sea of Japan. LtCdr Lawrence L. Edge’s (USNA '35) (later KIA) BONEFISH torpedoes and sinks at OJIKASAN MARU at 38-0N, 136-57E. 38 crewmen are KIA. [3]

Author’s Note:
[1] Also known as OSHIKAYAMA MARU and OZIKASAN MARU.
[2] It is unclear when Ojikasan Maru continued south from Mako, but it appears joined the other 2ATs at St. Jacques and sailed with them to Singapore.
[3] BONEFISH and all her crew are lost during “Operation Barney" – the only one of Hydeman’s wolf pack not to return, but during the 15 days of the mission, the American submarines sank 28 ships of some 70,000 tons.
-Bob Hackett and Erich Muehlthaler

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