ZATSUYOSEN!

(TAIJUN MARU, prewar)

IJN TAIJUN MARU:
Tabular Record of Movement

© 2013 Gilbert Casse, Bob Hackett and Peter Cundall

E 1918:
Ise, Mie Prefecture. Laid down by Uchida Zosen K. K. shipyard for Nagasaki Kaiun K.K. as a 1,274-ton cargo ship.

July 1918:
Launched and named TAIJUN MARU.[1]

E 1918:
Completed and registered in Nagasaki. Her Gross Registered Tonnage (GRT) and Net Registered Tonnage (NRT) respectively are 1,274-tons and 861-tons. [2]

1921:
Sold to Teikuni Kisen K.K. and registered in the port of Kobe.

1923:
Sold to Dai Nihon Shiogyo (Salt Industry) K.K. and and registered in the port of Esumi, Wakayama Prefecture.

1923:
Her registry port is changed to Kobe.

6 April 1923:
Her GRT and NRT are respectively changed to 1,281-tons and 869-tons. [2]

1928:
Sold to Setsusu Shosen K.K. and and registered in the port of Fuchu, Kyoto Prefecture. Managed by the Osaka Shosen Kaisha (OSK) Line.

1935:
Her GRT and NRT are respectively changed to 1,274-tons and 867-tons. [2]

2 March 1938:
Sold to Hachiuma Kisen K.K.

1939:
Her NRT is changed to 871-tons. [2]

6 December 1941:
Requisitioned by the IJN.

10 December 1941:
Registered in the IJN as an auxiliary transport attached to the Yokosuka Naval District with Yokosuka as home port under Navy instruction No. 1623.

15 December 1941:
Completes her conversion to military duty at Yokosuka Navy Yard.

16 December 1941:
Tactically assigned to Vice Admiral (later Admiral) Inoue Shigeyoshi’s (37) 4th Fleet Supply Unit as an auxiliary transport (Otsu) category, also consisting of auxiliary water tankers TATEYAMA MARU and AMAKASU MARU No. 1, auxiliary oiler KAIJO MARU No. 2 GO and auxiliary storeships CHICHIBU, CHIYO, HARUNA and HOKKAI MARUs. [3]

E 18 December 1941:
Loads 205 mines, torpedoes and spare parts.

19 December 1941:
Departs Yokosuka.

E 8 April 1942:
Departs Rabaul.

11 April 1942:
Lae Harbor, New Guinea. TAIJUN MARU is bombed and damaged by USAAF Douglas A-20 “Havoc” aircraft. Three crewmen are KIA. Deemed irreparable, the transport is later scuttled at 06-49N, 147-02E.

1 May 1942:
Removed from the Navy’s list under instruction No. 780.

Authors Notes:
[1] Also known as TAIZYUN 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 Zatsuyosen. (Ko) category with an IJN Captain as supervisor aboard and (Otsu) category without.

Thanks go to Gengoro S. Toda of Japan.

Gilbert Casse, Bob Hackett and Peter Cundall

Back to IJN Transports Page