KAMOTSUSEN!
(TEIREN MARU former GOUVERNEUR GENERAL ALEXANDRE VARENNE)
Freighter TEIREN MARU:
Tabular Record of Movement
© 2009-2015 Bob Hackett, Gilbert Casse and Peter Cundall.
Revision 2
13 July 1909:
Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Laid down at Nederlandsche Scheepsbouw Mij as a 3,004 ton cargo ship for the Koniklikje Paketvaart Maatschappij (Royal Steamship Company).
1 December 1909:
Launched and named VAN LINSCHOTEN.
1910:
Completed.
25 February 1910:
Departs Amsterdam for Java. Allocated to Koniklikje Paketvaart Maatschappij’s (KPM) Australian-Netherlands East Indies (NEI) service under Captain Goed.
31 May 1910:
VAN LINSCHOTEN is cleared for departure from Sydney, Australia for Batavia, Java. She carries an unknown number of bags of sugar, 25 cases of milk, 824 pieces of timber, 91 quarter-sacks of flour, 776 sacks of flour and other cargo.
September 1911:
VAN LINSCHOTEN arrives at Sydney flying a yellow ("smallpox”) flag. The ship is fumigated and her crew quarantined. Waiting passengers are warned they should be vaccinated before traveling aboard the ship. Later, departs Sydney for Batavia. The ship stops at Port Moresby, British New Guinea. After getting underway, a mutiny breaks out and a crewman is murdered. The mutineers are overpowered and delivered to Makassar, Celebes where they are brought to trial.
11 December 1911:
KPM offers monthly service from Sydney to Papua, Surabaya and Batavia, Java and Singapore via Queensland ports and Port Moresby.
4 March 1912:
Arrives at Sydney, Australia from Batavia.
1938:
Laid up.
1939:
Sold to Societe des Affreteurs Maritimes Indochinois, Saigon. Renamed GOUVERNEUR GENERAL ALEXANDRE VARENNE.
3 September 1939-World War II Begins:
After the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declare war on Nazi Germany.
25 June 1940: Franco-German Armistice:
After the Armistice, GOUVERNEUR GENERAL ALEXANDRE VARENNE is integrated in Vichy’s fleet.
September 1940:
Vichy France grants Japan limited military occupation of Indochina.
29 July 1941:
Under the Franco-Japanese "common defence" agreement signed at Vichy by Deputy-Premier Admiral Francois Xavier Darlan and Japanese Ambassador Kato Sotomatsu, Indochina is integrated in "common defense" and the Japanese are allowed to use Saigon as an advance base for operations in South-East Asia.
10 April 1942:
Saigon. Requisitioned by the Japanese Government under the Right of Angary.
16 May 1942:
Chartered by Teikoku Senpaku Kaisha (Imperial Steamship Co.) wholly owned by the Japanese government. Operated by Toa Kaiun K.K. (East Asia Navigation) of Tokyo. Renamed TEIREN MARU and used as a cargo ship under Japanese civilian control. Assigned signal letters JKLR.
15 June 1942:
Charter rates are agreed upon between the Japanese and the Vichy French-Indochina Navy. TEIREN MARU’s rate is 28,696 Japanese Yen per month.
4 April 1943:
Departs St Jacques in convoy No.485 also consisting of KAIKO, NICHIRAN MARU and six unidentified merchant ships escorted by submarine chaser CH-19.
11 April 1943:
Arrives at Mako.
13 August 1943:
At 1240 departs Amoy escorting a convoy consisting of TEIREN MARU and four unidentified merchant ships bound for Shanghai escorted by gunboat NANYO.
14 October 1943:
Departs Saigon, Indochina.
20 October 1943:
At 1400, departs St Jacques in convoy No. 435 also consisting of auxiliary transports KOSHIN (6530gt), TATSUWA, REIYO and BATAVIA MARUs and eleven unidentified merchant ships escorted by destroyer FUYO and auxiliary gunboat PEKING MARU.
24 October 1943:
At 1030, arrives at Yulin, Hainan Island.
1 December 1943:
Hong Kong. Two 14th Air Force B-25 “Mitchell” medium bombers, part of a large USAAF raid on the Hong Kong-Kowloon area, attack Taikoo dockyard. TEIREN MARU is severely damaged by bombs and later beached at 22-13N, 114-05E. Subsequently, the old ship is written off as a comprehensive total loss.
Authors' Notes:
Thanks go to Mr. Toda Gengoro of Japan.
- Bob Hackett, Gilbert Casse and Peter Cundall.
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Ex-French Merchants in Japanese Service
