TOKUSETSU JUNYOKAN!
Battle Histories of the IJN's Auxiliary Cruiser Commerce
Raiders
27 September 2008
By Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp and Peter Cundall
(HOKOKU MARU by Takeshi Yuki scanned from "Color Paintings
of Japanese Warships")
Auxiliary cruisers were merchant ships converted into armed vessels
and employed either for convoy protection or commerce raiding. In the latter
role, they were disguised as merchant ships, but equipped with hidden
cruiser-size guns, false funnels, torpedo tubes, mines, floatplanes for scouting
and wore false colors, markings and flags. Their appearance was used to trick
enemy merchant ships into approaching thinking they were but harmless steamers.
Their speed, combined with their floatplanes, enabled them to search large areas
of ocean for prey. Once located, the auxiliary cruiser's big guns could defeat
any merchant or smaller combatant.
Early in World War I, Germany used several merchant raiders, the most
successful being MOWE, WOLF and SEEADLER. MOWE sank or damaged a battleship and
42 merchant ships. WOLF remained at sea for a record fifteen months, sinking or
damaging 32 ships. In all, Germany's WW1 raiders sank over 300,000 tons of
Allied shipping. Each also sent back to Germany valuable captured prize ships
containing materials such as rubber, whale oil, and titanium that was otherwise
unavailable.
The success of the German raiders in the First World War was not lost on
the Japanese. In 1941, AIKOKU and HOKOKU MARUs, two passenger-cargo vessels
built for the Osaka Shipping Line’s South America route, were requisitioned for
conversion to Armed Merchant Cruisers (AMC).
Before and during the Pacific War, Japan converted 14 merchants to AMCs.
Although two of these ships initially enjoyed some successes, the early sinking
of HOKOKU MARU and the pressing need for more transports to support their
far-flung Pacific empire resulted in the reconversion of most of Japan’s AMC
fleet. By the end of 1943, five of their AMCs had been sunk and seven
reconverted. The remaining two were lost in 1944.
Unlike the Kriegsmarine's raider ATLANTIS, that stayed at sea 622 days in
World War II and sank or captured 23 ships of 145,697-tons, most Japanese AMCs
had but short and undistinguished careers. This page will cover 12 of the IJN's
Auxiliary Cruisers.
Japanese Auxiliary Cruisers: Tabular Records of Movement
(TROMs)
(Auxiliary Classes link to specifications
summaries)
Bibliography of
Sources
About the Authors
Mr. Robert Hackett is a military historian and researcher.
Retired from the United States Air Force and later from the aerospace industry,
he resides in the United States.
Mr. Sander Kingsepp, a native of Estonia, is also a military historian and
researcher. A talented linguist, Sander's translations of Japanese source
materials have greatly enhanced these TROMs.
Questions to the authors
concerning these TROMs should be posted on the Discussion and Questions board.
