KYURYOSEN!
PICTURE WANTED
IJN ZUIHO MARU:
Tabular Record of Movement
© 2019 Gilbert Casse, Berend van der Wal and Peter Cundall
1937:
Ominato, Mie Prefecture. Laid down by Ichikawa Zosensho K.K. for Nippon Suisan K.K. The ship was wooden hulled but fitted with refrigeration machinery, unusual for a ship this size (222-tons) for Nippon Suisan K.K.
28 February 1938:
Launched and named ZUIHO MARU. [1]
28 March 1938:
Completed and registered at Tokyo.
21 December 1938:
Requisitioned by the IJN as a general transport (stores ship).
1938:
At Nanking, Yangtse River, China.
25 January 1939:
1450 ~ 1543: Auxiliary gunboat NANKAI MARU No. 1 comes alongside to starboard and is provisioned with fresh food.
12 February 1939:
1500 ~ 1525: Auxiliary gunboat NANKAI MARU No. 1 comes alongside to starboard and is provisioned with fresh food.
13 February 1939:
Departs Nanking.
14 February 1939:
Arrives at Nanking and departs there later that day.
23 February 1939:
Arrives at Wuhu, Yangtse River, China and departs there later that same day.
8 March 1939:
Arrives at Hankow (or Hankou, now Wuhan), Yangtse River, China and returns to Wuhu later in the day.
10 April 1939:
1125 ~ 1150: Auxiliary gunboat NANKAI MARU No. 1 comes alongside to port and is provisioned with fresh food.
E 11 ~ 20 April 1939:
Departs Wuhu for Nanking.
21 April 1939:
Arrives at Jingkow (now Zhenjiang).
27 April 1939:
Arrives at Kaigen Wharf.
22 May 1939:
At 1015, auxiliary gunboat NANKAI MARU No. 1 comes alongside to starboard.
E 23 ~ 29 May 1939:
Departs Kaigen Wharf.
30 May 1939:
Arrives at Wuhu.
8 June 1939: BR>
1025 ~ 1042: Between Nanking and Yulong River, auxiliary gunboat NANKAI MARU No. 1 comes alongside to port and is provisioned with fresh food.
7 July 1939:
Departs Dinghai.
9 July 1939:
Arrives at Dinghai.
11 July 1939:
Departs Dinghai and returns there later that day.
E 12 July 1939:
Departs Dinghai.
13 July 1939:
Arrives at Dinghai and departs there later that day.
22 July 1939:
At 0850, arrives at Dinghai. Departs at 1120, and at 1900, returns at Dinghai.
E 23 ~ 30 July 1939:
Departs Dinghai.
31 July 1939:
Arrives at Shanghai.
E 1 ~28 August 1939:
Departs Shanghai for Nanking.
29 August 1939:
1448 ~ 1510: Auxiliary gunboat NANKAI MARU No. 1 comes alongside and is provisioned with fresh food.
E September 1939:
Departs Nanking.
8 October 1939:
Arrives at Jingkow.
9 October 1939:
0713 ~ 0823: Alongside of auxiliary minesweeper tender NIHONKAI (NIPPONKAI) MARU. Later, departs Jingkow.
19 December 1939:
Arrives at Nanking.
15 October 1939:
Registered as an auxiliary stores ship attached to the Sasebo Naval District under instruction No. 1256.
30 October 1939:
0845 ~ 0915: Alongside to mid port of auxiliary minesweeper tender NIHONKAI (NIPPONKAI) MARU and provisions her with food.
1941:
Attached to Vice Admiral (Fleet Admiral, posthumously) Koga Mineichi (34) China Theater Fleet as auxiliary stores ship (Otsu) category. [2]
7 May 1942:
Departs Shanghai and arrives at Ssu Chiao Shan later this day. Provisions auxiliary gunboat UNKAI MARU No. 10 with fresh food.
E 8 May 1942:
Departs Ssu Chiao Shan for Shipu.
9 May 1942:
Provisions auxiliary gunboat NISSHO MARU No. 12 with fresh food.
E 10 May 1942:
Departs Shipu for Yuet Ching Bay.
11 May 1942:
At Yuet Ching Bay, provisions auxiliary gunboat DAIGEN MARU No. 7 with fresh food.
E 12 ~ 13 May 1942:
Departs Yuet Ching Bay.
14 May 1942:
Arrives at Shanghai.
15 May 1942:
Scheduled to be fitted with one Type 92 7.7mm type A MG and five type 38 Arisaka rifles under Navy’s secret instruction No. 5990.
18 May 1942:
Departs Shanghai and arrives at Ssu Chiao Shan later in the day. Provisions auxiliary gunboat UNKAI MARU No. 10 with fresh food.
E 19 ~ 20 May 1942:
Departs Ssu Chiao Shan for Shipu.
21 May 1942:
At Shipu, provisions auxiliary gunboats NISSHO MARU No. 12, SHINKO MARU No. 1 GO and DAIGEN MARU No. 7 with fresh food.
E 22 May 1942:
Departs Shipu.
23 May 1942:
Arrives at Shanghai.
12 June 1942:
Scheduled to be fitted with one 8cm/40cal deck gun under Navy’s secret instruction No. 7246.
23 July 1942:
Departs Shanghai.
25 July 1942:
Arrives at Sasebo.
1 August 1942:
Removed from the Navy list and scheduled for derequisition under instruction No. 1428.
3 August 1942:
Derequisition details exchanged with owner.
4 August 1942:
Released to her owners.
31 August 1943:
Her owners are changed to Nihon Kaiyo Gyogyo Tosei K.K.
15 May 1945 :
Lightly damaged by air attack 15 Ri, N Iki Jima, Nagasaki Prefecture.
15 August 1945:
Survives the war. Call sign becomes SCAPJAP No. Z-005.
By 1951:
Not listed in any register. Wooden ships generally had short working lives. It can be assumed that ZUIHO MARU had been condemned as unseaworthy at some point post war and broken up.
Authors' Notes:
[1] Not to be confused with 1TM standard tanker (5,135 GRT, ‘43).
[2] There were two categories of Kyuryosen. (Ko) category with an IJN Captain as supervisor aboard and (Otsu) category without.
Thanks go to Gengoro S. Toda of Japan.
- Berend van der Wal, Gilbert Casse and Peter Cundall.
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