Awa Maru file photo [10229]

Awa Maru

CountryJapan
BuilderMitsubishi Nagasaki Shipyard
Laid Down10 Jul 1941
Launched24 Aug 1942
Commissioned5 Mar 1943
Sunk1 Apr 1945
Displacement11,249 tons standard
Length502 feet
Beam66 feet
MachineryTwo diesel engines, two screws
Speed17 knots

Contributor:

ww2dbaseAwa Maru of the Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) was laid down in 1941 as a passenger ship, but by the time she was completed in 1943, Japan was involved in war, and Awa Maru was immediately placed into Japanese Army service as a troop transport. In 1945, she began to serve as a Red Cross relief ship, carrying supplies for Allied prisoners of war in Japanese captivity. On 28 Mar 1945, after disembarking supplies for POWs in Singapore, she embarked passengers both civilian and military, took on loads of nickel and rubber, and set sail for Japan. On 1 Apr, while sailing in the Taiwan Strait, she was detected and attacked by USS Queenfish which mis-identified her as a destroyer. Of the 2,003 passengers and crew aboard, only one survived. Civilian Captain Matsutaro Hamada was killed during the sinking.

ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia.

Last Major Revision: Jun 2010

Awa Maru Interactive Map

Awa Maru Operational Timeline

5 Mar 1943 Awa Maru was commissioned into service.
26 Dec 1944 Escort carrier Kaiyo, Patrol Boat No. 102, minelayer Niizaki, escort vessel Okinawa, escort vessel Type C No. 25, escort vessel Type C No. 207, and escort vessel Type C No. 63 departed Singapore at 1158 hours to escort convoy HI-84 consisted of transport Ikutagawa Maru, transport Awa Maru, tanker Akashi Maru, tanker Toa Maruk tanker Amato Maru, tanker Ryoei Maru, and tanker Miri Maru; Awa Maru also carried about 525 British, American, and Australia prisoners of war.
29 Dec 1944 Japanese convoy HI-84 arrived at Cap Saint-Jacques, Cochinchina at 1157 hours and departed at 1625 hours. Tanker Akashi Maru and transport Ikutagawa Maru remained at Cap Saint-Jacques, while the escort force gained escort vessels Type C No. 27 and Type D No. 34.
30 Dec 1944 Japanese convoy HI-84 sailed past battleship-carrier Ise, battleship-carrier Hyuga, cruiser Oyodo, cruiser Ashigara, destroyer Asashimo, and destroyer Kasumi in the South China Sea in the morning. At 1157 hours, HI-84 arrived at Binhoang Bay, French Indochina.
31 Dec 1944 Japanese convoy HI-84 departed Binhoang Bay, French Indochina at 0745 hours. At about 1000 hours near the coast of Tuy Hoa, Annam, French Indochina, USS Dace fired 3 torpedoes at carrier Kaiyo, with all torpedoes missing. The Japanese were not aware of the attack. At 1804 hours, HI-84 arrived at Quy Nhon, Annam.
1 Jan 1945 Japanese convoy HI-84 departed Quy Nhon, Annam, French Indochina at 0057 hours.
2 Jan 1945 Japanese convoy HI-84 arrived at Tourane, Annam, French Indochina at 0105 hours.
3 Jan 1945 Japanese convoy HI-84 departed Tourane, Annam, French Indochina at 0755 hours. While sailing south of Hainan, China, tanker Miri Maru struck a mine and suffered flooding in her engine room; the tanker was detached from the convoy to sail to Hong Kong at a slow speed.
5 Jan 1945 Japanese convoy HI-84 arrived at Hong Kong at 1840 hours and departed at 1937 hours.
9 Jan 1945 Japanese convoy HI-84 arrived at Zhoushan archipelago, Zhejiang, China near Shanghai at 1120 hours.
10 Jan 1945 Japanese convoy HI-84 departed Zhoushan archipelago, Zhejiang, China at 0720 hours.
13 Jan 1945 Japanese convoy HI-84 arrived at Moji, Fukuoka, Japan at 1725 hours.
1 Apr 1945 The 11,000-ton Japanese liner Awa Maru, given safe passage by the Americans because she had revealed that she was carrying Red Cross parcels and other aid to Allied POWs, was torpedoed and sunk by American submarine USS Queenfish in the Taiwan Strait just off the coast of Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China after a breakdown in communications. Of the estimated 2,500 people on board, many of them skilled Japanese technicians, only one survived. For the only time in the war, the US Government acknowledged responsibility for wrongfully sinking an enemy ship and promised compensation after the war. Queenfish's commanding officer was court martialled for negligence, but was later exonerated based on the fact that Awa Maru was later discovered to be smuggling rubber and other war materials.




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