Kongō Maru-class armed merchantmen

Kyosumi Maru
Class overview
Name	Akagi Maru-class auxiliary cruiser
Builders	Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagasaki Shipyard
Operators	Imperial Japanese Navy
Built	1934–1935
In service	1935–1944
In commission	1941–1944
Completed	2
Lost	2
Retired	0
General characteristics
Type	Armed merchantmen
Displacement	7,389 tonnes (7,272 long tons)
Length	139 m (456 ft 0 in)
Beam	18.6 m (61 ft 0 in)
Draft	9.4 m (30 ft 10 in)
Propulsion	1 x Mitsubishi-Sulzer diesel engine (7600-9000hp)
Speed	19 knots (22 mph; 35 km/h)
Range	unknown
Complement	50
Armament	4 × 14 cm Type 3 2 × 13mm Type 92 MG 2 × 4 533 mm (21.0 in) torpedo tubes
Aircraft carried	1×Kawanishi E7K floatplane

The Kongō Maru-class armed merchant cruiser was a class of two armed merchant cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Background

The Kongō Maru-class vessels Kongō Maru and Kiyosumi Maru were originally built by IHI Corporation at Kawasaki shipyard in Kobe as combined cargo-passenger ships. They were converted to "auxiliary cruiser" role in September–December 1941 (and therefore armed). The civilian class was named Kiyosumi Maru class (1934-1935) and consisted of: 淸澄丸 Kiyosumi Maru (finished 5 October 1934) 金剛丸 Kongō Maru (finished 4 March 1935)

The ships Kashii Maru, Kagu Maru and Kinugasa Maru from the 1936 civilian Kinugasa class were converted to seaplane tenders, forming the Kashii Maru-class. The three vessels of the Kashii Maru class (former civilian Kinugasa Maru class): 衣笠丸 Kinugasa Maru (finished 28 February 1936) 香久丸 Kagu Maru (finished 18 April 1936) 香椎丸 Kashii Maru (finished 18 April 1936)

Design

The original designs featured unusually high speed for a cargo ship (16-19 knots), as well as 6 luxury rooms for 2 occupants each.

List of Ships

• Kongō Maru
• Kyosumi Maru