SS Takao Maru (1927)

For other ships with the same name, see Japanese ship Takao.

History
Japan
Name	Takao Maru
Owner	Osaka Shosen Kaisha
Operator	1941: Imperial Japanese Army
Port of registry	Osaka
Builder	Uraga Dock Company, Uraga
Yard number	317
Laid down	19 July 1926
Launched	2 April 1927
Completed	May 1927
Out of service	10 December 1941
Identification	1927: code letters TKCQ by 1934: call sign JPOB
Fate	damaged by air raid and beached
General characteristics
Type	banana ship
Tonnage	4,282 GRT, 2,517 NRT
Length	355.6 ft (108.4 m)
Beam	48.5 ft (14.8 m)
Draft	28 ft 3+3⁄4 in (8.6 m)
Depth	32.5 ft (9.9 m)
Decks	2
Installed power	782 NHP; 3,915 shp
Propulsion	2 × steam turbines double-reduction gearing 1 × screw
Speed	16.3 knots (30 km/h)
Capacity	passengers: 6 × 1st class; 64 × 3rd class
Troops	2,000

Takao Maru (高雄丸) was an OSK Line cargo and passenger steamship that was built in Japan in 1927. In 1941 the Imperial Japanese Army requisitioned her. US aircraft damaged her during the first week of the Japanese invasion of the Philippines. In 1942 she was declared a total loss.

Building and registration

The Uraga Dock Company in Uraga, Kanagawa built Takao Maru as yard number 317. She was laid down on 19 July 1926, launched on 2 April 1927, and completed that May.

Takao Maru's registered length was 355.6 ft (108.4 m), her beam was 48.5 ft (14.8 m), her depth was 32.5 ft (9.9 m) and her draft was 28 ft 3+3⁄4 in (8.6 m). Her tonnages were 4,282 GRT and 2,517 NRT. She had berths for 70 passengers: six in first class, and 64 in third class.

Takao Maru had a single screw, driven by two Mitsubishi steam turbines via double-reduction gearing. Their combined power output was rated at 782 NHP or 3,915 shp, and gave her a speed of 16.3 knots (30 km/h). She was designed as a high-speed banana ship, and had an advanced mechanical ventilation system to cool her cargo holds.

The Yokohama Dock Company built a sister ship, Koshun Maru, which was also completed in May 1927.

OSK registered Takao Maru in Osaka. Her code letters were TKCQ. By 1934 her call sign was JPOB, and this had superseded her code letters.

1931 collision

On 1 February 1931 the 9,425 GRT refrigerated cargo ship Arabia Maru, also owned by OSK, collided with Takao Maru off Kannonzaki Lighthouse in Tokyo Bay. Arabia Maru took on water in her engine room, and was beached to prevent her from sinking.

War service and loss

At 16:30 hrs 7 October 1941 the Japanese Army requisitoned Takao Maru. She was converted into a troopship and given the Army number 638. On 7 December, the eve of the Japanese invasion of the Philippines, she left Mako in the Pescadores islands (now Magong in Penghu) as one of six troopships with the Third Fleet. She carried 2,000 troops of the 48th Division to take part in an amphibious assault on the island of Luzon.

At 02:00 hrs on 10 December the ships land their troops at Pandan, near Vigan. The US Far East Air Force bombed and strafed the ships with Boeing B-17 bombers and Curtiss P-40 and Seversky P-35 fighters. The air attack damages Takao Maru and another troop ship, Oigawa Maru, and both ships are beached to prevent their sinking. Takao Maru was beached at 17°29′N 120°26′E.

On 5 March 1942 Filipino guerillas attached the beached Takao Maru, putting her beyond repair. On 30 September she was officially declared a total loss.

Bibliography

• The Joint Army-Navy Assessment Committee (1947). Japanese Naval and Merchant Shipping Losses During World War II by All Causes. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office. p. 29. ISBN 978-1288590506.
• Lloyd's Register of Shipping. Vol. II.–Steamers and Motorships. London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping. 1928 – via Internet Archive.
• Lloyd's Register of Shipping (PDF). Vol. II.–Steamers and Motorships of 300 tons gross and over. London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping. 1934 – via Southampton City Council.

External links

• Nagasawa, Fumio. "Early Showa". Archived from the original on 21 April 2014.