SS Kyokusei Maru

History
Name	Margaret Coughlan (1920-1924) Chilcop (1924-1936) Shun Hwa (1936-1938) Kyokusei Maru (1938-1943)
Owner	Western Canada Steamship Company, Vancouver Atlantic Steamship Company, Vancouver Sheridan Steamship Company, London Chile Steamship Company, New York K. King, China Asashi Shoki K.K., Tokyo
Builder	J. Coughlan & Sons, Vancouver
Yard number	15
Launched	June 1920
Fate	Sunk by aircraft on 3 March 1943 at 06°40'S, 147°10'E
General characteristics
Tonnage	5,493 GRT
Length	410.5 feet (125.1 m)
Beam	54 feet (16 m)
Draught	29.7 feet (9.1 m)
Installed power	520 NHP
Propulsion	Triple expansion engines built by J. G Kinkold & Co, Greenoch

SS Kyokusei Maru was a 3,794 GRT transport ship of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.

Built by J. Coughlan & Sons, Vancouver and launched in June 1920, as Margaret Coughlan for the Western Canada Steamship Company. She was renamed Chilcop in 1924, Shun Hwa in 1936, and Kyokusei Maru in 1938.

She left Rabaul, New Britain on 1 March 1943, as part of Operation 81, carrying a cargo 1,200 troops of the 115th Infantry Regiment, equipment, fuel, landing craft and ammunition for Lae, New Guinea. The convoy was attacked by aircraft of the United States Army Air Forces and Royal Australian Air Force from 2 March 1943, known as the Battle of the Bismarck Sea. Kyokusei Maru was bombed by B-17s of the 64th Bombardment Squadron on 2 March and sank at 06°40′S 147°10′E, the first ship in the Japanese convoy sunk during the battle. The destroyers Yukikaze and Asagumo plucked 950 survivors from the water. The two destroyers landed the survivors at Lae. The rest of the 486 soldiers and sailors on board were killed.

References

• McAulay, Lex (1991). Battle of the Bismarck Sea. New York: St Martins Press. ISBN 0-312-05820-9. OCLC 23082610. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)