SS Nikkin Maru
| History | |
|---|---|
 Japan | |
| Builder | J. F. Duthie & Company, Seattle |
| Launched | January 1920 |
| In service | 1920-1944 |
| Out of service | 30 June 1944 |
| Fate | Torpedoed and sunk 30 June 1944 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Troop transport |
| Tonnage | 5,600 tons |
| Armament | depth charge launchers |
Nikkin Maru was a 5,600-ton Japanese troop transport during World War II, which sank on 30 June 1944 with great loss of life.
Nikkin Maru was originally built in January 1920 as the West Ivan by the J. F. Duthie & Company in Seattle for the United States Shipping Board Merchant Fleet Corporation. Renamed Golden West in 1928 and Canadian in 1937, she was confiscated by the Japanese in 1941 and renamed Hokusei Maru and finally Nikkin Maru.[1]
On 30 June 1944, Nikkin Maru was transporting around 3,200 men of the Japanese 23rd Army from Korea to Japan. The unescorted Nikkin Maru was discovered by the US submarine USS Tang and torpedoed and sunk in the Yellow Sea off Mokpo, Korea, at position 35°05´N, 125°00´E.[2] Probably all soldiers and crew members drowned, making the sinking of Nikkin Maru one of the worst maritime disasters in World War II.[3][4]
See also
- List by death toll of ships sunk by submarines
- List of battles and other violent events by death toll
References
- ^ "J.F Duthie". J.F Duthie. Retrieved 2016-08-06.
- ^ "Nikkin Maru (+1944)". Wrecksite. Retrieved 2016-08-06.
- ^ David L Williams. "In the Shadow of the Titanic: Merchant Ships Lost With Greater Fatalities". Retrieved 2016-08-06.
- ^ "Nikkin Maru - Casualties (日錦丸の被害)" (PDF) (in Japanese). All Japan Seamen's Union. Retrieved 2016-08-06.
