# Kamikawa Maru-class seaplane tender

The Kamikawa Maru-class cargo ship (神川丸型貨物船, Kamikawa Maru-gata Kamotsusen) was a type of cargo ship of Japan, serving during the 1930s and World War II. Four of the five ships of the class were converted to seaplane tenders during the war.

## History

In 1930, the Ōsaka Mercantile Steamship Co.Ltd. (O.S.K. Lines) put into service the Kinai Maru-class cargo ship on the Japan-New York route. Competing Japanese steamship companies produced and placed their own cargo ships on the North America route.
In 1936, the Kawasaki Line built four Kamikawa Maru-class ships. They had much higher cruising speeds and capacity than their competitors. However, they were commandeered in sequence and did not survive to the end of the war.

## Ships in class

Construction data :
| Name | Kanji | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Completed | Owner |
| Kamikawa Maru | 神川丸 | Kawasaki, Kōbe Shipyard | 5 August 1936 | 13 December 1936 | 15 March 1937 | Kawasaki Line |
| Kiyokawa Maru | 聖川丸 | Kawasaki, Kōbe Shipyard | 21 October 1936 | 16 February 1937 | 15 May 1937 | Kawasaki Line; Kōbe Line (and after 15 August 1963) |
| Kimikawa Maru | 君川丸 | Kawasaki, Kōbe Shipyard | 2 November 1936 | 11 March 1937 | 15 July 1937 | Kawasaki Line |
| Kunikawa Maru | 國川丸 | Kawasaki, Kōbe Shipyard | 11 March 1937 | 12 June 1937 | 1 November 1937 | Kawasaki Line |
| Hirokawa Maru | 宏川丸 | Kawasaki, Kōbe Shipyard | 6 April 1939 | 10 May 1940 | 12 October 1940 | Kawasaki Line |

## Service

Kamikawa Maru :
| Date | Event |
| 18 September 1937 | Enlisted by the Navy |
| 19 September 1937 | classified to Auxiliary seaplane tender |
| 1 October 1937 | Assigned to the 3rd Fleet |
| 1 December 1937 | Assigned to the 3rd Carrier Division, 3rd Fleet |
| 1 February 1938 | 3rd Carrier Division was transferred to the 5th Fleet |
| 1 July 1938 | Assigned to the 3rd Fleet |
| 15 December 1938 | Classified to Auxiliary aircraft transport |
| 15 November 1939 | Classified to Auxiliary seaplane tender, assigned to the China Area Fleet |
| 1 April 1940 | Assigned to the 2nd China Expeditionary Fleet |
| 15 November 1940 | Assigned to the 6th Carrier Division, Combined Fleet |
| 10 April 1941 | Assigned to the 12th Carrier Division, 3rd Fleet |
| 7 December 1941 | Sortie for the Battle of Malaya |
| 10 March 1942 | Assigned to the 4th Fleet |
| 18 April 1942 | Sortie for Operation MO |
| 20 May 1942 | Assigned to the 11th Carrier Division, Southeast Area Fleet |
| 28 May 1942 | Sortie for Operation MI |
| 15 June 1942 | Sortie for Operation AL |
| 14 July 1942 | 11th Carrier Division was moved to the 2nd Fleet |
| 23 August 1942 | Sortie for the Guadalcanal Campaign |
| 1 April 1943 | 11th Carrier Division was moved to the Southeast Area Fleet |
| 15 April 1943 | 11th Carrier Division was disbanded |
| 29 May 1943 | Sunk by USS Scamp at northwest of Kavieng 01°36′S 150°24′E﻿ / ﻿1.600°S 150.400°E﻿ / -1.600; 150.400﻿ (Kamikawa Maru sunk by USS Scamp, 28 May 1943) |
| 15 July 1943 | Removed from naval ship list and discharged |
Kayokawa Maru :
| Date | Event |
| 28 September 1941 | Enlisted by the Navy |
| 5 October 1941 | Classified to Auxiliary seaplane tender |
| 10 November 1941 | Assigned to the 4th Fleet |
| 6 December 1941 | Sortie for the Battle of Guam |
| 23 December 1941 | Sortie for the Battle of Wake Island |
| 6 January 1942 | Sortie for the Battle of Rabaul |
| 1 December 1942 | Classified to Auxiliary transport, and assigned to the Yokosuka Naval District |
| 1 April 1943 | Classified to Auxiliary seaplane tender, and assigned to the 2nd Southern Expeditionary Fleet, Southwest Area Fleet |
| 1 July 1943 | Assigned to the Southwest Area Fleet |
| 1 October 1943 | Classified to Auxiliary transport |
| 1 June 1944 | Assigned to the Yokosuka Naval District |
| 14 July 1944 | Entry to the Hi-68 Convoy |
| 20 August 1944 | Entry to the TaMo-26 Convoy |
| 14 November 1944 | Entry to the Convoy Hi-81 |
| 8 December 1944 | Entry to the MaMo-25 Convoy |
| 29 January 1945 | Entry to the Hi-93 Convoy |
| 11 February 1945 | Entry to the Hi-88C Convoy |
| 25 February 1945 | Entry to the TaMo-44 Convoy |
| 16 March 1945 | Entry to the MoTa-43 Convoy |
| 1 April 1945 | Entry to the TaMo-53 Convoy |
| 20 July 1945 | Sunk by air raid at Kaminoseki |
| 30 November 1945 | Discharged |
| 9 December 1947 | Refloated |
| 20 October 1949 | Repairs were completed |
| 15 August 1963 | Sold to Kōbe Line |
| 14 December 1969 | Scrapped |
Kimikawa Maru :
| Date | Event |
| 6 July 1941 | Enlisted by the Navy |
| 25 July 1941 | Classified to Auxiliary seaplane tender |
| 1 September 1941 | Assigned to the 5th Fleet |
| 10 December 1941 | Assigned to the 21st Division, 5th Fleet |
| 1 September 1941 | Removed from 21st Division |
| 8 June 1942 | Sortie for the Operation AL |
| 1 October 1943 | Classified to Auxiliary transport and assigned to the Northeast Area Fleet |
| 20 November 1943 | Assigned to the Combined Fleet |
| 13 July 1944 | Entry to the Hi-69 Convoy |
| 2 October 1944 | Entry to the Hi-76 Convoy |
| 21 October 1944 | Entry to the Mata-30 Convoy |
| 23 October 1944 | Sunk by submarine USS Sawfish at WNW of Cape Bojeador 18°58′S 118°40′E﻿ / ﻿18.967°S 118.667°E﻿ / -18.967; 118.667﻿ (Kimikawa Maru sunk by USS Sawfish, 23 October 1944) |
| 10 December 1944 | Removed from naval ship list and discharged |
Kunikawa Maru :
| Date | Event |
| 31 October 1941 | Enlisted by the Navy |
| 10 November 1941 | Classified to Auxiliary transport |
| 10 December 1941 | Assigned to the Combined Fleet |
| 14 July 1942 | Classified to Auxiliary seaplane tender, and assigned to the 4th Fleet |
| 24 August 1942 | Sortie for the Solomon Islands campaign |
| 1 April 1943 | Assigned to the 11th Carrier Division, Southeast Area Fleet |
| 15 April 1943 | Removed from 11th Carrier Division |
| 3 May 1943 | Entry to the No. 2023 Convoy |
| 8 May 1943 | Entry to the No. 4508 Convoy |
| 1 June 1943 | Entry to the No. 3601A Convoy |
| 5 August 1943 | Entry to the No. 4805 Convoy |
| 15 September 1943 | Entry to the No. 3914 Convoy |
| 28 September 1943 | Entry to the No. 1292 Convoy |
| 1 October 1943 | Classified to Auxiliary transport, and assigned to the Kure Naval District |
| 16 October 1943 | Entry to the O-602B Convoy |
| 1 November 1943 | Entry to the No. 7101 Convoy |
| 21 December 1943 | Entry to the Hi-27 Convoy |
| 20 March 1944 | Entry to the H-22 Convoy |
| 29 March 1944 | Struck a naval mine at Balikpapan |
| 8 May 1944 | Temporary repairs were completed, however struck a naval mine once again; Later sank in shallow water |
| 26 September 1944 | Refloated and temporary repairs were completed |
| 21 May 1945 | Sunk by air raid |
| 30 November 1945 | Discharged |
| 3 May 1947 | Removed from naval ship list |
Hirokawa Maru :
| Date | Event |
| 8 February 1941 | Enlisted by the Army; Classified to Nucleus Anti-Aircraft vessel |
| 8 December 1941 | Sortie for the Battle of Malaya; Landed the Andō Detachment, 5th Infantry Division at Pattani |
| 20 February 1942 | Sortie for the Dutch East Indies campaign; Landed the 16th Army at Palembang |
| 23 March 1942 | Sortie for the Invasion of the Andaman Islands; Landed the one battalion of the 18th Division at Ross Island |
| 14 October 1942 | Sortie for the Guadalcanal Campaign |
| 15 October 1942 | Landed the one battalion of the 38th Division at Guadalcanal; Damaged by U.S. aircraft and artillery, sunk by destroyer USS Meade at Tassafaronga Point |

## Photos

* Kawasaki Line Kiyokawa Maru
* Kawasaki Line Kimikawa Maru
* Kawasaki Line Kunikawa Maru
* Kawasaki Line Hirokawa Maru
* IJN Kamikawa Maru circa 1939 at Xiamen
* IJN Kamikawa Maru in June 1942 at Kiska
* IJN Kimikawa Maru in Autumn 1942 at Ōminato Naval Base
* IJN Kimikawa Maru in April 1943 at Ōminato Naval Base
* IJN Kamikawa Maru-class in 1943
* IJN Kimikawa Maru in Summer 1943
* IJN Kiyokawa Maru (above) on 10 March 1942

## Footnotes

* ↑ 8300 tons, 18.5 kt. Kinai Maru (畿内丸), Hokuriku Maru (北陸丸), Tōkai Maru (東海丸), San'yō Maru (山陽丸), Nankai Maru (南海丸), Hokkai Maru (北海丸), Kantō Maru (関東丸), and Kansai Maru (関西丸).