Tamahoko Maru

Tamahoko Maru
History
Japan
NameTamahoko Maru
OwnerKaiyo Kisen K. K.
BuilderHarima Dock Company
Launched1919
CompletedMarch 1919
In service1919-1944
FateSunk by USS Tang, 24 June 1944
General characteristics
TypePassenger-cargo ship
Tonnage6,780 tons[1]
Length129.5 m
Beam17.7 m
Draught8.84 m
Speed13.2 knots

SS Tamahoko Maru was a Japanese passenger-cargo ship, used as a hell ship, which was torpedoed by submarine USS Tang on 24 June 1944, carrying 772 Allied POWs of which 560 died.

Service history

Tamahoko Maru sailed on 20 June 1944 with 772 POWs (197 British, 42 American, 258 Australian and 281 Dutch) from Takao for Moji in convoy HO-02. There were also some 500 Japanese soldiers on board. On 24 June 1944 at 11:50 pm, in the Koshiki Straits 40 miles SW of Nagasaki, the Tamahoko Maru was torpedoed by USS Tang and sank in less than 2 minutes at 32-24N, 129-38E.[2]

An escort picked up the Japanese survivors and left the POWs in the water, to be picked up the next morning by a small whaling ship, which brought 212 survivors to Nagasaki. They spent the rest of the war in the Fukuoka 14 prison camp. The other 560 POWs, 35 crewmen and an unknown number of Japanese soldiers were lost.[3]

References

  1. ^ "Tamahoko Maru (+1944)". Wrecksite. Retrieved 2016-10-30.
  2. ^ "IJA Transport TAMAHOKO (ex-YONE) MARU : Tabular Record of Movement". Combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 2016-10-30.
  3. ^ "SS TAMAHOKO MARU". Australian POWS WW2. Archived from the original on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 2016-10-30.
  • TAMAHOKO MARU by POW Research Network Japan
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Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in June 1944
Shipwrecks
  • 1 Jun: USS Herring
  • 3 Jun: U-477, WBS 2 Coburg
  • 5 Jun: V 622 Almuth, USS Osprey
  • 6 Jun: USS Corry, USS LCI(L)-93, Minazuki, USS PC-1261, HNoMS Svenner, V 421 Rauzan, HMS Wrestler
  • 7 Jun: HMS Centurion, Empire Defiance, Hayanami, USS Susan B. Anthony, USS Tide, U-629, U-955
  • 8 Jun: Audacious, Harusame, James Iredell, Kazagumo, HMS Lawford, USS Rich, U-373, U-441, U-970, West Grama
  • 9 Jun: Courbet, Dover Hill, HMS Durban, Empire Bunting, Empire Flamingo, Matsukaze, USS Meredith, HNLMS Sumatra, Tanikaze, Z32, ZH1
  • 10 Jun: USS Glennon, Innsbruck, Mistral, Ro-111, U-821
  • 11 Jun: USS Partridge, Ro-42, U-980
  • 12 Jun: Kainan Maru, HMS Sickle, U-490, V 206 Otto Bröhan, V 212 Friedrich Busse
  • 13 Jun: HMS Boadicea, I-33, Ro-36, U-715
  • 14 Jun: USS Golet
  • 15 Jun: HMS Blackwood, M 507, PA 1, PA 2, Shiratsuyu, U-860, U-987, V 202 Franz Westermann
  • 16 Jun: I-6, Ro-44, U-998
  • 17 Jun: Ro-114, Ro-117
  • 18 Jun: Albert C. Field, U-767
  • 19 Jun: I-184, Shōkaku, Taihō
  • 20 Jun: Hiyō, HMAS Matafele
  • 21 Jun: Bolzano, HMS Fury
  • 22 Jun: Eurydice, I-185, Sirène
  • 24 Jun: Derrycunihy, I-52, U-971, U-1225
  • 25 Jun: U-269
  • 26 Jun: Aquileia, U-317, U-719, Harugiku Maru
  • 27 Jun: Kizugawa Maru
  • 28 Jun: V 213 Claus Bolten, Kondor, Nerissa
  • 29 Jun: Toyama Maru, Tsugaru, U-988, USS Valor
  • 30 Jun: SS Nikkin Maru, U-478, V 422 Kergroise
  • Unknown date: Bosna, USS LCT-209, U-740
Other incidents
  • 7 Jun: USS Meredith
  • 11 Jun: HMS Halsted
  • 16 Jun: U-998
  • 18 Jun: USS Hawkbill
  • 23 Jun: HMS Scylla
  • 25 Jun: HMS Glasgow, HMS Goodson
  • 26 Jun: Gorizia
  • Unknown date: HMS Sickle, Sonderburg