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Revision as of 14:44, 29 September 2009
History | |
---|---|
Japan | |
Name | Kumano Maru |
Owner | Imperial Japanese Army |
Builder | Hitachi Shipbuilding, Innoshima |
Launched | 28 January 1945 |
Completed | 31 March 1945 |
In service | 1945-1947 |
Fate | Converted to civilian use |
Class and type | Type B |
Type | Landing ship |
Displacement | 8000 tons |
Length | 465 3/4 feet (pp), 491 feet (oa) |
Beam | 64 1/4 feet |
Draft | 20 feet |
Installed power | 10,000 SHP |
Propulsion | 2-shaft geared turbines, 4 boilers |
Speed | 19 knots |
Boats & landing craft carried | 12x56 ft and 13x46 ft landing craft |
Armament | 8x75mm and 6x25mm AA guns |
Aircraft carried | 8 to 37, launch only |
Aviation facilities | takeoff-only flight deck |
Kumano Maru was a landing ship with flight deck (an early form of amphibious warfare ship) built for the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. Launched and completed in early 1945, the ship saw no significant action.
Construction
Kumano Maru was laid down at the Hitachi Shipbuilding yard at Innoshima, a commercial shipyard that also built minesweepers and submarines, as a Type M cargo ship.[1] The ship was taken over by the Army during construction, redesigned as a landing craft transport, and designated a Type B landing ship[2]. It could carry up to 12 56-foot and 13 46-foot landing craft in its hold. The craft were launched on rails through two large doors astern.[3]
The ship was also designed to transport anywhere from 8 to 37 aircraft, depending on their size and the number of landing craft aboard. A 360 x 70 foot flight deck was mounted above the main deck with an elevator aft. This permitted the stored aircraft to be flown off the ship to onshore airfields. The deck was not large enough to allow landing of aircraft. The ship's funnel was mounted on the starboard side and vented horizontally outward to keep the flight deck clear.[2][3]
Operational history
Kumano Maru was launched 28 January 1945 and completed on 31 March, the day before United States forces landed on Okinawa. The ship was not used in offensive operations.
Kumano Maru survived the war, and was used until 1947 to repatriate Japanese forces abroad. Afterward, she was sold to civilian owners and converted to a conventional merchant ship.
Notes
References
- Gardiner, Robert (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1922-1946. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0870219138.
{{cite book}}
: Unknown parameter|coauthors=
ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - Watts, Anthony J. (1970). Japanese Warships of World War II. Doubleday & Company, Garden City, New York.