History
Empire of Japan
NameNigitsu Maru
BuilderHarima, Harima[1]
CompletedMarch 1943
FateSunk by USS Hake, 12 January 1944
General characteristics
TypeLanding craft depot ship
Displacement11,800 tons (standard)[1]
Length471 ft 7 in (5,659 in) (pp)[1]
Beam64 ft (20 m)[1]
Draft25 ft 9 in (7.85 m) (maximum)[1]
Propulsion
  • 4 boilers, driving 2 geared turbines
  • 7,500 shp (5,600 kW)[1]
Speed20 knots (37 km/h)[1]
Armament

Nigitsu Maru (にぎつ丸) was a Japanese landing craft depot ship operated by the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The vessel did not have a flight deck like her sister ship Akitsu Maru.[2]

Design features

Nigitsu Maru was a passenger liner taken over before completion and refitted by the Imperial Japanese Army.

On 9 January 1944 Nigitsu Maru left Palau for Ujina in convoy FU-901 as the sole merchant ship escorted by the destroyer Amagiri. She carried about 2,000 troops, mainly soldiers of the 12th Independent Engineer Regiment. Three days later off the Okino-Daito Island, southeast of Okinawa, Nigitsu Maru was attacked by the US submarine Hake which fired four torpedoes from the surface. Two hit Nigitsu Maru which sank in eight minutes at 23°15′N 132°51′E / 23.250°N 132.850°E / 23.250; 132.850. 456 soldiers, 83 gunners and 35 crewmen were killed. Amagiri picked up the survivors and landed them in Japan.[2]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Gardiner; Chesneau. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. p. 213.
  2. 1 2 "IJA Landing Craft Depot Ship Nigitsu Maru: Tabular Record of Movement". combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 4 February 2017.

References

  • Gardiner, Robert; Chesneau, Roger (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-913-8.
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