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Sinkyo Maru
Sinkyo Maru, formerly romanised as Shinkyo Maru, was a cargo steamship that was launched in Japan in 1932. The Imperial Japanese Navy requisitioned her in 1940. She was converted into an auxiliary gunboat, but also served as a minelayer and a troopship. A United States Navy submarine sank her in the Philippines in 1944, killing 61 of the people aboard.
The Uraga Dock Company in Uraga, Kanagawa, laid the keel plates of Shinkyo Maru on 25 February 1932. She was launched on 24 November that year, and completed on 11 April 1933. Her length was 298.2 ft (90.9 m); her beam was 44.9 ft (13.7 m); and her depth was 23.6 ft (7.2 m). Her tonnages were 2,672 gross register tons (GRT) and 1,554 net register tons (NRT). She had a raked bow, cruiser stern, and well decks fore and aft. She had two masts, and her engine room; boiler room; superstructure; and single funnel were amidships.
Shinkyo Maru had a single screw. Her main engine was a three-cylinder triple-expansion engine. She also had an exhaust steam turbine, which drove the same propeller shaft, but via double reduction gearing. The combined power of her reciprocating engine plus exhaust turbine was rated at 171 nominal horsepower. They gave her a top speed of 14 knots (26 km/h), and a cruising speed of 12 knots (22 km/h).
In 1934, Uraga built a sister ship for the same owners. Seikyo Maru was laid down on 5 May; launched on 20 September; and completed on 15 December.
Chōsen Yusen KK owned Shinkyo Maru. She was registered at Jinsen in Chōsen, which is now Incheon in South Korea. By 1935 her wireless telegraph call sign was JERG. In 1938, the romanisation of her name was changed to Sinkyo Maru. In the 1930s she traded between Chōsen and ports on Honshu, plus at visit to Vladivostok in the Soviet Union in 1933 and 1936.
On 15 September 1940, the Japanese Navy requisitioned Sinkyo Maru. On 15 October she was attached to the Sasebo Naval District as an auxiliary gunboat, with Sasebo as her home port. On 15 November she was rated as No. 12 Gunboat, and on 27 December her conversion was completed. Her main battery was three 12 cm/45 3rd Year Type naval guns. She was also armed with two Type 93 heavy machine guns; one 7.7 mm machine gun; a pair of stern-mounted depth charge racks; and 32 depth charges.
On 15 January 1941, Sinkyo Maru was assigned to minelaying operations as an auxiliary gunboat. That March and April, she operated off the central coast of China. From June to August, she operated in southern Chinese waters. On 15 October, she was assigned to local defence of Sasebo. She and another converted merchant ship, the auxiliary gunboat Shinko Maru No. 5, formed the Sasebo Local Defence Squadron. On 14 December she was laid 115 type 93 mines in two minefields. Thereafter she returned to defensive patrols.
On 6 January 1942, Sinkyo Maru was involved in a collision with the auxiliary oiler Akatsuki Maru, in which Sinkyo Maru's bridge was badly damaged. On 15 January she was rated as the Ōshima Area Defence Unit's Sea Surface Defence Unit. On 31 January her bridge was repaired; on 4 February she left Sasebo, and the next day she reached Kakeromajima in the Amami Islands, off the southern coast of Kyushu. She was in Naha on Okinawa from 20 to 25 February.
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Sinkyo Maru
Sinkyo Maru, formerly romanised as Shinkyo Maru, was a cargo steamship that was launched in Japan in 1932. The Imperial Japanese Navy requisitioned her in 1940. She was converted into an auxiliary gunboat, but also served as a minelayer and a troopship. A United States Navy submarine sank her in the Philippines in 1944, killing 61 of the people aboard.
The Uraga Dock Company in Uraga, Kanagawa, laid the keel plates of Shinkyo Maru on 25 February 1932. She was launched on 24 November that year, and completed on 11 April 1933. Her length was 298.2 ft (90.9 m); her beam was 44.9 ft (13.7 m); and her depth was 23.6 ft (7.2 m). Her tonnages were 2,672 gross register tons (GRT) and 1,554 net register tons (NRT). She had a raked bow, cruiser stern, and well decks fore and aft. She had two masts, and her engine room; boiler room; superstructure; and single funnel were amidships.
Shinkyo Maru had a single screw. Her main engine was a three-cylinder triple-expansion engine. She also had an exhaust steam turbine, which drove the same propeller shaft, but via double reduction gearing. The combined power of her reciprocating engine plus exhaust turbine was rated at 171 nominal horsepower. They gave her a top speed of 14 knots (26 km/h), and a cruising speed of 12 knots (22 km/h).
In 1934, Uraga built a sister ship for the same owners. Seikyo Maru was laid down on 5 May; launched on 20 September; and completed on 15 December.
Chōsen Yusen KK owned Shinkyo Maru. She was registered at Jinsen in Chōsen, which is now Incheon in South Korea. By 1935 her wireless telegraph call sign was JERG. In 1938, the romanisation of her name was changed to Sinkyo Maru. In the 1930s she traded between Chōsen and ports on Honshu, plus at visit to Vladivostok in the Soviet Union in 1933 and 1936.
On 15 September 1940, the Japanese Navy requisitioned Sinkyo Maru. On 15 October she was attached to the Sasebo Naval District as an auxiliary gunboat, with Sasebo as her home port. On 15 November she was rated as No. 12 Gunboat, and on 27 December her conversion was completed. Her main battery was three 12 cm/45 3rd Year Type naval guns. She was also armed with two Type 93 heavy machine guns; one 7.7 mm machine gun; a pair of stern-mounted depth charge racks; and 32 depth charges.
On 15 January 1941, Sinkyo Maru was assigned to minelaying operations as an auxiliary gunboat. That March and April, she operated off the central coast of China. From June to August, she operated in southern Chinese waters. On 15 October, she was assigned to local defence of Sasebo. She and another converted merchant ship, the auxiliary gunboat Shinko Maru No. 5, formed the Sasebo Local Defence Squadron. On 14 December she was laid 115 type 93 mines in two minefields. Thereafter she returned to defensive patrols.
On 6 January 1942, Sinkyo Maru was involved in a collision with the auxiliary oiler Akatsuki Maru, in which Sinkyo Maru's bridge was badly damaged. On 15 January she was rated as the Ōshima Area Defence Unit's Sea Surface Defence Unit. On 31 January her bridge was repaired; on 4 February she left Sasebo, and the next day she reached Kakeromajima in the Amami Islands, off the southern coast of Kyushu. She was in Naha on Okinawa from 20 to 25 February.