© 2007-2009 Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp and Peter Cundall
20 March 1944:
Osaka. Laid down at Fujinagata Shipbuilding.
16 September 1944:
Launched and numbered CD-36.
21 October 1944:
Completed and registered in the IJN.
1 January 1945:
At 0715, CD-36 departs Moji for Takao with kaibokan
CD-67, CD-112 and probably CD-39 escorting convoy MOTA-30 consisting of ANYO,
HISAGAWA, MEIHO, RASHIN, SANYO, HIKOSHIMA, DAIGA, TATSUYO and MANJU MARUs.
8 January 1945:
At 1830, Cdr (later Rear Admiral/MOH) Eugene B.
Fluckey's USS BARB (SS-220) torpedoes TATSUYO MARU. Loaded with munitions, she
explodes and sinks instantly. At 2020, LtCdr Evan T. Shepard's USS PICUDA
(SS-382) torpedoes and sinks ANYO MARU. At 2120, Fluckey's BARB torpedoes and
damages SANYO MARU. At 2230, while avoiding numerous torpedoes, HIKOSHIMA MARU
runs aground in Tunghsiao Bay and is abandoned. At 2315, Cdr (later Rear
Admiral-Ret) Charles E. Loughlin's QUEENFISH (SS-393) torpedoes and damages
MANJU MARU. At 2330, SANYO MARU runs aground.
9 January 1945:
At 2040, MANJU MARU is deliberately run aground. At
0430, SANYO MARU breaks in two and sinks. HISAGAWA MARU and two escorts head
south. At about 0600, they join RASHIN MARU and another escort and head for
Takao. MEIHO and TAIGA MARUs head for Keelung. At 0915, HISAGAWA and RASHIN
MARUs are attacked by aircraft. HISAGAWA MARU is damaged severely and lags
behind. The group heads for Mako, Pescadores, but at about 1255, HISAGAWA MARU
sinks taking down 2283 men of the IJA's 19th Infantry Division's 3rd Transport
Unit. [1]
20 January 1945:
CD-36 is assigned to the 3rd Coast Defense Group.
8 March 1945:
CD-36 departs Yulin, Hainan Island for Moji with kaibokan MIKURA, CD-33, CD-69 and subchaser CH-21 escorting convoy YUMO-01 consisting TATSUMIYA MARU. Later that day, the convoy is attacked at sea by USAAF 14th Air Force B-24 “Liberator” heavy bombers that severely damage CD-69 at 19-02, 111-50E. CD-69 is hit by bombs and disabled. She is taken in tow and drops behind the convoy.
9 March 1945:
At 0806, USN codebreakers intercept and decrypt a message from CD-36 that reads: “At 1959 [on the 8th], Coast Defense Vessel No. 69 was bombed by enemy aircraft in position 19-02N, 110-56E. -----. Killed on Coast Defense Vessel No. 69: 3 (warrant officers and above?) and 23 ratings. Severely wounded ------. No damage to this vessel.”
15 March 1945:
USAAF B-24s attack convoy YUMO-01 consisting of unidentified ships that departed Hong Kong the day before escorted by CD-36. They bomb and damage CD-36 at 23-03N, 116-52E.
16 March 1945:
Eight miles off Hong Kong. CD-69 sinks while in tow at 22-00N, 113-40E.
At 1136, codebreakers decrypt a message from the CO of CD-69 that reads: Because of heavy seas the engine room was cut off and at 0714 we sank quickly in position bearing 1300 [sic], 8 miles distant from Mawei------.”
25 July 1945:
At 1800, CD-36 departs Otaru, Hokkaido for Kefuta on the southern Kamchatka Peninsula with kaibokan CD-57 escorting a convoy consisting of KASADO MARU (ex-Russian KAZAN) and RYUHO MARU No. 2. [2]
31 July 1945:
The convoy arrives at the Kefuta Sea. KASADO MARU and RYUHO MARU No. 2 proceed separately to different ports. CD-36 and CD-57 remain just outside Soviet territorial waters.
1 August 1945:
At 0800, the Russian authorities arrive to discuss procedures and prepare the paperwork for the Japanese ships’ entry into Soviet Union Far East waters. RYUHO MARU No. 2’s mission is to quickly load 50,000 cans of salmon and trout, salted salmon and salmon roe, but the Soviet authorities
cause endless delays.
9 August 1945:
At 1300, as RYUHO MARU No. 2 prepares to get underway, she is boarded by ten Russian soldiers. The senior Russian warns of numerous United States submarines operating in the Sea of Okhotsk. He says that the return journey is not to be undertaken at the request of the Japanese Government. About that time, the Japanese realize their communications are being jammed. At 2200, all onboard RYUHO MARU No. 2 leave the ship under guard.
That same day, KASADO MARU is at Utka. At 1030, after being boarded by Russian soldiers, her crew is ordered to leave the ship. About an hour later, a Russian officer informs them that Russia and Japan are at war. Unmanned KASADO MARU remains at anchor. At 1355, four Russian aircraft bomb the ship. She sinks
in shallow water. Her crew is interned.
E 13 August 1945:
CD-36 and CD-57 return to Hokkaido.
15 August 1945:
Hokkaido. CD-36’s crew is notified of the termination of the war.
2 October 1945:
Departs Maizuru on her first repatriation trip.
5 October 1945:
Removed from the Navy List.
11 October 1945:
Arrives at Manila. Embarks troops and passengers to be repatriated and departs later that day.
20 October 1945:
Arrives at Kure.
1 November 1945:
Departs Sasebo.
6 November 1945:
Arrives at Manila. Embarks troops and passengers to be repatriated.
9 November 1945:
Departs Manila.
12 November 1945:
Arrives at Kagoshima. Disembarks troops and passengers.
1 December 1945:
Formally designated a special cargo ship in the Allied
Repatriation Service. [4]
2 October 1945:
Departs Maizuru.
11 October 1945:
Arrives at Manila. Embarks troops and passengers to be repatriated and departs later that day.
20 October 1945:
Arrives at Kure.
1 November 1945:
Departs Sasebo.
6 November 1945:
Arrives at Manila. Embarks troops and passengers to be repatriated.
9 November 1945:
Departs Manila.
12 November 1945:
Arrives at Kagoshima. Disembarks troops and passengers.
14 December 1945:
Departs Saiki.
19 December 1945:
Arrives at Guam. Embarks troops and passengers to be repatriated and departs later that day.
21 December 1945:
Arrives at Palau. Embarks troops and passengers to be repatriated.
22 December 1945:
Departs Palau.
30 December 1945:
Arrives at Uraga. Disembarks troops and passengers.
5 January 1946:
Undergoes repair at Ishikawajima.
31 January 1946:
Repairs are completed.
3 February 1946:
Departs Uraga.
10 February 1946:
Arrives at Guam. Embarks troops and passengers to be repatriated and departs later that day.
14 February 1946:
Arrives at Palau. Embarks troops and passengers to be repatriated and departs later that day.
22 February 1946:
Arrives at Uraga. Disembarks troops and passengers.
1 March 1946:
Undergoes repairs at Kobe.
21 March 1946:
Repairs are completed.
28 March 1946:
Departs Sasebo.
30 March 1946:
Arrives at Shanghai. Embarks troops and passengers to be repatriated.
1 April 1946:
Departs Shanghai.
2 April 1946:
Arrives at Sasebo. Disembarks troops and passengers.
5 April 1946:
Departs Sasebo.
7 April 1946:
Arrives at Shanghai. Embarks troops and passengers to be repatriated.
11 April 1946:
Departs Shanghai.
14 April 1946:
Arrives at Sasebo. Disembarks troops and passengers.
22 April 1946:
Departs Sasebo.
24 April 1946:
Arrives at Shanghai. Embarks troops and passengers to be repatriated.
2 May 1946:
Departs Shanghai.
5 May 1946:
Arrives at Sasebo. Disembarks troops and passengers.
19 May 1946:
Departs Sasebo.
21 May 1946:
Arrives at Shanghai. Embarks troops and passengers to be repatriated.
23 May 1946:
Departs Shanghai.
24 May 1946:
Arrives at Sasebo. Disembarks troops and passengers.
29 May 1946:
Departs Sasebo.
1 June 1946:
Arrives at Shanghai. Embarks troops and passengers to be repatriatedand departs later that day.
5 June 1946:
Arrives at Sasebo. Disembarks troops and passengers.
7 June 1946:
Departs Sasebo.
10 June 1946:
Arrives at Shanghai. Embarks troops and passengers to be repatriated.
12 June 1946:
Departs Shanghai.
14 June 1946:
Arrives at Sasebo. Disembarks troops and passengers.
26 June 1946:
Undergoes repairs at Kure.
12 July 1946:
Repairs are completred.
25 September 1946:
Departs Kure.
30 September 1946:
Arrives at Korojima near Tsientsin. Embarks troops and passengers to be repatriated.
2 October 1946:
Departs Korojima.
6 October 1946:
Arrives at Hakata. Disembarks troops and passengers.
16 October 1946:
Departs Hakata.
19 October 1946:
Arrives at Korojima. Embarks troops and passengers to be repatriated.
20 October 1946:
Departs Korojima.
24 October 1946:
Arrives at Hakata. Disembarks troops and passengers.
4 November 1946:
Undergoes repairs at Sasebo.
5 December 1946:
Repairs are completred.
19 July 1947:
Ceded to the United States as a war reparation.
1 March 1948:
Completes scrapping.
Authors’ Notes
]1] On 20 Jan '45, MANJU MARU was sunk by aircraft in the
location of her grounding.
[2] KASADO MARU was a former Russian ship. Under her original name KAZAN,
she was attached to the Russian Baltic Fleet and captured in 1905 during the
Russo-Japanese War.
[3] RYUHO MARU’s crew remained interned the following two years. On 8
December 1947, the forty-nine men were landed at Hakodate, southern Hokkaido.
RYUHO MARU No. 2's seizure was disclosed by her returning captain. Until then,
the Japanese believed the ship had been sunk by aircraft attack.
[4] Allied occupation forces were responsible for the return of six million Japanese military personnel and civilians from Japan's defunct far-flung Empire. In addition, there were over a million Korean and about 40,000 Chinese prisoners and conscript laborers and approximately 7,000 Formosans and 15,000 Ryukyu Islanders to be repatriated.
Some Allied and many former IJN warships, from aircraft carriers to kaibokan, were used to facilitate the enormous repatriation effort. Japanese vessels and crews were used to the fullest extent possible to conserve Allied manpower and accelerate demobilization. Each ex-IJN ship first had to be demilitarized; guns removed or, in the case of large warships, barrels severed, ammunition landed, and radar and catapults removed, if fitted. Repatriation of the Chinese on Japanese ships began early in October from Hakata, but U.S. guard detachments had to be placed on many ships to prevent disorder because the Japanese crews could not control the returnees.
Japanese-run repatriation centers were established at Kagoshima, Hario near Sasebo, and Hakata near Fukuoka. Other reception centers were established and operated at Maizuru, Shimonoseki, Sasebo, Senzaki, Kure, Uraga, Yokohama, Moji and Hakodate. Allied line and medical personnel supervised the centers. Incoming Japanese were sprayed with DDT, examined and inoculated for typhus and smallpox, provided with food, and transported to his final destination in Japan.
Thanks go to Dr. Higuchi Tatsuhiro of Japan. Thanks also go to John Whitman of the USA for info on CNO intercepts of Japanese messages.
-Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp and Peter Cundall
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