© 2007-2010 Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp and Peter Cundall
20 March 1944:
Laid down at Fujinagata Shipbuilding.
15 November 1944:
Launched and numbered CD-40.
22 December 1944:
Completed and registered in the IJN.
1 February 1945:
CD-40 is assigned to the General Escort Command's
First Escort Fleet
5 February 1945:
At 0700, CD-40 departs Moji for Hong Kong with
kaibokan CD-69 and subchaser CH-21 escorting convoy MOHO-02. The convoy consists
of MIHO, KINSEN, PEKING and BANSAI MARUs.
9 February 1945:
At 1915, anchors at Chusan (Shoushan) Island.
10 February 1945:
Departs the anchorage.
14 February 1945:
At 1100, arrives at Hong Kong.
16 March 1945:
At 0900, CD-40 departs Moji for Keelung with kaibokan
CHIKUBU, CD-102 and CD-106 escorting convoy MOTA-43. The convoy consists of
transports KIYOKAWA, HAKOZAKI, TATSUHARU and NIKKO MARUs.
19 March 1945:
225 miles NNE of Shanghai. At 0258, at 33-07N, 122-05E,
LtCdr Robert K. Worthington's USS BALAO (SS-285) attacks the convoy and
torpedoes TATSUHARU and HAKOZAKI MARUs. Another torpedo just misses CD-40.
HAKOZAKI MARU is torn apart by internal explosions as her cargo of gasoline,
shells and torpedoes ignites and blows off her stern. She quickly sinks, but her
forward section stays afloat blazing until finally sinking at 0320. The
combination of fire, explosions and 5 degree centigrade water means that almost
all aboard perish. 928 passengers, 51 gunners and 139 crew, a total of 1,118 are
KIA.
The torpedo strike on TATSUHARU MARU kills 149 military personnel, but
the ship remains afloat and later makes Shanghai. CD-102 and CHIKUBU launch an
unsuccessful depth charge counter-attack on BALAO, then rescue 130 survivors.
21 March 1945:
At 1145, USN codebreakers intercept and decrypt a message from CD-40 that reads: “Sighted one enemy 4-engine plane position 26-55N, 120-20E.” Then at 1200, codebreakers decrypt a message from CD-40 that reads: “Under bombing attack in position 26-58 N, 120-29E.”
24 March 1945:
At 1700, convoy MOTA-43 arrives at Keelung.
28 March 1945:
Off Keelung, Formosa. CD-102 and CD-106 are damaged by
near-misses of bombs from USAAF B-24 "Liberators" at 26-58N, 120-29E, but CD-40
escapes undamaged.
1 April 1945:
At 0615, CD-40 departs Keelung for Moji with kaibokan
CHIKUBU, CD-102, and CD-106 escorting convoy TAMO-53 consisting of the survivors
of convoy MOTA-43, NIKKO and KIYOKAWA MARUs. Both merchant ships are loaded with
sugar needed for conversion to aviation fuel and butane and evacuees from
Formosa, mostly women and children.
9 April 1945:
Yellow Sea. LtCdr (later Captain/MOH) George L. Street
III’s USS TIRANTE (SS-420), alerted by an “Ultra” signal based on code-breaker’s
intelligence, stalks convoy TAMO-53 enroute from Shanghai to Japan. Street fires
three Mark 18-2 electric torpedoes at each of two targets at 36-50N, 123-55E.
One spread misses, but the other hits NIKKO MARU in the bow and engine room. She
sinks taking down 563 passengers, 14 gunners, 16 guard force soldiers, two
signalers and 73 crewmen.
The convoy’s escorts counter-attack TIRANTE. Street fires a Mark-27
“Cutie"acoustic homing torpedo at CD-102. TIRANTE’s crew hears "breaking-up"
noises, but the kaibokan does not sink. CD-102 loses seven men blown off the
fantail when the Cutie hits. CHIKUBU tows damaged CD-102 to safety and rescues
some of NIKKO MARU's survivors. CD-40 and the remainder of the convoy head for
Moji.
13 April 1945:
Off Futaio Jima. CD-40 is damaged by a mine laid by
B-29 "Super Fortresses" of USAAF's 20th Bomber Command. Later that day, TAMO-53
arrives at Moji.
20 April 1945:
CD-40 is reassigned to the Maizuru Naval District.
Undergoes repairs.
10 July 1945:
Reassigned to the First Escort Fleet's 105th Escort
Squadron.
15 August 1945:
CD-40’s crew is notified of the termination of the
war.
30 November 1945:
Removed from the Navy List.
1 December 1945:
Assigned to mine sweeping duties by the Allied
Occupation Force. [1]
29 August 1947:
Tsingtao, China. Ceded to the Republic of China as a war reparation. Renamed CHAN AN.
1963:
Discarded.
Authors' Note:
[1] In 1945, the U. S. Army Air Force launched a five-phased campaign known as “Operation Starvation” to mine Japan’s home waters. The USAAF used 80 to 100 B-29 “Super Fortress” heavy bombers of the 21st Bomber Command based at Tinian in the Marianas. The B-29s could carry seven 2,000 lb. or twelve 1,000 lb. mines.
Beginning on 27 March 1945 and continuing until 5 August 1945, the B-29s flew 1,529 nighttime radar sorties and laid 4,900 magnetic, 3,500 acoustic, 2,900 pressure and 700 low-frequency mines for a total of more than 12,000 mines laid in Japanese waters. These mines sank 294 ships, damaged 137 beyond repair and damaged another 239 that could be repaired. The total was 1, 250,000 tons sunk or damaged or about 75 percent of Japanese shipping available in March 1945. Only 15 B-29s were lost during the mining campaign.
Postwar, removal of these mines posed a major challenge for the Allied Occupation Forces. They pressed 269 Japanese ships of various types into mine sweeping service to augment their own efforts.
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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