© 2009-2023 Bob Hackett, Berend van der Wal and Peter Cundall
Revision 2
1 February 1943:
Aioi. Laid down as a 1,641-ton target ship at Harima Shipbuilding. She is the first Japanese ship built specifically for use as a target ship.
25 May 1943:
Named HAKACHI under order No. 121. Rated as a special service and target ship under order No 1028.
27 June 1943:
Launched.
5 October 1943:
Cdr Nito Jinnosuke is appointed Outfitting Chief.
18 November 1943:
Completed and registered in the Kure Naval District. Cdr Nito Jinnosuke is appointed CO. Attached to the Kure Naval Base Unit. Tactically assigned to the Combined Fleet.
Her raised deck gives the appearance of an aircraft carrier, but is actually meant to protect her against practice bombs and bullets. To achieve this protection the upper deck is covered with a 22mm steel plate.
During target training the machine guns on deck are removed.
She is also equipped with a curtain which when employed makes the ships’s width appear like a heavy cruiser.
November ~ December 1943:
Trains in the Seto Inland Sea.
24 December 1943:
Departs Kure for Truk, Carolines.
17-18 February 1944: American Operation "Hailstone" - The Attack on Truk:
Vice Admiral (later Admiral) Marc A. Mitscher’s Task Force 58’s five fleet carriers and four light carriers,
supported by six battleships, ten cruisers and 28 destroyers, launch air attacks on Japanese ships in the lagoon, airfields and shore installations. They sink 31 transports and 10 naval vessels (two cruisers, four destroyers and four auxiliary vessels), destroy nearly 200 aircraft and damage severely about 100 more.
TF 58’s aircraft damage HAKACHI, ammunition ship SOYA, destroyers SHIGURE and MATSUKAZE, submarines I-10 and RO-37, repair ship AKASHI, seaplane tender AKITSUSHIMA and auxiliary submarine chaser CHa-20. Truk is eliminated as a major fleet anchorage for the IJN.
18 February 1944:
Destroyer FUMITSUKI, hit by an aerial torpedo on 17 Feb, sinks despite assistance from HAKACHI and MATSUKAZE that rescue survivors.
20 February 1944:
Completes repairs and prepares to depart Truk for Palau.
21 February 1944:
At 0400 departs Truk with repair ship AKASHI escorted by destroyers AKIKAZE and FUJINAMI.
At 0800 destroyer HARUSAME joins the escort.
24 February 1944:
Arrives at Palau. Repair ship AKASHI starts repairs.
18 March 1944:
Departs Palau for Lingga, Riau Islands, Netherlands East Indies (now Indonesia) to serve as target ship for the Navy Airforce.
Late March 1944:
Arrives at Lingga anchorage near Singapore. Later, serves as a target ship for Carrier Division 1's TAIHO (F), SHOKAKU and ZUIKAKU.
16 April 1944:
At Singapore. Comes along starboard side of oiler KAMOI, presumably to bunker. Light cruiser KITAKAMI is already lying alongside.
24 May 1944:
Departs Lingga for Davao, Mindanao, Philippines to serve as target ship for the Navy Airforce.
Summer 1944:
HAKACHI is modified to serve as an escort vessel.
10 June 1944:
LtCdr Takehiko Tsuda is appointed CO.
Late June ~ Early July 1944:
Departs Davao for Manila, Philippines to serve as target ship for the Army Air Corps.
E 22 September 1944:
Departs Manila for Kirun, Formosa (now Keelung, Taiwan).
27 September 1944:
At 1330 departs Takao, Formosa (now Kaoshiung, Taiwan) with kaibokan CD-3 and CD-7, auxiliary gunboat CHOHAKASAN MARU and auxiliary netlayer/cable layer OSEI MARU escorting convoy TAMO-26 consisting of IJA transports NIKKO, SEISHIN, CLYDE, HAKUSAN, MATSUURA, DAIJO, GASSAN, YOKO and BIYO MARUs and IJA landing ship SS-6.
At 1745 kaibokan CD-1 departs Saei, Formosa (now Tsoying, Taiwan) on escorting convoy TAMO-26.
28 September 1944:
At 0205 kaibokan CD-1 joins the convoy escort. Off Kirun CD-3 attacks an underwater contact. She drops 3 depth charges. The convoy arrives at Kirun later that day.
1 October 1944:
Departs Kirun escorting convoy TAMO-26 . At 0900 kaibokan CD-1 joins the convoy escort. Auxiliary gunboat CHOHAKASAN MARU detaches and heads towards Kirun to repair damage to her main cooling water pipe.
3 October 1944:
Kaibokan CD-1 detaches and heads towards Nagasaki.
5 October 1944:
At 0600 detaches. TAMO-26 is only convoy HAKACHI escorts in IJN service.
6 October 1944:
Arrives at Moji. Later departs for Kure.
E April 1945:
Target ship for kamikaze aircraft.
6 April 1945:
Anchors in Beppu Bay. At sunset the crew sights a large fleet formation heading south through the Bungo Strait. The ships sail in a single column with battleship YAMATO at the end of the column. CO Takehiko thinks the fleet’s mission is to attack Okinawa and hoists the flagsignal ‘Praying for good luck ’.
13 October 1945:
LtCdr Takehiko Tsuda relieved of command.
20 October 1945:
LtCdr Takaya Amano is appointed CO.
12 November 1945:
LtCdr Hyjakuji Hashiguchi is appointed CO.
25 November 1945:
LtCdr/Second Demobilized Officer/Second Demobilized Administrative Officer/Demobilized Administrative Officer Kaneji Takane is appointed CO.
30 November 1945:
Removed from the Navy List.
1 December 1945:
Assigned to the Allied Repatriation Service as a special transport ship.
19 January 1946:
Departs Kagoshima.
25 January 1946:
Arrives at Guam, Marianas, United States of America.
26 January 1946:
Departs Guam.
4 February 1946:
Arrives at Pusan, Chosen (now Busan, South Korea). Departs later that day.
5 February 1946:
Arrives at Sasebo.
11 February 1946:
Departs Sasebo
17 February 1946:
Arrives at Guam and departs later that day.
20 February 1946:
Arrives at Saipan.
22 February 1946:
Departs Saipan.
26 February 1946:
Arrives at Okinawa and departs later that day.
1 March 1946:
Arrives at Sasebo.
3 March 1946:
Enters dockyard at Sasebo for repairs.
4 April 1946:
Repairs are completed.
8 April 1946:
Departs Sasebo.
13 April 1946:
Arrives at Shanghai, China and departs later that same day.
16 April 1946:
Arrives at Shanghai.
19 April 1946:
Departs Shanghai.
21 April 1946:
Arrives at Shanghai.
30 April 1946:
Departs Shanghai.
3 May 1946:
Arrives at Woosung (Wusung), China.
9 May 1946:
Departs Woosung.
11 May 1946:
Arrives at Sasebo.
17 May 1946:
Departs Sasebo.
19 May 1946:
Arrives at Shanghai.
20 May 1946:
Departs Shanghai.
22 May 1946:
Arrives at Sasebo.
29 May 1946:
Departs Sasebo.
31 May 1946:
Arrives at Shanghai and departs later the same day.
2 June 1946:
Arrives at Sasebo.
11 June 1946:
Departs Sasebo.
13 June 1946:
Arrives at Shanghai.
14 June 1946:
Departs Shanghai.
17 June 1946:
Arrives at Sasebo.
27 June 1946:
Enters dockyard at Sasebo for repairs.
10 July 1946:
Repairs are completed.
11 September 1946:
Departs Sasebo.
14 September 1946:
Arrives at Kororjima, near Tsientsin.
18 September 1946:
Departs Kororjima.
21 September 1946:
Arrives at Hakata.
28 September 1946:
Departs Hakata.
3 October 1946:
Arrives at Korojima and departs later the same day.
7 October 1946:
Arrives at Hakata.
6 November 1946:
Departs Sasebo.
8 November 1946:
Arrives at Okinawa.
9 November 1946:
Departs Okinawa.
11 November 1946:
Arrives at Sasebo.
22 November 1946:
Departs Sasebo.
24 November 1946:
Arrives at Okinawa and departs later the same day.
26 November 1946:
Arrives at Sasebo.
5 December 1946:
Departs Sasebo.
7 December 1946:
Arrives at Okinawa.
8 December 1946:
Departs Okinawa.
11 December 1946:
Arrives at Sasebo on her last repatriation voyage. In all, she transports 1,641 former military personnel back to Japan.
23 December 1946:
Demobilized Administrative Officer Kaneji Takane is relieved of command.
1947:
Osaka. Scrapped at Fujinagata Zosensho.
-Bob Hackett and Peter Cundall
Thanks to Gengoro Toda of Japan and Mr. Gilbert Casse of France.
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