ZATSUYOSEN!
(KASUGA MARU prewar)
IJN KASUGA MARU No. 2 GO:
Tabular Record of Movement
© 2013 Gilbert Casse, Bob Hackett and Peter Cundall
April 1936:
Osaka. Laid down by Osaka Tekkosho Honsha K.K shipyard as a 3,967-ton cargo ship for Naigai Kisen, K.K.
3 September 1936:
Launched and named KASUGA MARU.
30 October 1936:
Completed and registered in Kobe.
10 November 1941:
Requisitioned by the IJN.
12 November 1941:
Starts conversion to military duty at the Sasebo Navy Yard.
1 December 1941:
Registered in the IJN as an auxiliary transport (Otsu) category attached to the Sasebo Naval District with Sasebo as home port under instruction No. 1573. [1].
10 December 1941:
Renamed KASUGA MARU No. 2 GO under instruction No. 11623.
14 December 1941:
The conversion is completed.
19 December 1941:
Departs Sasebo.
25 December 1941:
At 1140, arrives at Samah (Sana), Hainan Island, China.
6 January 1942:
Departs Samah.
7 January 1942:
Arrives at Camranh Bay, Indochina (now Vietnam).
12 January 1942:
Departs Camranh Bay.
13 January 1942:
Arrives at Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), Indochina.
15 January 1942:
Departs Saigon.
30 January 1942:
Arrives at Takao, Formosa (now Kaohsiung, Taiwan).
6 February 1942:
Departs Takao.
15 May 1942:
Scheduled to be fitted with one Type 92 7.7mm MG and five Type 38 Arisaka rifles under secret instruction No. 5990.
14 June 1942:
Arrives at Hong Kong.
17 June 1942:
Departs Hong Kong.
25 June 1942:
Arrives at Osaka.
29 June 1942:
Departs Osaka.
1 July 1942:
Arrives at Sasebo.
21 July 1942:
Departs Sasebo and arrives at Miike, Fukuoka Prefecture later that same day.
23 July 1942:
Departs Miike and joins convoy No.141 also consisting of IJA transports YAMAGATA and DELAGOA MARUs and one unidentified merchant ship escorted by destroyer WAKATAKE.
27 July 1942:
Arrives at Takao.
29 July 1942:
Departs Takao and arrives at Mako, Pescadores later that day.
25 August 1942:
Tactically assigned to the Southwest Area Fleet.
2 December 1942:
At 1400, departs Seletar, Singapore.
5 December 1942:
Due to arrive at Surabaya.
6 December 1942:
Due to depart Surabaya.
10 December 1942:
Due to arrive at Ambon, Moluccas.
12 December 1942:
Due to depart Ambon.
18 December 1942:
Due to arrive at Kavieng, New Ireland.
20 December 1942:
Due to depart Kavieng.
26 December 1942:
Due to arrive at Ambon and depart the same day.
28 December 1942:
Due to arrive at Makassar, Celebes (now Sulawesi).
29 December 1942:
Due to depart Makassar.
31 December 1942:
Due to arrive at Balikpapan, Borneo.
12 January 1943:
Due to depart Balikpapan for Singapore towing Navy oiler NOTORO but departure is delayed.
22 January 1943:
At 0700, departs Balikpapan, Borneo for Singapore, towing damaged NOTORO. Off Balikpapan, about 1200, LtCdr John A. Fitzgerald’s (USNA ’31) USS GRENADIER (SS-210) attacks the two ships and hits KASUGA MARU No. 2 GO, but only causing slight damage. [2]
31 January 1943:
Both ships arrive at Singapore and dock at Seletar Naval Base for repairs, probably performed by the IJN’s No. 101 Repair Unit.
9 March 1943:
At 1700 departs Belawan, Sumatra for the Andaman Islands.
12 March 1943:
At 0900, scheduled to arrive at Port Blair, Andamans.
13 March 1943:
Port Blair Harbour. At 1000, Luitenant-ter-Zee (LtCdr, later Cdr) Sam C. Van Dulm HNMS O-21 submarine slipping past the harbor’s defenses, fires at the anchored transport. KASUGA MARU No. 2 GO is hit by two torpedoes and sinks rapidly at 11-40N, 92-50E with the loss of 21 of her crew.
20 April 1943:
Removed from the Navy’s list under instruction No. 765.
Authors Notes:
[1] There were two categories of Zatsuyosen. (Ko) category with an IJN Captain as supervisor aboard and (Otsu) category without.
[2]. NOTORO was hit 9 Jan ’43 in Makassar Strait, Netherlands East Indies, by two torpedoes fired by LtCdr (later Captain) Philip D. Quirk’s (USNA
’32) USS GAR (SS-206).
Thanks go to Gengoro S. Toda of Japan.
Gilbert Casse, Bob Hackett and Peter Cundall
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