KINAI MARU, completed in 1930, was the first of six diesel engined ships of her class built by Mitsubishi, Nagasaki for the Osaka Shosen Kaisha (OSK) Line. On her maiden voyage, she established a transit record from Yokohama to New York of 25 days 17.5 hours. Her sisters were NANKAI, HOKKAI, TOKAI, HOKUROKU and SANYO MARUs. None survived past 1945. Five were torpedoed and sunk by American submarines: KINAI MARU, off Saipan, in May '43, TOKAI MARU, off Guam's harbor, in Aug '43, HOKUROKU MARU, SW of Hong Kong, in Mar '44, SANYO MARU, N of the Celebes, in May '44, NANKAI MARU, E of Hainan Island, China, in Sep '44. Finally, HOKKAI MARU from a fire sank postwar off Surabaya, Java in Nov '45.
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