YUSOSEN!
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(Oiler by Takeshi Yuki scanned from "Color Paintings
of Japanese Warships")
IJN MANEI MARU: Tabular Record of Movement
© 2008-2009 Bob Hackett and Peter Cundall.
Revision 3
24 August 1943:
Nagasaki. Laid down by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries as a 5,226-ton Type 1TM Wartime Standard Merchant Tanker for Nitto Kisen K. K., Tokyo.
30 November 1943:
Launched and named MANEI MARU.
15 January 1944:
Completed.
31 January 1944:
Departs Nagasaki.
1 February 1944:
Arrives at Sasebo.
3 February 1944:
Departs Sasebo.
7 February 1944:
Arrives at Shimotsu.
9 February 1944:
Departs Shimotsu.
16 February 1944:
Arrives at Keelung, Formosa.
18 February 1944:
Departs Keelung.
24 February 1944:
Arrives at Camranh Bay, Indochina (Vietnam).
28 February 1944:
Requisitioned by the IJN. Registered as an auxiliary transport (oil).
29 February 1944:
Departs Camranh Bay.
3 March 1944:
Arrives at Singapore.
15 March 1944:
At 1000, MANEI MARU departs Singapore in convoy HI-50 consisting of tankers OKIKAWA and EIHO MARUs and ten unidentified merchant ships escorted by destroyer SHIOKAZE and kaibokan SADO.
18 March 1944:
At 1600, arrives at Cape St Jacques.
20 March 1944:
At 1500, departs Cape St Jacques.
24 March 1944:
At 1900, arrives at Manila.
27 March 1944:
At 1400, departs Manila.
30 March 1944:
At 1000, arrives at Takao.
1 April 1944:
At 1600, departs Takao.
2 April 1944:
At 1700, arrives at Mako, Pescadores.
4 April 1944:
At 1600, departs Mako.
8 April 1944:
At 1010, arrives at Moji. Later that day, arrives at the Tokuyama naval oil depot. Off loads fuel oil.
15 April 1944:
Departs Tokuyama.
16 April 1944:
Arrives at Moji.
20 April 1944:
At 0600, MANEI MARU departs Moji-Mutsure for Singapore in convoy HI-59 consisting of tankers OKIKAWA, NIPPPO, EIHO, MANEI (BANEI), OTORISAN and NIYO MARUs and probably KINUGASA, NOSHIRO and TEIRITSU MARUs and tanker NICHINAN MARU No. 2 escorted by kaibokan KURAHASHI, CD-10, CD-11 and CD-20.
21 April 1944:
KURAHASHI and CD-20 are detached.
E 28 April 1944:
South China Sea. KURAHASHI and CD-20 arrive from Manila and rejoin the convoy.
28 April 1944:
Arrives at Takao.
29 April 1944:
Departs Takao.
2 May 1944:
At 1200, HI-59 arrives at Manila where the convoy is dissolved.
5 May 1944:
Departs Manila, Philippines.
10 May 1944:
Arrives at Balikpapan, Borneo.
15 May 1944:
Departs Balikpapan.
18 May 1944:
Arrives at Tawi Tawi, Philippines.
20 May 1944:
Departs Tawi Tawi.
21 May 1944:
Arrives at Tarakan, Borneo.
10 June 1944:
Departs Tarakan. Later that day, arrives at "Kananbena" (unidentified location, possibly Karang Besar). [2]
11 June 1944:
Departs Kananbena
12 June 1944:
Arrives at Balikpapan.
17 June 1944:
Departs Balikpapan.
18 June 1944:
Arrives at the Berouw (Berau) River mouth, NE Borneo.
19 June 1944:
Departs the Berouw River mouth.
20 June 1944:
Arrives and departs Tarakan. Anchors that evening in Ligitan Channel, Celebes Sea. [2]
21 June 1944:
Departs Ligitan Channel.
23 June 1944:
Arrives at Guimaras Bay, Philippines.
26 June 1944:
Departs Guimaras Bay.
27 June 1944:
Arrives at Zamboanga, Philippines.
28 June 1944:
Departs Zamboanga.
30 June 1944:
Arrives at Tawi Tawi.
1 July 1944:
Departs Tawi Tawi. Later that day, anchors in Ligitan Channel. [2]
2 July 1944:
Departs Ligitan Channel. Later that day, anchors off Tarakan.
3 July 1944:
Arrives at Berouw River mouth.
4 July 1944:
Departs the Berouw River mouth.
5 July 1944:
Arrives at Balikpapan.
10 July 1944:
Departs Balikpapan.
11 July 1944:
Arrives at the Berouw River mouth.
12 July 1944:
Departs the Berouw River mouth. Later that day, anchors off Tarakan.
13 July 1944:
Departs Tarakan. Arrives at the Ligitan Channel. [2]
14 July 1944:
Departs the Ligitan Channel. Later that day, arrives at Tawi Tawi.
15 July 1944:
Departs Tawi Tawi. Later that day, arrives at Jolo, Philippines.
16 July 1944:
Departs Jolo. Later that day, arrives Zamboanga, Philippines.
18 July 1944:
Departs Zamboanga.
19 July 1944:
Arrives at Calabasa at the northern entrance to Guimaras Strait.[2]
20 July 1944:
Departs Calabasa. Later that day, arrives at Sapian Bay, N coast of Panay Island. [2]
21 July 1944:
Departs Sapian Bay. Later that day, arrives at Pilar, N-coast of Panay.[2]
22 July 1944:
Departs Pilar. Later that day, arrives at Manila.
26 July 1944:
Departs Manila.
31 July 1944:
Arrives at Zamami, Kerama Retto.
2 August 1944:
Departs Zamami.
5 August 1944:
Arrives at Mutsure. Departs later that day. Arrives at Kure.
20 August 1944:
Undocked.
21 August 1944:
Departs Kure.
22 August 1944:
Arrives at Moji.
25 August 1944:
Convoy HI-73 departs Moji for Singapore consisting of transport/cargo liner KIBITSU MARU, ex-armed merchant cruiser GOKOKU MARU, ex-seaplane tenders KAGU and SANUKI MARUs, tankers TOHO, OMUROSAN, OTOWASAN, TAIHO, FUJISAN (1944), HAKKO, AMATO, TOA and KUROSHIO MARUs and fleet storeship IRAKO escorted by escort carrier UNYO, light cruiser KASHII and kaibokan CHIBURI, CD-1, CD-13, CD-19, CD-21 and CD-27.
Off Terajima Straits, Kyushu. Later that day, the convoy is joined briefly by MANEI MARU and transports MIZUHO, ARABIA and KOKURYU MARUs.
26 August 1944:
At 0900, MIZUHO, ARABIA and KOKURYU MARUs are ordered away because of excessive smoke. MANEI MARU remains at Kyushu because of engine problems.
8 September 1944:
MANEI MARU departs Moji for Singapore in convoy HI-75 consisting of oilers NICHIEI, RYOEI, YUHO, TOHO (1944 built), SERIA and AMATO MARUs, passenger liner ASAMA MARU and cargo-passenger SAIGON MARU escorted by escort carrier SHINYO, flying boat tender AKITSUSHIMA, DesDiv 30’s YUZUKI and UZUKI and kaibokan KANJU, MIYAKE and MANJU.
The convoys pulls into Imari Wan for the night.
9 September 1944:
Departs Imari Wan.
12 September 1944:
SAIGON MARU, YUZUKI and KANJU are detached for the China coast. They later rejoin at Takao.
13 September 1944:
At 1400, arrives at Takao.
14 September 1944:
The convoy is increased by the addition of oilers FUJISAN MARU (1944), KUROSHIO and TAIHO MARUs, torpedo boat HIYODORI and kaibokan CD-28. At 1630, the convoy departs Takao for Singapore. Soon thereafter, AMATO MARU, and at 1900, YUHO MARU, develop engine problems and are detached.
16 September 1944:
At 2330, KANJU, suffering rudder problems, collides with SERIA MARU, but there is little damage.
17 September 1944:
At 1000, AKITSUSHIMA and SAIGON MARU are detached and head for Manila escorted by YUZUKI and UZUKI. Enroute, Cdr (later Rear Admiral) Rueben T. Whitaker's USS FLASHER (SS-249) torpedoes and sinks SAIGON MARU.
18 September 1944:
At 1040, kaibokan KURAHASHI joins the escort.
19 September 1944:
At 1500, AMATO MARU rejoins the convoy.
20 September 1944:
During the day, NICHIEI, KUROSHIO, TAIHO and FUJISAN MARUs and carrier SHINYO all suffer engine or rudder problems, but the convoy remains intact.
22 September 1944:
At 1300, arrives at Singapore.
23 September 1944:
Departs Singapore. Anchors in the Berhala Straits.
24 September 1944:
Departs Berhala Straits. Anchors in the Musi River mouth.
25 September 1944:
Departs Musi River mouth and arrives Palembang.
26 September 1944:
Departs Palembang. Later that day, arrives at Muntok, Bangka Island. Transfers fuel to RYOEI MARU.
27 September 1944:
Departs Muntok. Later that day, arrives at the Musi River mouth.
28 September 1944:
Departs Musi River mouth.
29 September 1944:
Arrives at Palembang.
30 September 1944:
Departs Palembang. Later that day, arrives at the Musi River mouth. Transfers some cargo to AYANAMI MARU.
2 October 1944:
Departs Musi River mouth.
3 October 1944:
S of Singapore. Arrives at the Dempo Strait (now Selat Dempo) anchorage at the southern end of Bintan (Riau) Archipelago. Transfers remaining cargo to NIPPO MARU. [2]
6 October 1944:
Departs Dempo Strait anchorage.
7 October 1944:
Arrives at Palembang, Sumatra. Loads fuel oil.
8 October 1944:
Departs Palembang.
9 October 1944:
Arrives at Singapore.
12 October 1944:
Departs Singapore.
13 October 1944:
Arrives at Palembang. Loads fuel oil.
14 October 1944:
Departs Palembang.
15 October 1944:
Arrives at Singapore.
18 October 1944:
Departs Singapore.
22 October 1944:
Arrives at Brunei Bay, Borneo.
22-31 October 1944:
While at Brunei, refuels battleship KONGO, cruiser HAGURO and transfers fuel to tanker OMUROSAN MARU.
31 October 1944:
Departs Brunei. Later that day, arrives at Miri. Loads 7,000 tons of heavy oil.
6 November 1944:
Departs Miri for Manila with 7,000 tons of fuel oil in an unidentified convoy escorted by destroyer SHIGURE and kaibokan CHIBURI and CD-19.
8 November 1944:
100 miles SW of Olongapo (Subic Bay), Luzon, Philippines. The convoy is attacked by a wolf pack consisting of Cdr Thomas B. Oakley, Jr’s USS GROWLER (SS-215), LtCdr Frank E. Haylor's HAKE (SS-256) and LtCdr Francis A. Greenup's HARDHEAD (SS-365). During the action, at about 0400, HARDHEAD torpedoes and sinks MANEI MARU at 13-30N, 119-25E.
The escorts launch a heavy depth charge counter-attack and possibly sink GROWLER that goes MIA after this attack.
10 January 1945:
Removed from the Navy List.
Authors’ Notes:
[1] MANEI MARU was also known as BANEI MARU and MEN’EI MARU.
[2] The Japanese used the phonetic Katakana syllabary to describe place names for most locations outside of Japanese territory and China. In most cases these Katakana names were phonetic representations of original English, Spanish, Dutch, Malay and Indonesian names. In some cases, the Bahasa Indonesia rendering of the name was different from the Colonial Dutch rendering of the same name. After Indonesia's independence from the Netherlands there were a number of name changes with Dutch and Anglo names excised. Thus, the noted locations given in the TROM are speculative at best. The authors wish to acknowledge the assistance of Erich Muehlthaler of Germany in this task.
- Bob Hackett and Peter Cundall.
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