© 2006-2009 Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp and Peter Cundall
Revision 3
20 February 1942:
Tamano. Laid down at Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding’s yard as kaibokan No. 311.
19 April 1942:
Launched and named MATSUWA.
23 March 1943:
Completed and registered in the Sasebo Naval District. Assigned to the First Marine Escort Division.
9 May 1943:
At 1100, MATSUWA departs Palau for Manila escorting convoy No. 3207 consisting of MEIKAI, HORAI, INDUS, KIYO, HEIAN and KIZAN MARUs and SHINSEI MARU No. 17. During the voyage, HORAI and KIYO MARUs and SHINSEI MARU No. 17 are detached.
15 May 1943:
At 1116, LtCdr Phillip D. Quirk's 's USS GAR (SS-206) torpedoes and sinks MEIKAI MARU at 13-10N, 121-50E. At about 1221, that same day, LtCdr Quirk torpedoes and sinks INDUS MARU. MATSUWA makes several counter-attacks dropping depth charges during and after the action, but without effect. In poor weather, MATSUWA rescues 1,648 survivors of the two marus. GAR evades and escapes.[1]
16 May 1943:
At 1100, the convoy arrives at Manila.
28 July 1943:
Departs Sasebo to search for survivors of minelayer HIRASHIMA sunk by LtCdr Eugene T. Sand's USS SAWFISH (SS-276) the previous day at 33-34N, 127-42E.
13 August 1943:
Mako, Pescadores. At 1000, convoy HI-05 arrives from Moji consisting of TATEKAWA MARU and four unidentified ships. ASAKAZE is detached and replaced by MATSUWA.
19 August 1943:
At 1700, HI-05 arrives at Singapore.
23 August 1943:
LtCdr Odawara Kenichi Odawara assumes command.
24 August 1943:
At 1400, MATSUWA departs Singapore escorting convoy HI-06 consisting of KAGA MARU, oilers TATEKAWA MARU, YAMAMIZU MARU No. 2, RYUEI MARU and fleet oiler ASHIZURI.
3 September 1943:
At 0930, arrives at Moji.
10 September 1943:
At 1600, MATSUWA departs Moji escorting convoy HI-09 consisting of tanker TATEKAWA, cargo-passenger ship MIIKE MARU and seven unidentified ships.
21 September 1943:
At 1830, the convoy arrives Cap St Jacques (near Saigon), Indochina.
28 September 1943:
At 1900, MATSUWA departs Cap St. Jacques for Moji escorting convoy HI-10 consisting of six unidentified merchant ships.
6 October 1943:
At 0900, convoy HI-10 merges with convoy MA-06.
9 October 1943:
At 0730, the convoys arrive safely at Moji.
22 October 1943:
At 1100, MATSUWA departs Moji for Takao escorting convoy No. 108 consisting of tanker KOSHIN MARU and HAKUSAN, RYUSEI, KENAN, FUKUJU, NARITA and ODATSUKI MARUs.
26 October 1943:
The convoy arrives safely at Takao.
28 October 1943:
At 1607, departs Moji with kaibokan ETOROFU escorting convoy HI-17 consisting of passenger ships ASAMA, AKITSU, tankers OMUROSAN, TATEKAWA and ITSUKUSHIMA MARUs and two unidentified merchant ships.
November 1943:
LtCdr Fujimoto Eizo Fujimoto assumes command.
1 November 1943:
At 1115, arrives at Takao. Passenger ship KACHIDOKI MARUs (ex-USS PRESIDENT HARRISON), tankers TAKASAKI and TARAKAN join the convoy. ETOROFU is detached from the convoy.
4 November 1943:
At 0400, destroyer FUYO departs Manila to meet convoy HI-17 incoming from Takao. At 1900, the convoy arrives at Manila. AKITSU MARU is detached.
5 November 1943:
Departs Manila escorting convoy HI-17.
11 November 1943:
At 1000, arrives at Singapore.
20 November 1943:
MATSUWA rendezvous with AKITSU MARU at 21-22N, 120-00E and escorts her to Takao.
23 November 1943:
At 1530, departs Takao for Cape St. Jacques escorting convoy No. 340 consisting of SYDNEY, TONAN, UNKAI SEKINO MARUs, tanker ZUIYO MARU, small Vichy French cargo ship BERYL MARU and seven unidentified ships. In the next four days, five ships are detached for various reasons.
28 November 1943:
Off Indochina. At 0412, Cdr Walter T. Griffith's USS BOWFIN (SS-287) torpedoes and sinks TONAN MARU.
About the same time, SYDNEY MARU is hit by three torpedoes and goes down within five minutes. BOWFIN
attacks another merchant but is hit aft and damaged by a shell from the merchant's 5-inch gun, but Griffith is able to escape further damage. Later, the convoy is joined by subchaser CH-9, and puts into Camranh Bay.
30 November 1943:
At 0945, the convoy departs Camranh Bay.
1 December 1943:
At 1300, arrives at Saigon.
7 December 1943:
At noon, MATSUWA departs Cap St. Jacques for Takao escorting convoy No. 447 consisting of
GINYO, CHIHAYA, HOKUAN and TEIKO MARUs.
13 December 1943:
At 1600, USN codebreakers intercept and decrypt a message from the CO of MATSUWA that reads: "CHOEI MARU [unknown tonnage] was in convoy which departed Takao for Balikpapan at 1600, 6 December. At ------, 8 December due to water leaking in and her engine room breaking down she was drifting. At 1644 [6 Dec] we sighted her in position 17-05 N, 116-04 E, rescued her whole complement of 7 men, shot holes in her bottom and sank her.”
16 December 1943:
50 km SW of Takao. At 0447, LtCdr (later Captain) Robert D. Risser's USS FLYING FISH (SS-229) torpedoes and sinks GINYO MARU. The convoy steams on for Takao and arrives there later that day. MATSUWA remains behind searching for the submarine. Later, she is joined by kaikoban TSUSHIMA from Takao, but their combined search is unsuccessful and FLYING FISH slips away.
18 December 1943:
MATSUWA and TSUSHIMA arrive at Takao.
26 December 1943:
MATSUWA joins convoy HI-27 and departs Takao for
Singapore escorting KUNIKAWA, TSUKUSHI, KYUEI and OTORISAN MARUs.
27 December 1943:
At about 1100, in the second of two submerged
attacks, LtCdr Risser's FLYING FISH successfully torpedoes and sinks tanker KYUEI MARU at 21-25N, 118-05E. MATSUWA rescues survivors and the ships continue their voyage.
January 1944:
LtCdr Tsutitori Ei assumes command.
2 January 1944:
Arrives at Singapore.
8 January 1944
At 0800, departs Singapore escorting convoy HI-28 consisting of tankers OTORISAN and SARAWAK MARUs.
17 January 1944
At 2240, arrives Moji.
1 February 1944:
At 0700, MATSUWA departs Moji escorting convoy HI-41 consisting
of transports AWA, ASAMA, TEIA (ex- French Liner ARAMIS) and NANKAI MARUs and
oiler NAMPO MARU plus another unidentified ship.
2 February 1944:
At 0730, minesweeper W-27 joins the escort.
3 February 1944:
At 0200, minesweeper W-27 is detached.
11 February 1944:
At 1430. arrives at Singapore.
16 February 1944:
At 1600, MATSUWA departs Singapore escorting convoy HI-42 consisting of tanker SEISHIN MARU, cargo-passenger MIIKE MARU and three unidentified merchant ships.
25 February 1944:
At 1045, the convoy arrives at Keelung, Formosa. It is joined by transport ASAMA MARU.
26 February 1944:
At 0900, departs Keelung.
28 February 1944:
At 0600, arrives at Moji.
13 May 1944:
At 0400, MATSUWA departs Moji with kaibokans IKI, CD-9 and CD-15 escorting fast convoy HI-63 consisting of cargo liners/transports SANUKI, AWA, TEIA, TAMATSU, KIBITSU, USSURI and NISSHO MARUs, tankers KYOKUHO, SANYO, RYOEI and OTOWASAN MARUs. The SANUKI MARU and other transports, except TAMATSU, KIBITSU and NISSHO MARUs carry troops bound for Burma.
18 May 1944:
At 1800, arrives at Manila. TAMATSU, KIBITSU and NISSHO
MARUs are detached.
20 May 1944:
At 2000, the remaining eight ships in HI-63 depart Manila
with the same escort.
24 May 1944:
LtCdr James W. Davis' USS RATON (SS-270) attacks the
convoy. In a series of attacks, Davis torpedoes and sinks kaibokan IKI and lightly damages MATSUWA at 01-17N 107-53E. The rest of HI-63 escapes unscathed.
27 May 1944:
At 2000, arrives at Singapore.
6 June 1944:
At 0730, MATSUWA and kaibokan CD-9 depart Singapore escorting convoy HI-64 consisting of four unidentified merchant ships.
15 June 1944:
At 0600, arrives at Moji.
26 July 1944:
At 0600, MATSUWA departs Imari Bay with kaibokan CD-14, minesweeper W-18, auxiliary minesweeper TAKUNAN MARU No. 3, auxiliary gunboat CHOHAKUSAN MARU and
patrol boat No. 38, auxiliary patrol boats EIFU, FUYO, KASUGA and NUNOBIKI MARUs
escorting convoy MI-13 consisting of tankers SHINCHO, TEIKON, TOKUWA, KYOEI and ATAGO MARUs and cargo ships HIYORI, DURBAN, KIZAN, KINIYAMA, URAL, SHIROTAE, KOKUSEI, CHINA, HIGANE, MATSUURA, RISSHUN and ATLAS MARUs and SHINSEI MARU No. 1 and OGURA MARU No. 2.
31 July 1944:
The convoy arrives at Takao. SHIROTAE, CHINA and
MATSUURAs are detached and tankers SHIMPO and ZUIYO MARUs and cargo ship SHINKO
MARU join the convoy. TAKUNAN MARU No. 3 and CHOHAKUSAN MARU are detached from
the escort and replaced by kaibokans KUSAGAKI and YASHIRO and destroyer ASAKAZE.
Naval Transport T. 3 also joins.
4 August 1944:
At 0830, the reconstituted convoy departs Takao.
7 August 1944:
At 2205, at 14-50N, 119-57E kaibokan KUSAGAKI is torpedoed and sunk by
LtCdr (later Captain) Enrique D. Haskin's USS GUITARRO (SS-363).
8 August 1944:
At 0900, the convoy arrives Manila.
17 August 1944: Operation "SHO-1-GO" (Victory) - The Defense of the Philippines:
MATSUWA arrives at Mako from Takao with old destroyer ASAKAZE and kaibokan, SADO, ETOROFU and HIBURI, all sent by the 1st Surface Escort Division to strengthen the escort of convoy HI-71 comprised of new fleet tanker HAYASUI, food-supply ship IRAKO, tanker TEIYO MARU and transports TEIA, AWA, NOTO MARU, HOKKAI, TAMATSU, NOSHIRO and MAYASAN MARUs escorted by destroyers FUJINAMI and YUNAGI, five kaibokan HIRATO, KURAHASHI, MIKURA, SHONAN and CD-11 and escort carrier TAIYO. Her 631st Naval Air Group provides air cover with 12 BN5 “Kates”. Part of the “SHO-I-GO” Operation, convoy HI-71 is transporting troops and supplies for the defense of the Philippines.
At 0800, in typhoon weather, convoy HI-71 sorties from Mako for Manila.
18 August 1944:
At 0524, LtCdr (later Captain) Louis D. McGregor's USS REDFISH (SS-395) torpedoes and damages EIYO MARU. ASAKAZE and YUNAGI are detached to escort her back to Takao.
Off Cape Bolinao, Luzon. At 2210, LtCdr (later Captain) Henry G. Munson's USS RASHER (SS-269) torpedoes and sinks oiler TEIYO MARU in a surface radar attack. At 2222, Munson torpedoes and sinks carrier TAIYO at the rear of the convoy. At 2310, RASHER, still on the surface, hits transport TEIA MARU with three torpedoes using radar bearings. The ex-French liner is set afire and sinks.
19 August 1944:
The convoy splits into two groups. Just past midnight, RASHER, still running on the surface, closes on an eastbound group of three large ships and one escort. At 0033, LtCdr Munson puts two radar-directed torpedoes into the port sides of AWA and NOSHIRO MARUs. Both ships beach themselves near Port Currimao. LtCdr Charles M. Henderson's USS BLUEFISH (SS-222) and LtCdr (later Captain) Gordon W. Underwood's SPADEFISH (SS-411) join in the attack on HI-71. At 0320, BLUEFISH hits and sinks HAYASUI. SPADEFISH hits TAMATSU MARU with two torpedoes and the big landing craft depot ship rolls over
and takes down 4,755 men. HI-71 makes for San Fernando.
22 August 1944:
Hidai Bay, 25 miles W of Manila Bay. Cdr Samuel D. Dealy’s USS HARDER (SS-257) torpedoes and sinks both MATSUWA and kaibokan HIBURI at 14-15N, 120-25E. 134 of MATSUWA's crew including her CO, LtCdr Tsutitori, and 154 of HIBURI's crew are lost.
An intercepted Japanese mesage reads: "At 0650, heard sound of motor dead ahead. We increased speed and found one of the MATSUWA's motor boats with a machinist and six men. Position 14-25N., 120-00E."
10 October 1944:
Removed from the Navy List.
Authors' Note:
[1] The authors acknowledge that the statement from our Japanese source that "MATSUWA rescues 1,648 survivors of the two marus" seems incredible for a kaibokan.
Thanks for assistance go to Dr. Higuchi Tatsuhiro of Japan. Thanks also go to Mr. Aki of Japan and Matthew Jones of Ohio for help in identifying kaibokan COs. Thanks also go to John Whitman for info on Japanese intercepts.
-Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp and Peter Cundall
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