Japanese aircraft carrier Nigitsu Maru

Nigitsu Maru (にぎつ丸) was a Japanese landing craft depot ship operated by the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The ship had a flight deck, but no hangar.[2]

History
Empire of Japan
Name: Nigitsu Maru
Builder: Harima, Harima[1]
Completed: March 1943
Fate: Sunk, 12 January 1944
General characteristics
Type: Landing craft depot ship
Displacement: 11,800 tons (standard)[1]
Length: 471 ft 7 in (5,659 in) (pp)[1]
Beam: 64 ft (20 m)[1]
Draft: 25 ft 9 in (7.85 m) (maximum)[1]
Propulsion:
  • 4 boilers, driving 2 geared turbines
  • 7,500 shp (5,600 kW)[1]
Speed: 20 knots (37 km/h)[1]
Armament:

Design features

Nigitsu Maru was a passenger liner taken over before completion and refitted by the Imperial Japanese Army. Her sister ship was Akitsu Maru.
On 9 January 1944 Nigitsu Maru left Palau for Ujina in convoy FU-901 as the sole merchant ship escorted by the destroyer Amagiri. She carried about 2,000 troops, mainly soldiers of the 12th Independent Engineer Regiment. Three days later off the Okino-Daito Island, southeast of Okinawa, Nigitsu Maru was attacked by the US submarine Hake which fired four torpedoes from the surface. Two hit Nigitsu Maru which sank in eight minutes at 23°15′N 132°51′E. 456 soldiers, 83 gunners and 35 crewmen were killed. Amagiri picked up the survivors and landed them in Japan.[2]

Notes
  1. Gardiner; Chesnau. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1922–1946. p. 213.
  2. "IJA Landing Craft Depot Ship Nigitsu Maru: Tabular Record of Movement". combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 4 February 2017.

References
  • Gardiner, Robert; Chesnau, Roger (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1922–1946. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-913-8.
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