Japanese escort ship Hakuhō Maru

Hakuhō Maru was commissioned by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (農林省).[3] She was laid down on October 15, 1921 at the Hikoshima Shipyard of Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. (三菱造船株式會社彦島造), completed on February 16, 1922 and launched on 29 March 1922.[3] She worked primarily as a fishery enforcement, inspection, and survey ship in the Sea of Okhotsk, the Kurile Islands, the Bering Sea, and the North Pacific.[3] On 2 November 1941, she was requisitioned by the Imperial Japanese Navy and assigned to the Fifth Fleet (Northern Area Force)[3] as part of the 13th Minesweeper Division under Captain Toshio Mitsuka (along with Kaihō Maru and Shunkotsu Maru).[5][6] The unit was part of the Kiska invasion force under Captain Takeji Ono during the Aleutian Islands campaign.[7][5] On 14 July 1945, while sailing on patrol from Kushiro to Hakodate, she was engaged by ten aircraft and received 6 direct hits.[3] Heavily damaged, she was abandoned.[3]