Kongō Maru-class armed merchantmen
The Kongō Maru-class armed merchant cruiser was a class of two armed merchant cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
 Kyosumi Maru | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Akagi Maru-class auxiliary cruiser |
| Builders: | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagasaki Shipyard |
| Operators: |
 Imperial Japanese Navy |
| Built: | 1934–1935 |
| In service: | 1935–1944 |
| In commission: | 1941–1944 |
| Completed: | 2 |
| Lost: | 2 |
| Retired: | 0 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Armed merchantmen |
| Displacement: | 7,389 tonnes (7,272 long tons) |
| Length: | 139 m (456 ft 0 in) |
| Beam: | 18.6 m (61 ft 0 in) |
| Draft: | 9.4 m (30 ft 10 in) |
| Propulsion: | 1 x Mitsubishi-Sulzer diesel engine (7600-9000hp) |
| Speed: | 19 knots (22 mph; 35 km/h) |
| Range: | unknown |
| Complement: | 50 |
| Armament: |
|
| Aircraft carried: | 1×Kawanishi E7K floatplane |
Background
The Kongō Maru-class vessels Kongō Maru and Kiyosumi Maru were originally built by IHI Corporation at Kawasaki shipyard in Kobe as combined cargo-passenger ships. They were converted to "auxiliary cruiser" role in September–December 1941 (and therefore armed). The civilian class was named Kiyosumi Maru class (1934-1935) and consisted of: 淸澄丸 Kiyosumi Maru (finished 5 October 1934) 金剛丸 Kongō Maru (finished 4 March 1935)
The ships Kashii Maru, Kagu Maru and Kinugasa Maru from the 1936 civilian Kinugasa class[1] were converted to seaplane tenders, forming the Kashii Maru-class. The three vessels of the Kashii Maru class (former civilian Kinugasa Maru class): 衣笠丸 Kinugasa Maru (finished 28 February 1936) 香久丸 Kagu Maru (finished 18 April 1936) 香椎丸 Kashii Maru (finished 18 April 1936)
Design
The original designs featured unusually high speed for a cargo ship (16-19 knots), as well as 6 luxury rooms for 2 occupants each.
List of Ships
References
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 24 March 2017. Retrieved 27 June 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)