History
Japan
Name	Yoshida Maru [1]
Operator	Nippon Yusen (NYK)
Builder	Hakodate Dock at Hakodate, Hokkaidō
Laid down	1940
Launched	9 May 1941
Completed	30 August 1941
In service	1941 - 1944
Fate	Torpedoed and sunk by the submarine USS Flasher, 18 February 1944
General characteristics
Class and type	Hirota Maru
Tonnage	2,921 gross register tons (GRT)
Length	93 m (305 ft)
Beam	13.8 m (45 ft)
Propulsion	1 turbine, single screw
Speed	11 knots (20 km/h)
Notes	Steel construction

The Yoshida Maru (吉田丸) was a Japanese cargo ship owned by Nippon Yusen Kaisha. The ship was built in 1941 by Hakodate Dock at Hakodate on the northern island of Hokkaidō.

History

The Yoshida Maru was built at Hakodate; and she left port in August 1941 on her maiden voyage.^[2]

The 2,921-ton vessel had a length of 310 feet (93 m), and her beam was 45 feet (13.8 m). The single turbine, single screw propulsion produced an average speed of 11 knots (20 km/h).^[2]

World War II

Yoshida Maru was requisitioned as an auxiliary gunboat/minelayer of the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was armed with 3 guns of 12 cm and machineguns. On 1 October, 1943 reregistered as an auxiliary transport.^[3] On 18 January 1944, she was sunk by the submarine USS Flasher at 140 miles west-southwest of Minami-Tori-shima, 23°50′N 151°28′E / 23.833°N 151.467°E / 23.833; 151.467 with the loss of 76 passengers, eight crewmen and 15 gunners.^[4]

See also

• List of Japanese hell ships
• Foreign commerce and shipping of Empire of Japan

Notes

References

• Blair, Clay. (2001). Silent Victory: The U.S. Submarine War Against Japan. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-55750-217-9; OCLC 45207785
• Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1935). The Nomenclature of the N.Y.K. Fleet. Tokyo : Nippon Yusen Kaisha. OCLC 27933596
• Tate, E. Mowbray. (1986). Transpacific steam: the story of steam navigation from the Pacific Coast of North America to the Far East and the Antipodes, 1867-1941. New York: Cornwall Books. ISBN 978-0-8453-4792-8;

OCLC 12370774