was a Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese Escort carrier of the Second World War

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 converted from a Merchant Tanker

Tank ship

A tanker is a ship designed to transport liquids in bulk. Major types of tankship include the oil tanker, the chemical tanker, and the liquefied natural gas carrier.-Background:...

 for use by the Imperial Japanese Army

Imperial Japanese Army

-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...

. It was sunk by American aircraft before it could be operationally used as a carrier.

Construction

In 1944, the Japanese Army, had already converted two passenger liners into combined assault ship and aircraft carriers

Japanese aircraft carrier Akitsu Maru

Akitsu Maru was a Japanese escort aircraft carrier operated by the Imperial Japanese Army. In some sources Akitsu Maru and her sister ship Nigitsu Maru are also considered to be the first amphibious assault ships.-Design features:...

, when it decided to acquire its own escort carriers to provide air cover for Troop convoy

Convoy

A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...

s. It therefore chartered two partly built Type 2TL Tankers, the Yamashio Maru (being built by Mitsubishi at Yokohama

Yokohama

is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...

) and the Chigusa Maru, for conversion to basic auxiliary escort carriers.

The conversion was extremely simple, with a 107 m (410 ft) long flush flight deck added. There was no hangar, the ship's eight Ki-76s

Kokusai Ki-76

|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Francillon, Ph.D., René J. Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War. London: Putnam & Company Ltd., 1979. ISBN 0-370-30251-6....

 being stored on deck. Defensive armament consisted of sixteen 25 mm anti aircraft guns, with a depth charge projector forward.

Operational history

Yamashio Maru commissioned on 27 January 1945, was sunk by US aircraft 21 days later, on 17 February 1945. Plans were drawn up for conversion to a coal burning freighter, but she was never used as a carrier. Her sister ship, Chigusa Maru and Zuiun Maru, were incomplete when Japan surrendered

Surrender of Japan

The surrender of Japan in 1945 brought hostilities of World War II to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy was incapable of conducting operations and an Allied invasion of Japan was imminent...

and served as Tankers postwar.

External links

• Escort Aircraft Carriers