| MV Awa Maru (1943) | |
|---|---|
|
File:Awa Maru 11249gt.JPG Awa Maru | |
| Career (Japan) | ![Civil naval ensign ([Hinmaru])](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Flag_of_Japan.svg){kind=small} |
| Name: | Awa Maru |
| Operator: | Nippon Yusen (NYK) |
| Builder: | Mitsubishi Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. Nagasaki, Japan |
| Yard number: | 770 |
| Laid down: | 10 July 1941 |
| Launched: | 24 August 1942 |
| Completed: | 5 March 1943 |
| In service: | 1943 |
| Out of service: | 1 April 1945 |
| Fate: | lost in war |
| Status: | torpedoed and sunk by USS Queenfish |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 11,249 gross register tons (GRT) |
| Length: | 153 m (502 ft) |
| Beam: | 20 m (66 ft) |
| Propulsion: | 2 diesels, twin screws |
| Speed: | 17 knots (31 km/h) |
| Notes: | Steel construction |
The Awa Maru (阿波丸) was a Japanese ocean liner owned by Nippon Yusen Kaisha. The ship was built in 1941-1943 by Mitsubishi Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. at Nagasaki, Japan. The vessel was designed for passenger service, but the onset of war by the time work was completed changed requirements, and she was requisitioned by the Japanese Navy.
The ship's name came in part from the ancient province of Awa on the island of eastern Shikoku in the modern prefecture of Tokushima.[1] This mid-century Awa Maru was the second NYK vessel to bear this name. A 6,309 ton Awa Maru was completed in 1899 and taken out of service in 1930.[2]
History[]
The ship was built by Mitsubishi at Nagasaki on the southern island of Kyushu. The keel was laid down in the summer of 1941 (July 10, 1941). The Awa Maru was launched on August 24, 1942; and she was completed on March 5, 1943.[3]
Pacific War[]
The Awa Maru was requisitioned and refitted for auxiliary use by the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.
In 1945 the Awa Maru was employed as a Red Cross relief ship, carrying vital supplies to American and Allied POWs in Japanese custody. Under the Relief for POWs agreement, she was supposed to be given safe passage by Allied forces, and Allied commanders issued orders to that effect.
Having delivered her supplies, Awa Maru took on several hundred stranded merchant marine officers, military personnel, diplomats and civilians at Singapore.[4] In addition, there were stories that the ship carried treasure worth approximately US$5 billion—40 metric tons of gold, 12 metric tons of platinum, and 150,000 carats (30 kg) of diamonds and other strategic materials.[5] Less dramatic and more credible sources identify the likely cargo as nickel and rubber.[6]
The main reason why it is thought that the Awa Maru was carrying a huge cargo of treasure is that she was observed in Singapore being loaded with huge amounts of rice in sacks; however, that evening the docks were cleared and troops were brought in to first unload the rice and then re-load her with contraband.
Her voyage also corresponded with the last possible location of the fossil remains of Peking Man which were in Singapore at the time and were, on their own, priceless in value. There are various theories regarding the disappearance of a number of Peking Man fossils during World War II; one such theory is that the bones sank with the Awa Maru in 1945.[7]
The ship departed Singapore on March 28, but on April 1 was intercepted late at night in the Taiwan Strait by the American submarine USS Queenfish (SS-393), which mistook her for a destroyer. The Awa Maru was sailing as a hospital ship under the protection of the Red Cross, and under the agreed rules, she disclosed to the Allies the route she would take back to Japan. Her original route was promulgated through a minefield, an apparent ruse to draw attackers into the mined area. The area was known as mined, and would have been avoided at any rate. Her final route avoided the mines.[8]
The torpedoes of the Queenfish sank the ship. Only one of the 2,004 passengers and crew, Kantora Shimoda, survived.[9][10] He was the Captain's personal steward, and it was the third time in which he was the sole survivor of a torpedoed ship.[citation needed] The commanding officer of the Queenfish, Commander Charles Elliott Loughlin was ordered by Admiral Ernest King to an immediate general court-martial. As the Awa Maru sank "she was carrying a cargo of rubber, lead, tin, and sugar. Seventeen hundred merchant seamen and 80 first-class passengers, all survivors of ship sinkings, were being transported from Singapore to Japan.…[The] survivor said no Red Cross supplies were aboard, they having been previously unloaded."[11]
Aftermath[]
Commander Loughlin was found guilty of negligence, and the U.S. Government offered, via neutral Switzerland to replace the Awa Maru with a similar ship. Japan demanded full indemnification.
On the very day of Japan's surrender, 14 August 1945, Foreign Minister Togo forwarded a message to the United States through Bern, Switzerland, demanding payment of 196,115,000 yen ($45 million) for the loss of 2,003 lives; 30,370,000 yen ($7.25 million) for the goods aboard the Awa Maru; and various other claims, for a total demand of 227,286,600 yen or approximately $52.5 million.…No gold bullion is mentioned in the message.[8]
The Japanese bill was never paid, and in 1949 the matter was closed.[8][12]
In 1980, the People's Republic of China launched one of the biggest salvage efforts on a single ship in history. They had successfully located and identified the wreck site in 1977 and were convinced that the vessel was carrying billions in gold and jewels. After approximately 5 years and $100 million spent on the effort, the search was finally called off. No treasure was found. However, several personal artifacts were returned to Japan. In the aftermath of the salvage attempt, the NSA scoured thousands of intercepted communications to determine what exactly happened to the treasure. From the communications, they determined that the treasure was not to be taken back to Japan. It was to be sent from Japan to Singapore where it would then be delivered to Thailand. The gold was successfully delivered and the Awa Maru was reloaded with a cargo of tin and rubber for the return trip to Japan.[8]
See also[]
- Yasukuni Shrine
- List by death toll of ships sunk by submarines
- List of battles and other violent events by death toll
- MV Wilhelm Gustloff
Notes[]
- ↑ Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1935). The Nomeclature of the N.Y.K. Fleet, pp. 8, 80.
- ↑ Haworth, R.B. Miramar Ship Index: ID #4004181
- ↑ Haworth, R.B. Miramar Ship Index: ID #4049894.
- ↑ Sasgen, Peter T. (2005). Red Scorpion: The War Patrols of the USS Rasher, p. 438.
- ↑ Seagrave, Sterling et al (2003). Gold warriors, p. 203.
- ↑ Gibney, Frank et al. Sensō: the Japanese remember the Pacific War : letters to the editor of "Asahi Shimbun," p. 115.
- ↑ National Security Agency 1981, p. 5
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 National Security Agency 1981, pp. 5–11
- ↑ National Security Agency 1981, p. 4
- ↑ National Security Agency 1981, p. 7
- ↑ Lockwood 1951, p. 305
- ↑ "Settlement of Awa Maru Claim". Treaties and other International Agreements of the United States of America, 1776-1949, Volume 9. United States Government Printing Office. 1968 [April 14, 1949]. http://books.google.com/books?id=U84WAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA467.
References[]
- Dingman, Roger. (1997). Ghost of War: The Sinking of the Awa Maru and Japanese-American Relations, 1945-1995. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. 10-ISBN 1-55750-159-9; 13-ISBN 978-1-55750-159-2; OCLC 37315278
- Gibney, Frank and Beth Cary. (2006). Sensō: the Japanese remember the Pacific War : letters to the editor of Asahi Shimbun. Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe. 10-ISBN 0-7656-1643-2; 13-ISBN 978-0-7656-1643-2; OCLC 63245677
- Lockwood, Charles A. (1951). "Sink 'Em All: Submarine Warfare in the Pacific". New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc.. ASIN B000R556CU. http://www.archive.org/details/sinkemallsubmari011008mbp.
- National Security Agency (May 1981). "The Sinking and the Salvage of the Awa Maru (U): A Strange and Tragic Tale (U)". http://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/cryptologic_spectrum/sinkingawa_maru.pdf.
- Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1935). The Nomeclature of the N.Y.K. Fleet. Tokyo: Nippon Yusen Kaisha. OCLC 27933596
- Seagrave, Sterling and Peggy Seagrave. (2003). Gold warriors: America's secret recovery of Yamashita's gold. London: Verso. 10-ISBN 1-85984-542-8; 13-ISBN 978-1-85984-542-4; OCLC 54612143
- Sasgen, Peter T. (2005). Red Scorpion: The War Patrols of the USS Rasher. New York: Simon and Schuster. 10-ISBN 0-7434-8910-1; 13-ISBN 978-0-7434-8910-2
- 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. 10-ISBN 0-8453-4792-6; 13-ISBN 978-0-8453-4792-8; OCLC 12370774
- U.S. Bureau of Manufactures, Bureau of Foreign Commerce. (1905). Monthly consular and trade reports (1854-1903). Washington, D.C.: Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office. OCLC 13504256
- U.S. Department of State. (1968). Treaties and Other International Agreements of the United States of America 1776-1949. Washington: Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office. OCLC 6940
External links[]
- US Department of State: "Agreement and agreed terms of understanding signed at Tokyo April 14, 1949."
The original article can be found at MV Awa Maru (1943) and the edit history here.