Chitose (千歳) was a warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy that served from 1938 to 1944, seeing service as a seaplane carrier and later as a light aircraft carrier during World War II. In her initial guise as a seaplane carrier, she first saw service during the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1938, and subsequently played a key role in the Imperial Japanese Navy's development of a network of seaplane bases on the islands of the Pacific Ocean. After the outbreak of World War II in the Pacific, she took part in the Philippines campaign, the Dutch East Indies campaign, the Battle of Midway, and the Guadalcanal campaign, during which she was damaged in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons and also saw service related to the Battle of Cape Esperance.
Wakamiya was a seaplane carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy and the first Japanese aircraft carrier. She was converted from a transport ship into a seaplane carrier and commissioned in August 1914. She was equipped with four Japanese-built French Maurice Farman seaplanes. In September 1914, she conducted the world's first naval-launched air raids.
Chiyoda was a light aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. Originally constructed as the second vessel of the Chitose-class seaplane tenders in 1934, she continued to operate in that capacity during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the early stages of the Pacific War until her conversion into a light aircraft carrier after the Battle of Midway. She was sunk during the Battle of Leyte Gulf by a combination of naval bombers, cruiser shellfire and destroyer-launched torpedoes.
The 5th Fleet was a fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy, active during the early portions of the Second Sino-Japanese War, and again in World War II, primarily in the Aleutian campaign, during which it was augmented and designated the Northern Area Force.
Akitsushima (秋津洲) was a seaplane tender of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), serving during World War II from 1942 until being sunk in September 1944.
Kamikawa Maru (神川丸) was a seaplane tender in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). The ship was initially built at Kawasaki's Kōbe Shipyard and launched on 13 December 1936 as a merchant vessel for the Kawasaki Kisen K. K. Line. On 18 September 1937 the IJN requisitioned her as an aircraft transport ship and she was refitted in 1939 as a seaplane tender. The ship subsequently saw service in the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific Campaign of World War II. On May 29, 1943, Kamikawa Maru was torpedoed and sunk by the submarine USS Scamp approximately 250 miles (400 km) northwest of Kavieng, New Ireland at 01°36′S150°24′E.
Kiyokawa Maru (聖川丸) was a seaplane tender in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN).
The Kamikawa Maru-class cargo ship was a type of cargo ship of Japan, serving during the 1930s and World War II. Four of the five ships of the class were converted to seaplane tenders during the war.
The SS China Maru was a 5,870-gross register ton cargo ship built by Kawasaki Dockyard Company, Kobe, for Kawasaki Kisen KK in 1920.
Goshū Maru was requisitioned as an aircraft transport vessel of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). The ship was initially built at Kawasaki's Kōbe Shipyard and launched on 14 October 1939 as a merchant vessel for Goyo Shosen K. K. On 14 September 1940 the IJN requisitioned as a transport ship and was refitted in 1940 as an aircraft transport. The ship subsequently saw service in the Pacific Campaign of World War II. 1 October, 1943 she was rerated a converted transport (misc). Goshū Maru was sunk by United States Navy aircraft in the Palau Islands on 30 or 31 March 1944.
Noshiro Maru was a Nippon Yusen Kaisen (NYK) Liner completed in 1934 and requisitioned by the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) in 1937 to transport troops to China following the Marco Polo Bridge Incident. She was later returned to civilian service before being converted to an armed merchant cruiser by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in 1941. She was bombed twice and torpedoed twice as a World War II troopship before being abandoned at Manila in 1944.
Kuroshio Maru was a tanker that was built in 1938 for Japanese owners. She was chartered by the Imperial Japanese Navy and Imperial Japanese Army during World War II: the ship was sunk in January 1945 at Takao, Formosa by American aircraft. Salvaged in 1946, she was allocated as a war prize to China and renamed Yung Hao, but was forced to remain at Hong Kong by the British. She was requisitioned by the Admiralty during the Korean War and allocated to the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. She was to have been named RFA Surf Pilot but due to her poor condition she did not serve in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. She served as Surf Pilot, a tender to HMS Terror until 1958 and was subsequently scuttled off Pulau Aur, Malaya in 1960.
Fukuei Maru No. 15 was a Japanese cargo ship that was requisitioned by the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II and converted into an auxiliary netlayer.
Nagara Maru was a Japanese cargo ship that was requisitioned by the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II and converted into an auxiliary netlayer.
Korei Maru was a Japanese cargo ship that was requisitioned by the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II and converted into an auxiliary netlayer.
Aso Maru was a Japanese cargo ship that was requisitioned by the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II and converted into an auxiliary gunboat.
Ha-108 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Ha-101-class submarine. Designed as a transport submarine, she was completed and commissioned in May 1945 as a submarine tender for midget submarines. She served during the final months of World War II, surrendered at the end of the war in September 1945, and was scuttled in April 1946.
Sanuki Maru (Japanese:讃岐丸) was a 1939-built cargo ship, requisitioned as a seaplane tender by the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.
Patrol Boat No. 105 (第百五號) (ex-Arayat) was a former Philippine Commonwealth customs inspection and enforcement cutter that was sunk by the Japanese during the invasion of the Philippines and later raised and designated as a patrol boat in the Imperial Japanese Navy.
Notoro (能登呂) was an oiler of the Imperial Japanese Navy commissioned in 1920, which was rebuilt in 1924 into a seaplane tender and in 1941 back into an oiler. She participated in the First Shanghai Incident in 1932 and the Second Sino-Japanese War since 1937. In the fall of 1941, she was rebuilt back into an oiler. On 9 January and 20 September 1943, she was damaged by US Navy submarines but returned to service after repairs. On 29 June 1944, she was hit by two torpedoes launched by submarine USS Flasher. During repairs in Singapore Notoro was again damaged on 5 November 1944, this time by B-29 bombers. No further repairs were made until the end of the war and she was probably scrapped in 1947.
Empire of Japan 
