In the 1920s Nederlandsche Scheepsbouw Maatschappij in Amsterdam built a pair of passenger ships for KPM. The first was built as yard number 166, launched in September 1923 as Plancius, and completed in February 1924.[1] A sister ship was built as yard number 185, launched on 12 February 1927 as Op Ten Noort, and completed in August 1927.[2]Op Ten Noort was named after the founder of KPM, Laurens op ten Noort .
Op Ten Noort's registered length was 424.5ft (129.4m), her beam was 55.2ft (16.8m) and her depth was 22.2ft (6.8m). Her tonnages were 6,076GRT, 3,566NRT,[3] and 4,430DWT. She had berths for 2,640 passengers: 131 in first class, 52 in second class, and 2,457 on deck.[2]
Both Plancius and Op Ten Noort had twin screws. However, whereas Plancius had a pair of conventional quadruple-expansion engines, Op Ten Noort had a pair of four-cylinder compound engines built by Werkspoor. The engines were built to a patented design by Hugo Lentz,[2] which includes radically improved valvegear.[4] The combined power of Op Ten Noort's two engines was rated at 616 NHP or 6,000ihp (4,500kW), and gave her a speed of 15 knots (28km/h).[2]
Her first class cabins each had one or two berths. Her first class public areas included lounges, bars, a smoking room, and a tropical verandah. In 1933 part of her first class accommodation was converted into two two-person de luxe suites[2] with a lounge, bedroom, two bathrooms, and private deck (veranda). She had 18 second class cabins, which had either two or four berths. Deck passengers were accommodated on her tweendeck, which had a lounge and a cafeteria.[5][6]
In 1934 the call sign PKEA superseded her code letters.[7]
The conversion was completed on February 19, and she started her first voyage as a hospital ship on February 21.[5] Japan had signed the Hague Convention of 1907 that made attacking a hospital ship a war crime.[9] However, when she was only a few hours out of port, Japanese aircraft bombed her in the Java Sea. One bomb hit her aft, and near misses by other bombs sprayed her with fragments that killed a surgeon, a nurse, and 12 other people. Another member of her medical staff died of wounds the next day.[8] The Dutch Government sent a note of protest of the bombing to Japan via the Swedish Embassy.[5]
On June 5, 1942 the ship was renamed Tenno Maru, which means "Emperor Circle". The Japanese Government contracted Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha to manage her. However, she flew the Dutch ensign until October 16, 1942, when she changed to the Japanese ensign.[8] It is alleged that after changing ensigns, Tenno Maru carried a cargo of mines, in contravention of the Hague Conventions.[10]
On December 5, 1942, Tenno Maru arrived in Yokohama, where her remaining Dutch and Javanese crew and medical staff were discharged. The Dutch were sent to a PoW camp at Mijoshi, 75 kilometres (47 miles) northwest of Yokohama. The Javanese were sent to a different camp. On December 20 the ship was commissioned as an Imperial Japanese Navy hospital ship, and assigned to the Yokosuka Naval District.[8]
In January 1943 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Yokohama started to convert Tenno Maru with new hospital facilities and nurses' accommodation. Her smokestack and derricks were altered. The conversion was completed on March 21.[8]
From April 25, 1943 onwards Tenno Maru treated and evacuated Japanese wounded, mostly from Rabaul and Truk to Yokosuka and Sasebo. From November 23 to December 1, 1943 she was dry docked in Yokohama. On February 18, during Operation Hailstone, some Grummandive bomber pilots from the aircraft carrierUSSBunker Hill reported anti-aircraft fire from Tenno Maru. From February 1944 her ports of call included Saipan. On May 2 she left Guam for the last time, and on May 25 she made what may have been her last visit to Truk.[8]
On July 12, 1944, aircraft from US Task Force 58 strafed and damaged Tenno Maru as she arrived in Palau. From July to September 1944 the ship called at Takao, Singapore, Saigon, and Manila, before returning to Yokosuka.
Hikawa Maru No. 2
In October 1944, Allied codebreakers lost track of Tenno Maru, and believed she had struck a mine near Makassar. In fact, a dummy second smokestack was added aft of her real one to disguise her, and on October 25, 1944 she was renamed Hikawa Maru No. 2. She continued to carry the internationally recognised hospital ship livery, painted all white, with a broad, green waistband interrupted by large red crosses.[8]
On November 3, 1944, Hikawa Maru No. 2 rescued 26 survivors from Chinzei and Arabia Maru. On November 5 she received wounded from the Battle of Leyte Gulf, including 55 wounded from Yamato. For the rest of November she operates between Borneo, Manila and Takao. From November 23 to December 3 she was in Sasebo for repairs, and on December 27 she returned for emergency repairs.[8]
From December 1944 until July 1945 she made several voyages to Singapore, and from March 1945 she made voyages to Batavia as well as Singapore. In this period sha also visited Fuzhou, Malacca, Batavia, Makassar, Ambon and Serasan Island. From May 2 to 14 she was dry docked at Maizuru Naval District. From July 9 to 11 she was in Saigon.[8]
On July 24, 1945 Hikawa Maru No. 2 arrived back in Maizuru.[8] On August 15, 1945 Japan surrendered. Two days later she was ordered to Wakasa Bay, where she was scuttled in water 400 feet (120m) deep by two 150-kilogram (330lb) explosive charges: one near her starboard bow, and the other aft of her dummy funnel.[8]
It is not clear why the ship was scuttled. The Hague Conventions forbid the seizure of hospital ships, so it could have been an attempt to conceal the crime.[8] There are claims that she was carrying looted gold, platinum, diamonds and other gems when she was scuttled.[5][11] However, these claims have yet to be substantiated.[8]
Aftermath
The Netherlands did not know the ship had been renamed from Tenno Maru to Hikawa Maru No.2. However, in 1952, fishermen operating in Wakasa Bay reported an unknown wreck fouling their nets. A local prefecture contracted a professional diver from Kyoto to investigate. He found and photographed the wreck, enabling it to be identified.[8]
In 1953 the Dutch Government filed a claim for 700 million yen compensation against the Japanese Government. Later the claim was reduced to 200 million yen. After protracted negotiations, in 1978 Japan settledthe claim for 100 million Yen.[8]
In 2017 Op Ten Noort's wreck was rediscovered, and the Japanese broadcasting company NHK made a documentary about her.[citation needed]
Related Research Articles
The Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha, also known as NYK Line, is a Japanese shipping company. The company headquarters are located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It operates a fleet of over 800 ships, which includes container ships, tankers, bulk and woodchip carriers, roll-on/roll-off car carriers, reefer vessels, LNG carriers, and cruise ships. It is a member of the Ocean Network Express and Mitsubishi Group.
Tango Maru (丹後丸) was a cargo motor ship that was built in Germany in 1926 and sunk off the coast of Bali in 1944. She was launched as Rendsburg for the Deutsch-Australische Dampfschiffs-Gesellschaft (DADG), which in 1926 merged with Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft (HAPAG).
Tameichi Hara was an Imperial Japanese naval commander during the Pacific War and the author of the IJN manual on torpedo attack techniques, notable for his skill in torpedo warfare and night fighting. Hara was the only IJN destroyer captain at the start of World War II to survive the entire war and his memoirs serve as an important source for historians.
MS Aramis was a Messageries Maritimes ocean liner that was launched in France in 1931. She was a sister ship of Félix Roussel and Georges Philippar. The three sisters were highly unusual in having square funnels. Aramis' interior was an Art Deco interpretation of Minoan design.
Un'yō was a Taiyō-class escort carrier originally built as Yawata Maru (八幡丸), one of three Nitta Maru-class cargo liners built in Japan during the late 1930s. She was transferred to the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the Pacific War, renamed, and was converted into an escort carrier in 1942. The ship spent most of her service ferrying aircraft, cargo and passengers to various bases in the Pacific. Un'yō was badly damaged by an American submarine in early 1944. After repairs were completed in June, the ship resumed transporting aircraft and cargo. During a return voyage from Singapore in September, she was sunk by the submarine USS Barb.
Conte Verde was an Italian ocean liner active in the early 20th century.
Hikawa Maru (氷川丸) is a retired Japanese ocean liner that Yokohama Dock Company built for the NYK Line. She was launched on 30 September 1929 and made her maiden voyage from Kobe to Seattle on 13 May 1930. She is permanently berthed as a museum ship at Yamashita Park, Naka-ku, Yokohama.
Asama Maru was a Japanese ocean liner owned by Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK). The ship was built in 1927–1929 by Mitsubishi Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. at Nagasaki, Japan. The vessel was named after an important Shinto shrine.
Koninklijke Paketvaart-Maatschappij, was a Dutch shipping line in the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia. It traded form 1888 to 1966. It was the dominant inter-island shipping line in the Dutch East Indies in the last half-century of the colonial era.
SS 's Jacob was a passenger steamship that was launched in the Netherlands in 1907 and sunk by enemy action off New Guinea in 1943. She spent most of her career with Koninklijke Paketvaart-Maatschappij, based in the Dutch East Indies.
The Hikawa Maru-class ocean liner was a class of ocean liners of Japan, serving during the 1930s, and after World War II.
SS Tasman was a 4,922 gross register tons (GRT) Dutch steamship built by Earle's Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Limited, Hull in 1921 for Koninklijke Paketvaart-Maatschappij (KPM), Batavia. With outbreak of the World War II in the Pacific and the fall of the Dutch East Indies, Tasman was one of 21 KPM vessels that sought refuge in Australia. These ships became the core of the initial Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA) command's permanent local fleet under U.S. Army control. After general service as a transport, the ship was converted to a hospital ship at Melbourne. The ship, under the Dutch flag and Dutch certification under the Hague Convention, served the remainder of the war as a Dutch hospital ship.
Heian Maru (平安丸) was a Japanese ocean liner launched in 1930 and operated primarily on the NYK line's trans-Pacific service between Yokohama and Seattle. Shortly before the outbreak of the Pacific War, it was requisitioned by the Imperial Japanese Navy and converted to use as an auxiliary submarine tender. In 1944 it was sunk by American aircraft at Chuuk Lagoon during Operation Hailstone. Its submerged hulk – the largest of Chuuk's "Ghost Fleet" – remains a popular scuba diving destination.
SS Van Heemskerk was a passenger steamship that was launched in the Netherlands in 1909 and sunk by enemy action off New Guinea in 1943. She spent most of her career with Koninklijke Paketvaart-Maatschappij, based in the Dutch East Indies.
Hōkoku Maru (報國丸) was an Hōkoku Maru-class ocean liner that served as an armed merchant cruiser in the Second World War. She was launched in 1939 and completed in 1940 for Osaka Shosen Lines.
Hakuyo Maru was an auxiliary submarine chaser of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.
SS De Klerk was a Dutch passenger-cargo liner owned by NV Koninklijke Paketvaart Mij (KPM) Batavia.
SS Teiryu Maru was a steam cargo ship that was launched in England in 1914 as Northwestern Miller. Furness, Withy & Co managed her until 1927, when Norddeutscher Lloyd bought her and renamed her Augsburg.
SS Van Waerwijck was a passenger steamship that was launched in the Netherlands in 1909 and sunk in the Strait of Malacca in 1944. She spent most of her career with Koninklijke Paketvaart-Maatschappij, based in the Dutch East Indies.
References
↑ "Plancius – ID 5178". Stichting Maritiem-Historische Databank (in Dutch). Retrieved July 12, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
