page_title: Yasukuni Maru (1930)
section_title: Military career
hierarchical_section_title: Yasukuni Maru (1930) / Military career
caption_attribution_description: 日本語: 日本海軍 特設潜水母艦『靖國丸』と長門型戦艦『長門』 English: en: Japanese auxiliary submarine tender Yasukuni Maru and battleship HIJMS Nagato
context_page_description: Yasukuni Maru was a Japanese ocean liner owned by Nippon Yusen Kaisha. The ship was launched in 1930 by Mitsubishi Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. at Nagasaki, on the southern island of Kyūshū, Japan, entering service in 1930. The ship was named for the Yasukuni Shrine, a famous Shinto shrine dedicated to the war dead of Japan, located in Tokyo.
context_section_description: On 29 October 1940, Yasukuni Maru was again requisitioned by the Imperial Japanese Navy, and was classified this time as an auxiliary submarine tender. She was taken to Kure Naval Arsenal, where her luxurious internal fittings were torn out, and she was repainted gunmetal grey. On 11 January 1941 she was assigned to the 1st Submarine Division of the IJN 6th Fleet. During the conversion, she was armed with six obsolete 152-mm/50 cal. (6-inch) guns in single mounts and two dual mount Type 93 13.2-mm machine guns and fitted with one 1110-mm and one 900-mm searchlight. During most of the remainder of 1941, Yasukuni Maru was based at Takao in Taiwan for patrols of Ryukyu Islands and the coast of China. However, at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, she was based at Kwajalein. On 20 December 1941, she was assigned to the 3rd Submarine Division, still with the IJN 6th Fleet.
  Kwajalein was attacked on 1 February 1942 by aircraft from United States Navy Task Force 8 (USS Enterprise (CV-6)), with Yasukuni Maru hit by one bomb in her aft turret and damage to her stern. She returned to Kure on 1 March for repairs lasting to 23 April. She returned to Kure again on 23 November for repairs and regular maintenance.
  In early 1943, Yasukuni Maru was assigned to “Operation C”, the reinforcement of the Japanese landing on New Guinea. Yasukuni Maru, with 1448 men and 11 tanks of the IJA 20th Infantry Division departed Pusan for Wewak on 8 January 1943 together with transports Hakozaki Maru and Aratama Maru  and the destroyer Hatsuyuki. The convoy successfully delivers to reinforcements to Rabaul and Wewak. On 4 February 1943, Yasukuni Maru took on troops and supplies of the IJA 41st Infantry Division at Tsingtao, China, disembarking the troops at Wewak at the end of the month, and returning to Kure in early March. She was based at Truk in April, and was part of another troop convoy to Balikpapan in May. In October, she was part of the convoyed evacuating surviving Japanese troops from Wewak to Palau, and returned to Japan at the end of December 1943.
  On 24 January 1944, Yasukuni Maru was assigned to a troop convoy departing Tateyama, Chiba for Truk. On 31 January, approximately 17 miles (27 km) northwest of Truk, the convoy was attacked by the US submarine USS Trigger (SS-237) and Yasukuni Maru was hit by two torpedoes. She took on water rapidly, and sank within five minutes at 09°15′N 147°13′E with loss of 300 crewmen and 888 technicians. Escorting destroyer Shiratsuyu recovered only 43 survivors. She was struck from the navy list on 10 March 1944.
caption: Yasukuni Maru in the background and the battleship Nagato at sea, 1941.
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