Reclassified as a repair ship on 16 August 1937 , Asahi was taken out of reserve in November , after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident that started the Second Sino @-@ Japanese War , and was used as a transport to land troops in an amphibious landing at Hangzhou Bay . Afterwards she began conversion at Kure , Japan , into a repair ship ; this was completed on 18 December 1938 . Asahi was fitted with a dummy wooden main battery fore and aft to resemble an old battleship after her arrival in Shanghai on 29 December . In May 1939 she was modified to act as a torpedo depot ship and carried out patrols between 29 May and 7 November 1940 . She was transferred to Camranh Bay , French Indochina , on 15 November 1940 and later transported the 11th Base Unit from Kure to Camranh Bay 19 November – 7 December 1941 .