M.S. Hakozaki Maru in dry dock, Kobe, 1922.

Another Japanese Ship Detained at Bermuda

“Hamilton, Bermuda (Oct. 8 1940) – British authorities announced today the Japanese passenger ship, Hakozaki Maru, was being detained here pending a routine inspection of her papers.

“She is the second Japanese vessel to be detain in Bermuda in the last week. Another ship of the Nippon Yusen Kaisha Line (NYK), the Hakone Maru, was released over the week end after being held several days for a checkup when she arrived without advance notification.

“The Hakozaki Maru put in here yesterday on the way from Lisbon to New York.”

– The Associated Press

“The great dock in the Mitsubishi shipbuilding yard”, Kobe, 1922. The passenger-cargo ship Hakozaki Maru is cradled in Mitsubishi’s 7000-ton-capacity dry-dock, being outfitted after its launch in 1922.

From the wiki: “Launched on March 2, 1922, the 10,000 gross ton Hakozaki Maru was placed on NYK’s European routes, touching port in London, Marseilles, Gibraltar, and Naples before returning to East Asian waters via the Suez Canal in 1926.

“Requisitioned by the Imperial Japanese Navy in December, 1940, when she was converted to a landing command ship, Hakozaki Maru participated in the occupation of Southern French Indochina, July 1941. In May 1942, she is assigned to Special Naval Landing Force [Kaigun tokubetsu rikusentai, marine troops] duties and participates in the early Pacific War landing campaigns and seaborne assaults at Rabaul, Guam, the Marshall Islands, and Wewak.

“In March 1945, Hakozaki Maru was torpedoed and sank 90 miles NNE of Shanghai, China, near the mouth of the Yangtze River, with a loss of 1,118 passengers and crew.”