MARU.

[E28]

I am rather curious as my area is raid ships. Warships to you.

So, i ask myself, having been resident here for a few months and enjoying the wide variety of differing subjects,
why do so few of the Japanese trade ships, the Merchant vessels, now seem to have the MARU absent from their names.

This is as observation, so.
Am i right, or am i ...

[yorkieman]

There is a Wikipedia note on the origin and meaning(s) of the MARU suffix which was indeed widespread in Japanese merchant ship names until perhaps some time in 1980's when some companies seemed to abandon the tradition and move to more 'universal' ship names, for whatever reason.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_s ... onventions

[E28]

Thanks for the prompt reply George.

Yes, have done quite a bit of time looking at this over many years, not a Saturday afternoon observation.

I have assumed it is a general acceptance that with owners and managers of ships changing so frequently, the old traditions have been discarded for some pretty irrelevant and totally made up nomenclature.

Fortunately,the Japanese navy has maintained an impressive collection of names that have been handed down through the generations. More on that in due course.

But then, of course, nowadays current shipping lines have not been handed down.
Many of the names are whimsical and irrelevant and easily texted electronically.

[E28]

Submarines of the Japanese navy to the end of WW2 were never named, carrying alpha numerical titles only.
Since, all have been named, and those chosen are named after water movements, such as tides and currents.

[yorkieman]

.... the mind boggles at the possibilities on that theme

[E28]

24 Oct 1944.
In position 20 45N, 118 19E, 200 miles NW of Luzon in the South China Sea lies the Japanese SS Arisan Maru, launched 5 Jun 1944 from Mitsui shipyard.

She was sunk whilst transporting American pow's, and went down taking 1777 with her, including crew.
This is the single largest loss of American lives at sea of all time, and the 23rd largest sea disaster.

She was sunk in a torpedo attack by the American Gato class boat USS Snook SS 279.
Snook was sunk off Luzon on 8 Apr 1945 with all 84 crew in circumstances which remain unclear.

[E28]

KOAN MARU.
During WW2 this name Koan Maru would not be the luckiest name for a ship.
There were a total of 6 ships named Koan Maru that were sunk, all by assorted US forces.
1 - 24 Jan 1944
2 - 14 Jun 1944
3 - 13 Aug 1944
4 - 4 May 1945
5 - 17 May 1945
6 - 15 Jun 1945
additionally 2 other Koan Maru's went down on 29 Mar 1945,
Koan Maru's 27 and 32.
Koan itself forms the principal and fundamental component in the folklore of Zen Buddhism.

[E28]

We need to go back some way in the past to find, what may be, the 1st recorded instance of Maru being used for a sea vessel.
Bando Maru dates from 1187, which in itself is intriguing, dependent on which chronological method is referred to.

[E28]

The 1st turbine steamers built for any Japanese company were these 2 triple shaft, coal burning pair from Denny.
Built for the Nippon Tetsudo Kwaisha or Japanese state railways for service connecting the 2 main Nippon islands.

Hirafu Maru, y no 796, l 10 July 1907
Tamura Maru, y no 797, l 28 Aug 1907
Coming in at 1484 grt on 280' x 35' x 14'
Both were triple screw and could turn in 18 knots.

Passengers were up to 22 1st, 52 2nd and 254 3rd class.
At this time the NR, or navigation routes were becoming fiercely competitive, including the inter Nippon Islands and those between Japan and Korea.

[E28]

This 1 is somewhat different.

Not an official Maru, not even Japanese in fact.
So (don't) drop in and see more about the "Nasty Maru".

******Have edited this 24-02-2019 as link doesn't any more....******

USS Nassau CVE-16 Bogue class escort carrier.
CVE -Combustible - Vulnerable - Expendable.

[E28]

MEIJI MARU. 1874.

Thought i'd have a quick perouse to see if i could trace the first Maru built on the Clyde.
Clydebuilt came up wih the Meiji Maru, lightship of 1010 grt, 1874.
Cor, me thinks that must be some impossibly large lightship.

Meiji Maru was built and engined as y no 338 by Robert Napier, Govan.

Upon further investigation this Meiji Maru is still extant and afloat in 2013 after 139 years.
This must make her one of the oldest iron Clydebuilt ships still afloat today.

She was in fact built as a lighthouse patrol ship for the Japanese Government.
Or is that even a misnomer. She did in fact have suites for the use of the Emperor no less, almost a personal yacht whose secondary role was that of a patrol ship. The Emperor used her at least twice for extensive foreign cruises.

She was constructed as an iron two masted topsail schooner, 249'5" x 28' x 14' and had a fairly active career until 1964 when she was retired with a view to preservation.
Fitted with a 2 cylinder steam engine of 280 nhp, twin screw.

This preservation has been achieved and she is afloat at the Tokyo University of Mercantile Marine.

[E28]

In January 1922 the Japanese registry had 2,933 steamers of 3,012,447 gross tonnage registered and was rapidly increasing.

What number of these used Maru in the name is almost 100% from what i can glean but the Japanese merchant marine did suffer a large number of losses 1918 - 1941 through accident and weather. It became such a concern to the Japanese Department of Communication in 1924 when it was proposed all ships above 6,000 grt carry a radio and crew member able to operate it, prior to this any Japanese Maru with radio did not need to carry anyone who knew how to turn it on let alone operate it.

Japanese merchant marine losses between 1941 -1945 were catastrophic at the hands of US aircraft and especially submarines which sank 63% and would have been higher sooner had not US torpedoes been so defective. These sinkings also involved huge loss of life in both crews and passengers.

Back to 3,012,447 grt in 1922. In 1944 Japan lost 3,480,000 tons of Maru tonnage.