Japanese aircraft carrier Nigitsu Maru

History
Empire of Japan
Name	Nigitsu Maru
Builder	Harima, Harima
Completed	November 1942
Fate	Sunk 12 January 1944
General characteristics
Type	Landing craft depot ship
Displacement	11,800 tons (standard)
Length	471 ft 7 in (5,659 in) (pp)
Beam	64 ft (20 m)
Draft	25 ft 9 in (7.85 m) (maximum)
Propulsion	4 boilers, driving 2 geared turbines 7,500 shp (5,600 kW)
Speed	20 knots (37 km/h)
Armament	2 × 1 Type 88 75 mm (3 in) AA guns 10 × 1 Type 38 75 mm (3 in) field guns 6 × 1 Type 25 mm (0.98 in) 96 AA guns

Nigitsu Maru (あきつ丸) was a Japanese landing craft depot ship operated by the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). There is disagreement on the fact that the Nigitsu Maru was fitted with a flight deck or not.

Design features

Nigitsu Maru was a passenger liner taken over before completion and refitted by the Imperial Japanese Army. Here sister ship was the Akitsu Maru.
On 9 January 1944 she left Palau for Ujina in convoy FU-901 as the sole merchant ship escorted by destroyer Amagiri. She carried about 2,000 troops, mainly soldiers of the 12th Independent Engineer Regiment. Three days later off the Okino-Daito Island, SE of Okinawa, she was attacked by USS Hake which fired four torpedoes from the surface. Two hit the Nigitsu Maru which sank in eight minutes at 23-15N, 132-51E. 456 soldiers, 83 gunners and 35 crewmen were KIA. Amagiri picked up the survivors and landed them in Japan.

References

• Gardiner, Robert; Chesnau, Roger (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1922–1946. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-913-8.