''Tama Maru No. 6'' (''Japanese:'' 第六玉丸) was an auxiliary

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

of the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. She was later reclassified as a

submarine chaser A submarine chaser or subchaser is a type of small naval vessel that is specifically intended for anti-submarine warfare. They encompass designs that are now largely obsolete, but which played an important role in the wars of the first half of th ...

History

''Tama Maru No. 6'' was laid down on 1 March 1936 at the shipyard of Fujinagata Zosensho at the behest of shipping company, Taiyo Hogei. She was launched on 20 July 1936 and completed 1 September 1936. She was one of 8 ships built of her class ( ''Tama Maru'', ''Tama Maru No. 2'', ''Tama Maru No. 3'', ''Tama Maru No. 5'', ''Tama Maru No. 6'', ''Tama Maru No. 7'', ''Tama Maru No. 8'', ''Tama Maru No. 9'' (later ''Nagato Maru'')). On 11 April 1941, she was requisitioned by the

and converted to an auxiliary minesweeper under Reserve Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Nishida Hiroshi (西田祐志). Nishida served until 25 July 1943 when he was replaced by Reserve Lieutenant Ishii Hideo (石井英夫). On 10 May 1944, she was reclassified as a submarine chaser. On 8 August 1944, she was torpedoed and sunk in the Pacific Ocean off

Honshu , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the list of islands by area, seventh-largest island in the world, and the list of islands by ...

west of

Chichi Jima is the largest and most populous island in the Japanese archipelago of Bonin or Ogasawara Islands. Chichijima is about north of Iwo Jima. in size, the island is home to about 2,120 people (2021). Connected to the mainland only by a day-long ...

() by . She was removed from the navy list on 10 August 1944.

References

1936 ships Ships built by Fujinagata Shipyards Maritime incidents in August 1944 Ships sunk by American submarines World War II minesweepers of Japan Mine warfare vessels of the Imperial Japanese Navy Auxiliary ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy {{Japan-mil-ship-stub