was a

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's List of seas, seas and Ocean, oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. ...

that was laid down 6 December 1941 as ''Empire Dragon'' by Hong Kong & Whampoa Dock Co Ltd, Hong Kong for the

Ministry of War Transport The Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) was a department of the British Government formed early in the Second World War to control transportation policy and resources. It was formed by merging the Ministry of Shipping and the Ministry of Transpor ...

(MoWT). She was seized by the Japanese on 26 December 1941 with the fall of Hong Kong and completed as ''Gyōkū Maru'' in August, 1943, serving until September 1944 when she was torpedoed and sunk by in the

Yellow Sea The Yellow Sea, also known as the North Sea, is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula, and can be considered the northwestern part of the East China Sea. Names It is one of four ...

Description

The ship was laid down in 1941 by Hong Kong & Whampoa Dock Co Ltd, Hong Kong. The ship was long, with a beam of . She was assessed at . The ship was propelled by a

triple expansion steam engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure (HP) cylinder, then having given up heat ...

History

''Empire Dragon'' was laid down on 6 December 1941. On 26 December 1941, she was seized by the Japanese in an incomplete state and completed as ''Gyōkū Maru'' in August, 1943. and placed in IJA service. On 22 August 1944, she was part of Convoy Namo 103 carrying evacuating civilians from

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

and attacked by USS ''Bowfin''. The fellow ship '' Tsushima Maru'' was sunk, but ''Gyōkū Maru'' escaped. On 18 September 1944, ''Gyōkū Maru'' was torpedoed and sunk by in the

(). 1,546 civilian refugees were drowned.British Newspaper Archive

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gyoku Maru 1941 ships Ships built in Hong Kong Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships World War II merchant ships of Japan Steamships of Japan Ships sunk by American submarines World War II shipwrecks in the East China Sea Maritime incidents in December 1941 Maritime incidents in September 1944 Ships built by the Hong Kong & Whampoa Dock Company