''Kembu Maru'' also ''Kenmu Maru'' (

Kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

:) 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. ...

which was built in 1941 Taikoo Dockyard & Engineering Company of Hong Kong Ltd. She was built as ''Empire Blossom'' and was ready to be launched when Hong Kong was invaded by Japan in December 1941. The ship was completed by the Japanese and put into service. On 4 December 1943 she was damaged by American bombing at

Kwajalein Atoll Kwajalein Atoll (; Marshallese language, Marshallese: ) is part of the Marshall Islands, Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island, which its majority English-speaking re ...

, sinking the next day.

Description

''Empire Blossom'' was built as a cargo ship by Taikoo Dockyard & Engineering Company of Hong Kong Ltd. She was laid down in May 1941, as yard number 303. The ship was completed in February 1943. She was long, with a beam of . On completion she was , 9,925 DWT. She was powered by a triple expansion steam engine.

Career

The engine and boilers intended for ''Empire Blossom'' were sent to

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

on 1 December 1941 aboard the

Blue Funnel Line Alfred Holt and Company, trading as Blue Funnel Line, was a UK shipping company that was founded in 1866 and operated merchant ships for 122 years. It was one of the UK's larger shipowning and operating companies, and as such had a significan ...

ship . The ship was launched as ''Empire Blossom''. It was completed in February 1943 and put into service by 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 ...

as ''Kembu Maru''. On 4 August 1943, ''Kembu Maru'' was damaged by at . On 4 December 1943, ''Kembu Maru'' was bombed and

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

ed by aircraft from . She was carrying a cargo of aviation fuel in drums. The bombing caused the ship to explode, with a column of smoke being seen. She sank the next day. At the time of her sinking she was in the Kwajalein Atoll ().

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kembu Maru 1942 ships Ships built in Hong Kong Steamships of Japan World War II merchant ships of Japan Ships sunk by US aircraft Empire ships World War II shipwrecks in the South China Sea Maritime incidents in December 1943 Ships built by the Taikoo Dockyard and Engineering Company