Kongō Maru-class armed merchantmen

The Kongō Maru-class armed merchant cruiser was a class of two armed merchant cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Kyosumi Maru
Class overview
Name	Akagi Maru-class auxiliary cruiser
Builders	Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagasaki Shipyard
Operators	Imperial Japanese Navy
Built	1934–1935
In service	1935–1944
In commission	1941–1944
Completed	2
Lost	2
Retired	0
General characteristics
Type	Armed merchantmen
Displacement	8,600 tonnes (8,464 long tons)
Length	139 m (456 ft 0 in)
Beam	18.6 m (61 ft 0 in)
Draft	9.4 m (30 ft 10 in)
Propulsion	1 x Mitsubishi-Sulzer diesel engine (7600-9000hp)
Speed	19 knots (22 mph; 35 km/h)
Complement	50
Armament	4 × 14 cm Type 3 2 × 13mm Type 92 MG 2 × 4 533 mm (21.0 in) torpedo tubes
Aircraft carried	1×Kawanishi E7K floatplane

Background

The Kongō Maru-class vessels Kongō Maru and Kiyosumi Maru were built by IHI Corporation at Kawasaki shipyard in Kobe as combined cargo-passenger ships. They were converted to "auxiliary cruiser" role in September–December 1941 (and therefore armed).

Bibliography

• Jentschura, Hansgeorg; Jung, Dieter & Mickel, Peter (1977). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. ISBN 978-0-87021-893-4.