Location whereGyōkū Maru was torpedoed and sunk off China.
Gyōkū Maru (暁空丸) was a 6,854 GRTcargo ship that was laid down 6 December 1941 asEmpire Dragon byHong Kong & Whampoa Dock Co Ltd, Hong Kong for theMinistry of War Transport (MoWT). She was seized by the Japanese on 26 December 1941 with the fall of Hong Kong and completed asGyōkū Maru in August, 1943, serving until September 1944 when she was torpedoed and sunk byUSS Thresher in theYellow Sea.[1]
Empire Dragon was laid down on 6 December 1941.[2] On 26 December 1941,[3] she was seized by the Japanese in an incomplete state and completed asGyōkū Maru in August, 1943.[2] and placed in IJA service.[1]
On 22 August 1944, she was part of Convoy Namo 103 carrying evacuating civilians fromOkinawa and attacked byUSSBowfin. The fellow shipTsushima Maru was sunk, butGyōkū Maru escaped.[4]
^abcdeMitchell, W.H.; Sawyer, L.A. (1995).The Empire Ships. London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong: Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. p. not cited.ISBN1-85044-275-4.
^船舶輸送間における遭難部隊資料（陸軍） [Data on disaster units during ship transport (Army)] (in Japanese). Demobilization Agency Second Demobilization Department (復員庁第二復員局). 1946. p. 17/50 of scanned image. Retrieved12 July 2011.
Japan
