Kamikawa Maru
Class overview
Name	Kamikawa Maru-class Cargo ship
Builders	Kawasaki Shipbuilding Corporation
Operators	Kawasaki Line Imperial Japanese Navy Imperial Japanese Army Kōbe Line
Built	1936–1940
In commission	1937–1969
Planned	5
Completed	5
Lost	4
Retired	1 (Kiyokawa Maru)
General characteristics
Type	Cargo ship/Seaplane tender
Displacement	6,853 to 6,872 long tons (6,963 to 6,982 t) gross
Length	145.0 m (475 ft 9 in) Lpp 146.15 m (479 ft 6 in) waterline
Beam	19.0 m (62 ft 4 in)
Draught	8.23 m (27 ft 0 in)
Propulsion	Kamikawa Maru 1 × MAN-Kawasaki D7Z-70/120T diesel single shaft, 9,137 bhp Kiyokawa Maru 1 × MAN-Kawasaki D7Z-70/120T diesel single shaft, 8,810 bhp Kimikawa Maru 1 × MAN-Kawasaki D7Z-70/120T diesel single shaft, 8,867 bhp Kunikawa Maru 1 × MAN-Kawasaki D7Z-70/120T diesel single shaft, 8,880 bhp Hirokawa Maru 1 × MAN-Kawasaki D8Z-70/120T diesel, single shaft, 9,980 bhp
Speed	Kamikawa Maru and Kiyokawa Maru 19.5 knots (22.4 mph; 36.1 km/h) Kimikawa Maru and Kunikawa Maru 19.4 knots (22.3 mph; 35.9 km/h) Hirokawa Maru 19.2 knots (22.1 mph; 35.6 km/h)
Capacity	650,000 cu ft (18,000 m3) freight as cargo ship
Crew	65 as cargo ship
Armament	Kamikawa Maru, 1937 2 × 4.7 in (120 mm)/45 AA guns 2 × 7.7 mm machine guns Kiyokawa Maru, Kimikawa Maru and Kunikawa Maru, 1941 2 × 150 mm (5.9 in) L/40 naval guns 2 × 76.2 mm (3.00 in) L/23.5 AA guns 4 × Type 96 25 mm AA guns 2 × 7.7 mm machine guns Hirokawa Maru, 1941 6 × Type 88 75 mm AA guns 4 × Type 98 20 mm AA guns
Aircraft carried	Kamikawa Maru, Kiyokawa Maru, Kimikawa Maru and Kunikawa Maru up to 12 float plane
Aviation facilities	Kamikawa Maru, Kiyokawa Maru, Kimikawa Maru and Kunikawa Maru catapult and deck

The Kamikawa Maru-class cargo ship (神川丸型貨物船, Kamikawa Maru-gata Kamotsusen) was a type of cargo ship of Japan, serving during the 1930s and World War II. Four of the five ships of the class were converted to seaplane tenders during the war.

In 1930, the Ōsaka Mercantile Steamship Co.Ltd. (O.S.K. Lines) put into service the Kinai Maru-class cargo ship^[1] on the Japan-New York route. Competing Japanese steamship companies produced and placed their own cargo ships on the North America route.

In 1936, the Kawasaki Line built four Kamikawa Maru-class ships. They had much higher cruising speeds and capacity than their competitors. However, they were commandeered in sequence and did not survive to the end of the war.

• 
  Kawasaki Line Kiyokawa Maru
• 
  Kawasaki Line Kimikawa Maru
• 
  Kawasaki Line Kunikawa Maru
• 
  Kawasaki Line Hirokawa Maru

• 
  IJN Kamikawa Maru circa 1939 at Xiamen
• 
  IJN Kamikawa Maru in June 1942 at Kiska
• 
  IJN Kimikawa Maru in Autumn 1942 at Ōminato Naval Base
• 
  IJN Kimikawa Maru in April 1943 at Ōminato Naval Base

• 
  IJN Kamikawa Maru-class in 1943
• 
  IJN Kimikawa Maru in Summer 1943
• 
  IJN Kiyokawa Maru (above) on 10 March 1942

• Tashirō Iwashige, The visual guide of Japanese wartime merchant marine, "Dainippon Kaiga". Archived from the original on 2002-12-07. (Japan), May 2009
• Shinshichirō Komamiya, The Wartime Convoy Histories, "Shuppan Kyōdōsha". Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2010-09-11. (Japan), October 1987
• Monthly Ships of the World, "Kaijinsha". (Japan)
  • No. 481, Special issue Vol. 40, History of Japanese aircraft carriers, May 1994
  • No. 525, June 1997
  • No. 600, September 2002
• Science of the Ships No. 403, Ministry of Transport, May 1982
• The Maru Special, Japanese Naval Vessels No. 25, Japanese seaplane tenders w/ auxiliary seaplane tenders, "Ushio Shobō". (Japan), March 1979