The Hokuyo Maru was built in 1937, by the Uraga Dockyard Senryu as a medium coastal freighter for the Kita Nikon Kisen Line. She was designed to operate between North Korea, Hokkaido and other Japanese islands and as a result had a very strong bow to penetrate ice flows.
During the “Hailstone” attack, Hokuyo Maru was attacked by aircraft from the carrier Essex and sunk by a bomb that struck her starb’rd aft side of 3rd hold. The subsequent explosion blew out a closely adjacent starb’r boiler leaving twin gaping holes in both the hold and boiler room. She sits upright with an intact housework and funnel and is a very enjoyable, but deep dive, now lying on a 200 fsw floor.
- Hokuyo Maru
- Displacement: 4,217 tons
- Length: 354 feet
- Beam: 50 feet
- Engine: 1 low pressure steam turbine / coal
- Max Speed: 15.85 kts.