View source for SS Kyokusei Maru

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|Ship name=*''Margaret Coughlan'' (1920-1924)
*''Chilcop'' (1924-1936)
*''Shun Hwa'' (1936-1938)
*''Kyokusei Maru'' (1938-1943)
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|Ship owner=*Western Canada Steamship Company, Vancouver
*Atlantic Steamship Company, Vancouver
*Sheridan Steamship Company, London
*Chile Steamship Company, New York
*K. King, China
*Asashi Shoki K.K., Tokyo
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|Ship builder=J. Coughlan & Sons, [[Vancouver]]
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|Ship yard number=15
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|Ship launched=June 1920
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|Ship fate=Sunk by aircraft on 3 March 1943 at 06°40'S, 147°10'E
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|Ship tonnage={{GRT|5,493}}
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|Ship length={{convert|410.5|ft}}
|Ship beam={{convert|54|ft}}
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|Ship draught={{convert|29.7|ft}}
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|Ship power=520 NHP
|Ship propulsion=Triple expansion engines built by J. G Kinkold & Co, Greenoch
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'''SS ''Kyokusei Maru''''' ([[Kanji]]:{{lang|ja|旭盛丸}}) was a {{GRT|3,794}} transport ship of the [[Imperial Japanese Army]] during [[World War II]].

Built by J. Coughlan & Sons, [[Vancouver]] and launched in June 1920, as ''Margaret Coughlan'' for the Western Canada Steamship Company.<ref>{{cite web |last = |first = |title = Lloyd's Register 1942-43 |publisher = plimsollshipdata |date = |url = https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/42/42b0509.pdf | access-date = 14 September 2012}}</ref> She was renamed ''Chilcop'' in 1924, ''Shun Hwa'' ({{lang|zh|盛華}}) in 1936, and ''Kyokusei Maru'' in 1938.

She left [[Rabaul]], New Britain on 1 March 1943, as part of ''Operation 81'', carrying a cargo 1,200 troops of the [[115th Infantry Regiment (Imperial Japanese Army)|115th Infantry Regiment]], equipment, fuel, landing craft and ammunition for [[Lae]], New Guinea.<ref>{{harvnb|McAulay|1991|p=39}}</ref> The convoy was attacked by aircraft of the [[United States Army Air Forces]] and [[Royal Australian Air Force]] from 2 March 1943, known as the [[Battle of the Bismarck Sea]]. ''Kyokusei Maru'' was bombed by [[Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress|B-17]]s of the [[64th Bombardment Squadron]] on 2 March and sank at {{coord|06|40|S|147|10|E|display=title,inline}}, the first ship in the Japanese convoy sunk during the battle. The destroyers [[Japanese destroyer Yukikaze (1939)|''Yukikaze'']] and [[Japanese destroyer Asagumo (1938)|''Asagumo'']] plucked 950 survivors from the water. The two destroyers landed the survivors at Lae. The rest of the 486 soldiers and sailors on board were killed.<ref>{{cite web | title=Kyokusei Maru (+1943) | url=http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?138002|publisher=Wrecksite| access-date=2016-10-01 }}</ref>

==Notes==
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==References==
*{{cite book
 | last=McAulay
 | first=Lex
 | year=1991
 | title=Battle of the Bismarck Sea
 | publisher=St Martins Press
 | location=New York
 | isbn=0-312-05820-9
 | oclc=23082610
 }}

{{March 1943 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kyokusei Maru}}
[[Category:1920 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Vancouver]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in March 1943]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by US aircraft]]
[[Category:World War II merchant ships of Japan]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the Bismarck Sea]]