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SS Kyokusei Maru (Kanji:旭盛丸) was a 3,794 GRT 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. She was renamed Chilcop in 1924, Shun Hwa (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, equipment, fuel, landing craft and ammunition for Lae, New Guinea. 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 B-17s of the 64th Bombardment Squadron on 2 March and sank at 06°40′S 147°10′E / 6.667°S 147.167°E / -6.667; 147.167, the first ship in the Japanese convoy sunk during the battle. The destroyers Yukikaze and 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.

Notes

1. "Lloyd's Register 1942-43" (PDF). plimsollshipdata. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
2. McAulay 1991, p. 39
3. "Kyokusei Maru (+1943)". Wrecksite. Retrieved 2016-10-01.

References

• McAulay, Lex (1991). Battle of the Bismarck Sea. New York: St Martins Press. ISBN 0-312-05820-9. OCLC 23082610.

v t e Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in March 1943
Shipwrecks	2 Mar: Kyokusei Maru, Meriwether Lewis 3 Mar: Aiyo Maru, Arashio, Doggerbank, Kembu Maru, Oigawa Maru, Shirayuki, Sin-ai Maru, Stag Hound, Taimei Maru, Teiyo Maru 4 Mar: Asashio, City of Pretoria, Marietta E, Tokitsukaze, U-87 5 Mar: Empire Tower, USS Grampus, Minegumo, Murasame 8 Mar: 's Jacob, James B. Stephens, U-156 9 Mar: Fort Battle River 10 Mar: Nailsea Court, Richard Bland, U-633 11 Mar: HMS Harvester, U-432, U-444 12 Mar: HMS Lightning, HMS Turbulent, U-130 13 Mar: Clan Alpine, Empress of Canada, U-163 14 Mar: HMS Thunderbolt 15 Mar: USS Triton 16 Mar: Benjamin Harrison 19 Mar: Lulworth Hill, U-5, U-384 21 Mar: K-3, U-163 22 Mar: U-524, U-665 23 Mar: Delfino, Windsor Castle 24 Mar: Bungsberg 25 Mar: U-469 27 Mar: HMS Dasher, U-169 28 Mar: Caterina Costa, Ceuta, Masaya, Suwa Maru 29 Mar: U-77 30 Mar: SS Empire Bowman, U-416 Unknown date: Sirène
Other incidents	8 Mar: Ro-103 13 Mar: USS R-6 19 Mar: HMS Derwent Unknown date: USS Scorpion
1942 1943 1944 February 1943 April 1943

• 1920 ships
• Ships built in Vancouver
• Maritime incidents in March 1943
• Ships sunk by US aircraft
• World War II merchant ships of Japan
• Shipwrecks in the Bismarck Sea