BAAG records of shipping in HK during 1944-45 – the Kaiko Maru
Elizabeth Ride has British Army Aid Group (BAAG) records of shipping movements for 1944-45 in Hong Kong during the Japanese occupation in World War Two.
These provide information not only about the ships themselves but what cargo was being brought into and out of Hong Kong during the latter stages of WW2, passengers carried, and of godowns, docks etc that were being utilised.
The Kaiko Maru, a cargo ship, was seen on 29 Aug 1944
Arrived on 16 Aug 1944 from Saigon
Inward cargo: 40 large drums of lubricating oil, 60 large drums of crude oil, 142 sheets of iron plates, 180 bags of coal in straw bags, 400 bags of rice, 700 bags of sugar, 50 kerosene tins of edible oil. Discharged 27-28 Aug and taken to the Naval Dockyard and Kowloon Godowns.
Departed on X
Outward cargo: X
Transit cargo: X
An image of this ship would be helpful.
This article was first posted on 24th September 2015.
Further information:
- For general information about the Elizabeth Ride collection, her father Sir Lindsay Ride, and the British Army Aid group during WW2 a very useful introduction is through http://gwulo.com/node/13968
- The BAAG papers are kept at the Hong Kong Heritage Project – Elizabeth M Ride Collection
There were several Kaiko Maru’s with the kanji shown above. All of them had engines aft, not amidships and operated in areas elsewhere. The one exception (1921, 233 gross tons) was being used as an auxiliary submarine chaser on the Manila-St Jacques, FIC axis and does not match the description.
It seems more likely the ship referred to is 海口丸 Kaiko Maru (1902 built 2698 grt) that was ex Moller’s Mary Moller.. This ship was known to be operating in the Hong Kong area at this time and fit the dimensions closely.