BAAG records of shipping in HK during 1944-45 – the Kainan Maru No.374 + No.375
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 Kainan Maru No 375 a Formosan fishing vessel converted cargo boat,was seen on 21 Aug 1944
Arrived on 20 Aug 1944
Inward cargo: 110 c/s gasoline
Repairs: On 23 Aug 1944 admitted into Kowloon Docks slipway for painting
Departed on 30 August 1944 for Canton
An image of this ship would be helpful
The Kainan Maru No.374, a Formosan fishing vessel converted cargo boat,was seen on 24 Aug 1944
Arrived on 20 Aug 1944
Inward cargo: 7 old motors, over 100 lumber logs taken to Kowloon Docks
Repairs: On 26 Aug 1944 admitted into Kowloon Docks for painting
Departed on 2 Sep 1944 for Formosa
An image of this ship would be helpful
This article was first posted on 24th December 2016
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
Something of a mystery here. The references to 374 and 375 seem to refer to official numbers. Taiwan had two fishing boats with this kanji:
Kainan Maru No.1 built 1939, 89 tons Official number Taiwan 371
Kainan Maru No.2 built 1939 87 tons Official number Taiwan 372
Both ships were Navy requisitioned and could have been converted to small cargo ships and fit the dimensions above. Kainan Maru No.2 is shown in some sources as sunk 7/9/44 Katsuura Wan, Chiba Ken (ie Japan) but this could be an error.