BAAG records of shipping in HK during 1944-45 – the Wataoka 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 Wataoka Maru, a cargo ship, was seen on 16 August 1944
Arrived on 15 Aug 1944 from Shanghai
Inward cargo: 780 iron plates, 170 pieces of heat proof fabric, 70 bottles of white acid, 1,000 lbs. of explosives, 1,200 bags of rice. Discharged 16-19 Aug and taken to main Godown at Naval Supply Depot Kowloon, Naval Keipitai Depot and Naval Auto-repairs Depot
Departed on: Unknown probably to French Indo-China
An image of this ship would be helpful.
This article was first posted on 6th August 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
No ship has been found of this name. The closest found by name is the former Straits SS Co KINTA which was named 治岡丸 HARUOKA MARU. This ship had a unique profile with raised superstructure the entire length of the ship except for two small breaks amidships and 3/4 aft and side-ports. The bow was straight not raked. The ship’s profile did not change dramatically while under Japanese control. The ship was captured in DEI (Indonesia) and most likely crew were drawn from DEI and Malaya/Singapore rather than FIC and China Coast. Haruoka Maru survived the war and can’t be ruled out of contention but seems unlikely.