Hirano Maru
Hirano Maru in dazzle camouflage during the First World War | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Japan | |
| Name | Hirano Maru |
| Owner | Nippon Yūsen Kaisha |
| Operator | NYK Line |
| Port of registry | Tokyo |
| Route | Yokohama – Liverpool |
| Builder | Mitsubishi Dockyard and Engine Works, Nagasaki |
| Maiden voyage | 1908 |
| Fate | Sunk on 4 October 1918 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage | |
| Length | 473 ft 9 in (144.40 m) |
| Beam | 54 ft 7 in (16.64 m) |
| Depth | 31 ft 3 in (9.53 m) |
| Propulsion | Two screws driven by 6 boilers and a 6-cylinder triple expansion 973 hp (726 kW) engine |
| Capacity | 320 passengers and crew on final voyage |
Hirano Maru was a Japanese transport ship operated by the Nippon Yusen Kaisha shipping line. She was built by the Mitsubishi Dockyard and Engine Works in Nagasaki, Japan and operated on the Yokohama-Liverpool route from 1908. On 4 October 1918 she was travelling through the Celtic Sea, having just left Liverpool, when she was torpedoed by the German submarine UB-91. She sank with the loss of 291 of her 320 passengers and crew. Memorials to those who died were erected in Welsh churchyards where some of the dead were buried.