Shinano Maru (1900)
Shinano Maru in 1905 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Empire of Japan | |
| Name | Shinano Maru |
| Ordered | 1904 Fiscal Year |
| Builder | W. Henderson Co, Glasgow |
| Launched | 31 January 1900 |
| Completed | April 1900 |
| Stricken | 1951 |
| Fate | Scrapped |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement | 6,388 long tons (6,491 t) |
| Length | 135.635 m (445 ft 0 in) w/l |
| Beam | 14.996 m (49 ft 2.4 in) |
| Draught | 7.89 m (25 ft 11 in) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 15.4 knots (28.5 km/h; 17.7 mph) |
| Complement | 238 |
| Armament | 2 × 6 in (152 mm) guns |
Shinano Maru (信濃丸) was a 6,388 GRT merchantman operated by the Nippon Yusen K.K Shipping Company (NYK). She was built by W. Henderson Co in Glasgow, for the express purpose of serving NYK's Japan to Seattle route. NYK originally intended that she be built at the Mitsubishi Nagasaki shipyards in Japan; however, Mitsubishi had experienced problems in the completion of Hitachi Maru, which had led to considerable delays. NYK chose not to wait, and Shinano Maru was ordered to Scotland. She was completed in April 1900. During the Russo-Japanese War Shinano Maru was converted into an armed merchantman. She has the distinction of discovering the Russian Fleet near Tsushima Strait on the eve of the Battle of Tsushima. After the war Shinano Maru reverted to civilian use, being scrapped in 1951.