was a Japanese cargo ship owned by Nippon Yusen Kaisha. The ship was built in 1941 by Hakodate Dock at Hakodate on the northern island of Hokkaidō.
History Yoshida Maru was built at Hakodate; and she left port in August 1941 on her maiden voyage.Haworth, R.B. Miramar Ship Index: Yoshida Maru, ID#4048724
The 2,921-ton vessel had a length of , and her beam was . The single turbine, single screw propulsion produced an average speed of .
Yoshida Maru was requisitioned as an auxiliary gunboat/minelayer of the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was armed with three guns of 12 cm and machine guns. On 1 October 1943 she was reregistered as an auxiliary transport. On 18 January 1944, she was sunk by the submarine west-southwest of Minami-Tori-shima at with the loss of 76 passengers, eight crewmen and 15 gunners.
See also List of Japanese hell ships Foreign commerce and shipping of Empire of Japan
Notes
References Blair, Clay. (2001). Silent Victory: The U.S. Submarine War Against Japan. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ; Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1935). The Nomenclature of the N.Y.K. Fleet. Tokyo : Nippon Yusen Kaisha. OCLC 27933596 Tate, E. Mowbray. (1986). Transpacific steam: the story of steam navigation from the Pacific Coast of North America to the Far East and the Antipodes, 1867-1941. New York: Cornwall Books. ;