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Originally built as the MV Hauraki, she was launched on 28 November 1921 and displaced 7,113 tons gross and was 137.5 metres (450.3 feet) long and just under 18 metres (58.2 feet) wide, and entered service on 13 May 1922. The ship was built for the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand Ltd and was used in the trans-Pacific cargo trade, mostly Sydney or Melbourne to Fiji.
On the morning of 17 February 1944 the Hoki Maru was anchored to the east of Eten island in Chuuk Lagoon. She was attacked first by ESSEX TBFs (Strike 2B) and was damaged by bomb hits. Photographs show her on fire amidships but not in any danger of sinking following this attack. Around mid-day, she was bombed by Grumman Avenger launched from USS Yorktown CV10 in the "Masthead Attack" and shortly thereafter was torpedoed by USS Bunker Hill CV17 planes and left on fire. When last seen as the final strike of the day was completed, the ship was totally ablaze and smoking heavily. She sank before the next strike of the second day arrived over their targets. Wreck DescriptionAlthough badly damaged in the forward sections the aft section contains items that can be found nowhere else on the wrecks of Chuuk; building equipment and trucks. Further unlike the San Francisco Maru and the Sankisan Maru the bodies of these trucks are still intact. Perhaps the most exciting find in the holds are two still intact Caterpillar bulldozers. On our April 2003 trip we heard a great story about these bulldozers. Apparently an ex-engineer from Caterpillar was diving aboard the Thorfinn and was returning from a dive on the Hoki Maru. As the boat was driving up there was a lot of commotion and yelling coming from the dive boat. The crew, thinking there had been an accident scrambled to get the first aid equipment. As the boat got closer they could make out what the guy was saying - "they stole my F@*#!* tractors". Apparently when the Hauraki left New Zealand it had the first Caterpillar bulldozers to have hydraulic buckets in its holds. They never arrived because the Hauraki was captured and commandeered by the Japanese. Until this day the engineers didn't know what had happened to their tractors.
This page was last updated on 20-Apr-2008. |
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On 4 July 1942 the MV Hauraki left Fremantle (Australia) bound for Colombo in Sri Lanka. She was on her way from New Zealand to the Middle East with a load of war supplies. On 12 July 1942 at about 2150, the MV Hauraki was ambushed by the armed merchant cruisers Hokoku Maru and Aikoku Maru and captured. She was taken to Singapore and the crew sent to Ofuna Camp. 
