was a landing ship with flight deck (an early form of amphibious warfare ship

Amphibious warfare ship

Amphibious warfare ship, often shortened to amphibs or phibs and popularly known as gator freighters, denotes a range of classes of warship employed to land and support ground forces, such as marines, on enemy territory during an amphibious assault...

) built for the Imperial Japanese Army

Imperial Japanese Army

-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Launched and completed in early 1945, the ship saw no significant action.

Construction

Kumano Maru was laid down at the Hitachi Shipbuilding

Hitachi

Hitachi is a multinational corporation specializing in high-technology.Hitachi may also refer to:*Hitachi, Ibaraki, Japan*Hitachi province, former province of Japan*Prince Hitachi and Princess Hitachi, members of the Japanese imperial family...

 yard at Innoshima, a commercial shipyard that also built minesweepers

Minesweeper (ship)

A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...

 and submarines, as a Type M wartime standard cargo ship. The ship was taken over by the Army during construction, redesigned as a landing craft

Landing craft

Landing craft are boats and seagoing vessels used to convey a landing force from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. Most renowned are those used to storm the beaches of Normandy, the Mediterranean, and many Pacific islands during WWII...

 transport, and designated a Type B landing ship. It could carry up to 12 56-foot and 13 46-foot landing craft

Landing craft

Landing craft are boats and seagoing vessels used to convey a landing force from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. Most renowned are those used to storm the beaches of Normandy, the Mediterranean, and many Pacific islands during WWII...

 in its hold. The craft were launched on rails through two large doors astern.

The ship was also designed to transport anywhere from 8 to 37 aircraft

Aircraft

An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...

, depending on their size and the number of landing craft aboard. A 360 x 70 foot flight deck

Flight deck

The flight deck of an aircraft carrier is the surface from which its aircraft take off and land, essentially a miniature airfield at sea. On smaller naval ships which do not have aviation as a primary mission, the landing area for helicopters and other VTOL aircraft is also referred to as the...

 was mounted above the main deck with an elevator aft. This permitted the stored aircraft to be flown off the ship to onshore airfields. The deck was not large enough to allow landing of aircraft. The ship's funnel was mounted on the starboard side and vented horizontally outward to keep the flight deck clear.

Operational history

Kumano Maru was launched 28 January 1945 and completed on 31 March, the day before United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 forces landed on Okinawa

Battle of Okinawa

The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II. The 82-day-long battle lasted from early April until mid-June 1945...

. The ship was not used in offensive operations.

Kumano Maru survived the war, and was used until 1947 to repatriate Japanese forces abroad. Afterward, she was scrapped in 1948.