Aikoku Maru (1940)

Aikoku Maru in Singapore in 1942
History
Empire of Japan
Name	Aikoku Maru
Ordered	1937 fiscal year
Builder	Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding, Tamano, Okayama
Laid down	29 December 1938
Launched	25 April 1940
Completed	31 August 1941
Stricken	31 March 1944
Fate	Sunk by air attack, 16 February 1944
General characteristics
Type	Armed merchant cruiser
Tonnage	10,438 GRT
Length	160.8 m (527 ft 7 in) w/l
Beam	20.2 m (66 ft 3 in)
Draught	8.8 m (28 ft 10 in)
Propulsion	2 × Mitsui B&W diesel engines 13,000 shp (9,700 kW)
Speed	20.9 knots (38.7 km/h; 24.1 mph)
Complement	133
Armament	4 × 15 cm/50 41st Year Type guns 2 × 8 cm/40 3rd Year Type naval guns 2 × 2 Type 93 13.2-mm machine guns 2 × 2 533 mm (21.0 in) torpedo tubes
Aircraft carried	1 × Kawanishi E7K floatplane
General characteristics (after 1942)
Armament	8 × 14 cm/50 3rd Year Type naval guns 2 × 8 cm/40 3rd Year Type naval guns 2 × 2 Type 96 25 mm AA guns 2 × 2 Type 93 13.2 mm machine guns 2 × 2 533 mm (21.0 in) torpedo tubes
Aircraft carried	2 × Aichi E13A floatplanes

Aikoku Maru (愛国丸) was an armed merchant cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II. The ship entered service in 1940, the ship was later converted to an ammunition ship. She was sunk in February 1944 during Operation Hailstone.