View source for Tango Maru

{{Short description|German-built cargo motor ship that was sunk in WW2}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}} 
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= Rendsburg (1926) River Scheldt AS.1968.001.0399.jpg
|Ship caption= ''Rendsburg'' on the river [[Scheldt]],<br>in the DADG colours adopted by [[Hamburg America Line|HAPAG]]
}} 
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header= 
|Ship name= *1926: ''Rendsburg''
*1940: ''Toendjoek''
*1942: ''Tango Maru''
|Ship namesake= *1926: [[Rendsburg]]
|Ship owner= *1926: Deutsch-Australische DG
*1926: [[Hamburg America Line]]
*1940: [[Dutch government-in-exile]]
*1942: Teikoku Senpaku KK
|Ship operator= *1940: [[Royal Rotterdam Lloyd|Wm Ruys & Zonen]]
*1940: Nederlandsch Indische Mij Voor Zeevaart NV
*1942: Lino Kaiun Kaisha
|Ship registry= *1926: {{flagicon|Weimar Republic|civil}} [[Port of Hamburg|Hamburg]]
*1940: {{flagicon|Netherlands}} [[Port of Tanjung Priok|Batavia]]
*1942: {{flagicon|Empire of Japan}} [[Port of Yokohama|Yokohama]]
|Ship route= 
|Ship ordered= 
|Ship builder= [[AG Vulcan Stettin|Vulcan-Werke]], Hamburg
|Ship original cost= 
|Ship yard number= 639
|Ship laid down= 
|Ship launched= 1 September 1925
|Ship completed= 2 February 1926
|Ship maiden voyage= 
|Ship identification= *1926: [[code letters]] RFQK
*{{ICS|Romeo}}{{ICS|Foxtrot}}{{ICS|Quebec}}{{ICS|Kilo}}
*1934: [[Maritime call sign|call sign]] DIET
*{{ICS|Delta}}{{ICS|India}}{{ICS|Echo}}{{ICS|Tango}}
|Ship fate= *[[Scuttling|Scuttled]] as blockship March 1942
*raised August 1942
*Torpedoed and sunk by {{USS|Rasher|SS-269|6}} February 1944
|Ship notes= 
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship type= [[cargo ship]]
|Ship tonnage= {{GRT|6200}}, {{NRT|3716}}, {{DWT|9440}}
|Ship displacement= 
|Ship length= {{cvt|450.3|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam= {{cvt|58.2|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught= 
|Ship depth= {{cvt|24.6|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship decks= 2
|Ship power= 993 [[Horsepower#Nominal horsepower|NHP]], 4,100 [[Horsepower#Brake horsepower|bhp]]
|Ship propulsion= *2 × 8-cylinder [[Diesel engine]]s
*[[Gear train|single-reduction gearing]]
*1 × [[Propeller|screw]]
|Ship speed= {{convert|13|kn|km/h}}
|Ship capacity= 
|Ship crew= 47
|Ship armament= 
|Ship sensors= by 1933: wireless [[direction finding]]
|Ship notes= [[sister ship]]s: ''Duisburg'', ''Magdeburg''
}}
|}

{{Nihongo|'''''Tango Maru'''''|丹後丸}} was a [[Cargo ship|cargo]] [[motor ship]] that was built in Germany in 1926 and sunk off the coast of [[Bali]] in 1944. She was launched as '''''Rendsburg''''' for the Deutsch-Australische Dampfschiffs-Gesellschaft (DADG), which in 1926 merged with [[Hamburg America Line|Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft]] (HAPAG).

When [[German invasion of the Netherlands|Germany invaded the Netherlands]] in May 1940, the Dutch authorities seized ''Rendsburg'' in the [[Dutch East Indies]] and renamed her '''''Toendjoek'''''. In March 1942, during the [[Dutch East Indies campaign|Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies]], the Dutch [[Scuttling|scuttled]] her as a [[blockship]].

In August 1942 the Japanese re-floated her and renamed her ''Tango Maru''. In 1944 she was serving as a [[hell ship]] when the submarine {{USS|Rasher}} torpedoed her, sinking her with the loss of about 3,000 lives.

Other Japanese ships in the Second World War were also called ''Tango Maru''. One was the British-built, Dutch-owned {{GRT|2046}} [[Tanker (ship)|tanker]] ''Talang Akar'', which was sunk in the [[Makassar Strait]] in November 1943, ironically also by ''Rasher''.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.marhisdata.nl/schip&id=6382 |title=Talang Akar – ID 6382 |website=Stichting Maritiem-Historische Databank |language=nl |access-date=31 December 2023}}</ref> Another was a Japanese-built {{GRT|6893}} [[steamship]] operated by [[Nippon Yusen]] KK,{{sfn|''Lloyd's Register'' 1943|loc=TAN–TAQ}} which was sunk in the [[East China Sea]] by US aircraft only five days later.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/Japan/IJN/JANAC-Losses/JANAC-Losses-4.html |author=[[Joint Army–Navy Assessment Committee]] |title=Chronological List of Japanese Merchant Vessel Losses |publisher=HyperWar |date=February 1947 |access-date=31 December 2023}}</ref>

==''Rendsburg'' and her sisters==
In the mid-1920s DADG ordered its first three motor ships. All were built by shipyards in [[Hamburg]]. [[AG Vulcan Stettin|Vulcan-Werke]] completed ''Duisburg'' in July 1925{{sfn|''Lloyd's Register'' 1926|loc=DUC–DUK}} and ''Rendsburg'' in February 1926;{{sfn|''Lloyd's Register'' 1926|loc=REM–REN}} and [[Blohm+Voss]] completed ''Magdeburg'' in December 1925.{{sfn|''Lloyd's Register'' 1926|loc=MAG}}

''Rendsburg'' was launched on 1 September 1925 and completed on 2 February 1926.<ref name=SMHD>{{cite web |url= https://www.marhisdata.nl/schip&id=6633 |title=Toendjoek – ID 6633 |website=Stichting Maritiem-Historische Databank |language=nl |access-date=31 December 2023}}</ref> Her registered length was {{cvt|450.3|ft|abbr=on}}, her beam was {{cvt|58.2|ft|abbr=on}} and her depth was {{cvt|24.6|ft|abbr=on}}. Her [[tonnage]]s were {{GRT|6200}} and {{NRT|3716}}.{{sfn|''Lloyd's Register'' 1926|loc=REM–REN}}

Each of the three [[sister ship]]s had a single [[Propeller|screw]]. Blohm+Voss equipped ''Magdeburg'' with one six-cylinder [[two-stroke diesel engine]],{{sfn|''Lloyd's Register'' 1926|loc=MAG}} but ''Duisburg'' and ''Rendsburg'' each had a pair of eight-cylinder [[Four-stroke engine|four-stroke]] diesel engines, driving the single propeller shaft via "[[Fluid coupling|hydraulic oil transformers]]" and [[Gear train|single-reduction gearing]].{{sfn|''Lloyd's Register'' 1926|loc=DUC–DUK}}{{sfn|''Lloyd's Register'' 1926|loc=REM–REN}} [[MAN SE|MAN]] pioneered this transmission system to allow high-speed Diesel engines to be used in marine propulsion.{{sfn|Smith|1937|pp=336–337}} The combined power of ''Rendsburg''{{'}}s twin engines was rated at 993 [[Horsepower#Nominal horsepower|NHP]]{{sfn|''Lloyd's Register'' 1926|loc=REM–REN}} or 4,100 [[Horsepower#Brake horsepower|bhp]], and gave her a speed of {{convert|13|kn|km/h}}.<ref name=SMHD/>

DADG [[Ship registration|registered]] ''Rendsburg'' in [[Port of Hamburg|Hamburg]]. Her [[code letters]] were RFQK. She was equipped for [[wireless telegraphy]] from new.{{sfn|''Lloyd's Register'' 1926|loc=REM–REN}} In November 1926 HAPAG absorbed DADG,<ref name=SMHD/> and adopted DADG's colour scheme for the newly combined fleet. ''Rendsburg'' continued to operate between Hamburg, [[Australia]], and the [[Far East]].<ref name=Hackett>{{cite web |url= http://www.combinedfleet.com/Ryusei_t.htm |last=Hackett |first=Bob |title=Transport Tango Maru: Tabular Record of Movement |work=Imperial Japanese Navy Page |date=2012–2013 |access-date=30 December 2023}}</ref> By 1933 she was equipped with wireless [[direction finding]].{{sfn|''Lloyd's Register'' 1933|loc=REI–REN}} By 1934 the [[Maritime call sign|call sign]] DIET had superseded her code letters.{{sfn|''Lloyd's Register'' 1934|loc=REM–RES}}

==''Toendjoek''==
When the [[World War II|Second World War]] began in September 1939, German merchant ships sought refuge in [[Neutral powers during World War II|neutral]] ports. ''Rendsburg'' sheltered in [[Port of Tanjung Priok|Tanjung Priok]] in the [[Dutch East Indies]]. On 10 May 1940 Germany invaded the Netherlands, and the Dutch authorities seized all German ships in Dutch ports.<ref name=SMHD/>

The Netherlands surrendered on 17 May, but the Dutch government [[Dutch government-in-exile|continued in exile]]. It took ownership of ''Rendsburg'', renamed her ''Toendjoek'', and appointed [[Royal Rotterdam Lloyd|Willem Ruys en Zonen]] to [[Ship management|manage]] her. She was registered in [[Port of Tanjung Priok|Batavia]], the capital of the Dutch East Indies.<ref name=SMHD/>{{sfn|''Lloyd's Register'' 1941|loc=TOD–TOK}} In October 1940 Nederlandsch Indische Maatschappij Voor Zeevaart NV became her managers.<ref name=Hackett/>{{sfn|''Lloyd's Register'' 1941|loc=TOD–TOK}}

In December 1941 Japan invaded the Dutch East Indies. On 2 March 1942, a week before Dutch forces surrendered to the Japanese, ''Toendjoek''{{'}}s crew scuttled her as a blockship.<ref name=SMHD/>

==''Tango Maru''==
On 12 August 1942 Japanese [[Marine salvage|salvors]] raised ''Toendjoek''. She was repaired, and in 1943 she entered Japanese service. The Japanese Government’s Teikoku Senpaku Kaisha (Imperial Steamship Company) assumed ownership of ''Toendjoek'', renamed her ''Tango Maru'', registered her in [[Port of Yokohama|Yokohama]], and appointed Lino Kaiun Kaisha<ref name=SMHD/> or Iino Kaiun Kaisha<ref name=Hackett/> (sources differ) to manage her.

On 19 September 1943 a storm drove ''Tango Maru'' ashore on [[Amami Ōshima]]. The same storm drove four other Japanese ships ashore.<ref name=Hackett/>

On 24 February 1944 ''Tango Maru'' left [[Surabaya]], [[Java]] for [[Ambon, Maluku]] carrying about 5,700 troops, including men of the Japanese 3rd Infantry Regiment, and about 3,500 [[Java]]nese [[rōmusha]] conscripted labourers and Allied prisoners of war, probably mostly [[Royal Netherlands East Indies Army]] indigenous troops. She was part of a convoy with ''[[Ryūsei Maru]]'', escorted by the [[minesweeper]]s ''[[Japanese minesweeper No. 8 (1938)|W-8]]'' and ''W-11'', and the auxiliary [[submarine chaser]] ''Takunan Maru No. 5''.<ref name=Hackett/>

[[File:USS Rasher;0826901.jpg|thumb|{{USS|Rasher}}]]
Allied naval intelligence was aware of the convoy, and the US Navy sent the submarines {{USS|Rasher||2}} and {{USS|Raton||2}} to the [[Bali Sea]] to intercept it. At 1943 hrs on 25 February, ''Rasher'' fired a spread of four torpedoes. One hit ''Tango Maru''{{'}}s [[Port and starboard|starboard]] side, penetrating her number 4 hold. Five minutes later she sank at position {{coord|07.41|S|115.10|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}}, about {{convert|25|nmi|km}} north of Bali. At least 3,000 of the people aboard were killed.<ref name=Hackett/>

At 2225 hrs on the same evening, ''Rasher'' fired a spread of four torpedoes at ''Ryūsei Maru'' at position {{coord|07.55|S|115.15|E|format=dms|display=inline}}. Three hit the ship, splitting her in two. Estimates of fatalities range from at least 3,000<ref name=Hackett/> to 4,998.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?137299 |last1=Lettens |first1=Jan |last2=Allen |first2=Tony |website=WreckSite |title=Ryusei Maru (Rasher) (+1944) |date=3 December 2014 |access-date=30 December 2023}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List by death toll of ships sunk by submarines]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book |year=1926 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=II.–Steamers. |place=London |publisher=[[Lloyd's Register]] of Shipping |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1927ST/page/n967/mode/1up |via=[[Internet Archive]] |ref={{harvid|''Lloyd's Register'' 1926}} }}
*{{cite book |year=1933 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=II.–Steamers and Motorships of 300 tons gross and over |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/33/33b0740.pdf |via=[[Southampton City Council]] |ref={{harvid|''Lloyd's Register'' 1933}} }}
*{{cite book |year=1934 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=II.–Steamers and Motorships of 300 tons gross and over |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/34/34b0704.pdf |via=Southampton City Council |ref={{harvid|''Lloyd's Register'' 1934}} }}
*{{cite book |year=1941 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=II.–Steamers and Motorships of 300 tons gross and over |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/41/41b0871.pdf |via=Southampton City Council |ref={{harvid|''Lloyd's Register'' 1941}} }}
*{{cite book |year=1943 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=II.–Steamers and Motorships of 300 tons. Trawlers, tugs, dredgers, etc. |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/43/43b0939.pdf |via=Southampton City Council |ref={{harvid|''Lloyd's Register'' 1943}} }}
*{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Edgar C |year=1937 |title=A Short History of Naval and Marine Engineering |place=Cambridge |publisher=[[Babcock & Wilcox]]}}

{{March 1942 shipwrecks}}
{{September 1943 shipwrecks}}
{{February 1944 shipwrecks}}

[[Category:1926 ships]]
[[Category:Captured ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in March 1942]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in February 1944]]
[[Category:Merchant ships of Germany]]
[[Category:Scuttled vessels]]
[[Category:Ships built in Hamburg]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by American submarines]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of Indonesia]]
[[Category:World War II merchant ships of Japan]]
[[Category:World War II merchant ships of the Netherlands]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean]]