Takao Maru, 10 December 1941

[john whitman]

Good morning fontessa:

I noticed that 4,281-ton Takao Maru was bombed and beached at Vigan on 10 December 1941.

Do your sources list what units were aboard, number of men aboard, and casualties?

John

[fontessa]

Good morning John,

Unfortunately there is no record left.

fontessa

[john whitman]

Good evening fontessa:

Ahhh, too bad. I was hoping to get an idea of how an average transport was combat-loaded for an invasion. Thanks for looking.

Does Senshi Sosho mention the total number of soldiers at the Vigan invasion? Most sources say 2,000 men, but I suspect that was just the 2nd Tainwanese Infantry Regiment, and not the supporting forces (my count for just this divided infantry regiment is 1,926 men). Here is my guess as to the number of men.

2nd Formosa Infantry Regiment (roughly one-half of this headquarters, 97 men and one-half of regimental troops, 370 men) minus 1st Battalion (minus two companies, therefore two companies remained with regimental headquarters (about 360 men)) and minus 3rd Battalion
2nd Battalion (1,099 men)
1st Battalion (minus one company), 48th Mountain Artillery Regiment (502 men)
one company (minus two platoons), 48th Engineer Regiment (160 men)
1st Airfield Maintenance Unit (temporally formed, including 46th Field Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion (minus one company)) (100 men)
10th Independent Engineer Regiment (Type E river crossing) (minus one company) (600 men)
one platoon of 21st Independent Engineer Regiment (Type E river crossing) (30 men)
part of 2nd Shipping Artillery Regiment

Other supporting forces at Aparri were:
elements of the 28th and 40th Airfield Battalions (300 men, maybe more if the complete battalions were here)
one company of the 9th Field Air Repair Depot (100 men)
40th Field Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion (600 men)
297th and 298th Truck Companies (184 and 184, therefore 368 men)
55th Construction Duty Company (510 men)
two aviation signal air defense detachments, 1st Air Signal Regiment (70 men)
3rd Meteorological Company (100 men)
50th Fighter Regiment (80)

So my total is 5,446.

Am I close to the actual number?

John

[fontessa]

Good morning John,

Yesterday I looked for the documents on 1st Airfield Maintenance Unit of Tanaka Detachment, 2nd Airfield Maintenance Unit of Sugano Detachment and Troops carried by Keiyo Maru at The National Institute for Defense Studies Library in Tokyo. But I couldn't find more than what Senshi Sosho says unfortunately.

Most sources say 2,000 men, but I suspect that was just the 2nd Taiwanese Infantry Regiment, and not the supporting forces

I agree. Even Senshi Sosho says the strength of Tanaka Detachment was about 2,000. But I think that 6 transport ships were not necessary to carry 2,000 troopers. I feel that total number of soldiers was several thousands, but there is no conclusive evidence.

fontessa

[john whitman]

Good afternoon fontessa:

Thank you for checking.

These marus were combat loaded for an amphibious assault, so best use of cargo space was not possible. The truck companies and the construction duty company and the various engineers would have had their vehicles and equipment aboard, and that would require a lot of room. And there might have been horses aboard also.

Do you think that the 10th Independent Engineer Regiment (Type E river crossing) (minus one company) and the one platoon of 21st Independent Engineer Regiment (Type E river crossing) operated the landing craft at Aparri that carried the men ashore? Do histories for these two units exist, and do they mention the landing at Vigan? It would be great if something mentioned the number of landing craft.

John

[fontessa]

Good morning John,

Do you think that the 10th Independent Engineer Regiment (Type E river crossing) (minus one company) and the one platoon of 21st Independent Engineer Regiment (Type E river crossing) operated the landing craft at Aparri that carried the men ashore?

Yes I do.

Do histories for these two units exist, and do they mention the landing at Vigan?

The two regiments were disbanded during the war, so the unit brief histories are not left.

It would be great if something mentioned the number of landing craft.

Unfortunately no document mentions the number of landing craft.

fontessa

[john whitman]

Good evening fontessa:

You mentioned that the 1st and 2nd Taiwanese Infantry Regiments were disbanded during the war. When did that occur? And did the men transfer to new units, or were they demobilized?

Thanks for the help.

John

[john whitman]

Hello again fontessa:

I am trying to improve my manpower totals for the Aparri invasion force.

Did the entire 28th and 40th Airfield Battalions land at Aparri, or were these just detachments? If the entire battalions were present, I would guess that each battalion had about 300 to 400 men, therefore 600-800 men total. Does that sound correct?

There is some information about the 28th Airfield Battalion at //www16.ocn.ne.jp/~pacohama/sentaisi/hikoujou.html.

And reference the Vigan invasion, it looks like 2nd Company, 18th Airfield Battalion ??? 16th Airfield Unit ???? was aboard Oigawa Maru. I am confused as to the identity of this unit. See //burari2161.fc2web.com/18hikoujyoudaitai.htm.

John

[fontessa]

Good morning John,

You mentioned that the 1st and 2nd Taiwanese Infantry Regiments were disbanded during the war.

No, no, no, “the two regiments” means the 10th and the 21st Independent Engineer Regiments.

Did the entire 28th and 40th Airfield Battalions land at Aparri, or were these just detachments?

The Unit Brief Histories says as follows.
■ The 28th Airfield Battalion
- Departed Takao on November 23 as advanced force for Philippines air invasion
- Landed at northern Philippines on December 10
- Departed Aparri for Jawa invasion on February 1, 1942
Although the departure date does not accord with Keiyo Maru TROM, the entire battalion seemed to have landed at Aparri on December 10. The personnel strength of the battalion was about 460 men.
■ The 40th Airfield Battalion
- Arrived at Saigon on November 23
- Passed Indochina-Thai border on December 13
- Arrived at Don Muang, Thailand on December 14
So the 40th Airfield Battalion didn’t land at Aparri.

And reference the Vigan invasion, it looks like 2nd Company, 18th Airfield Battalion ??? 16th Airfield Unit ???? was aboard Oigawa Maru.

The web page you quoted says that the 18th Airfield Battalion was organized basing on the 2 maintenance companies of 飛行第16聯隊 the 16th Air Regiment. It is not entirely correct. Although the English translation of 飛行第16戦隊 is the 16th Air Regiment too, there is large difference between 飛行第16聯隊 and 飛行第16戦隊. The older one, 飛行第16聯隊 consisted of a fighter battalion which had 2 companies, a light bomber battalion which also had 2 companies and a materials depots. Both fighter and light bomber battalions had maintenance personnel. In 1938, IJAAF separated these maintenance personnel from the above battalions. This separation was called 空地分離 Air- ground Separation. Thus 飛行第16聯隊 was reorganized into 飛行第16戦隊（軽爆） the 16th Air Regiment (light bombers) and 第18飛行場大隊 the 18th Airfield Battalion. The specialty of the 18th Airfield Battalion was "light bombers", too. It belonged to 5th Air Group invading the Philippines, so it makes sense that it landed at Vigan.

fontessa

[john whitman]

Good evening fontessa:

Ah, I need you to keep me on the path of correction information. I do wander off frequently.

詳細なご回答誠にありがとうございます

John