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ON 28 FEBRUARY TOGO formally submitted to the Naval Staff in Tokyo his view that a second blocking operations was necessary and stated the need for four blockships. These were defined as being no larger than 2,000 tons displacement, and Togo requested that these ships be specially fitted with scuttling charges and loaded with cement . The vice-chief of the Naval Staff approved this request and ear-marked four naval transports—the 2,707-ton Chiyo Maru, the 2,943-ton Fukui Maru, the 2,692-ton Yahiko Maru, and the 2,693-ton Yoneyama Maru—which were designated Blockships 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. He also gave orders to the commanders at Kure and Sasebo to have these ships prepared for their final task; this work was completed in a matter of days and on 9 March the four ships sailed in readiness for the second operation. After the second attack (26–27 March), Togo formally submitted to the Naval Staff in Tokyo his view that a third blocking operation was necessary. Imperial General Headquarters then informed Togo that the demands on shipping were such that if a third blocking operation was to be conducted then it would have to be done with ships that had been requisitioned already; there could be no question of shipping presently engaged in trade being taken from service for this task. Togo was advised to consult the finance section before deciding which ships would be used in a third operation. After these exchanges, Togo on 4 April made a formal request to the Naval Staff for twelve ships for a third blocking operation. The vice-chief of staff then approached his Rikugun opposite number and it was agreed that the army would provide four of its transports for this operation, the navy, obviously, providing the other eight. These ships were then ordered to Kure and Osaka in order to be made ready, the ships that were prepared at Osaka then moving forward to Kure prior to sailing. The four army transports were the 1,781-ton Aikoku Maru, the 2,547-ton Otaru Maru, the 1,953-ton Totomi Maru, and the 1,724-ton Yedo Maru; the Otaru Maru was designated Blockship 9, the Totomi Maru as Blockship 5. The eight navy transports (with blockship numbers) were the 2,464-ton Asago Maru, the 2,501-ton Fusan Maru appendix 5.3. the second and third blocking operations 106 from port arthur to bucharest (6), the 2,596-ton Kokura Maru (2), the 1,403-ton Mikawa Maru (4), the 1,884-ton Nagato Maru (8), the 1,926-ton Sagami Maru (11), 2,978-ton Sakura Maru (10), and the 2,783-ton Shibata Maru (1). The numbers assigned to the Aikoku Maru, Asago Maru, and the Yedo Maru are not known but obviously these three ships shared the 3, 7, and 12 labels. The Aikoku Maru, Otaru Maru, and the Yedo Maru sailed from Kure on 17 April, the Mikawa Maru, Shibata Maru, and the Totomi Maru sailed the next day, and the Asago Maru and Kokura Maru on the 19th. The Sagami Maru, Nagato Maru, and the Sakura Maru sailed successively over the next three days. The departure date of the Fusan Maru would seem to have been missed.1 NOTE 1. Sources: Jentschura, Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, pp. 274–280; Toyama, Nichiro Kaisenshi no Kenkyu, pp. 509–510 and 524–533; Kaigun Gunreibu hen, Meiji 37–8 nen Kaisen Shi, pp. 79–81, 162, and 201–212; and e-mail from Kobayashi Go of 16 October 2006. ...

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