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Ogasawara NP, Tokyo
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After leaving Saipan, 濱江丸 called at Iwo Jima and Hahajima before reaching Chichijima on June 25, 1944. Its bow grounded during an air attack on July 4; on August 5, the ship burned and was abandoned.
濱江丸 was named for Hamjiang Province in the former state of Manchukuo. The name is a small clue to the ship’s prewar connections beyond Japan, long before its final voyage to Chichijima.
Built in 1936 as a civilian cargo ship for Dairen Kisen, 濱江丸 carried coal from Manchuria to Japan, according to an Ogasawara heritage publication. The famous war wreck began life as a working commercial freighter.
A JMSDF then-and-now comparison shows 濱江丸 clearly visible in a photo thought to date from the islands’ return to Japan, but mostly gone from view by 2020. The wreck itself has been changing with the shoreline for decades.
The ship has become habitat as well as a memorial: Tokyo’s park snorkeling map and a JMSDF guide describe the wreck’s surroundings as an artificial reef where many fish gather.
The roughly 120-meter wreck lies in just 3–4 meters of water. Underwater photographs by a local guide documented recognizable remnants—including the engine section, propeller shaft and anchor chain—in 2020.
