WWII Imperial Japanese Navy Kagu Maru Seaplane Tender 1936 Launch Postcards For Sale

DescriptionThis is an original prewar Japanese commemorative postcard set issued for the launch of the Kagu Maru on April 18, 1936, at the Harima Shipbuilding Works.The set includes two illustrated postcards, the original envelope, and a specification card documenting the ship at the time of her launch.What makes this set particularly fascinating is what happened to Kagu Maru after these postcards were produced.At the time of her launch in 1936, Kagu Maru was not yet a naval vessel. She was built as a modern cargo ship for Kokusai Kisen and operated on international routes.Following the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, however, she was requisitioned by the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1937 and converted into an auxiliary seaplane tender.Kagu Maru subsequently operated with Japanese naval aviation forces in China, carrying reconnaissance seaplanes and supporting operations including the campaigns around Jiujiang and Hankow. She was later employed as an auxiliary repair ship and, during the Pacific War, as an auxiliary transport.Her story ultimately ended on November 4, 1944, when she was attacked and sunk by U.S. Navy submarines off the Philippines.In other words, these postcards preserve the beginning of the ship’s story—a peaceful launch ceremony in 1936, before anyone could have known the wartime career that awaited her.The original envelope is especially noteworthy. It is printed:“Kagu Maru Launch Commemorative Postcards”
“Harima Shipbuilding Co., Ltd.”This helps identify the postcards as a purpose-made commemorative set connected directly with the ship’s launch rather than simply later commercial postcards depicting the vessel.The accompanying specification card is headed “Kagu Maru Launch Commemoration” and dated April 18, 1936. It identifies Kokusai Kisen and Harima Shipbuilding Works and records original technical information including the ship’s length, beam, depth, tonnage, speed, machinery, and passenger accommodations.One postcard presents a color illustration of Kagu Maru at sea. The other depicts the Three Mountains of Yamato — Mount Kagu, Mount Unebi, and Mount Miminashi, connecting the ship’s name with imagery deeply rooted in traditional Japanese history and culture.The survival of the two postcards together with their original printed envelope and ship specification card makes this much more interesting than an individual vintage ship postcard. It remains a small archival record of the vessel’s birth.In 1936, she was a modern Japanese merchant ship.In 1937, she became an Imperial Japanese Navy auxiliary seaplane tender.By 1944, after years of wartime service, she lay beneath the sea.For collectors of Imperial Japanese Navy aviation, auxiliary warships, maritime history, WWII transport vessels, or prewar Japanese ephemera, this set captures the very beginning of an unusually eventful ship’s life.Own a Piece of History.Shipping

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