| Nippon Maru | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Nippon Maru in Yokohama | |||||
| Japanese name | |||||
| Kanji | 日本丸 | ||||
| Hiragana | にっぽんまる | ||||
| |||||
Nippon Maru (日本丸) is a Japanese museum ship and former training vessel. She is permanently docked in Yokohama harbor, in Nippon Maru Memorial Park.[1]
She was built by Kawasaki Shipbuilding Corporation in Kobe, and was launched on 27 January 1930 alongside her sister ship Kaiwo Maru.[2] She was operated by the Tokyo Institute for Maritime Training to train officers for Japan's merchant marine.[2] At the beginning of World War II, her sailing rig was removed and she served as a training and postwar transport motorship.[2] In 1952, her rig was reinstalled and she resumed her training voyages until she was replaced in September 1984 by her successor, also named Nippon Maru.[2]
Nippon Maru measures 97 metres (318 ft) long, with a beam of 12.95 metres (42.5 ft) and a draft of 6.90 metres (22.6 ft).[2] Her gross tonnage is 2,286.[2] She is rigged as a four-masted barque, with 32 sails covering 2,397 square metres (25,800 sq ft), and two 600-horsepower diesel engines for auxiliary functions.[2] During her career as a training ship, she was manned by a crew of 27 officers, 48 seamen, and 120 trainees.[2]
