Chronology of Japanese Submarine Communication Cable Laying Vessels
| Okinawa-maru | ||
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| April 1896 - July 1938 / 2.278 t Built in the U.K. Laid cables over a distance of 12,594 km. This constituted the foundation of Japan’s submarine communication cable network. |
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| Ogasawara-maru | ||
| August 1906 - August 1945 / 1,494 t The first submarine communication cable laying vessel built in Japan. It was sunk by a submarine when carrying returnees to Japan. |
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| Nanyo-maru | ||
| March 1922 - February 1944 / 3,605 t Designed for laying cables in deep sea. It was sunk by torpedoes off Iriomote Island. |
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| Toyo-maru | ||
| June 1938 - July 1945 / 3,760 t Equipped with a steam turbine main engine and a Voith Schneider propeller. It got stranded on a reef after hitting a mine off Moji. |
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| Tsurishima-maru | ||
| December 1941 - March 1968 / 1,160 t Modified from the Japanese Imperial Navy’s power cable laying vessel with the same name. |
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| Chiyodas-maru | ||
| October 1948 - January 1974 / 1,849 t Laid Japan’s first quadruple-core submarine coaxial cable. |
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| Seto-maru | ||
| February 1957 - September 1979 / 218 t Became the setting for a 1971 movie, Starboard & Port, starred by Hisaya Morishige. |
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| Hatsushio-maru | ||
| February 1958 - January 1987 / 25 t Cable burying pump ship. Small vessel for carrying out small-scale repairs and such near shore. |
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| Amakusa-maru | ||
| February 1961 - September 1983 / 359 t Suitable for work with co-axial submarine cables with repeaters |
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| Tsugaru-maru | ||
| June 1969 - March 1991 / 1,960 t Was equipped with a satellite navigation system and other high precision navigation equipment. Took part in various tests, |
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| Kuroshio-maru | ||
| February 1975 - March 2002 / 5,656 t Was capable of handling coaxial and fiber optic cables. Took part in many overseas projects. |
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| Setouchi-maru | ||
| December 1979 - October 1999 / 818 t Equipped with a trochoidal propeller to match the navigational features in the Seto Inland Sea (currently operating in SE Asian regions as Fugro’s MV Setouchi Surveyor). |
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| Koyo-maru | ||
| February 1984 - March 1998 / 1,295 t Equipped with various automatic systems and capable of high-speed cable laying (currently operating in the Philippines as CS VEGA). |
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