Landing Craft Carrier "Shinshu Maru"
- Completed Year : 1935
- Displacement : 7,100 ton
- Dimensions: 156 x 19 m
- Speed (max) : 19 knots
- Engine : Turbine Engine 8,000PS
- Armaments : Type 88 75mm AA Gun x 4, 20mm AA Machine Cannon x 4
- Loading Capacity : 4 AB-Tei, 29 Daihatsu, 25 Shohatsu, 2,200 troops
- Crews : 220 men
- Production Qty : 1
Shinshu Maru is the first ship of landing craft carriers in the world. It loads Daihatsu crafts in the hull and launches them from a gate at stern quickly (See below photo). Daihatsu crafts are also launched from the gates at the side.
Shinshu Maru was designed to load airplanes as well as landing craft and it was equipped with two catapults. The airplanes taking off the ship were planned to land on a captured airfield. However, catapults were removed after the ship was finished and it had never loaded any airplanes during its service.
Shinshu Maru was used for the landing operations in China and the landing on Malaya and Java of the Pacific War. It was sunk in Jan. 1945.
