Japanese minesweeper Showa Maru No. 7

Showa Maru No. 7 (Japanese: 第七昭和丸) was an auxiliary minesweeper of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.

History
Showa Maru No. 7 was laid down on 1 April 1936 at the shipyard of K.K. Osaka Tekkosho Honsha Kojo at the behest of shipping company, Nippon Suisan K.K. She was launched on 24 July 1936 and completed 31 August 1936. On 12 September 1941, she was requisitioned by the Imperial Japanese Navy and converted to an auxiliary minesweeper under Reserve Lieutenant Takahashi Teruhisa (高橋輝藏). Takahashi served until 18 September 1941 when he was replaced by Reserve Lieutenant Terauchi Saburo (寺内三郎). Terauchi served until he was replaced by Reserve Lieutenant Tanaka Ginzo (田中銀造) on 1 May 1944. In May 1942, she participated in the Battle of Midway (Operation "MI") where she was assigned to Miyamoto Sadachika's 16th Minesweeper Unit (along with auxiliary minesweepers JAPANESE MINESWEEPER Tama Maru No. 3, JAPANESE MINESWEEPER Tama Maru No. 5, JAPANESE MINESWEEPER Showa Maru No. 8; submarine chasers JAPANESE SUBMARINE CHASER CH-16, JAPANESE SUBMARINE CHASER CH-17, and JAPANESE SUBMARINE CHASER CH-18; cargo ships Meiyo Maru and JAPANESE TRANSPORT SHIP Yamafuku Maru; and auxiliary ammunition ship JAPANESE AMMUNITION SHIP Soya). On 24 January 1945, while in a three ship convoy with transport Yoneyama Maru and auxiliary minesweeper JAPANESE MINESWEEPER Keinan Maru, she was attacked northeast of Iwo Jima (24.83333°N, 141.36667°W) by Task Group 94.9 (under Rear Admiral Oscar C. Badger) and sunk by the destroyers USS Dunlap (DD-384) and USS Fanning (DD-385). All three ships were sunk. She was removed from the Navy list on 10 March 1945.