Maru vs. Small Merchant

[sqk7744]

We're chatting about the following question over at the KillFlags mod (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?p=657172&posted=1#post657172) thread:

What Tonnage defines a Maru from a small merchant?

Is a Maru over 500 Tons as it appears here?

Chiyo Maru Cargo 657 tons:
http://www.ibiblio.net/hyperwar////Japan/IJN/JANAC-Losses/JANAC-Losses-4.html

And, is a Gun Boat a Warship?

Thanks!
:arrgh!:

http://battleflags.net/images/USS%20Bowfin%20Battle%20Flag%20Icons.jpg
(http://battleflags.net/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=1024)

[THE_MASK]

Why havnt i ever seen this site before
http://www.warshipsww2.eu/staty.php?language=E&period=

[sqk7744]

Why havnt i ever seen this site before
http://www.warshipsww2.eu/staty.php?language=E&period=

Wow Sober!

Great link :up::up::up:

[Sailor Steve]

'Maru' is just a designation. It can be applied to any merchant ship, large or small.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_ship_naming_conventions

[Torplexed]

To muddy the waters further a lot of Japanese minelayers had the designation maru as well, being former merchant vessels. They also converted a lot of merchants into gunboats and landing ships which kept their maru name suffix.

I'd say a gunboat counts as a warship. Has a gun. :yep:

[letterboy1]

I'm not sure how to vote except that I'd like to find out if there was a US Navy convention that was adhered to for differentiating among the various kill sizes.

[THE_MASK]

Nah , i just seen a patrol log on the net where an 83 tonner was classed as a maru . Maybe for the sake of killflags and SH4 , class anything that says its a sampan to be a small merchant . Everything else a maru . Battleships is another story .

[Argus00]

I've also seen US patrol logs listing Marus from 82 tons to 8,800 tons. Voted for over 500 tons since I don't bother sinking anything lighter anymore.

As for the gunboat, if it carries a gun and is "enlisted" in a Navy, it's a warship, as opposed to an armed merchant which also carries one or more guns but is enlisted in the Merchant Marine ranks.

[MorganThePirate]

The Maru language, one of several spoken among the Kachin people (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kachin_people) in Myanmar/Burma and China. The Japanese name for a circle, which is used to mean "correct". Maru (丸) is Japanese a bailey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bailey) (castle wall). The word maru is often attached as a suffix to Japanese ship names regardless of tonnage.:arrgh!:

[sqk7744]

Thanks Gents!

[Peto]

To my recollection, US Subs could only add a flag for ships over 500 tons. Otherwise they were considered as miscellaneous craft.