After using up the hearty breakfast, Welbe and Henry left the rented hotel one after another. The British were preparing to go to the dock area and purchase some travel utensils. As per the plan, they would have to go through a long sea journey.

At that time, the most commonly used means of transportation from the United States to Japan was the ocean liner. It usually took fifteen to twenty days to depart directly from San Francisco to Yokohama Port in Japan.

With the expansion of the war of aggression against China, Japan's demand for imported raw materials has increased rapidly. Now there are at least hundreds of passenger and cargo ships every day, crossing the vast Pacific Ocean and sailing on this golden route.

If you have enough financial ability these days, it is best to choose first-class or second-class cabins. Not only are the quality of food and accommodation guaranteed, but you can also get certain priority when you escape in an accident. Of course, the two spy leaders will not be afraid of being short of money. Their external cover is a successful businessman, and they are fully qualified to enjoy a comfortable journey.

The Kamakura maru, a subsidiary of the Japanese Cruise Company, is parked at the San Francisco Pier. The lowest ticket price for first-class cabin is $320, and guests in the premium suite also provide champagne and delicious desserts.

This cruise ship with a drainage of 17,500 tons was originally called [Chicyu Maru]. It was the second of three cruise ships of the same class customized by Japanese cruise ships. The other two are [Asama Maru] and [Ryuda Maru].

Because the power system of the ship chose a marine diesel main engine produced in Denmark, Kawasaki Shipyard changed its original design, so when the cruise ship was built, it was more than 500 tons heavier than her sisters, and there was also a significant difference in appearance. She only had one independent large chimney, and the other two were still the original double chimney layout.

As the largest ocean cruise ship in Japan after the 1930s, the interior decoration of this ship is also the most luxurious. It not only boldly adopts two styles of British and French designs, but also reaches the world's top level in terms of materials and craftsmanship. The Japanese media proudly called it "Queen of the Pacific" and regarded it as the pride of the Yamato nation.

However, few people in the outside world knew that from the beginning of design and construction, this high-speed passenger and cargo mixed ship was attracted by the Imperial Japanese Navy and became part of the "combat power double strategy". In order to avoid the restrictions of the "Washington Navy Treaty", the Japanese Navy really racked up his brains, and ended up developing a "combined fleet combat power double strategy". To put it bluntly, once a war broke out with the United States, it would urgently convert the large civilian ships owned by Japan into military ships.

You should know that the difference between warships and civilian ships is not only about whether they are equipped with weapons. In fact, there are huge differences between the two, whether in terms of structural design, production and manufacturing technology, or the selection of raw materials. The design of warships revolves around maritime combat capabilities, while civilian ships consider economic benefits. From the design point of view, the two are completely different and they can't even pee in a pot.

However, as long as the Imperial Navy's "genius" staff members have opened their brains, it will be difficult to shut it down. Once these naval octopuses get into the horns, they will not be able to drag out even if they start the entire joint fleet.

How to transform a civilian ship that cannot be defeated by military ships more conveniently and effectively into a warship? The solution these people have come up with is to take into account future military modifications when designing civilian ships. For example, in terms of hull structure and cabin layout, design solutions that are close to military ships as much as possible can be adopted, so as to avoid major changes to the structure during transformation and reduce the materials and working hours that will be consumed during future naval construction.

In order to achieve this goal, the Japanese Navy promoted the government cabinet and issued a "Excellent Ship Construction Subsidy Measures". The state provides financial subsidies for the construction, maintenance and operation of high-performance civilian ships, thereby encouraging shipping companies and shipbuilders to build high-performance ships with tonnage of more than 6,000 tons and speeds higher than 19 knots. Correspondingly, these ships must be designed with military elements, which can meet the Navy's goal of transforming them into military ships within three months.

This money is not that easy to get. In fact, there are a lot of messy conditions associated with the policy. For example, foreigners are not allowed to work on the ship, and their own raw materials can be used as much as possible, crew members recruit retired naval personnel, etc., all of which are prepared for the purpose of war.

In the construction of this [Chicyu Maru], the Japanese government injected half of the construction funds into the Japanese cruise company, and the Japanese Navy Shipbuilding Headquarters directly participated in the design of the passenger and freighter.

Even the transformation direction of the ship has been booked. The Navy plans to quickly transform her and her two sisters into a special aircraft carrier once the war is needed.

The Navy designed a huge cargo loading and unloading hatch for this cruise ship, which is actually a reserved location for the aircraft elevator. At that time, only the superstructure needs to be demolished and the flight deck is laid. This "Queen of the Pacific" will be redesigned immediately and become a new member of the Imperial Japanese Naval Air Force.

Interestingly, after the outbreak of the Pacific War in history, the Navy seemed to have forgotten that this happened. After these three cruise ships were requisitioned, they have been active on Southeast Asian routes as transport ships.

In early 1942, as a naval transport ship, [Chichibu Maru] (renamed [Kamakura Maru] in 1939), was given a special mission by the Japanese government to become a "hostage exchange ship".

Her black hull was painted with a huge white cross logo and turned into a medical ship. Then, nine hundred British diplomats, international students and ordinary expatriates who were detained by Japan in Shanghai, Singapore and other places were loaded in Kaohsiung to go to the Port of Maputo, Mozambique, which was also a Portuguese colony at the time.

After handing over the detainees to the Portuguese, she reloaded the same number of Japanese, Thai and German diplomats and expatriates detained by the British army, as well as some of the remains of Japanese naval soldiers, as well as a large number of supplies for Allied prisoners of war. She finally returned to Yokohama Port successfully, completing a rare humanitarian exchange between Japan and the West.

In history, with the defeat in the Battle of Midway, the Japanese Navy finally remembered these three ships, but the naval shipyard was limited in 10,000-ton ships, and the maintenance of active ships had to be lined up. At that time, they were busy modifying three [Ohawk] class aircraft carriers, and the transformation plan of [Chichibu Maru] could only be ranked behind them.

The main body used by the [Daehawk] class is a Shinda Maru-class cruise ship with a drainage of 18,000 tons. This class of ships is also a member of the ship construction subsidy plan. The three ships are the [Haruhimama] planned to be transformed into [Daehawk], the [Shinda Maru] planned to be transformed into [Daehawk], and the [Haman Maru] planned to be transformed into [Yunhawk].

[Chicyu Maru] will also be transformed into a [Big Eagle] class aircraft carrier in the plan, but before she could be sent to the ship, she was sunk by the US Navy SS-211 [Ju Fish] submarine six miles southwest of Panay Island, Philippines on April 28, 1943.

But at this moment, the Pacific Queen of Japan Shipping Company was quietly anchoring beside the dock in San Francisco. The light of the Lingling wave reflected on the black hull with a shiny paint. She had no idea what fate would be waiting for her in the future.

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Chapter completed!