was a cargo steamship that was built in England in 1911 and sunk off the coast of Bali in 1944. She was launched as Bra-Kar for Fred. Olsen & Co. of Norway. In 1916 she changed owners and was renamed Havø. In 1935 she changed owners again and was renamed Mabuhay II.
In 1938 Japanese owners acquired the ship and renamed her Ryūsei Maru. In 1944 she was serving as a hell ship when a United States Navy submarine torpedoed her, sinking the vessel with the loss of between 3,000 and 5,000 lives.
This was the first of four Fred Olsen ships to be called Bra-Kar. The second was a steamship built in 1920, sold in 1922, and renamed. The third was a motor ship built in 1928, and sunk by enemy action in 1943. The fourth was a Type C1 motor ship bought second-hand in 1946, sold in 1961, and renamed.
Building Bra-Kar
The Tyne Iron Shipbuilding Company built the ship as yard number 177 at Willington Quay on the River Tyne. She was launched on 14 February 1911 and completed that March. Her registered length was , her beam was , and her depth was . Her tonnages were and .
She had a single screw, driven by a three-cylinder triple-expansion engine built by John Dickinson and Sons of Sunderland. The engine was rated at 349 nominal horsepower, and gave her a speed of . for its Railways and Shipping Section.
On 24 February 1944 Ryūsei Maru left Surabaya, Java for Ambon, Maluku carrying about 6,600 men: 1,244 Japanese Army soldiers, 2,865 Indian prisoners of war, and 2,559 rōmusha conscripted labourers. The vessel was part of a convoy with , escorted by the minesweepers W-8 and W-11, and the auxiliary submarine chaser Takunan Maru No. 5.
See also
- List by death toll of ships sunk by submarines