Overview
MS Aramis was a Messageries Maritimes ocean liner that was launched in France in 1931. She was a sister ship of Félix Roussel and . The three sisters were highly unusual in having square funnels. Aramis interior was an Art Deco interpretation of Minoan design. When France entered the Second World War, Aramis was converted into the armed merchant cruiser X-1. In August 1940 she was decommissioned. In 1942 Japan seized her under angary and renamed her . She was a repatriation ship in 1943 and a troop ship in 1944, until a United States Navy submarine sank her. About 2,665 of her passengers and crew were killed.
Design and building
Between 1929 and 1932 Messageries Maritimes (MM) had three new ocean liners built for its routes between France and the Far East. Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire in Saint-Nazaire launched Félix Roussel in 1929 and Georges Philippar in 1930. The Société Nouvelle des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée in La Seyne-sur-Mer launched Aramis on 30 June 1931 and completed her in October 1932. Aramis registered length was , her beam was and her depth was . Her tonnages were and . She had berths for 196 passengers in first class, 110 in second class, 60 in third class, and 1,183 to 1,402 "rationnaires". The ship had twin screws, each driven by a French-built Sulzer ten-cylinder single-acting two-stroke diesel engine. The combined power of her twin engines was rated at 2,490 NHP or , and gave her a speed of . MM registered Aramis at Marseille. Her code letters were ORNA.
French service
On 21 October 1932 Aramis left Marseille on her maiden voyage to Kobe via the Suez Canal. She called at Port Said, Djibouti, Colombo, Penang, Singapore, Saigon, Hong Kong and Shanghai. On 22 June 1933 Aramis ran aground on Zhoushan. She was refloated, and the towed her to Japan. In 1935–36 Aramis engines were supercharged. This increased her power to and her speed to . At the same time, built her a new bow, which lengthened her by . On 4 September 1939, work to convert Aramis into an armed merchant cruiser was started in Saigon. She was armed with eight guns, two anti-aircraft guns, two anti-aircraft guns, and eight machine guns. On 20 January 1940 she left Saigon, and in February she reached Hong Kong, where she was dry docked. On 1 March she left dry dock, and was commissioned into the French Navy as auxiliary cruiser X-1. She patrolled the South China Sea.
On 22 June 1940 France capitulated to Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. On 1 August 1940 Aramis returned to Saigon and was disarmed and returned to her owners. In January 1942 became a barracks ship in Saigon.
Japanese service
On 12 April 1942, Japan seized Aramis under angary. On 2 June her French crew was disembarked. Officially, Japan chartered Aramis and ten other Vichy French. Japan paid MM 168,346 yen per month for Aramis. On 2 June she was renamed Teia Maru. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries at Yokohama dry docked her from 5 July until 19 November. Teia Maru was one of several ships torpedoed that night. She sank at position , killing 2,665 of her passengers and crew.
Bibliography
* * * * * * * . Chapter 7 of the book deals with the ship.