was an oiler of the Imperial Japanese Navy commissioned in 1920, which was rebuilt in 1924 into a seaplane tender and in 1941 back into an oiler. She participated in the First Shanghai Incident in 1932 and the Second Sino-Japanese War since 1937. In the fall of 1941, she was rebuilt back into an oiler. On 9 January and 20 September 1943, she was damaged by US Navy submarines but returned to service after repairs. On 29 June 1944, she was hit by two torpedoes launched by submarine . During repairs in Singapore Notoro was again damaged on 5 November 1944, this time by B-29 bombers. No further repairs were made until the end of the war and she was probably scrapped in 1947.
Designation of airplanes operating from Notoro
Aircraft operating from Notoro were marked on the tail with a code, according to the following scheme: [code Notoro] - [tactical number]. The identification code Notoro changed during the service. After her conversion to a seaplane tender, the code was formed by three katakana written characters ノ ト ロ (no to ro). In October 1937, the code was changed to 13. In October 1941 the code was Z1 and in November of that year - just before the conversion back to an oiler - the code was changed to N2 .
Onboard aircraft complement
The number of aircraft up to 1941 was as follows. (The number of aircraft is regular + reserve aircraft) 28 June 1927: 4+4 Yokosuka E1Y reconnaissance aircraft 8 May 1929: 6+2 Yokosuka E1Y reconnaissance aircraft (1 Yokosuka K1Y trainer fixed on the outside in 1929) 25 May 1932: Yokosuka E1Y3 4+2, Yokosuka E5Y reconnaissance seaplane 2+1. 1 November 1932: Yokosuka E1Y3, Yokosuka E5Y 3+1. 30 January 1933: Yokosuka E1Y3, Yokosuka/Kawanishi E5Y/K 6+2. 15 October 1933: Nakajima E4N2 4+1. 1 May 1934: E4N2 6+2 (some are E1Y3 reconnaissance aircraft).
After repairs in 1937, she is reported to carry 4 Kawanishi E7K and 4 Nakajima E8N reconnaissance seaplanes.
In July 1941 her aircraft complement was moved to Fujikawa Maru, and Notoro aircraft group was disbanded.
==Notoro'''s service as a seaplane tender (1924 to 1941)==Notoro was the second commissioned ship of the Notoro-class oilers. She was completed as an oiler with a carrying capacity of 8,000 tons, but relatively shortly after her commission, it was decided to convert her into a seaplane tender. The refit was completed at the Sasebo Naval Arsenal on 1 June 1924. As a seaplane tender Notoro could carry up to eight (six operational and two dismantled backup machines) three-seater Type 14 reconnaissance seaplanes (later designated Yokosuka E1Y1). Notoro had no catapult: seaplanes took off from the water surface, where they were unloaded by ship cranes. After the refit, Notoro could continue to act as an oiler.
On 1 December 1925 Notoro was assigned to the Combined Fleet.
An explosion occurred on Notoro on 5 September 1931 when she was moored at the Port of Yokohama, causing 10 deaths, destroying aviation fuel tanks and damaging several E1Y1 seaplanes.
From the beginning of 1932, Notoro participated in operations against China (but initially independent from the Combined Fleet). On 28 January Notoro arrived in Shanghai from the Ryojun naval base. The tense situation in Shanghai that day escalated into the first Shanghai incident. On the night of January 28 and 29, seaplanes from Notoro dropped flares to scare off the Chinese opposition. The next day, Notoro, moored on the Yangtze River, sent several of her E1Y3 seaplanes against targets in Shanghai. Despite the foggy weather, seaplanes attacked targets in Zhabei (), artillery positions outside the city and an armored train at the Shanghai North railway station (). However, the raids also claimed civilian casualties, which caused outrage in China.
On 11 May 1932, Notoro was reassigned to the Combined Fleet, and on 25 May the aircraft complement was changed to include three-seater seaplanes E5K / E5Y.
On 2 October 1937 Notoro received the second half of the E8N2 seaplanes from the 23rd Reconnaissance Group, which were delivered to the shores of South China by the submarine tender Taigei.