[1] However, the small Japanese submarine force required a support vessel, and Karasaki was modified for this role.

[2] On 6 February 1904, two days before the official start of the Russo-Japanese War, Ekaterinoslav was captured by the Imperial Japanese Navy off Busan.

Due to her relatively new age, good condition and large capacity, she was immediately pressed into service as a transport with the unofficial name of Karasaki Maru, moving troops and war materials from the Japanese home islands to the Korean Peninsula and the Liaodong Peninsula in support of the Imperial Japanese Army.

[2] In August 1912, the Imperial Japanese Navy abolished the torpedo boat tender classification, and Karasaki was re-designated as a second-class kaibokan.

Her demilitarized hulk was named Haikan No.9 and was moored at Kure Naval Base as a floating barracks.