She was built for the Koninklijke Paketvaart-Maatschappij (KPM, the "Royal Packet Navigation Company"), who operated her in the Dutch East Indies.

[1] A sister ship was built as yard number 185, launched on 12 February 1927 as Op Ten Noort, and completed in August 1927.

[4] The combined power of Op Ten Noort's two engines was rated at 616 NHP or 6,000 ihp (4,500 kW), and gave her a speed of 15 knots (28 km/h).

She joined Plancius on the route from Singapore to Tanjung Priok via Bangkok, Saigon, Manila, the Maluku Islands, and Bali.

In later years, KPM transferred Plancius and Op Ten Noort to serve the east coast of Java, from Batavia to Deli Serdang Regency via Muntok, Singapore and Belawan.

In 1933 part of her first class accommodation was converted into two two-person de luxe suites[2] with a lounge, bedroom, two bathrooms, and private deck (veranda).

On January 22, 1942 the Dutch Government notified the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs via the Swedish Embassy in Tokyo of the ship's new status.

However, a Japanese light cruiser, and the destroyers Amatsukaze and Murasame intercepted and stopped her, and ordered her to Bawean Island.

[8] It is alleged that after changing ensigns, Tenno Maru carried a cargo of mines, in contravention of the Hague Conventions.

[10] On December 5, 1942, Tenno Maru arrived in Yokohama, where her remaining Dutch and Javanese crew and medical staff were discharged.

[8] In January 1943 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Yokohama started to convert Tenno Maru with new hospital facilities and nurses' accommodation.

[8] From April 25, 1943 onwards Tenno Maru treated and evacuated Japanese wounded, mostly from Rabaul and Truk to Yokosuka and Sasebo.

On February 18, during Operation Hailstone, some Grumman dive bomber pilots from the aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill reported anti-aircraft fire from Tenno Maru.

In October 1944, Allied codebreakers lost track of Tenno Maru, and believed she had struck a mine near Makassar.

In fact, a dummy second smokestack was added aft of her real one to disguise her, and on October 25, 1944 she was renamed Hikawa Maru No.

She continued to carry the internationally recognised hospital ship livery, painted all white, with a broad, green waistband interrupted by large red crosses.

Two days later she was ordered to Wakasa Bay, where she was scuttled in water 400 feet (120 m) deep by two 150-kilogram (330 lb) explosive charges: one near her starboard bow, and the other aft of her dummy funnel.

[8] In 2017 Op Ten Noort's wreck was rediscovered, and the Japanese broadcasting company NHK made a documentary about her.

[citation needed] Media related to Op Ten Noort (ship, 1927) at Wikimedia Commons