February 9, 1943 after leaving Yokosuka, Japan bound for Truk loaded with troops the Tatsuta Maru was located by the USS Tarpon SS-175. Lt. Commander Thomas L. Wogan fired a spread of four torpedoes at the 16,000 ton passenger liner turned troopship and all four hit the target. The escorting destroyers immediately began to hunt for the submarine, but found no success, Wogan and the Tarpon slipped away.

The Tatsuta Maru was built in 1930 at Mitsubishi in Nagasaki and was operated by the NYK Line, she had been one of the premier passenger liners serving in the Pacific before the war and was one of the top five largest merchant ships the Japanese lost during the war. She was also one of the deadliest losses suffered by Japan, over 1,400 troops went down with her.