Asama Maru (1929) |
Owner: |
Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK Line) Yokohama, Japan |
Builder: |
Mitsubishi Shipbuilding & Engineering Company Nagasaki, Japan |
Ordered: |
N/A |
Keel Laid: |
N/A |
||
Year Built: |
1929 |
Launched: |
N/A |
Sister Ships: |
Tatsuta Maru /
Chichibu Maru
|
Maiden Voyage: |
October 11, 1929 |
Fate: |
Sunk Nov. 1, 1944 by USS Atule SS-403. (torpedo) Location: South China Sea 267 miles south east of Hong Kong. (20.09N - 117.38E) 440 people killed, about 790 survivors. |
Dimensions, machinery and performance |
Length: |
584' |
Engines: |
4 Sulzer 8ST687 diesel |
Beam: |
72' |
Boilers: |
N/A |
Draft: |
28' 5" |
Shafts: |
2 |
Gross Tons: |
16,975 |
HP: |
N/A |
Displacement: |
N/A |
Speed: |
17 normal / 20 max. |
Crew: |
330 |
Funnels: |
2 |
Passengers: |
882 |
Masts: |
2 |
History: |
|
Oct. 11, 1929: |
Maiden voyage Yokohama - Honolulu - San Francisco. |
Sept. 2, 1937: |
Driven ashore in a typhoon at Hong Kong, received only minor damage. |
Jan. 21, 1940: |
Stopped and boarded by HMS Liverpool 25 miles off Nojima Zaki, Honshu, Japan Aprox. position 39.24N - 142.25E. 21 Germans were forcibly removed from the ship, 12 had been on the Columbus which was scuttled Dec. 19, 1939 and were thought to be en route to Japan to help service U-boats and commerce raiders (Hilfskreuzers) the other 9 were later released. |
1941: |
Taken over by the Japanese government for use as a transport. |
June 29, 1941: |
Sailed to Batavia (Jakarta), Indonesia under German charter to pick up German and Italian citizens who had been detained since the Netherlands were invaded. |
Nov. 6, 1941: |
Removed aprox. 450 Japanese civilians from Singapore. |
June 25, 1942: |
Departed Yokohama, Japan with
Tatsuta Maru & Kamakura Maru for
Mozambique, Africa, there they met with the Swedish ship Gripsholm and exchanged diplomats and citizens who had been trapped overseas when the war broke out. She returned to Yokohama on Aug. 20. |
Oct. 10, 1942: |
Departed Makassar, Celebes with 1,000 allied POW's, arrived at Nagasaki, Japan on Oct. 23. |
Nov. 1, 1942: |
Departed Wake Island with 20 allied POW's, arrived at Yokohama, Japan Nov. 6. |
Sept. 21, 1943: |
Departed Singapore with 71 allied POW's, arrived Moji, Japan on Oct. 9. |
Feb. 24, 1944: |
Damaged by torpedo from USS Grayback SS-208 in the East China Sea, 50 miles northwest of Hua-Lien, Formosa (Taiwan) (24.15N - 122.19E), casualties unknown. |
Nov. 1, 1944: |
Sunk by USS Atule SS-403. |
Builder's Data |
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Page published Dec. 27, 2007 |