''Atago Maru'' was a

merchant ship A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which are ...

built prior to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

in 1924 by Lithgows & Sons for

Nippon Yusen Nippon Yūsen Kabushiki Kaisha (Japan Mail Shipping Line), also known as NYK Line, is a Japanese shipping company and is a member of the Mitsubishi ''keiretsu''. The company headquarters are located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It operates a flee ...

. One of the first diesel-engined cargo ships in service in Japan, ''Atago Maru'' was converted to an

oil tanker An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined cru ...

in 1942. Returning to service in 1943, the ship saw extensive service traveling in

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

s during World War II. On 28 November 1944, the vessel was bombed by a

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped from an air ...

while at anchor off

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...

. The shipwreck is a popular diving site in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Description

As built, ''Atago Maru'' was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

cargo ship measured at ,

long between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the ster ...

with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of . The ship was powered by twin Sulzer

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-ca ...

s and two screws rated at . The vessel had a maximum speed of . In 1942, the vessel was converted to transport oil.

Career

''Atago Maru'' was built as a general cargo freighter for

by Lithgows & Sons at

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

with the

yard number __NOTOC__ M ...

762. The vessel was launched on 17 June 1924 and completed on 28 November later that year. ''Atago Maru'' was one of the first diesel-engined ships under Japanese

registry Registry may refer to: Computing * Container registry, an operating-system-level virtualization registry * Domain name registry, a database of top-level internet domain names * Local Internet registry * Metadata registry, information system for re ...

. The cargo ship operated between Kobe /

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...

and the west coast of the United States and Canada, where ''Atago Maru'' found great success on the

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

route. With the outbreak of war between Japan and the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

in 1941, the cargo ship's cross-Pacific career ended. On 3 August 1942, ''Atago Maru'' joined Convoy 425 sailing from Cap St Jacques, Vietnam bound for Mako, Pescadores. On 28 December, ''Atago Maru'' began conversion to an emergency

at Sasebo Naval Arsenal, Japan. The ship completed conversion and returned to service on 14 February 1943. On 15 June, ''Atago Maru'' joined Convoy 586 from Cap St Jacques and arrived at

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

on 18 June. The ship returned to Cap St Jacques and joined Convoy 412, departing on 23 July. On 15 August, ''Atago Maru'' sailed from Moji, Japan for Takao, Formosa as part of Convoy 187 and arrived on 20 August. In December, the oil tanker headed to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, sailing from Zamboanga for

Jolo Jolo ( tsg, Sūg) is a volcanic island in the southwest Philippines and the primary island of the province of Sulu, on which the capital of the same name is situated. It is located in the Sulu Archipelago, between Borneo and Mindanao, and has ...

and

Tawi Tawi Tawi-Tawi, officially the Province of Tawi-Tawi ( tl, Lalawigan ng Tawi-Tawi; Tausug: ''Wilaya' sin Tawi-Tawi''; Sinama: ''Jawi Jawi/Jauih Jauih''), is an island province in the Philippines located in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim ...

on 30 December. In 1944, ''Atago Maru'' returned to Japan. The oil tanker departed Moji in Convoy MOTA-07 on 1 March, arriving at Takao on 9 March. On 21 March, the ship sailed from Takao as part of Convoy TAMA-12 and arrived at

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

, Philippines on 24 March. On 18 June, ''Atago Maru'' joined Convoy MI-05 departing from Manila and arrived at

Miri ) , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = State , subdivision_name1 = , subdivision_type2 = Division , subdivision_name2 ...

on 23 June. Four days later the oil tanker joined Convoy MI-06 sailing for Moji, arriving on 17 July after stops at Manila and Takao. On 26 July, sailing with Convoy MI-13, ''Atago Maru'' departs Moji. After stopping at Takao, the convoy came under attack on 7 August by a US submarine, which sink one of the cargo ships, before arriving at Manila on 8 August. On 11 August, the convoy departs Manila for Miri, and is attacked the following day by US submarines, which sink two of the convoy. The convoy arrived at Miri on 18 August. On 29 August, ''Atago Maru'' joined Convoy MI-14 departing Miri, making stops at Manila and Takao, and reaching Moji on 20 September. On 3 November, the oil tanker departed Moji for Miri as part of Convoy MI-25. On 15 November, the convoy is attacked by US submarines, with three merchant vessels lost. The convoy arrived at Miri on 16 November. On 28 November 1944, while at anchor just offshore of the

Lutong Lutong is a suburban township in Miri, a city in the state of Sarawak in Malaysia. An oil refinery was built in Lutong by Shell Oil Company Shell USA, Inc. (formerly Shell Oil Company, Inc.) is the United States-based wholly owned subsidiary o ...

refinery, ''Atago Maru'' was bombed and sunk by Consolidated B-24 Liberator

s of the

Thirteenth Air Force The Thirteenth Air Force (Air Forces Pacific) (13 AF) was a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It was last headquartered at Hickam Air Force Base on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. 13 AF has never been sta ...

at .

Wreck

''Atago Maru'' rests upright in of water, about offshore. Initially much of the superstructure and masts remained above water, but

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal osci ...

waves destroyed the superstructure and what remained went underwater as the ship settled in the mud. The ship's masts were still visible above the waterline until the 1980s. The wreck is a popular dive site.

Citations

Sources

* * * * {{cite book , last=Svrcula , first=Kurt , year=2013 , orig-year=2004 , title=Diving in Malaysia: A Guide to the Best Dives of Sabah, Sarawak & Peninsular Malaysia , edition=Updated , location=Singapore , publisher=Marshall Cavendish International , isbn=978-981-4398-32-9

External links

"The Wrecks of NW Borneo – Atago Maru"
Panaga Divers.
''Atago Maru'' at ''wrecksite.eu''
Shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean World War II merchant ships of Japan Ships built in Glasgow 1924 ships Maritime incidents in November 1944