Asama Maru (Japan)

At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Asama Maru was serving as a troopship and had just arrived at Saipan. In early 1942, she made several voyages been Japan and the Philippines and Borneo, including the transport of the paratroopers of the 3rd Yokosuka Special Naval Landing Force to Tarakan in Borneo on 16 January 1942.

In June1942, Asama Maru was temporarily designated a diplomatic exchange vessel, and was used in the repatriation of the prewar diplomatic staffs of Japan and the Allied nations. She departed Yokohama on 25 June with US Ambassador Joseph Grewand 430 other American diplomats, along with members of the Spanish embassy in Japan. On reaching Hong Kong on 29 June, she embarked an additional 377 Americans, Canadians and other Allied nationals. She took on 114 repatriates on 3 July at Saigon, and yet more in Singapore on 6 July, so that when she reached Lourenço Marques in Portuguese East Africa on 22 July, she was carrying 789 civilians. These were exchanged for 1500 Japanese and Siamese diplomats (including Ambassador Kichisaburo Nomura and Saburō Kurusu), businessmen and journalists in the United States and Brazil at the time of the outbreak of war, who had been transported to this location on the MS Gripsholm.[17] She returned to Yokohama on 20 August, and was requisitioned again by the Imperial Japanese Navy on 5 September .

Asama Maru was placed back in served as a troopship and transport, shuttling men and supplies from Japan to various points in Southeast Asia. On 10 October, she was assigned to carry 1000 Allied prisoners of war from Makassar to Nagasaki.[9] This was the first of several voyages to transport Allied prisoners, which would later earn Asama Maru the epithet of "hell ship."

In February 1943, Asama Maru was fitted with a hydrophone and rack for 16 depth charges. She narrowly escaped four torpedoes fired at her by USS Sunfish on 10 March off of Takao (now Kaohsiung), but was alerted in time by her hydrophone operator and was able to take evasive action.

On 23 February 1944, she was slightly damaged in an attack by USS Grayback (SS-208) in the South China Sea 20 miles east of Taiwan. The oiler Nanpo Maru was sank by Grayback in the same attack.

In October 1944, Asama Maru was one of the ships in a major convoy transporting elements of the Imperial Japanese Army’s 1st Division from China to the Philippines. Despite constant attacks by American submarines and aircraft, over 12,000 men were successfully sent to reinforce the Japanese garrison at Luzon prior to the American landings. On the return voyage from Manila to Takao, Asama Maru embarked 1383 military and civilian personnel, including survivors of sunken merchant vessels, as well as 170 tons of scrap iron, 80 tons of hemp, 80 tons of raw rubber and other supplies. On 1 November, the convoy was attacked in the Bashi Channel by USS Atule (SS-403) in the South China Sea 100 miles (160 km) south of the island of Pratas. Asama Maru was torpedoed twice in the starboard side, hitting both the main and the auxiliary engine rooms. A few minutes later, two more torpedoes in the starboard side exploded to flood the No.3 and No.4 holds. Asama Maru sank stern first less than ten minutes later. Survivors rescued included 103 men from her 201 man crew and 1028 of her 1383 passengers