tatsuta maru (1929)

Tatsuta Maru (龍田丸), was a Japanese ocean liner owned by Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK). The ship was built in 1927–1929 by Mitsubishi Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. at Nagasaki, Japan. The vessel was named after Tatsuta Jinja an important Shinto shrine in Nara Prefecture.

She should not be confused with the better known IJN_Tatsuta_(1918) a light cruiser/destroyer shepherd who served during WW2, and was the sister of Tenryuu.

In early 1942, Tatsuta Maru made several voyages between Japan and the Philippines and Borneo as a troopship. In July 1942, Tatsuta Maru was again 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 with UK Ambassador Sir Robert Craigie and 60 other British diplomats, along members of many other foreign diplomatic delegations and civilians. On reaching Shanghai and Singapore, she took on many more repatriates, so that when she reached Lourenço Marques in Portuguese East Africa on August 27, she was carrying over 1000 civilians. These were exchanged for Japanese civilians and diplomats, and Red Cross parcels for British prisoners of war in Japanese hands. On her return to Japan, she was re-requisitioned for use as a troopship, shuttling men and supplies from Japan to various points in Southeast Asia.

On 19 January 1943, she was assigned to carry 1180 Allied prisoners of war, mostly Canadians, from Hong Kong to Nagasaki. The prisoners were so overcrowded that there was no room to lay down. This earned Tatsuta Maru the epithet of "hell ship."

On 8 February 1943, Tatsuta Maru departed Yokosuka Naval District for Truk accompanied by the destroyer Yamagumo. The ships were spotted by the American submarine Tarpon 42 miles east of Mikurajima. After being hit by up to four torpedoes, Tatsuta Maru sank with a loss of 1,223 soldiers and passengers and 198 crewmen. As the sinking occurred at night during a gale, Yamagumo was unable to find any survivors.