Asama Maru
1929
(Albatros AL-50)
- Type: Passenger / general cargo
- Displacement: 16,975 tons
- Dimensions: 584 x 74 x 28.5 ft.
- Machinery: Sulzer diesels, quadruple screw, 19,100 BHP = 19 knots
- Passengers: 822 (222 first class, 96 second class, 504 third class)
- Crew: 330
- Builder: Mitsubishi Shipbuilding and Engineering Co., Nagasaki, Japan, 1929
- Service: Built for Nippon Yusen Kaisha (Japanese flag). Maiden voyage 10 Oct 1930. Set record for fastest crossing of Pacific on Yokohama-San Francisco route. On 2 Sep 1937 she was undergoing repairs at Hong Kong. Because of a hurricane warning, she was moved to a "safe" anchorage in Saiwan Bay, but was driven ashore. The Nippon Salvage Co was able to refloat her in Mar 1938 after removing 3,500 tons of material, including two of her four engines. After repairs she resumed sailing in Sep. Subject of a diplomatic incident when stopped by British cruiser HMS Liverpool 21 Jan 1940 off coast of Japan, and 21 German passengers forcibly removed. Evacuated Japanese civilians from Singapore, 6 Nov 1941. Provided transport for exchange of U.S., British, and Japanese diplomats, along with two other NYK ships, Tatsuta Maru and Kamakura Maru, which rendezvoused with Swedish liner Gripsholm at Lorenco Marques in Portuguese East Africa Jul 1942. Asama Maru served thereafter as a Japanese Navy transport. Sunk by American submarine Atule in the China Sea, 1 Nov 1944.
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