Asama Maru
1941
(Albatros ALK-105)
- Type: Passenger / general cargo
- Displacement: 16,975 tons
- Dimensions: 584 x 74 x 28.5 ft.
- Machinery: Sulzer 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).
Asama Maru set the record for fastest crossing of Pacific on Yokohama-San Francisco route. Subject of diplomatic incident when stopped by British cruiser HMS Liverpool 21 January 1940 off coast of Japan, and 21 German passengers forcibly removed. Evacuated Japanese civilians from Singapore, 6 November 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 July 1942. Sunk by American submarine Atule in the China Sea, 1 November 1944.
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