Ship History
Built in 1939, owned by the Nippon Yushen Keisha Shipping Line (NYK). As a civilian luxury liner, the transport had a crew of 68 men and four VIP rooms, twin topside decks, special refrigerated cargo holds, and silk-lined rooms.

Wartime History
Used as a transport by the Japanese Navy. On February 19, 1942 at 2am, the Sagami Maru was part of the Japanese invasion of Indonesia, off the Badung Strait.

USS Seawolf SS-197 sited the transport, and made a surface attack, firing two Mark-14 torpedoes at Sagami and another ship, but all four missed or failed to detonate. The submarine was spotted and forced to dive and was depth charged, and followed, but was able to surface and escape.

Sinking History
At Davao Gulf on November 3, 1943, USS Seawolf again sited this ship, anchor just off the beach in Talomo Bay. The submarine made its first attack, firing a torpedo that exploded midship at 10:50am, listed 30 degrees to starboard and settled in shallow water, while gunners at the bow began firing at the submarine.

The damaged ship righted itself and the Seawolf made a second attack shoring another hit at 11:31am in the aft “when the smoke cleared away the after gun platform and the entire topside was clear of people. The forward gun (was) manned but not firing.” and was down 10' in the stern, but not sinking. At the nearby dock area, observers were watching the attack.

Seawolf made a third attack before noon, and observed the flags were lowered and five life boats transporting crew from the ship to the dock. After this attack, the Seawolf was attacked by three Japanese aircraft and two ships, and was forced to dive to 200' and maneuver for over two hours.

Shipwreck
Sunk off Davao, the wreck is divable, but covered in heavy silt, and low visibility inside the wreck. Inside the cargo holds are trucks, motorcycles and ordinance, the wreck can be penetrated from the forward and aft holds, the topside decks, the galley area and the broken-off smoke stack.

References
The Sagai Maru and the USS Seawolf by Carlos Munda

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Last Updated
October 1, 2009

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