Ayatosan Maru

Ayatosan Maru (綾戸山丸 貨物船) was a 9,788 gross ton (10,930DWT) freighter that was built by Tama Shipbuilding Co., Tamano for Mitsui & Co. Ltd. launched in 1939.[2] She had been intended to run the New York passenger and freight run, however she was requisitioned by the Imperial Japanese Navy and fitted out as a high-speed transport, which was completed in May 1941.

Wreck of Ayatosan Maru
History
Empire of Japan
Name:	Ayatosan Maru
Owner:	Mitsui & Co. Ltd. (1941)
Builder:	Tama Zosensho
Yard number:	246
Laid down:	13 June 1938
Launched:	28 September 1939
Completed:	24 February 1941
Homeport:	Kobe
Identification:	Call sign JXUM
Fate:	Requisitioned by Imperial Japanese Army
Empire of Japan
Name:	Ayatosan Maru
Operator:	Imperial Japanese Army
Fate:	Sunk, 21 July 1942
General characteristics
Tonnage:	9,788 GRT 10,930 DWT
Length:	145 m (476 ft)[1]
Beam:	20 m (64 ft)
Draught:	12 m (40 ft)

During the invasion of Malaya she was damaged by Royal Australian Air Force Lockheed Hudson light bombers and a blaze broke out which was later extinguished.[3] She was also damaged by a torpedo from the Dutch submarine HNLMS O-16.

While unloading troops and supplies at Gona on 21 July 1942, she was bombed by United States Army Air Forces and Royal Australian Air Force bombers and was sunk at 8°50′S 148°50′E, with the loss of forty lives and three vehicles. Two other transports that had completed unloading escaped with their escort. She became known as "The Gona Wreck" with allied patrols investigating and confirming the ship's identity.[4] The wreck was later used to range artillery and as a bombing target by Allied forces.