Sinking History
The Ayutosen Maru was bombed by USAAF bombers during the initial Japanese invasion of Gona on July 22, 1942. The vessel was in the process of unloading about 260 engineer troops most of whom got ashore. The vessel settled in very shallow water giving it the appearance of still being afloat. Latter in the war it was used to range artillery and then as a bombing target for American crews.

Father Benson recalls in Prisoner's Base and Home Again:
"...a black mass loomed out of the paler darkness; it proved to be a great ship, and as we passed under her stern I could just make out the name Ayatosan Maru (sic) high above my head. I saw immediately what had happened; the great vessel of some 10,000 tons had struck the Fuaga Rocks at the end of a reef running out from Gona Bay and had become a partial wreck. [in fact it was sunk by air attack]"

Wreckage
Sunk in shallow water off Gona, this wreck is best known by it’s wartime name: ‘The Gona Wreck’. Part of a mast was still above water until a few years ago.  Today, all the wreckage is below the water, becoming a huge man made reef.

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