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| IJN Cargo 1,957 Tons    3rd BG Sept 27, 1943   Ken Howard 2004 |
Ship History Taisei Maru was owned by Osaka Shoen K. K. with the number "4" painted on the smoke stack. Prewar, used as a cargo vessel. During the Pacific War, this vessel was chartered by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) as cargo vessel and armed with deck guns for anti-aircraft defense. Wartime History On December 30, 1942 departs Saiki as part of No. 8 Military Movement Convoy "Q Convoy" with Kofuku Maru, Yorihime Maru and Ikuta Maru escorted by Subchaser CH-39. On April 6, 1943 at 4:30pm convoy "Hansa No. 28" departs Palau bound for Hansa Bay. The convoy includes subchasers CH-26 and CH-34 destroyers Tanikaze and Amatsukaze plus transports Teiryu Maru, India Maru, Toho Maru, Sydney Maru, Taisei Maru and Taiyu Maru. On April 12, 1943 the convoy arrives at Hansa Bay and is attacked, and the Sydney Maru is sunk. The next day at 9:00am the convoy departs Hansa Bay and splits up with Teiryu Maru, Toho Maru and Amatsukaze and CH-34 proceeding to Palau and arriving on April 18, 1943. The other ships CH-26, Tanikaze, Taisei Maru and Taiyu Maru proceeded to Wewak and unload their remaining supplies on April 14, 1943. The next day while underway to Palau, the India Maru is sunk. The remainder of the convoy reaches Palau on April 20, 1943. On September 19, 1943 "Wewak No. 9" convoy departs Palau consisting of Taisei Maru, Aden Maru and Yasukuni Maru escorted by subchaser CH-26 and CH-32. On September 23, 1943 the convoy arrives at Wewak and begin unloading cargo. The subchaser escorts departed the next day for Palau. Sinking History On September 27, 1943 B-25 Mitchell strafers from 3rd Bombardment Group (3rd BG) conducted a low level bombing and strafing attack against Japanese ships inside Victoria Bay west of Kairuru Island. During the attack, Taisei Maru was bombed and strafed with twenty-three soldiers and two crewmen were killed. Damaged and set on fire, the ship sank into Victoria Bay. Shipwreck This Taisei Maru shipwreck is upright on a sandy bottom. It is possible the shipwreck was salvaged by Japanese for scrap metal in the 1950s and the masts were removed. The shipwreck is roughly 90m / 295' in length and sunk at a depth of 25m / 82' to the deck and 37m / 82' to the flat sandy bottom, with the deck at 25m / 121'. The superstructure has evidence of bomb damage. The shipwreck is flourishing with soft coral and marine life. The bow section has the anchor still attached and is hanging down to the sandy bottom. David Morgan adds: "The Taisei Maru and the name was visible on the stern at the time of my dive." Ken Howard dove in 2004: "I can't compare this Maru to other PNG wrecks, but it was certainly one of the highlights of our 12 days of diving from Madang to Wewak, and ranks up there (photographically). The viz wasn't all that great (maybe 50 feet)--despite this wreck's size, you had to start down the line attached to the marker buoy because you couldn't spot the wreck from the surface. I was first in the water on both dives, and as I mentioned didn't venture inside the wreck. The second (bow) dive had noticeably worse viz, after the other eleven divers had been in the water. Water conditions were calm, however." Justin Taylan dove in 2006: "Locals refer to this wreck as Musao Maru, and charge 5 Kina per diver. It appears the wreck was salvaged post war. The propeller is missing, and appears that it might have had salvage done on it. The remains of the king post is present, but collapsed into the wreck." References Other sources state sunk off the Schouten Islands incorrectly Combined Fleet IJA MAYA MARU Tabular Record of Movement Combined Fleet ADEN MARU Tabular Record of Movement Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) Japanese Naval and Merchant Shipping Losses During World War II by All Causes page 44 (Taisei Maru, September 27, 1943), index 119 (Taisei Maru, September 27, 1943) "9/27/43 / Taisei Maru / Cargo / 1,957 Tons / 3-19S, 143-33E / US Army Aircraft / Sunk X Marks The Spot research by David Pennefather Thanks to David Pennefather, David Morgan, Ken Howard and Justin Taylan for additional information Contribute
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