ATAGO MARU
N 04°29.000' E 114°00.000'
Owner: Nippon Yusen Kaisha K.K.
Built in 1924 at Lithgows, Glasgow, Scotland.
Yard No: 762
Date of completion: 28.11.24
Gross Tons: 7544
Length: 134m
Beam: 17.37m
Type: Cargo ship, converted to tanker in 1943
Speed: 13 knots, powered by twin diesel engines
Fate: Bombed at berth, badly damaged and abandoned by crew. Sunk 28 November 1944.
Built in Glasgow in 1924, this was one of the first diesel-engined, Japanese registered ships. The vessel had a gross tonnage of 7,544 and twin screws. She was bombed by a B-24 of the USAAF 13th Air Force on 28th November 1944 and sank in 14 metres of water three miles west of Piasau, Miri, with much of the superstructure still visible. Over the years, the monsoon waves demolished the superstructure and the ship slowly settled into the silty seabed, leaving only the two masts as an indication of her presence. The foremast fell down in 1981 and the aft mast a few years later. The wreck lists slightly to port leaving a scant one metre freeboard on the starboard side amidships. On the port side, the deck runs to the sea bed where there is considerable debris from the superstructure.