World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseIn 1918, the merchant ship West Caruth was the second ship built by the Southwestern Shipbuilding firm in San Pedro, California, United States for the United States Shipping Board that oversaw American shipping efforts in WW1. In 1923, she was sold to the North Devon Steamship Company, a British company, and operated as tramp steamer Exmoor. In 1924, she was sold to the Tripcovich Shipping Company of Trieste, Italy, which renamed her Antonio Tripcovich. In 1928, Oguma Shoten Gomei Kaisha of Tsurumi purchased her and renamed her Seisho Maru. In the early 1930s, she was purchased by Mitsui Bussan Kaisho, which kept her name. She sailed between Japan and the west coast of the United States during the 1930s, carrying cargo. In early May 1939, she ran aground in Tokyo Bay, but she was refloated within days. When WW2 began, she served as a troop transport. On 15 Nov 1944, she departed Moji, Kyushu, Japan as a part of convoy MI-27 bound for Miri, Borneo. The convoy was escorted by a converted minesweeper and three smaller vessels. During the night of 17-18 Nov 1944, the convoy was detected by the American submarine wolfpack consisted of USS Peto, USS Spadefish, and USS Sunfish. Sunfish sank Edogawa Maru and damaged Seisho Maru shortly after 2200 hours, while Peto sank Osakasan Maru at 2340 hours. At 0130 hours, Seisho Maru exchanged gunfire with a surfaced submarine. At 0317 hours, Sunfish fired a spread of torpedoes, sinking her in the East China Sea.

Seisho Maru Operational Timeline