Atago Maru

The Atago Maru was a merchant ship built prior to World War II in Glasgow in 1924 by Lithgows & Sons.

Career

The Atago Maru was built as a general cargo freighter for the Japanese, and operated between Kobe / Yokohama and the west coast of the USA and Canada.

In 1943 she was converted to carry oil.

She was sunk off Miri, Sarawak, on 28 November 1944, while at anchor just offshore of the Lutong refinery.

The wreck

The Atago Maru rests in about 12m of water, about 1 mile offshore. Her masts were still visible above the waterline until the 1980s.

Much of the wreck has been covered by silt from the nearby Baram River over the years; however, the bow, the main superstructure and the engine room skylights all stick up several metres above the silt. The wreck is a popular dive site.

External links

• "The Wrecks of NW Borneo – Atago Maru". Panaga Divers.