Toa Maru
{{short description|Japanese transport ship sunk by a submarine off Gizo, Solomon Islands }}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
| {{Infobox ship begin |display title=ital}}
|+Toa Maru {{Infobox ship image |Ship image= |Ship caption= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=Japan |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Japan|naval}} |Ship name= |Ship owner= |Ship namesake= |Ship ordered= |Ship builder=Kawasaki Dockyard, Kobe |Ship yard number= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched=1934 |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship honours= |Ship honors= |Ship fate=Sunk 25 November 1943 |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship type=Transport ship |Ship displacement= |Ship tonnage=10,052 tons |Ship length={{convert|502.3|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|64.9|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship draught= |Ship draft={{convert|37.1|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship power=Kawasaki (MAN-type) diesel engine, {{convert|8611|hp|abbr=on}} |Ship propulsion= |Ship speed={{convert|19.5|kn}} |Ship capacity={{convert|93000|oilbbl|m3|abbr=on}} |Ship range= |Ship complement= |Ship sensors= |Ship EW= |Ship armament=1 × {{convert|4.7|in|abbr=on}} LA gun |Ship armour= |Ship armor= |Ship aircraft= |Ship aircraft facilities= |Ship notes= }} |
Toa Maru No 2 is a World War II Japanese transport ship sunk by the American submarine {{USS|Searaven|SS-196}}{{cite web |url=http://www.combinedfleet.com/Toa_t.htm |title=IJN Toa Maru |website=Combined Fleet |date=2013 |first1=Bob |last1=Hackett |first2=Peter |last2=Cundall}} off Gizo, Solomon Islands on 25 November 1943.
Diving destination
The hull of the wreck is intact and lying on its starboard side. The ships masts are still attached to the hull; however, recently the superstructure has fallen into the sand. The deepest point of the wreck is by the stern, which rests in {{convert|130|ft}} of water; however, the top of the wreck can be reached at a depth of {{convert|40|ft}}. The contents of the ship's six cargo holds include sake bottles, ammunition magazines, two Type 95 tanks, motor-cycle sidecar combinations, and a fuel tanker. However, since the sinking, the ship has been salvaged removing some of the cargo and the ship's propeller.{{cite web |url=http://www.michaelmcfadyenscuba.info/viewpage.php?page_id=390 |title=Toa Maru No 2 |website=Michael McFadyen's Scuba Diving Web Site }}
In its 2010 travel guide, Diver magazine named the wreck as one of the top 20 wreck dives in the world.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.divernet.com/search.php?q=Top+20+wreck+dives&offset=0&submit=Go! |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120327070138/http://www.divernet.com/search.php?q=Top+20+wreck+dives&offset=0&submit=Go! |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-03-27 |title=Top 20 wreck dives |magazine=Diver |date=2010}}
External links
- {{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/warwrecks/solomons.html |title=War Wrecks of the Coral Seas |publisher=PBS |access-date=17 September 2017 |archive-date=14 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080914053637/http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/warwrecks/solomons.html |url-status=dead }}
Footnotes
{{reflist}}
{{November 1943 shipwrecks}}
{{Recreational dive sites|wresit}}
{{coord|8|22|N|158|00|E|display=title}}
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Category:Ships sunk by American submarines
Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean
Category:Maritime incidents in November 1943
Category:Gizo, Solomon Islands
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