Sunday, 5 August 2012

Matsuye Maru




Matsuye Maru was built 1921 in Yokohama 7061 grt. for Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK), Tokyo. Torpedoed and sunk by the U.S. submarine USS Harder on April 17th, 1944, 350 miles S.W. of Guam Island.

Lowry refers to the ship in Chapter 3 of his novel Ultramarine; "A stern rose up above us: Matsuye Maru - Osaka. It was an old passenger steamer with raking masts and one black smokestack with an O on it in white." (Pg. 83).

The Strait Times June 11th 1927 confirms that Pyrrhus and Matsuye Maru were in port together as seen in the shipping announcements for that day:



To date no photograph of the ship is available. Below is a postcard issued by Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) of their ship Atsuta Maru - a ship of similar size and vintage as Matsuye Maru:


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