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{|{{Infobox ship begin |display title=''Sakito Maru''|infobox caption=''Sakito Maru''}} <!-- warships except submarines -->
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|Ship image=File:Sakito Maru(Pre-War).jpg
|Ship caption= ''Sakito Maru'' seen before the war
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| Ship country =[[Empire of Japan|Japan]]
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|Ship builder=Mitsubishi Zosen Kaisha (Nagasaki) 
|Ship laid down=16 April 1938
|Ship launched=27 October 1938
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|Ship in service=29 January 1939
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|Ship fate=Sunk by {{USS|Trout|SS-202|6}}, 1 March 1944
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|Ship type=[[Troopship|Troop transport]]
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|Ship tonnage= {{GRT|7126}}
|Ship length={{convert|145|m|ftin}} 
|Ship beam={{convert|19|m|ftin}}
|Ship draught={{convert|12.5|m|ftin}}
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|Ship speed= {{convert|19.7|kn}}
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'''''Sakito Maru''''' ({{langx|ja|崎戸丸}}) was a 7,126-ton [[Japan]]ese [[Troopship|troop transport]] that operated during [[World War II]]. She was sunk on 1 March 1944 with great loss of life.

==Construction==
''Sakito Maru'' was built in 1939 by the [[Mitsubishi|Mitsubishi Zosen Kaisha]] in Nagasaki for the [[Nippon Yusen]] shipping company.<ref>{{csr|register=MSI|id=4045508|shipname=Sakito Maru|accessdate=28 December 2020}}</ref> She was the lead ship of seven ships of the ''Sakito Maru''-class of high speed transports: ''Sakito Maru'' (崎戸丸), [[Japanese seaplane tender Sanuki Maru (1939)|''Sanuki Maru'' (讃岐丸)]], Sado Maru'' (佐渡丸), ''Sagami Maru'' (相模丸), ''[[Sagara Maru]]'' (相良丸), ''Sasako Maru'' (笹子丸), and ''Sakura Maru'' (佐倉丸).<ref name=NagasawaSClass7>{{Cite web|first=Fumio  |last=Nagasawa |authorlink=   |title= 崎戸丸型 SAKITO MARU Class 7隻 (1939-1940)  |website=Nostalgic Japanese Steamships|date=1998 |url= http://jpnships.g.dgdg.jp/sametype/type_0081.htm|language=Japanese}}</ref>

==Early service==
On the [[fog]]gy morning of 4 September 1940, ''Sakito Maru'' collided with the 1,514-[[gross register ton]] [[Fishing vessel|fishing]] [[barge]] ''Olympic II'', which was [[anchor]]ed on the Horseshoe Kelp fishing [[Ocean bank|bank]] at the entrance of [[Port of Los Angeles|Los Angeles Harbor]] off [[Los Angeles]], [[California]]. ''Olympic II'' sank in {{convert|100|ft|0}} of water with the loss of seven or eight lives.<ref name=combinedfleetsakito>{{cite web |url=http://www.combinedfleet.com/SakitoM_t.htm |title=Japanese Army Auxiliary transports |publisher=Combinedfleet.com |access-date=11 November 2022}}</ref>

On 24 September 1941, ''Sakito Maru'' took the Japanese [[cargo ship]] ''Arima Maru'' — which had been refloated after running aground on the coast of [[Peru]] {{convert|4|nmi}} south of the harbor at [[Mollendo]] on 25 May 1941 — under [[Towing|tow]] to [[Callao]], Peru. After temporary repairs to ''Arima Maru'' at Callao, ''Sakito Maru'' departed Callao with ''Arima Maru'' under tow on 9 October 1941 and proceeded to [[Yokohama]], Japan. On 20 November 1941, the two vessels arrived at Yokohama, where ''Arima Maru'' underwent permanent repairs.<ref name=combinedfleetsakito/>

==Battle of the Komandorski Islands==
After the beginning of [[World War II]], ''Sakito Maru'' was converted into a troop transport.<ref name=morisonp24>Morison, p. 24.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.combinedfleet.com/SakitoM_t.htm |title=Japanese Army Auxiliary transports |publisher=Combinedfleet.com |access-date=11 November 2022}}</ref> She and the merchant cruiser ''[[Asaka Maru]]'' were operating as [[Transport (ship)|transports]], carrying reinforcements to the Japanese garrison of [[Attu Island|Attu]] in the [[Aleutian Islands]] during the [[Aleutian Islands campaign]],<ref name=morisonp24/> when their [[convoy]] encountered the warships of [[United States Navy]] [[Task Group]] 16.6<ref>Morison, pp. 22, 24.</ref> in the North [[Pacific Ocean]] near the [[Commander Islands|Komandorski Islands]] on 27 March 1943.<ref name=morisonp24/> ''Sakito Maru'' and ''Asaka Maru'' steamed away<ref>Morison, pp. 24–25.</ref> and avoided combat in the ensuing [[Battle of the Komandorski Islands]].<ref>Morison, p. 29.</ref> Two U.S. Navy [[PBY Catalina]] flying boats sighted the two transports during the afternoon,<ref name=morisonp34>Morison, p. 34.</ref> but land-based [[United States Army Air Forces]] airstrikes launched against them during the afternoon failed to find them.<ref name=morisonp34/> They returned safely to [[Paramushiro]] in the [[Kuril Islands]], but failed to deliver the reinforcements to Attu.<ref name=morisonp34/>

==Loss==
On 29 February 1944, ''Sakito Maru'' was carrying the [[Imperial Japanese Army]]′s [[18th Infantry Regiment (Imperial Japanese Army)|18th Infantry Regiment]] as part of Convoy Matsu-01, which was transporting the [[29th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)|29th Division]] of the [[Kwantung Army]] from [[Manchukuo]] to [[Guam]]. Matsu No. 1 consisted of four large transports escorted by three [[Yūgumo-class destroyer|''Yūgumo''-class]] [[destroyer]]s of Destroyer Division 31, namely {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Asashimo||2}}, {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Kishinami||2}}, and  {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Okinami||2}}. The American [[submarine]] {{USS|Trout|SS-202}} attacked the convoy about {{convert|625|nmi}} east of [[Taiwan|Formosa]].<ref>{{cite web | title=Sakito Maru (+1944) | url=http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?137311|publisher=Wrecksite| accessdate=2016-09-18 }}</ref>  The submarine badly damaged the large [[Cargo liner|passenger-cargo ship]] ''Aki Maru''. Two [[torpedo]]es also hit ''Sakito Maru'' around 17:56 and she caught fire.<ref name=combinedlfleetSakitoMaru>{{cite web | title=IJA Transport SAKITO MARU: Tabular Record of Movement| url=http://www.combinedfleet.com/SakitoM_t.htm|author= Bob Hackett | accessdate=2016-09-18 }}</ref>

''Asashimo'' detected ''Trout'' and dropped 19 [[depth charge]]s. Oil and debris came to the surface and the destroyer dropped a final depth charge on that spot, sinking the American submarine with the loss of all 81 hands at the position {{coord|22|40|N|131|45|E|display=inline,title}}.<ref>{{Cite book| last= Hoyt |first =Edwin P. |title= To the Marianas: War in the Central Pacific: 1944 |year= 1980 |publisher= Van Nostrand Reinhold Company| place=New York |page=240}}</ref>

At 04:00 on 1 March 1944, the burning ''Sakito Maru'' sank. Of the 3,500 men on board, 2,358 soldiers, 65 ship's gunners, and 52 crewmen died. Also lost were several [[light tank]]s and most of the [[regiment]]'s equipment. The men aboard ''Sakito Maru'' on that day included a subsequent [[Japanese holdout]] [[Sakae Ōba]].<ref name=combinedlfleetSakitoMaru/>

== See also ==
* [[List by death toll of ships sunk by submarines]]
* [[List of maritime disasters in World War II]]

==References==
===Footnotes===
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* Morison, Samuel Eliot. ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942–April 1944''. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984.

{{September 1940 shipwrecks}}
{{March 1944 shipwrecks}}

[[Category:Ships of the NYK Line]]
[[Category:World War II merchant ships of Japan]]
[[Category:Ships of the Aleutian Islands campaign]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by American submarines]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in September 1940]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in March 1944]]
[[Category:Ships built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries]]
[[Category:Troop ships of Japan]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean]]
[[Category:1938 ships]]