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The Rio de Janeiro Maru was built in May 1930 by Mitsubishi Zosen Kaisha Ltd at Nagasaki in Japan for Osaka Syosen KK. She had four sister ships built from 1925 to 1929. The Rio was 140 metres (461.2 feet) long, with a width of 18.9 metres (62.0 feet)and a gross tonnage of 9,627 tons.
Up until 10 July 1942 the Rio de Janeiro Maru was based in Hiroshima and then operated to and from Chuuk Lagoon. On 27 July 1942 the Rio de Janeiro Maru was attacked by the submarine USS Spearfish 152 kilometres east of Camranh, Vietnam. The next day the Captain reported that she had suffered "medium" damage but During Operation Hailstone, the Rio de Janeiro Maru appears to have been hit during the first attacks of 17 February 1944, possibly by planes from USS Yorktown CV10 and USS Bunker Hill CV17. It is likely that she sank overnight. Wreck DescriptionToday, the Rio de Janeiro Maru sits at a maximum depth of about 34 metres, with the ship lying on its starboard side. It is a very large ship so it is impossible to see everything one 1 dive. The holds contain a huge amount of empty bottles, and the engine room is very interesting to explore. We did notice one difference in the wreck between our trip in 2001 and 2003; the bow section was completely collapsed on itself. Apparently one of the live aboard dive operators who anchor directly to the wreck has caused this damage.
This page was last updated on 20-Apr-2008. |
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On 8 October 1940 she was requisitioned by the Japanese Imperial Navy and converted into a submarine tender as the navy shipyard in Sasebo. This included the addition of two artillery guns, anti-aircraft guns and a degaussing coils. 
was able to proceed to Hong Kong where it is believed that she was repaired. 
