Fujimi 401010 IJN Sado-Maru/Sakito-Maru

Sakito Maru was a Japanese transport ship that was launched in 1939. The ship was 145 m long, 19 m wide, and the displacement was about 7,200 tons. The maximum speed was 19-20 knots. Sakito Maru was built in a shipyard Mitsubishi Zosen Kaisha in Nagasaki City as a civilian unit serving on the Nippon Yusen shipping line. However, shortly thereafter, it was commandeered by the Japanese Navy and began to be used as a transport ship, especially for transporting soldiers. Sakito Maru was used in this role in the course of military operations in the Pacific until the beginning of 1944. The unit was sunk on March 1, 1944 as a result of a torpedo attack by the American submarine USS Trout. At the time of the attack, soldiers from the 18th Infantry Regiment, which were being transported to the island of Guam, were on board the ship. As a result of the sinking of Sakito Maru, over 2,300 soldiers of the army and nearly 120 crew members died.