Katori Maru was a steam ocean liner of the Empire of Japan. She was built in Nagasaki in 1912–13. In the Second World War the Imperial Japanese Navy requisitioned her as a troop ship. In 1941 a Royal Netherlands Navy submarine sank her off the coast of Sarawak.
Her wreck was found in 2003. It had become an artificial reef and became a scuba diving destination. In 2013 divers removed historic artifacts from the wreck, and in 2016 salvage vessels destroyed most of the wreck for its scrap metal. Today little of the wreck remains except the bow.
Several Japanese ships have been called Katori or Katori Maru, and the Japanese Navy had more than one transport ship of this name in the Second World War.
In 1925 Chinese Muslims used the ship to travel to Singapore on their way to Mecca for the Hajj.
Building
Mitsubishi Dockyard and Engineering Works built Katori Maru in Nagasaki for Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Gaisha, completing her in September 1913. She was 499.8 ft long, had a beam of 59.9 ft and draught of 28 ft. Her