Final voyage
On 24 September 1939, at 5 PM, Terukuni Maru departed Yokohama on her 25th voyage to Europe. En route, she made her usual scheduled ports of call: Nagoya, Osaka, Kobe, Moji, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Penang, and Colombo. After transiting the Suez Canal, she called at Beirut, Naples and Marseille (where she stayed for four days), followed by Casablanca. At 9 AM on 19 November, she transited the Dover Straits, turning north to the mouth of the River Thames and her final destination of London. She took aboard a pilot off the South Downs, and underwent contraband inspection while Royal Navy minesweepers checked her route into London for mines. After receiving clearance to proceed, at 35 minutes after midnight on the morning of 21 November, an explosion occurred between her second and third holds, after she struck a German magnetic mine at 51.83333°N, 1.5°W off Harwich on the Essex coast. She sank in less than 45 minutes,[5] but there were no fatalities as all 28 passengers and 177 crew members were able to escape in lifeboats.[6]
As Japan was officially neutral at the time, the sinking of the Terukuni Maru led to a diplomatic incident between Japan and both the United Kingdom and Germany. Both countries officially denied responsibility for the mine. However, it is almost certain to have been a German mine because the type of mine used is one that had been developed by the Germans and because the United Kingdom would not have placed mines in its own shipping lanes.[6] Although Japan was increasingly allied towards Germany, the Japanese government protested the loss with the Nazi German government, but the ship owner was not compensated for the loss.[6]
The wrecked ship lay partly submerged on its side at 8 fathom depth, visible to wartime shipping.[7] The wreckage was examined for salvage potential, but salvage work was not undertaken. In 1946 the ship was demolished with explosives as part of a British effort to remove war debris from coastal waters.[6] The remains of the Terukuni Maru have been recorded.[8]
A model of the ship is displayed in the library of the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow.[9]
