She was
laid down on 9 June 1936 and
launched on 1 December 1936 by
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in
Nagasaki. She was
commissioned on 28 April 1937 into the
Mitsui OSK Line. Throughout 1937 to 1941, she made trips to
Kobe,
Keelung and
Moji. On 12 November 1941, she was acquired by the
Imperial Japanese Navy and converted to a
hospital ship by
Kure Naval Arsenal on 1 December. On 8 April 1942, she was mistakenly lightly damaged by and again on 26 April by in the
Manipa Strait despite her clear designation as a hospital ship. On 14 June 1941, she carried 500 patients while being escorted by the
cruiser . On 15 June,
Rear Admiral Matome Ugaki departed the
battleship to pay a visit aboard and
Takasago Maru. She was attacked by aircraft but no damage was sustained from it while anchored off
Shortland on 1 November of the same year.
Takasago Maru was escorted by the
destroyer as they arrived at
Truk on 5 September 1943. On 18 December, she transferred medical supplies to the cruiser at
Harujima. She departed
Singapore on 28 February 1944 for
Saigon. The
supply ship replenish with
Takasago Maru on 17 April. encountered
Takasago Maru on 5 February 1945 and was let go as she was clearly marked as a hospital ship. On 19 March, she was anchored near the battleships and during the
attack on Kure and escaped the harbor undamaged. conducted an onboard search for violations and contrabands but found her to be clear and let her continue to
Wake Island on 2 July. The same thing happened again five days later on 7 July, when conducted a search. While she was in
Maizuru on 25 July, planes from the aircraft carrier attacked the harbor but with no hits on
Takasago Maru. On 1 December, she was assigned to the Allied Repatriation Service at Kure. Between 1947 and 1956, she made trips to evacuate Japanese
prisoners of war in
Siberia and
Nakhodka. On 23 March 1956, she was sold to Namura Shipbuilding, K. K.,
Osaka for
scrapping. == Gallery ==