Oct. 6, 1944 a convoy of twelve ships and five escorts were en route from Moji, Japan to Singapore, when they were passing through the East China Sea the convoy came under attack by U.S. submarines. USS Whale SS-239 fired six torpedoes at the tanker Akane Maru which sank taking 765 with her, her survivors were picked up by the escort CD-21.

Two hours later USS Seahorse SS-304 sank the CD-21 with a torpedo, the ship broke in half and went down with 170 persons. I have found no reference stating that there were any survivors. The next day Kinugasa Maru was hit by a torpedo, she was carrying around 1,000 people and a lot of ammunition, but she did not sink and the ship was abandoned. Less than half an hour later USS Hawkbill SS-366 hit her with two torpedoes and she exploded and sank with the loss of 44 lives. The convoy, suffering no further losses, arrived in Singapore on Oct. 12.