DAIREN MARU was completed as a cargo ship in 1925 for Darien Kisen Kaisha (DKK Line) of Kobe. On 30 November 1944, DAIREN MARU was torpedoed and sunk by an American submarine off Inchon, Korea. Sister HOTEN MARU was completed as a passenger-cargo ship in 1928. She was sunk on 18 October 1944 by an air strike near Camiguin Island, northern Luzon in the Philippines. Sister TSINGTAO (CHOSUN) MARU was completed as a passenger-cargo ship in 1930. She too was sunk on 18 October 1944 by an air strike near Camiguin Island, Philippines.