The Story Begins: When I first came to the United States (November 1940)
From Facebook (Pam Shack, March 26, 2019 at 20:56)
Several people have asked me recently when and from where I immigrated. I arrived in the United States from Tokyo, Japan in November 1940 on the ss Tatsuta Maru. These photos are from my first passport. I was 4-1/2 years old. Because I was born in Japan, I was admitted under the Japanese quota (Quota No. 65). Even though it was toward the end of the calendar year, my quota number was very low, because Japanese nationals were not being admitted. I was given permanent resident status because an American family sponsored me. The ship first docked in Honolulu, then San Francisco, and then sailed to San Pedro, CA, where my mother and I disembarked. Although I was a British subject, I had not yet been to England and didn't know any of my family except my parents.
On board the ss Tatsuta Maru. My mother knitted the cardigan. (She used the same pattern to knit cardigans for me until I was nine, when I left the United States to go to boarding school in England.) We sailed from Yokohama, stopping in Hawaii to take on supplies and fuel. From there we sailed to San Francisco and then south to San Pedro, California, where my mother and I and several American and Russian friends from Yokohama and Tokyo disembarked. All had reluctantly left Japan because of the impending war.
Tatsuta Maru was built in 1929 for the Japanese company Nippon Yusen Kaisha's premier high-speed trans-Pacific Orient-California fortnightly service, coming into operation from autumn of 1929. Throughout the 1930s, she made trips between Asia and the west coast of the United States. The trip from Yokohama to San Francisco typically took 15 days, with fares starting from $190 in second class and from $315 in first class.
On 14 Oct 1941, Tatsuta Maru was acquired by the Japanese Navy and served as a troop transport. On 8 Feb 1943, at 1600 hours, she departed Yokosuka, Japan with troops on board, escorted by destroyer Yamagumo. At 2215 hours, 42 miles east of Mikura Jima or about 80 miles south-southeast of the opening of Tokyo Bay, she was hit by about four torpedoes launched by American submarine USS Tarpon. She sank at 2237 hours, killing 1,223 passengers and 198 crew. Yamagumo was unable to find any survivors due to bad weather and the darkness of the night. (sourced Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatsuta_Maru and from World War II Database - https://ww2db.com/ship_spec.php?ship_id=545)
Several people have asked me recently when and from where I immigrated. I arrived in the United States from Tokyo, Japan in November 1940 on the ss Tatsuta Maru. These photos are from my first passport. I was 4-1/2 years old. Because I was born in Japan, I was admitted under the Japanese quota (Quota No. 65). Even though it was toward the end of the calendar year, my quota number was very low, because Japanese nationals were not being admitted. I was given permanent resident status because an American family sponsored me. The ship first docked in Honolulu, then San Francisco, and then sailed to San Pedro, CA, where my mother and I disembarked. Although I was a British subject, I had not yet been to England and didn't know any of my family except my parents.
On board the ss Tatsuta Maru. My mother knitted the cardigan. (She used the same pattern to knit cardigans for me until I was nine, when I left the United States to go to boarding school in England.) We sailed from Yokohama, stopping in Hawaii to take on supplies and fuel. From there we sailed to San Francisco and then south to San Pedro, California, where my mother and I and several American and Russian friends from Yokohama and Tokyo disembarked. All had reluctantly left Japan because of the impending war.
Tatsuta Maru was built in 1929 for the Japanese company Nippon Yusen Kaisha's premier high-speed trans-Pacific Orient-California fortnightly service, coming into operation from autumn of 1929. Throughout the 1930s, she made trips between Asia and the west coast of the United States. The trip from Yokohama to San Francisco typically took 15 days, with fares starting from $190 in second class and from $315 in first class.
On 14 Oct 1941, Tatsuta Maru was acquired by the Japanese Navy and served as a troop transport. On 8 Feb 1943, at 1600 hours, she departed Yokosuka, Japan with troops on board, escorted by destroyer Yamagumo. At 2215 hours, 42 miles east of Mikura Jima or about 80 miles south-southeast of the opening of Tokyo Bay, she was hit by about four torpedoes launched by American submarine USS Tarpon. She sank at 2237 hours, killing 1,223 passengers and 198 crew. Yamagumo was unable to find any survivors due to bad weather and the darkness of the night. (sourced Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatsuta_Maru and from World War II Database - https://ww2db.com/ship_spec.php?ship_id=545)
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