John D. Alden credits the Royal Dutch Navy submarine HNMS K-XII N-61 with sinking the first Japanese merchant vessel during the Pacific war. On December 13, 1941, in the Gulf of Thailand (Siam) near Kota Bharu, a torpedo fired by the K-XII N-61 struck the 1938-ton Japanese Army cargo vessel Toro Maru in its number three portside hold. Some cargo was salvaged before the vessel sank. Two Toro Maru crew members were killed.
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