Tama Maru was laid down on 3 August 1938 at the shipyard of Mitsubishi Jukogyo Hikoshima Zosensho at the behest of shipping company, Sankyo Kaiun.

[1] On 12 September 1941, she was requisitioned by the Imperial Japanese Navy and converted to an auxiliary minesweeper under Reserve Lieutenant Funaki Takashi (船木隆).

[1] Funaki served until 19 May 1943 when he was replaced by Reserve Lieutenant Yoshino Teruhiko (吉野輝彦).

[1] In October 1944, Yoshino was replaced by Lieutenant Shinoo Matao (新野尾又雄).

[1] She was sunk on 8 April 1945 by the submarine USS Tirante 10 miles (16 km) east of the island of Shokokusanto (Korean: Heuksando) to the southwest of mainland Korea (34°35′N 125°20′E / 34.583°N 125.333°E / 34.583; 125.333).