Takao Maru (高雄丸) was an OSK Line cargo and passenger steamship that was built in Japan in 1927.

[2] Takao Maru had a single screw, driven by two Mitsubishi steam turbines via double-reduction gearing.

[3] She was designed as a high-speed banana ship, and had an advanced mechanical ventilation system to cool her cargo holds.

On 7 December, the eve of the Japanese invasion of the Philippines, she left Mako in the Pescadores islands (now Magong in Penghu) as one of six troopships with the Third Fleet.

The US Far East Air Force bombed and strafed the ships with Boeing B-17 bombers and Curtiss P-40 and Seversky P-35 fighters.