I am unsure of her early life, but it could be assumed that she was used for a few years to transport cargo and/or passengers around Japan and the Pacific.
Once the war started, or perhaps even before, the ship was taken over by the Imperial Japanese Navy and used as a support ship for Japanese submarines. She was based with the Sixth Fleet. and was used to transport supplies for the submarines, things like torpedoes, depth charges and spare parts.
On the morning of 17 February 1944, the Gosei Maru was lying at anchor on the north-eastern side of Uman Island in Chuuk Lagoon. The Lagoon had already been attacked by hundreds of American planes over the previous 24 hours as Operation Hailstone was unleashed on the Japanese fleet anchored in the lagoon. On 17 February, she was attacked by dive bombers. The photo below appears to show the Gosei under attack, perhaps a bomb exploding on the port side amidships. The ship faced into the easterly wind when at about 0918 hours aircraft of USS Monterey and USS Bunker Hill (Strike 3C) attacked the helpless ship. A torpedo bomber from the Monterey attacked the Gosei Maru (after two unsuccessful attempts by other planes) and scored a direct hit on the starboard side near hold one.
Today the Gosei Maru is located at a GPS Reading of N7º 18’ 40.3” E151º 53’ 14.6” using WGS84 as the datum. This will put you on the stern which is only only 2.5 metres deep. She lies on a steep incline with the maximum depth of about 35 metres being under the bow (which is 31 metres). She has a very pronounced list and is almost totally over on her port side. As such, it is a very easy wreck to find as it can easily be seen from the surface. Dive boats normally anchor at the stern.
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