Hell Ships
The voyages of death
Men who had served so bravely in the Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Dutch Ease Indies and elsewhere in those worst first months of WWII could never imagine the treatment they would receive as POWs in camps and in hellships.
Hellships ranged from being converted pre-WWII Japanese luxury liners to simple freighters many of which were built just after 1900. POWs and civilians were loaded into the holds usually by the hundreds in each hold. Not all hellships were the same. Some were moderately tolerable with little or no loss of life, but the worst were murderous and hellish nightmares for the POWs in them.
The hellships were not identified as carrying POWs, and the planes and submarines that attacked them did not know they held POWs. To those attacking the hellships, these vessels appeared to be just another Japanese target on the sea. When studying the history of the hellships in the Pacific, it is common to wonder, “Why didn’t the Japanese mark the ships as carrying POWs so they would not be attacked?” The answer lies in the cold calculations of warfare. If the Japanese had marked ships as carrying POWs, it would have meant one less target for the Allies to attack within a convoy. Therefore, if a ship transporting POWs was hit and sunk, it might have protected another ship in the convoy—one carrying troops or supplies—from being targeted and destroyed. This represents the harsh, unforgiving logic of total war.
Research cited by the Naval History and Heritage Command, drawing on the work of historian Gregory F. Michno, estimates that by the end of the war 134 Japanese Hell Ships made more than 156 voyages, transporting approximately 126,000 Allied prisoners of war. About 1,540 prisoners died from conditions and violence aboard the ships, while more than 19,000 died when Allied submarines or aircraft unknowingly attacked Japanese shipping carrying prisoners.
One example was the Junyo Maru, sunk by the British submarine HMS Tradewind on 18 September 1944. Nearly 6,000 people died, including 1,520 Allied prisoners of war and 4,120 Javanese forced laborers. Source: Naval History and Heritage Command
It was not just Americans who suffered in these hellships. Large numbers of Dutch soldiers captured at the fall of the Dutch East Indies, as well as British forces taken prisoner at Singapore and Hong Kong, were also transported on these ships.
Another group of prisoners were men rescued from the sea by Japanese forces after Allied ships had been sunk during naval battles earlier in the war.
Perhaps 98% of the POWs of the Japanese were taken in the opening six months of WWII when the Allies were at their weakest, and the Japanese Empire was at its strongest.
Which was the worst hellship? This is an easy question. If you were the parent of a man who died in hellship X, then it was the worst hellship. If your son died in hellship Y, then it was the worst hellship. Men may belong collectively to groups, but each man dies individually, and the pain was felt the most by those he left behind.
It is much more difficult to identify a single example of the greatest courage shown by a particular POW in any hellship, because so much courage was shown by so many. Men risked their lives to save fellow POWs in some ships that were sinking. Maybe they risked their lives by giving up their meager portion of food or water. For most though, survival depended more on luck, having a small group of friends who helped them, or a thousand other things that just went right for them.
These are the 13 worst hellships strictly by the numbers of men who died.
Junyo Maru sunk September 14, 1944, by two torpedoes from the British submarine HMS Tradewind. Total about 5,620 died (1,382 men of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) 10th Infantry Battalion, 56 British (mostly Royal Air Force), 8 American and 3 Australian POWs and 4,171 Javanese romusha)
Tango Maru was sunk February 25, 1944, by an American submarine killing about 3,000 Javanese romusha laborers and indigenous troops of the Dutch East Indies.
Arisan Maru sunk by an American submarine on October 24, 1944, killing 1,773 POWs. (USA, USN & USMC, 100 civilians of various nationalities, and British die) only 8 men survive.
The Kachidoki Maru and Rakuyo Maru were both in the same convoy and sunk by the different American submarines on September 12, 1944. About 380 POWs die in the Kachidoki Maru sinking, and 1,051 Allied POWs die in the sinking of the Rakuyo Maru. A total of about 1,430 POWs die.
Oryoku Maru, Enoura Maru, Brazil Maru The Oryoku Maru left Manila on December 13, 1944, with 1,619 POWs. It was sunk by American planes in Subic Bay Philippines on December 15, 1944, killing about 300 mostly American POWs, but also UK and Dutch men, and men from other countries. Survivors of the Oryoku Maru went in the Enoura Maru to Formosa, where it was bombed by American planes on January 9, 1945, killing about 350 men. Survivors of the Enoura Maru were put in the Brazil Maru which took a nightmarish voyage from Formosa on January 14, arriving at Moji, Japan, on January 30, during which about 400 men died from injuries, cold, and hypothermia in the hold of the ship, and their bodies tossed into the sea. Within two weeks after reaching Moji, almost 100 more men died from the aftereffects of that voyage. Many more died before the end of WWII, victims of wounds or illness from the voyage that began with the Oryoku Maru. Of the original 1,619 men, only 264 men survived to the end of the war. Most died in the bombings or in the conditions of the Brazil Maru, others from illness and wounds over time for a total of about 1,355 dead.
Montevideo Maru was torpedoed by an American submarine on July 1, 1942. It killed approximately 1,060 prisoners, primarily Australian soldiers and civilians,
Nichimei Maru was sunk January 15, 1943, by U.S. B-24 “Liberator” heavy bombers. A total of 965 Dutch POWs die.
·Lisbon Maru was torpedoed by an American submarine on October 1, 1942, and sank the next day. A total of 828 British POWs died between the initial torpedo hit and the sinking.
Hofuku Maru sunk September 21, 1944, by American planes off the west coast of Luzon killing about 800 UK and Dutch POWs. Many of these survivors were to later end up in the Oryoku Maru and die during that voyage.
Shinyo Maru sunk by an American submarine on September 9, 1944, near the north coast of the island of Mindanao, Philippines, killing 668 mostly American POWs.
Tamahoko Maru was sunk June 24, 1944, by an American submarine. 537 total POWs die (U.S. 13, UK 148, Australian 195, Dutch 181)
An excellent source of summaries of the hellships can be found at the POW Research Network Japan based in Tokyo which has worked diligently to report on the details of the POWs, the hellships, and POW camps.
Submitted by John Duresky, Hellships Memorial Foundation, Advocate for North America and Japan https://www.hellshipsmemorial.org/ Waterfront Rd, Subic Bay Freeport Zone, Philippines
John Duresky, PO Box 427. 104 Red Rock Rd, High Rolls, NM 88325
Email johnduresky@hotmail.com