Partial List of Japanese Hell Ships
The Arisan Maru was torpedoed by an American submarine on October 24, 1944. There were 1800 POWs aboard - 1795 died making it the worst naval disaster in the history of the United States!
The Shinyo Maru was torpedoed on September 7, 1944 by the USS Paddlefish off the coast of Mindanao. Japanese guards shot many prisoners as they struggled from the holds or were in the water There were 750 American POWs aboard - 668 died.
The Oryoku Maru left Manila on December 14, 1944, with 1619 American POWs packed in the holds. U.S. Navy planes from the USS Hornet attacked the unmarked ship, causing it to sink the following day. 286 were killed or shot in the water as they tried to escape. The survivors were loaded on the Enoura Maru. The Enoura Maru took a direct hit by a U.S. Navy bomber, killing over half of the 500 POWs; the survivors were put aboard the Brazil Maru and they arrived in Moji, Japan on January 29, 1945. Only 490 of the original 1619 were still alive.
Kachidoki Maru, torpedoed by USS Pampanito off Hainan Island, took about 400 British POWs to the bottom with her.
Rakuyo Maru, a total of 1,159 Australian and British prisoners perished when USS Sealion sent her to the bottom near Hainan Island in September 1944. Some of the survivors were later picked up by American subs.
Harukiku Maru, HMS Truculent sank her in the Strait of Malacca, an unknown number died.
Hofuku Maru was bombed and sunk in Philippine waters north up the coast from Subic Bay. Of the 1289 POWs who were on board, 1047 died in the sinking and some of the survivors were to die later on other hellships.
Lisbon Maru, torpedoed by USS Grouper in October 1944, went down with another 846 POWs, the only bright memory being an unarmed rush by men of the Middlesex Regiment, who overran and killed several Japanese sentries assigned to keep the prisoners cooped up in the holds of the sinking ship.
Junyo Maru, Of the approximate 1,700 Western POWs and about 500 Indonesian prisoners, some 1,500 died. Of the Javanese slave laborers, more than 4,300 of them, only a couple of hundred survived. As closely as it is possible to estimate, 4,320 men went down with Junyo Maru or died in the water later
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