Uncovering the Truth Beneath the Waves: Reconstructing the Final Voyages of the Hellships
Today, the Hellships Memorial team is undertaking a groundbreaking project to bring clarity to these long-obscured tragedies. Using a process we call cross-source data reconciliation and synthesis, we are comparing and aligning information from multiple wartime records to pinpoint the most accurate sinking locations and reconstruct the final movements of these vessels.
A Global Puzzle of Records
Our research draws on several distinct data sources:
Japanese wartime shipping and naval records from the Japan Center for Asian Historical Records (JACAR);
U.S. Navy action and intelligence reports documenting submarine patrols and attacks in the South China Sea and Philippine waters;
POW death and capture cards, compiled by Allied authorities after the war, which record the names, fates, and transport histories of prisoners.
Each dataset offers only part of the story. Japanese records provide ship names, departure dates, and convoy details. U.S. Navy logs offer coordinates of torpedo strikes. POW death cards list the men aboard. Our task is to reconcile these fragments into one coherent, verifiable narrative.
Our Method: Cross-Source Data Reconciliation
Rather than relying on a single document or report, our team systematically compares every available dataset. We identify where sources converge—for example, when both Japanese and American records record a strike at nearly the same latitude—and where they conflict, such as differing ship names or reported dates.
By aligning geographic coordinates, convoy identifiers, survivor testimonies, and postwar intelligence summaries, we create a triangulated historical reconstruction of each sinking. This process resembles a meta-analysis in science, but instead of clinical trials, our “data points” are archival records, war diaries, and eyewitness accounts.
Why It Matters
Every coordinate verified, every inconsistency resolved, brings us one step closer to honoring the men who died without graves. These findings also help ensure that future underwater surveys and memorial efforts.
Behind every data entry is a human life. Our work is as much about remembrance as it is about research.
Where We Are Now
Our current phase focuses on reconciling the positions of several Hellships sunk between Luzon and Formosa in 1944, including the Arisan Maru, and Rakuyō Maru. Preliminary results have already clarified inconsistencies between Allied and Japanese sources, providing a clearer map of where these tragedies unfolded.
As this effort progresses, we will publish summaries of our findings here on the Hellships Memorial website, along with updates on related fieldwork, sonar surveys, and memorial events.
In Their Memory
Through the patient work of cross-source data reconciliation and synthesis, we aim to transform fragmented wartime data into enduring remembrance—linking history’s paper trails to the waves beneath which the Hellships rest.
