Buyo Maru

The Ship

The Buyo Maru was originally laid down on 12 July 1918 at the Tsurumi shipyard of Asano Shipbuilding Company for Kokusai Kisan Kaisha, launched on 5 February 1919 and completed on 19 March 1919 as hull number 364, registered under identification number 24999. (Wikipedia) She was a standard Japanese cargo‐transport of the “Yoshida Maru No.1” class (25 ships built 1918-1919) and weighed about 5,447 tons. (On Eternal Patrol)

In her early life she served in commercial shipping under the Osaka shipping lines (Tamai Shosen K.K.) and registered at Kobe/Hashidate. On 16 November 1941 she was requisitioned by the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) for wartime transport duties. (Wikipedia) As the war progressed, the Japanese military used such vessels to move troops, supplies and increasingly prisoners of war (POWs) and forced labourers across Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

By January 1943, the Buyo Maru was operating as part of convoys off New Guinea and northern Dutch New Guinea regions. She was assigned to move troops and POWs from Ambon or Seram through the region to Japanese or Japanese‐held ports. Because she carried soldiers and also POWs, she lacked special markings to segregate “non‐combatant” human cargo; she effectively became a “hell ship” in the sense of a vessel carrying POWs in dangerous unmarked conditions. (Combined Fleet)

The POWs

On 2 January 1943 the Buyo Maru departed Singapore en route to Ambon as part of a convoy with other transports, including the Pacific Maru and the Fukurei Maru No. 2. (Wikipedia) On board the Buyo Maru at that time were about 1,126 men: this included approximately 1,126 soldiers (Japanese Army troops) and about 269 Indian prisoners of war from the British Indian Army’s 2nd Battalion, 16th Punjab Regiment, captured in the earlier campaigns in the Dutch East Indies and Malaya. (Combined Fleet) Some sources list 269 Indian POWs, though detailed breakdowns vary. The Indian POWs were guarded by Japanese detachments (26th Field Ordnance Depot) and confined under guard likely in holds or on deck with the Japanese troops. (Reddit)

The conditions aboard such transports were hazardous: overcrowding, minimal ventilation, little water or sanitation, and no clear identification of the human cargo made them vulnerable to attack. The reality for POWs was fear not only of the sea and the transport, but of being lost at sea far from any rescue. While the Buyo Maru incident differs somewhat from later “hell ships” that carried thousands of Allied POWs (e.g., Americans, Australians), the presence of Indian POWs under guard renders the vessel part of that tragic category.

The Sinking

On 26 January 1943, the Buyo Maru was torpedoed and sunk by the U.S. submarine USS Wahoo (SS-238), under the command of Lieutenant Commander Dudley W. “Mush” Morton. (On Eternal Patrol) The attack occurred at approximately 1-55 N, 139-14 E, about 270 miles north of Dutch New Guinea. (On Eternal Patrol) According to records, the Wahoo fired torpedoes and hit the Buyo Maru; one torpedo passed under and failed to explode, a subsequent one hit midships and caused the ship to sink. (Wikipedia)

There remains serious controversy over what followed. After the ship sank (or during the final moments), the Wahoo surfaced and engaged lifeboats or rafts from the wreck. The submarine’s logs indicate that they fired on the survivors in lifeboats, at least partly on the belief that the survivors were Japanese troops who were returning fire with machine guns or rifles. (Wikipedia) But many of those in the water were Indian POWs guarded by the Japanese—non-Japanese allied POWs—making the episode extremely problematic. Of the 1,126 on board, the combined Japanese and Indian dead numbered approximately 195 Indian POWs and 87 Japanese troops who died, though sources differ on exact numbers. (Reddit) The remaining survivors were rescued by the Japanese patrol boat Choko Maru (No. 2) on 27 January and taken to Palau. (Reddit)

The shooting of survivors in lifeboats has been described as a war-crime by some historians (though never formally prosecuted as such) because survivors of shipwrecks are protected under the Hague and Geneva conventions. The Wahoo crew maintained their actions were in self-defence because they believed the survivors posed a threat. (On Eternal Patrol) The Buyo Maru sinking stands as one of the earliest examples of what would later be called the “hell ship” tragedies where unmarked prisoner transports were attacked and large numbers of Allied prisoners died.

Legacy

The legacy of the Buyo Maru tragedy is complex. On one side, it highlights the lethal risk faced by POWs transported by the Japanese in unmarked ships during World War II — the failure to properly identify human-cargo transports meant that Allied forces sometimes inadvertently sank vessels carrying their own or allied POWs. On the other side, the killing of survivors in lifeboats challenges accepted norms of warfare and human rights at sea.

For the Indian soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 16th Punjab Regiment, the incident represents one of the many sacrifices made in the early phase of the war, often overshadowed by the larger narratives focussed on European or American POWs. Their deaths, lost at sea, seldom feature in major histories. For the Japanese side, the loss of troops aboard the Buyo Maru is one of many wartime sinkings that drained the transportation capacity of the Japanese Army.

In the post-war era, the Buyo Maru incident has been discussed in the broader context of “hell ships” and maritime POW disasters. It appears in analyses of the U.S. submarine campaign, of Japanese logistics and POW policy, and of the war-crime questions arising from attacks on survivors. Memorials and lists of Indian POWs, Japanese dead and missing, and submarine historians’ records preserve the memory of those lost.

In the Philippines, Indonesia, India and Japan, the wreck of the Buyo Maru is less visited than some of the better-known hell ships (such as the Arisan Maru or Lisbon Maru), yet it remains part of the fabric of Allied POW memory, particularly for Indian veterans and families of the 16th Punjab Regiment. Diving or wreck-survey initiatives have occasionally noted its location, but it remains largely unexplored and unmarked as a memorial site.

The tragedy also serves as a cautionary tale: the intersection of naval warfare, prisoner transport and human rights blurred lines between combatant and non-combatant, between enemy and allied. For historians and writers, this vessel offers a poignant narrative thread of Indian POWs, Japanese troop transports, submarine warfare and maritime legal questions.

Timeline of the Buyo Maru Tragedy

  • 12 July 1918 – Ship laid down at Asano Shipbuilding Co., Tsurumi, Japan. (Wikipedia)

  • 5 February 1919 – Launched as Buyo Maru, Japanese commercial cargo vessel. (Combined Fleet)

  • 19 March 1919 – Completed and entered service. (Wikipedia)

  • 12 July 1932 – Sold to Tamai Shosen K.K. of Kobe; registered at Hashidate. (Wikipedia)

  • 16 November 1941 – Requisitioned by Imperial Japanese Army for transport duty. (Wikipedia)

  • 2 January 1943 – Departed Singapore in convoy with Japanese troops and Indian POWs, bound for Ambon/New Guinea region. (Wikipedia)

  • 26 January 1943 – Torpedoed and sunk by USS Wahoo (SS-238) about 270 miles north of Dutch New Guinea. (On Eternal Patrol)

  • 27 January 1943 – Survivors rescued by Japanese patrol boat Choko Maru (No. 2) and transferred to Palau. (Reddit)

  • Post-war – Incident investigated in U.S. Naval records; controversy over shooting of survivors in lifeboats. (U.S. Naval Institute)

  • 2003 – U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings article “Mush Morton and the Buyo Maru Massacre” reviews the incident and legal/ethical issues. (U.S. Naval Institute)

Suggestions for Archival / Visual Resources & Survivor/Victim Lists

Archival sources

  • U.S. National Archives (NARA) — Patrol Reports of USS Wahoo (SS-238) Patrol No. 3, war-crime files.

  • Naval History & Heritage Command (NHHC) — H-Gram 022, Loss of USS Wahoo, includes mention of Buyo Maru. (Naval History and Heritage Command)

  • CombinedFleet.com — Tabular Record of Movement for Buyo Maru (“IJA Transport Buyo Maru”). (Combined Fleet)

  • Indian Army / British Indian Army Archives — 2nd Battalion, 16th Punjab Regiment POW records.

  • Imperial Japanese Army Records (JACAR) and Tamai Shosen company records (less accessible but relevant).

Survivor/victim lists & further research

  • Casualty figure: Of about 1,126 men aboard, approx. 195 Indian POWs and 87 Japanese troops died. Some sources vary. (Reddit)

  • War-crime historical overviews: “Hell Ships and Broken Conventions” blog and books on Japanese POW transport. (Pacific Atrocities Education)