Enoura Maru

In 1945, Enoura Maru became one of the deadliest ships in the final transport of Allied prisoners of war from the Philippines to Japan. A Japanese cargo ship used as a POW transport, it carried survivors of the earlier Oryoku Maru disaster from the Philippines to Takao, Formosa (now Kaohsiung, Taiwan). On 9 January 1945, while lying in Takao Harbor, Enoura Maru was struck during an American air attack on Japanese shipping. Because the ship was unmarked, the attacking aircraft had no way of knowing Allied POWs were aboard. The bombing killed hundreds of prisoners and left many more wounded, making Enoura Maru one of the most tragic stages in the Oryoku–Enoura–Brazil Hellship transport sequence.

The Ship

Enoura Maru was a Japanese cargo ship pressed into wartime transport service. During the final phase of the Pacific War, it was used to move Allied prisoners as part of Japan’s labor and prison transport system. Like other Hellships, it was not marked to indicate that it carried POWs, despite traveling through waters and ports under attack by Allied forces. In later historical memory, Enoura Maru came to symbolize both the brutality of the transport conditions and the terrible consequences of moving prisoners in unmarked vessels through active combat zones.

The Voyage

The prisoners later crowded onto Enoura Maru were mostly American POWs who had already survived the sinking of Oryoku Maru in Subic Bay in December 1944. After being held ashore under brutal conditions and then moved north through Luzon, they were loaded at San Fernando, La Union onto Enoura Maru and Brazil Maru on 27 December 1944 for the voyage to Takao, Formosa. Conditions were appalling. Contemporary summaries describe the holds as filthy and overcrowded, with little food, little water, and almost no sanitation. The convoy reached Takao around 1 January 1945, where the POWs were concentrated aboard Enoura Maru while repairs delayed onward sailing.

The Attack or Loss

On 9 January 1945, American carrier aircraft attacked shipping in Takao Harbor as part of wider operations connected with the liberation of Luzon. During the raid, Enoura Maru was hit directly. DPAA states that the strike killed an estimated 300 POWs immediately, while other memorial and historical summaries place the loss at more than 350, showing the familiar variation found in Hellship casualty accounting. Survivors described terrible scenes inside the holds, where many prisoners were killed or mutilated by the blast and others were trapped among the dead and wounded for days before the Japanese allowed bodies to be removed ashore. The ship was rendered unfit for further transport service in the POW movement, and the surviving prisoners were later transferred to Brazil Maru for the final voyage to Japan.

Casualties and Survivors

The exact casualty total for Enoura Maru varies by source, but all reliable summaries agree that the loss was catastrophic. DPAA’s project materials describe about 300 POWs killed in the bombing, while the Australian Department of Veterans’ Affairs records that over 350 prisoners were killed and that many additional wounded died in the following days after receiving no proper treatment. After several days, the remaining survivors were transferred to Brazil Maru on 13–14 January 1945 for the final leg to Japan. For many men, survival of Enoura Maru did not mean safety: a number died later on Brazil Maru from illness, wounds, starvation, or exhaustion sustained during the transport chain.

Legacy and Memorialization

Enoura Maru occupies an important place in Hellship history because it shows that many POW deaths occurred not only in sinkings at sea, but also while ships lay helpless in crowded wartime harbors. Its story is inseparable from the larger transport sequence that began on Oryoku Maru in Manila and ended on Brazil Maru in Japan. Today, Enoura Maru is remembered through Hellship research, memorial projects, POW studies in Taiwan, and ongoing accounting work by DPAA, which continues to investigate and identify men lost in the Oryoku–Enoura–Brazil transport chain. The ship also forms an important part of the memorial landscape linking the Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, and the families of those who never returned.

Sources

  • Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Enoura Maru Info Sheet

  • U.S. National Archives, “American POWs on Japanese Ships Take a Voyage into Hell”

  • Department of Veterans’ Affairs (Australia), Taiwan Hellships Memorial

  • POW Research Network Japan, Enoura Maru

  • DPAA Hellship losses project summary PDF

Related pages

  • Oryoku Maru

  • Brazil Maru

  • The Philippine Hellship Convoys

  • Hellships Casualty Database

  • Hellships Survivor Records

  • Hellships Research Center

  • Hellships Researcher Guide