Kachidoki Maru

In 1944, Kachidoki Maru became one of the major Hellship disasters of the war when it was sunk in the South China Sea while carrying about 900 British prisoners of war from Singapore toward Japan. The ship sailed as part of convoy HI-72, alongside Rakuyō Maru, in early September 1944. On 12 September 1944, American submarines attacked the convoy, and Kachidoki Maru was torpedoed and sunk. Because the ship was unmarked, the attackers had no way of knowing Allied POWs were aboard. Although many prisoners were later rescued by Japanese escort vessels and taken on to Japan, hundreds died in the sinking and immediate aftermath, making Kachidoki Maru one of the most significant British POW transport tragedies of the Pacific War.

The Ship

Kachidoki Maru was the former American liner President Harrison, captured by Japan and later renamed for wartime service. By 1944 it was being used as a transport in Japan’s military shipping system, including the movement of Allied POWs. Like other Hellships, it carried prisoners without any markings to identify their protected status, even while operating through waters heavily threatened by Allied submarines. This made it part of the same dangerous POW transport system that doomed so many unmarked ships late in the war.

The Voyage

Kachidoki Maru departed Singapore on 6 September 1944 as part of convoy HI-72. Public historical accounts consistently state that the ship carried about 900 British POWs, largely men who had already endured captivity and forced labor in Southeast Asia, while Rakuyō Maru in the same convoy carried another large group of British and Australian prisoners. The voyage was intended to move these prisoners north toward Japan for further labor. Survivor and memorial accounts emphasize that the prisoners boarded under harsh conditions and entered another long sea journey in the same brutal transport system that defined the Hellships.

The Attack or Loss

During the convoy battle on 12 September 1944, Kachidoki Maru was hit and sunk in the South China Sea. Public accounts generally attribute the fatal torpedoing to USS Pampanito, while the same convoy action also led to the loss of Rakuyō Maru. The POW Research Network notes that, amid the chaos of the attack, the convoy resumed movement after the initial torpedoing of another ship, and Kachidoki Maru was later sunk during the same action. Because the ship was unmarked, the American submarines had no way of distinguishing it from any other Japanese transport.

Casualties and Survivors

The casualty and survivor totals for Kachidoki Maru differ somewhat across sources, but the broad picture is clear. The USS Pampanito patrol history states that of the 900 POWs aboard, 656 were rescued by the Japanese and taken on to prison camps in Japan, implying the loss of about 244 POWs. By contrast, CombinedFleet records that escorts rescued 521 POWs and notes 476 passengers killed, a figure that includes POWs but is not limited to them. POW Research Network Japan similarly records substantial loss of life in the sinking. Because these totals vary depending on whether they count only POWs or all passengers, the page should state openly that Kachidoki Maru suffered hundreds of POW deaths, while a large number of survivors were nevertheless recovered by Japanese vessels and transported onward to Japan.

Legacy and Memorialization

Kachidoki Maru is closely linked in memory to Rakuyō Maru, since both ships sailed in the same convoy and were lost in the same submarine attack. Together, they represent one of the largest combined POW shipping disasters of the Pacific War. Kachidoki Maru is especially important in British POW history because so many of the men aboard had already survived years of forced labor and imprisonment before being placed on yet another unmarked transport. Its story also highlights an important distinction in Hellship history: unlike some other sinkings where survivors were left almost entirely to die, many Kachidoki Maru survivors were rescued by Japanese ships and taken on to prison camps in Japan, where their ordeal continued until liberation. Today, the ship is remembered through survivor testimony, archival research, memorial work, and the broader effort to document the full history of the Hellships.

Sources

  • POW Research Network Japan, Kachidoki Maru

  • USS Pampanito, The Third War Patrol

  • CombinedFleet, KACHIDOKI MARU Tabular Record of Movement

  • Imperial War Museums, The Sinking of Prisoner of War Transport Ships in East Asia

  • Australian War Memorial, 70th anniversary of the sinking of the Rakuyō Maru and Kachidoki Maru

Related pages

  • Rakuyō Maru

  • Buyo Maru

  • Hellships Casualty Database

  • Hellships Survivor Records

  • Hellships Research Center

  • Hellships Researcher Guide