They were called, "Japanese Hell Sips."
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The Hell Ships
Japan, Formosa, Manchuria, Korea . . . eventual destinations for the nightmarish voyages aboard "Hell Ships." As the allies drew closer, the Japanese began moving POWs out of the Philippines by sea. A thousand and more prisoners were crammed into cargo holds — spaces only big enough for a quarter that number — oftentimes with only enough room to sit for a journey that would last weeks. Never enough buckets for their waste, and with hundreds of dysentery cases, the healthy succumbed. Deprived of air and water and exposed to intoxicating heat, men suffocated or went mad. While Japanese weapons transports bore Red Cross markings, ships carrying prisoners of war went unmarked and were targeted by American submarines.
On 7 September 1944, American torpedoes found their target in the Shinyo Maru. As the prisoners fought their way off the sinking ship, they were fired on coming out of the holds or in the water. Of the 750 Americans who began the voyage, only 82 made it to shore.
On 24 October 1944, the Arisan Maru, with 1,800 American prisoners aboard, was torpedoed during a typhoon. That night over 100 New Mexicans were lost, including brothers Dwayne and Eugene Davis of Carlsbad.
Before heading to sea on 14 December 1944, men were already dying in the holds of the Oryoku Maru. Transporting Japanese soldiers, civilians, and 1,619 prisoners of war out of Manila, the ship suffered repeated attacks from American fighters who had no idea she was carrying POWs that day. That night, the soldiers and civilians were put ashore leaving behind the prisoners and their guards. Returning to finish the Oryoku on 15 December, fighters from USS Hornet loosened bombs that killed approximately 300 prisoners of war. The survivors were rounded up and held in an open enclosure for five days with almost no food until they were transported in two groups to San Fernando by truck. Several of the weaker prisoners were "selected" for execution. On Christmas Day, the survivors were loaded onto the Enoura Maru and the Brazil Maru. The ships arrived in Takao (Formosa) on New Year's Eve, and remained in port for the next six days with the prisoners still aboard who received no food and little to no water. The men from the Brazil Maru were then transferred to the Enoura Maru. On 9 January 1945, 300 prisoners died when the Enoura Maru was bombed. Of those killed, approximately 200 prisoners in the forward hold were killed instantly. On 11 January, the remaining 1,000 POWs were loaded onto the Brazil Maru which did not head to sea until 14 January. The Brazil made port in Moji (Japan) on 29 January with only 500 of the original 1,619 prisoners of war who began the long ordeal onboard the Oryoku Maru a month and a half earlier. Within weeks, one hundred more men would perish including several New Mexicans. Only nineteen of the forty-three New Mexicans who had originally embarked on the Oryoku Maru survived.
16 Aug 1945: Bataan Relief Organization's "Bulletin" demands editorially, Senate investigation into sinking of Japanese ships carrying American prisoners of war. [Story]
Already having survived unimagineable horrors in Japanese prisoner of war camps, some the Bataan Death March, and up to a month and more aboard a Hell Ship, prisoners arrived in the north with little clothing, and in November and December, many fell ill with pneumonia due to exposure. Those that survived were put to work to support the Japanese war effort as slave laborers where each act of sabotage was a small victory. They were Americans afterall, their "heads bloody, but unbowed!"
Partial Listing of Ships:
Arisan Maru
Brazil Maru
Canadian Inventor
Coral Maru
Enoura Maru
Haro Maru
Junyo Maru
Kachidoki Maru
Lima Maru
Lisbon Maru
Matti Maru
Melbourne Maru
Montevideo Maru
Nagato Maru
Nichi Maru
Nigatee Maru
Nissyo Maru
Noto Maru
Oryoko Maru
Rakuyo Maru
Sankyo Maru
Shinyo Maru
Taga Maru
Taikoku Maru
Tottori Maru
Umeda Maru
Yashu Maru
SS President Harrison
They were called, "Japanese Hell Ships."