List of Japanese hell ships

This list of Japanese hell ships encompasses those vessels used for transporting Allied prisoners of war during the Pacific War.

Select list

The names of the Japanese hell ships used during World War II includes some variants which are different names referring to the same ship.

Aikoku Maru
Aki Maru (Japanese Kyūjitai: 安藝丸, Shinjitai: 安芸丸)^[1]
Akikase
Akitzuki^[2]
Amagi Maru^[3]
Anami Maru
Aramis (aka Teia Maru)
Argentina Maru^[4]
Arisan Maru – sunk by USS Shark or USS Snook 24 October 1944.^[5]^[6] 1,773 U.S. POWs killed.
Asaka Maru - left Keppel Harbour, Singapore, on 4 July 1944. Wrecked in a storm between Luzon and Formosa. Survivors were rescued by two Japanese navy destroyers, and boarded the Hakusan Maru which arrived in Moji, Kyushu, on 28 August 1944. According to the personal account of a British soldier who was on this voyage, the Asaka Maru was old and built in Glasgow. ^{[citation needed]}
Asama Maru – sunk by USS Atule 1 November 1944. No POWs aboard.^[a]
Awa Maru^[a] – sunk by USS Queenfish 1 April 1945. No POWs aboard.
Benjo Maru
Brazil Maru^[b] – bombed 15 December 1944. No POWs aboard.
Burong
Buyo Maru
Celebes Maru^[7]
Chichibu Maru – sunk by USS Gudgeon 28 April 1943. No POWs aboard.
Cho Saki Maru
Chuka Maru^[b]
Chuyo – sunk by USS Sailfish 4 December 1943. 20 of the 21 POWs aboard died.
Clyde Maru^[8]
Coral Maru
Dai Moji Maru^[9]
Dai Nichi Maru^[10]
Daikeku Maru
Dainichi Maru
England Maru
Enoshima Maru
Enoura Maru – sunk by Allied aircraft on 9 January 1945, resulting in the deaths of approximately 400 Allied POWs.^[11]
Enuri Maru
Erie Maru
France Maru^[12]
Fuji Maru^[b]
Fukkai Maru
Fuku Maru
Fukuji Maru
Fukuju Maru
Hakuroku Maru
Hakusan Maru – sunk by USS Flier 4 June 1944. No POWs aboard.
Hakushika Maru
Haru Maru
Harugiku Maru (治菊丸, formerly Van Waerwijck^[13] – sunk by HMS Truculent 26 June 1944, 180 of 720 POWs and 27 of 55 Japanese troops killed.
Haruyasa Maru
Hawaii Maru (はわい丸, Hawai Maru)^[14]
Heiyo Maru
Hioki Maru
Hiyoki Maru
Hofuku Maru – sunk on 21 September 1944 by American aircraft, while carrying 1,289 British and Dutch POWs. 1,047 of them died.
Hokko Maru
Hokusen Maru (北鮮丸)
Hozan Maru^[15]
Ikoma Maru – sunk on 21 January 1944 by USS Seahorse. 418 of 611 Indian POWs aboard were killed.
Ikuta Maru
Imabari Maru (formerly De Klerk)
Interisland Steamer
Junyō Maru – torpedoed 18 November 1944 with loss of over 5,000 lives, including 1,300 POWs
Kachidoki Maru – sunk by Pampanito on 12 September 1944. Of 900 POWs, 400 perished. The remaining were transferred to the Kibitsu Maru and taken on to Japan
Kaishun Maru
Kaiun Maru
Kakko Maru
Kalgan Maru
Kamakura Maru – sunk by USS Gudgeon on 28 April 1943. No POWs aboard.
Kenkon Maru (乾坤丸)
Kenwa Maru
Kenzan Maru
Kiaota Maru
Kibitzu Maru
Kohho Maru
Kokusei Maru
Konosue Maru
Koryu Maru
Kōshū Maru – sunk by USS Ray on 4 August 1944. 1,239 out of 1,513 POWs, most of them Javanese labourers, died.^[b]
Kunishima Maru
Kurimata Maru
Kyokko Maru^[16]
Kyokusei Maru
Lima Maru^[a]
Lisbon Maru (りすぼん丸, Risubon Maru)^[a] – sunk by Grouper on 2 October 1944. Of the 1,816 British POWs, 842 perished.
Maebashi Maru (前橋丸, Maebashi Maru)
Makassar Maru
Maros Maru
Maru Go (5)
Maru Hachi (8)
Maru Ichi (1)
Maru Ni (2)
Maru No. 760
Maru Roku
Maru San (3)
Maru Shi (4)
Maru Shichi (7)
Mati Mati Maru
Matsu Maru
Matti Matti Maru
Maya Maru
Mayebassi Maru
Melbourne Maru^[b]
Mishima Maru
Miyo Maru
Moji Maru
Montevideo Maru (もんてびでお丸, Montebideo Maru) – sunk by Sturgeon on 1 July 1942. all 1,054 Australian POWs and civilians died.
Nagara Maru^[17]
Nagata Maru
Nagato Maru
Nanshin Maru
Naruto Maru
Natoru Maru
Nichimei Maru – Sunk on 15 January 1943 by U.S. aircraft, transporting 1,500 Japanese troops and 965 Dutch POWs of which 32 POWs died.
Nishi Maru
Nissyo Maru
Nitikoku Maru
Nitimei Maru
Nitta Maru^[a]
Yoshida Maru No. 1^[a]
No. 2 Hikawa Maru ^[a]
No. 6 Kotobuki Maru
No. 7 Hoshi Maru
No. 17 Nanshin Maru
Noto Maru^[18]
Oite
Oryoki Maru
Oryokko Maru
Oryoku Maru – sunk by U.S. airplanes on 15 December 1944, killing 270 of the 1,620 POWs aboard.^[6]
OSK Ferry
Otaro Maru
Oyo Maru
Pacific Maru^[19]
Panama Maru
Raihei Maru
Rakuyō Maru – sunk by USS Sealion on 12 September 1944. Of 1,317 POWs, 1,159 POWs perished. 63 were rescued four days later by the submarines that sank the convoy she was in
Rashin Maru (羅津丸)
Rendsberg
Rio de Janeiro Maru
Roko Maru^[b]
Rokyo Maru^[b]
Ryūkyū Maru^[b]
Samurusan Maru
San Diego Maru
Sandakan Steamer
Sanko Maru
Seikyo Maru
Sekiho Maru (formerly Canadian Inventor)
Shinsei Maru
SS Shinyō Maru – sunk on 7 September 1944 by USS Paddle. 668 out of 750 American POWs aboard were killed.^[6]
Shinyu Maru – damaged on 25 October 1942 by Dutch submarine HNLMS O 23 and abandoned. Some 100 out of 500 POWs drowned.
Shoun Maru
Sibijac
Singapore Maru – left Batavia in Java 17 October 1942 with 3,000 British prisoners, arrived Moji, Japan, (via Singapore) 25 November 1942, 108 died on the journey.
Singoto Maru
Soong Cheong
Subuk
Suez Maru – sunk on 29 November 1943 by USS Bonefish. All 550 British, Dutch, Irish and New Zealand FEPOWs died. Some 300 died in the initial explosion from the two torpedo impacts and the ship's boiler exploding, both in the vicinity of these casualties in the rearmost Hold 4, or drowned on the sinking of the ship or were later shot after some 7-8 hours struggling in the sea. They were NOT trying to escape. The Japanese aboard the escort minesweeper set up twenty riflemen and two machineguns and deliberately massacred the c.250 PoW survivors in the water. The massacre was the subject of a detailed war crime investigation (National Archives of Australia NAA/MP-742) and the subject of two books (Jones, A 2002, The Suez maru Atrocity) and (Frith, J 2020, Unwritten Letters to Spring Street).
Sugi Maru
Suzuya Maru (formerly Hokkai Maru No. 1 also colloquially known as No. 107 or Otaru, Otari, or Otaro Maru)^[20]^[21]
Tachibana Maru
Taga Maru^[22]
Taian Maru
Taiko Maru
Taikoku Maru
Taka Maru
Tamahoko Maru – sunk on 25 February 1944 by USS Tang. 560 of the 772 Australian, British, American and Dutch prisoners were killed.
Tango Maru (formerly Rendsburg, formerly Toendjoek) – sunk on 25 February 1944 by USS Rasher. Some 300 allied POWs were amongst the 3,000 killed.
Tanjong Penang
Tateishi Maru, colloquially known as No. 86^[23]
Tatsuta Maru^[a]
Tattori Maru
Tatu Maru
Teia Maru (帝亞丸・帝亜丸)
Teiryu Maru (formerly Northwestern Miller, formerly Augsberg), colloquially known as No. 824^[23]
Tenno Maru, formerly Op Ten Noort, scuttled as Hikawa Maru No. 2
Tenshin Maru
Thames Maru^[24]
Tiensen
Tofuku Maru
Tojuku Maru
Toka Maru
Toko Maru
Tomohoku Maru
Toro Maru
Tottori Maru
Toyama Maru
Toyofuku Maru
Toyohashi Maru
Tufuku Maru
Ube Maru
Ume Maru
Umeda Maru
Un'yō
Uruppu Maru
Ussuri Maru
Usu Maru
Wales Maru^[25]
Weills Maru
Winchester Maru
Yamagata Maru^[26]
Yashu Maru
Yinagata Maru
Yone Maru
Yoshida Maru^[a] – sunk on 18 January 1944 by USS Flasher.
Yubi Maru
Yuzan Maru^[27]

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Formerly in the fleet of N.Y.K Lines
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Formerly in the fleet of O.S.K. Lines

Sources

Crager, Kelly E. (2008). Hell Under the Rising Sun: Texan POWs and the Building of the Burma – Thailand Death Railway. College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 1585446351; ISBN 9781585446353; OCLC 145378792
Michno, Gregory. (2001). Death on the Hellships: Prisoners at Sea in the Pacific War. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1557504822; ISBN 9781557504821; OCLC 45757730
Parkinson, James W. and Lee Benson (2006). Soldier Slaves: Abandoned by the White House, Courts, and Congress. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1591142040; ISBN 9781591142041; OCLC 63116439
Roscoe, Theodore and Richard G Voge (1949). United States Submarine Operations in World War II. Annapolis: United States Naval Institute. OCLC 1127592

References

^ Michno, Gregory. (2001). Death on the Hellships: Prisoners at Sea in the Pacific War, p. 93; n.b., Aki Maru (11,409 GT).
^ Michno, p. 207; n.b., the destroyer Akitsuki carried POWs, sunk in Battle of Leyte Gulf off Cape Engaño.
^ Michno, p. 93; n.b., Amagi Maru (3,165 GT), former NYK Line ship
^ Aikoku Maru (1940)
^ https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/u/united-states-submarine-losses/shark-2-ss-314.html . Retrieved 27 September 2022
^ ^a ^b ^c WestPoint.org website: POW Registers website
^ POWs of the Japanese website: Celebes Maru
^ POWs of the Japanese website: Clyde Maru
^ Crager, Kelly E. (2008). Hell Under the Rising Sun: Texan POWs and the Building of the Burma – Thailand Death Railway, p. 73.
^ Crager, p. 57.
^ Taiwan POW Camps Memorial Society: The Story of the Enoura Maru and the Men Who Died Archived 2009-06-24 at the Wayback Machine
^ POWs of the Japanese website: France Maru
^ Hovinga, Henk (1982) Eindstation Pakan Baroe 1944–1945. Dodenspoorweg door het oerwoud, p. 23
^ POWs of the Japanese website: Hawaii Maru
^ Roscoe, Theodore et al. (1949). United States submarine operations in World War II, p. 548; n.b., Hozan Maru (2,345 GT) sunk November 23, 1944 by USS Redfish at 24-26N, 122-46E.
^ POWs of the Japanese website: Kyokko Maru
^ POWs of the Japanese website: Nagara Maru
^ BataanSurvivor.com: Noto Maru
^ POWs of the Japanese website: Pacific Maru
^ Erickson, James W. (2009). "Suzuya Maru 鈴谷丸". POWs of the Japanese. Archived from the original on 2021-02-11. Retrieved 2020-02-23.
^ Lettens, Jan (June 8, 2011). "Suzuya Maru (+1943)". wrecksite.eu.
^ Parkinson, James et al. (2006). Soldier Slaves: Abandoned by the White House, Courts, and Congress, p. 153.
^ ^a ^b "Alias Ship Names". west-point.org. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
^ POWs of the Japanese website: Thames Maru
^ Roscoe, p. 542; n.b., Wales Maru (6,586 GT) sunk May 24, 1944 by USS Lapon at 7-16N, 109-044E.
^ Roscoe, p. 548; n.b., Yamagata Maru (4,621 GT) sunk April 16, 1944 by USS Redfin at 7-04N, 123-27E.
^ POWs of the Japanese website: Yuzan Maru

External links

"Hell Ships". Britain at War. Retrieved July 22, 2009.
"Sea transports". Japanse krijgsgevangenkampen. Retrieved October 21, 2016.

[NE-7] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Formerly in the fleet of N.Y.K Lines

[DD-8] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Formerly in the fleet of O.S.K. Lines

[1] Michno, Gregory. (2001). Death on the Hellships: Prisoners at Sea in the Pacific War, p. 93; n.b., Aki Maru (11,409 GT).

[2] Michno, p. 207; n.b., the destroyer Akitsuki carried POWs, sunk in Battle of Leyte Gulf off Cape Engaño.

[3] Michno, p. 93; n.b., Amagi Maru (3,165 GT), former NYK Line ship

[4] Aikoku Maru (1940)

[5] ttps://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/u/united-states-submarine-losses/shark-2-ss-314.html . Retrieved 27 September 2022

[pow_registers-6] WestPoint.org website: POW Registers website

[9] POWs of the Japanese website: Celebes Maru

[10] POWs of the Japanese website: Clyde Maru

[11] Crager, Kelly E. (2008). Hell Under the Rising Sun: Texan POWs and the Building of the Burma – Thailand Death Railway, p. 73.

[12] Crager, p. 57.

[13] Taiwan POW Camps Memorial Society: The Story of the Enoura Maru and the Men Who Died Archived 2009-06-24 at the Wayback Machine

[14] POWs of the Japanese website: France Maru

[15] Hovinga, Henk (1982) Eindstation Pakan Baroe 1944–1945. Dodenspoorweg door het oerwoud, p. 23

[16] POWs of the Japanese website: Hawaii Maru

[17] Roscoe, Theodore et al. (1949). United States submarine operations in World War II, p. 548; n.b., Hozan Maru (2,345 GT) sunk November 23, 1944 by USS Redfish at 24-26N, 122-46E.

[18] POWs of the Japanese website: Kyokko Maru

[19] POWs of the Japanese website: Nagara Maru

[20] BataanSurvivor.com: Noto Maru

[21] POWs of the Japanese website: Pacific Maru

[22] Erickson, James W. (2009). "Suzuya Maru 鈴谷丸". POWs of the Japanese. Archived from the original on 2021-02-11. Retrieved 2020-02-23.

[23] Lettens, Jan (June 8, 2011). "Suzuya Maru (+1943)". wrecksite.eu.

[24] Parkinson, James et al. (2006). Soldier Slaves: Abandoned by the White House, Courts, and Congress, p. 153.

[Alias-25] "Alias Ship Names". west-point.org. Retrieved 30 April 2021.

[26] POWs of the Japanese website: Thames Maru

[27] Roscoe, p. 542; n.b., Wales Maru (6,586 GT) sunk May 24, 1944 by USS Lapon at 7-16N, 109-044E.

[28] Roscoe, p. 548; n.b., Yamagata Maru (4,621 GT) sunk April 16, 1944 by USS Redfin at 7-04N, 123-27E.

[29] POWs of the Japanese website: Yuzan Maru

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