Ship of hell

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As hell ships designated Allied prisoners of war in the Pacific theater during World War II , the Japanese transport ships, with whom they in prison camps in the Japanese Empire, Manchukuo or larger construction projects, such as the Thai-Burma railway , were taken. In Japan these ships are nowadays called Jigoku sen ( Japanese 地獄 船 ), which corresponds to the same meaning.

The prisoners were from Hong Kong , the Philippines and the former British and Dutch colonies in Southeast Asia . Together with a large number of local people, they were used as slave labor in mines , seaports or in heavy industry.

history

Since the Japanese Empire was unable to accommodate such a large number of prisoners of war in the conquered areas and to provide them with water and food, and because they were also able to do good service as forced laborers, the Imperial Japanese Navy began in 1942 Cargo ships and, in rare cases, passenger steamers as transport ships. The ships were not labeled as hospital ships . As a result, several transporters were torpedoed and sunk by US , British and Dutch submarines . Some ships also fell victim to Allied air strikes . There were repeated massacres during the attacks as the Japanese military fired machine guns at all prisoners who had managed to escape overboard.

The conditions during the sometimes months-long crossings, during which the ships were often changed, were inhuman. Since the Japanese Empire was not bound by the Geneva Prisoner of War Convention and the prisoners of war no longer had honor in their eyes because they had not fought to the death, they were treated accordingly. The prisoners were locked tightly below deck in the holds , where there were hardly any sanitary facilities and where there was only an extremely inadequate supply of water and food. Others who could not find space below deck spent the time on the upper deck and were exposed to the tropical heat and humidity. The Japanese military suspended the death penalty for the smallest offenses , which was also rigorously carried out. Many prisoners did not survive the crossings and died of malnutrition , dehydration or tropical diseases . Some committed suicide and still others were murdered by their mad comrades.

List of sunken ships of hell

1942

  • June 22nd - Montevideo Maru ( も ん て び で お 丸 ) from Rabaul to Hainan - Captives: 1053 Australians, dead: 1053 (not exactly secured) - Torpedoed and sunk on July 1st by the USS Sturgeon . The sinking is still considered to be the largest maritime disaster in Australia .
  • September 27th - Lisbon Maru ( り す ぼ ん 丸 ) from Hong Kong to Shanghai - Captives: 1816, Dead: 842 - Torpedoed and sunk on October 1st by the USS Grouper . The survivors were taken aboard the Shinsei Maru .

1943

  • November 25th - Suez Maru ( す ゑ ず 丸 ) from Ambon to Java - Captives: 546, Dead: 546 - Torpedoed and sunk by the USS Bonefish on November 28th.

1944

The Oryoku Maru during the air strike in Subic Bay near Olongapo
Ship of the Brazil Maru type
  • September 21 - Kaishun Maru from Mindanao to Manila - Prisoners: 150, dead: unknown - Bombed and sunk by planes of an American aircraft carrier off Cebu on the same day .
  • October 21 - Arisan Maru ( 阿里山 丸 ) from Manila to the Japanese Empire - Prisoners: 1,800 Americans (survivors of the Bataan Death March 1942 ), dead: 1,792 - Torpedoed and sunk by the USS Shark or USS Snook on October 24th. The sinking is still considered the largest maritime disaster in the United States.
  • December 14th - Ōryoku Maru ( 鴨 緑 丸 ) from Manila to the Japanese Empire - Prisoners: 1620, Dead: 300 - Bombed and sunk by aircraft of the American aircraft carrier USS Hornet the next day at Olongapo in Subic Bay, Luzon.
  • December 27th - Awa Maru from Singapore to the Japanese Empire - prisoners: 1070, dead: 316

1945

  • January 14th - Brazil Maru from Formosa to one of the main Japanese islands - prisoners: 925, dead: 450

Data:

See also

supporting documents

  1. ↑ Japanese rules on the ships of hell ( Memento from September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ The sinking of the Montevideo Maru at: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/remembering1942/montevideo/
  3. ↑ List of Hellship Voyages (English) ( Memento of 22 June 2006 at the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ Major Sinkings of POW Hell-Ships at: http://www.mansell.com/pow_resources/hell_ship_losses.html

literature

  • Raymond Lamont-Brown, Ships From Hell: Japanese War Crimes on the High Seas , Sutton Publishing, 2002, ISBN 0-7509-2719-4
  • Gregory F. Michno, Death of the Hellships: Prisoners at Sea in the Pacific War , Naval Institute Press, 2001, ISBN 1-55750-482-2
  • Judith Pearson, Belly of the Beast: A POW's Inspiring True Story of Faith, Courage, and Survival Aboard the Infamous WWII Japanese Hellship, the Oryoku Maru , NAL Trade, 2001, ISBN 0-451-20444-1
  • Charles M Brown, The Oryoku Maru story , 1983

Web links