Americans Know Very Little About
 The HELL SHIPS of WORLD WAR II
This information courtesy of  Ruth E. Jorgenson
    Hellships were unmarked Japanese freighters used to transport American POWs during WWII.  Because these ships were unmarked,  Allied forces frequently targeted and torpedoed them.   We had no way of knowing that our troops were packed like sardines in the holds of these freighters with no chance of escape, if the ship were hit.   The result was that thousands of Allied troops lost their lives.   America's finest young men who had already endured many months of torture in disease ridden POW camps without decent food or water, were being transported to Japan, China, Manchuria, Korea, etc. where they would work as slave laborers for the Japanese war effort.
    If we are permitted to forget this chapter of history, we do a great injustice 
    to the thousands of men who died needlessly and the hundreds who survived this unparalleled atrocity.
    KNOW and UNDERSTAND the FACTS!

           SOME of the HELLSHIPS that were Torpedoed

        The Arisan Maru was torpedoed by an American submarine on October 24, 1944.  There were 1800 POWs aboard - 1795 died.  This Hell Ship sank in the South China Sea making it the worst naval disaster in the history of the United States.  Two days later, five of the survivors were rescued by a Chinese fishing junk. The Chinese helped them reach American Air Corps forces.  Other survivors were recaptured by a Japanese destroyer and taken to Formosa.   
        Roster of those on-board the Arisan Maru                 (External Link)

        The Shinyo Maru was torpedoed on September 7, 1944 by the USS Paddle off the coast of Mindanao.  There were 750 American POWs aboard - 668 died.

        The Oryoku Maru left Manila on December 14, 1944, with 1619 American POWs packed in the holds.  U.S. Navy planes from the "Hornet" attacked, causing the Hell Ship to sink the following day.   286 were killed or shot in the water as they tried to escape.  The survivors were loaded on the Enoura Maru and the Brazil Maru, two other Japanese Freighters.  
         "The Oryoku Maru Story"          (External Link)
        The Enoura Maru took a direct hit by a U.S. Navy bomber, killing over half of the 500 POWs; the survivors were put aboard the Brazil Maru and they arrived in Moji, Japan on January 29, 1945.   Only 490 of the original 1619 were still alive.  Enoura Maru was sunk in Takao Harbor on January 9, 1945, by U.S. Navy aircraft from the USS Hornet.

        An excellent book and resource for information on the Hellships.
                       "Death on the Hellships" by Gregory F. Michno


      LINKS about HELLSHIPS
      These External Sites are linked with permission. Copying is not permitted.

      An excellent site on the Hell Ships with many photos; click here

      Japanese Rules on Hellships
      "Immediate Death for Disobeying any Order"

      Sinking of the Junyo Maru
      Link provided by Peter van der Kuil

      The Japanese committed many atrocities against our POWs;
      but the decision to transport them on unmarked prison ships,
      making them legitimate Allied targets is beyond comprehension.

        Sources include survivors stories:
        "Sleep My Sons: The Story of the Arisan Maru"
        "Shipwrecks of Subic Bay"  by F. C. Brown
        "Forty Months in Hell"  by Pat Hitchcock
        and many books written by those who experienced this tragedy.

        Most Hellship photos are courtesy of Steve Bull


        The Noto Maru

        This Hellship transported several of our men:
        Ed Alcorn, James Boyce, Kenneth Calvit, Charlie Dowdy,
        Warren Jorgenson, James Murphy, Donovan Ricks,
        Don Spaulding and Raymond Provencher.



        Arisan Maru



        The Arisan Maru
        pictured at her launch day
        June 5th, 1944
        Mitsui Shipyard, Japan.


        During World War II she departed Manila on October 10, 1944, with 1800 American POWs.  Was torpedoed by the USS Snook
        on October 24, 1944; 1795 POWs died including the loved ones of many         Associate Members of ADBC.
        Arisan Maru Roster




                                                       The Nissyo Maru

        From Las Pinas to Moji - July 14 to August 6, 1944.
        "Forty Months in Hell" by Pat Hitchcock has a detailed
        report of the 22 day experience on this Hellship.
        Some of our men in the hold were
        Floyd Bull, Oscar Dean, Pat Hitchcock, Jim Kerns,
        Ray Makepeace, John Northcott, Tillman Rutledge,
        Wesley Wells and deceased member Edward McIntyre.


        The Oryoku Maru
        Sailed from Manila December 14, 1944, with 1619 POWs

        Photo from book, "The December Ship" by Betty B. Jones.
        When this ship was sunk on December 15, 1944, survivors
        were loaded on the Enoura Maru and the Brazil Maru.
        Those who parished on this Hellship include Othello Bruun; 
        John Neiger; Irving Mandelson and Henry Clay Joyner, 
        all of who are all family members of our Associates.


        The Brazil Maru
        Arrived in Moji, Japan on January 29, 1945.
        Only 490 POWs of the original 1619 had survived.
        .
        ADBC Members, Col. Jack H. Heinzel and Louis Kolger 
        are survivors, as was deceased member Albert W. Erickson.  
        Albert Durie, Jr., John Llewellyn Lewis and Dick Roper's brother
        were lost at sea.
        Walter A. Kelso, Jr. died just after docking in Japan.
        Their families are associate members of ADBC, Inc.


         The Junyo Maru

        This cargo boat was torpedoed off the western coast of
        Sumatra by a British submarine, HMS Tradewind,
        in September 1944.  Lives lost numbered more
        than 5600 POWs from several Allied Nations.

        The Canadian Inventor

        This ship was a captured freighter that sailed from Manila 
        on July 2nd, 1944 with 1,100 POW's. 
        It arrived in Moji, Japan on Sept. 1st, 
        62 days after first leaving the Philippines, 
        one of the longest hell ship trips recorded.

        This photo courtesy of Antony Pacey  MA, Manager Library and Information Services
        Canada Science and Technology Museum Corporation
        http://www.sciencetech.technomuses.ca

        Teia Maru

        This was the ex-French "Aramis", a 17, 537 ton transport captured in Saigon in April 1942.
        It was used to move prisoners and Red Cross packages, and mail and packages from "home",
        most of which POW's never saw. 
        Credit: "Death on the Hellships: Prisoners at Sea in the Pacific War"  by Gregory F. Michno


        Information courtesy of Peter van der Kuil

       

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