A hell ship is a ship with extremely inhumane living conditions or with a reputation for cruelty among the crew. It now generally refers to the ships used by the Imperial Japanese Navy and Imperial Japanese Army to transport Allied prisoners of war (POWs) and romushas out of the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies, Hong Kong and Singapore in World War II. These POWs were taken to the Japanese Islands, Formosa, Manchukuo, Korea, the Moluccas, Sumatra, Burma, or Siam to be used as forced labor.
Un'yō was a Taiyō-class escort carrier originally built as Yawata Maru (八幡丸), one of three Nitta Maru-class cargo liners built in Japan during the late 1930s. She was transferred to the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the Pacific War, renamed, and was converted into an escort carrier in 1942. The ship spent most of her service ferrying aircraft, cargo and passengers to various bases in the Pacific. Un'yō was badly damaged by an American submarine in early 1944. After repairs were completed in June, the ship resumed transporting aircraft and cargo. During a return voyage from Singapore in September, she was sunk by the submarine USS Barb.
Ural Maru was a 6,377-ton Japanese merchant vessel, used as a transport ship and hospital ship during World War II. She was torpedoed and sunk with the loss of some 3,700 lives on 27 September 1944.
Arisan Maru was a 6,886 GRT Type 2A freighter constructed in 1944 during World War II and was one of Imperial Japan's hell ships. The vessel, named for a mountain on Formosa, was initially used as a troop transport. The vessel was then turned over for use for the transportation of prisoners of war (POWs) from the Philippines to Manchuria, China or Japan. On October 24, 1944 the ship was torpedoed by an American submarine and sank. Of the 1,781 POWs aboard, all of them escaped the sinking ship but were not rescued by the Japanese. In the end, only nine of the prisoners survived the sinking.
SS Shinyō Maru was a Japanese cargo-steamer and hellship sunk during the Second World War. She was originally named the SS Clan Mackay and was built by the Naval Construction & Armaments Company, Barrow-in-Furness for the Clan Line. She sailed with them until sold in 1913 to the Adelaide Steamship Company, which renamed her Ceduna. She was then sold, in 1924, to a company in Shanghai which renamed her Tung Tuck. In 1937, she was renamed Chang Teh, and was sold to Greece later that year. She sailed for her new owners under the name Pananis, until seized by the Japanese at Shanghai in 1941 and renamed Shinyō Maru.
Ōryoku Maru was a Japanese passenger cargo ship which was commissioned by the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II as a troop transport and prisoner of war (POW) transport ship. Japanese POW transport ships are often referred to as hell ships, due to their notoriously unpleasant conditions and the many deaths that occurred on board. In December 1944, the ship was bombed by American aircraft, killing 200 Allied POWs. Hundreds more died in the months that followed.
Asama Maru was a Japanese ocean liner owned by Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK). The ship was built in 1927–1929 by Mitsubishi Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. at Nagasaki, Japan. The vessel was named after an important Shinto shrine.
Enoura Maru was a Japanese cargo ship used by the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II as a troop transport and prisoner of war (POW) transport ship. Japanese POW transport ships are referred to as hell ships, due to the overcrowded and unsanitary conditions and the many deaths that occurred on board. On 9 January 1945, while docked at the port of Takao in Formosa and loaded with Allied prisoners of war who had survived the earlier sinking of Ōryoku Maru, it was attacked by Allied aircraft resulting in the deaths of approximately 400 Allied POWs.
Atago Maru was a merchant ship built prior to World War II in Glasgow in 1924 by Lithgows & Sons for Nippon Yusen. One of the first diesel-engined cargo ships in service in Japan, Atago Maru was converted to an oil tanker in 1942. Returning to service in 1943, the ship saw extensive service traveling in convoys during World War II. On 28 November 1944, the vessel was bombed by a United States Army Air Forces bomber while at anchor off Borneo. The shipwreck is a popular diving site in Malaysia.
The Awa Maru (阿波丸) was a Japanese ocean liner owned by Nippon Yusen Kaisha. The ship was built in 1941–1943 by Mitsubishi Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. at Nagasaki, Japan. The vessel was designed for passenger service, but the onset of war by the time work was completed changed requirements, and she was requisitioned by the Japanese Navy. While sailing as a relief ship under Red Cross auspices in 1945, she was torpedoed by USS Queenfish (SS-393), resulting in the death of all but one of the 2,004 people aboard.
The Chichibu Maru (秩父丸) was a Japanese passenger ship which, renamed Kamakura Maru, was sunk during World War II, killing 2,035 soldiers and civilians on board.
The Shinyō Maru incident occurred in the Philippines on September 7, 1944, in the Pacific theater of World War II. In an attack on a Japanese convoy by the American submarine USS Paddle, 668 Allied prisoners of war were killed fighting their Japanese guards or killed when their ship, the SS Shinyō Maru, was sunk. Only 82 Americans survived the ordeal and were later rescued.
The Tōfuku Maru (東福丸) was a Japanese Dai-ichi Taifuku Maru-class built and operated cargo ship and hellship.
Lima Maru was a 6,989-ton Japanese troop transport during World War II, which sank on 8 February 1944 with great loss of life.
Hawaii Maru was a 9,482-ton Japanese troop transport during World War II, which sank on 2 December 1944 with great loss of life.
Suzuya Maru was an auxiliary transport and hell ship of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.
Gyoun Maru was an auxiliary transport of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.
Reginald Heber Ridgely Jr. was a United States Marine Corps Lieutenant General. He was taken as a prisoner of war by the Japanese during World War II and was one of the few survivors of the infamous "hellships."
Yu 3001 was an Imperial Japanese Army transport submarine, the lead vessel of the Yu 3001 subclass of the Yu I type. Constructed for use during World War II and entering service in 1944, she suffered damage in a friendly fire incident during her maiden voyage which restricted her to use as a training submarine.
Empire of Japan