US returns for WWII dead of Japan’s ‘hell ship’ tomb in the Philippines
Eight decades after the Oryoku Maru was sunk by American bombs, specialist divers are returning to retrieve the 250 men still trapped inside
Hundreds perished when the Japanese “hell ship” Oryoku Maru was sunk in Subic Bay in December 1944. Now, the Pentagon has launched a multi-year mission in waters off the Philippines to retrieve their remains.
As many as 250 Americans are believed to still lie entombed in the wreck. The first phase of the mission began on February 12, with a team of 15 specialist divers from the Defence POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) working alongside US Navy sailors aboard the salvage vessel USNS Salvor.
Initial operations are scheduled to run through April, though the broader effort is expected to take several years.
Blood, bombs and bayonets
Launched in the 1930s as a luxury liner running between Japan and ports on the US west coast, the Oryoku Maru was requisitioned by the Japanese navy early in World War II – first as a troopship, then as one of the grim fleet known as “hell ships”, used to ferry Allied prisoners north to Japan to labour in mines, shipyards and heavy industry.