Hell Ships of the South China Sea

Editor's Note: Due to technical issues, yesterday's edition did not go out. As such we will have a Saturday issue of Confidential Daily.

During the dark days of WW2, on 6 September 1944, a convoy of seven Japanese vessels left Singapore. They included the Rakuyo Maru, which had crammed onboard 1318 POWs, including 717 Australians, 600 British, and one American. The Kachidoki Maru contained a further 900 POWs, all British. Thousands were crammed into spaces suitable for a few hundred and given little food, fresh water, or adequate sanitation facilities.

Having survived the brutality of the Burma-Thailand Railway, they were being shipped to Japan, human cattle to be held as hostages and to work as slaves.

• Date of disaster: 12 September 1944
• POW casualties: 1,161
• POW survivors: 157

In the depths of the South China Sea, on the morning of 12 September 1944, tragedy struck. Unaware of the human cargo within, American submarines launched their torpedoes. The Rakuyo Maru was sunk by USS Sealion II, and the Kachidoki Maru by USS Pampanito.

The Japanese crew abandoned ship, leaving the prisoners trapped and terrified. Yet the Rakuyo Maru did not sink immediately; her holds were filled with floating rubber that kept her stubbornly alive upon the waves. As Japanese sailors were plucked to safety by other ships, the POWs swam desperately toward them, trying to save one another - brothers in suffering clinging to life amid fire, oil, and wreckage.

About 350 men managed to seize abandoned lifeboats and row toward what they hoped was the Chinese coast. But fate splintered them into two groups. One was fired upon by a Japanese naval vessel - no man from that boat was ever seen again.

The other, led by Electrical Artificer Petty Officer Vic Duncan, saw another Japanese ship on the horizon. Certain that death awaited them, Duncan quietly told his men, “If you believe in God, say your prayers now.” But against all expectations, when they answered that they were Australians, the enemy spared them. Instead of bullets came orders. They were dragged aboard a Japanese whaling ship and carried back into captivity.

The convoy was plunged into chaos. As the sun rose, torpedoes from Sealion struck Nankai Maru first. At 05:31, another torpedo hit Rakuyo Maru’s bow and penetrated No. 1 hold, which was filled with rubber. A third struck the engine room, disabling the ship completely.

Aboard Rakuyo Maru, the Japanese rushed to the lifeboats, kicking out POWs who tried to climb aboard. Many prisoners jumped into the water. At 06:55, when the escort destroyer Shikinami sank, her depth charges exploded underwater, sending shockwaves through the men struggling in the sea.

Confusion and violence followed. Some POWs attacked guards who had abandoned them. In the water, isolated Japanese sailors were beaten after the escorts had departed. About 13 hours after being torpedoed, at approximately 18:20, Rakuyo Maru finally slipped beneath the waves east of Hainan.

By 19:00 on 12 September, the Japanese escorts had rescued everyone they intended to save. Around 1,200 British and Australian POWs were left floating in the sea. As the escort ships departed, some passed directly through groups of survivors; men were cut apart by propellers or dragged beneath the water.

Meanwhile, Kachidoki Maru also met disaster. She sighted three torpedo wakes and avoided two, but the third struck No. 7 hold, flooding the engine room and stopping the ship dead in the water. At 23:15, the order was given to abandon ship. Soon after, Kachidoki Maru rolled heavily and sank. Although only 12 crewmen were lost, 476 passengers and POWs perished.

On the morning of 13 September, Japanese rescue vessels recovered survivors from Kachidoki Maru. Of the survivors from Rakuyo Maru, Captain Roland Richards was among a group of four boats, while Brigadier Varley and Colonel Melton drifted nearby in another group of seven boats.

On 14 September, a Japanese coastal defence vessel unexpectedly rescued 157 POWs from Richards’ group. Before rescue came, the survivors reported hearing gunfire in the distance. The men aboard the seven boats carrying Brigadier Varley and Colonel Melton were never seen again.

Three days later, on the afternoon of 15 September, the American submarines returned to the site of the attack and were horrified by what they found. The Japanese ships they had sunk bore no markings indicating they were carrying POWs. No Red Cross insignia was visible.

The sea was littered with twisted wreckage, drifting bodies, and the faint movement of survivors clinging to rafts.

Pampanito approached several rafts carrying exhausted men covered in oil and filth.

“Who in the world are you?” someone shouted.

“Prisoners of war. Australians and British POWs. Please help us!”

Still cautious, an American sailor yelled back, “Get the one who speaks English!”

The reply came instantly:

“You bloody bastards. We all speak English!”

Only then did the rescue begin.

USS Pampanito rescued 73 men, mostly Australians, while Sealion, Barb and Queenfish rescued another 85 survivors. Many had endured the Burma-Thailand Railway, six days aboard the hell ships, and then three days and nights adrift at sea before finally being pulled from the water.

Pampanito’s log later recorded:

“At 1605 a bridge lookout sighted some men on a raft. The men were covered with oil and filth and we could not make them out. They were shouting but we couldn’t understand what they were saying except the words, ‘Pick us up please.’”

Of the 1,317 prisoners aboard Rakuyo Maru, 1,159 perished. On Kachidoki Maru, around 400 died. The total number of Australians killed was 543 - 503 AIF, 33 RAN, and 7 RAAF.

Only a handful returned home to tell the story, a story of courage, betrayal, endurance, and the terrible cost of war. 

“Today the guns are silent. A great tragedy has ended. A great victory has been won.”
– Gen. Douglas Macarthur after accepting the surrender of Japan on 2 September 1945.