Hōfuku Maru


Hōfuku Maru, briefly known as Taifuku Maru No. 31 during construction, was a Japanese cargo ship, torpedoed and sunk on September 21, 1944, by United States Navy aircraft carrier-based aircraft.

Building and registration

Taifuku Maru was laid down at Kawasaki Dockyard Co. Ltd. as yard number 423 in Kobe in 1918 and was launched as Hōfuku Maru. The vessel was completed that same year. She had a length of, a beam of and was assessed at. The ship could reach a maximum speed of.

Career

Hōfuku Maru entered service after the end of the First World War and was used to repatriate German prisoners of war, many of whom had been held in Bandō prisoner-of-war camp. Most of the prisoners had been taken after the Siege of Tsingtao in 1914. After that she served in her intended role as a cargo ship. In 1928 she was sold to the K Line and was placed on their Pacific Ocean routes. In 1937, she was renamed Hohuku Maru. In 1938 she was sold to the Kokusai Kisen K.K. And would serve them well until October 1941.

Service in the Second World War

In October 1941, Hohuku Maru was requisitioned by the Imperial Japanese Army for use as a hell ship for the Second World War. She would take prisoners of war to do forced labour in hellish conditions until September 1944, when she would sail on her final voyage.

Sinking

Hōhuku Maru was sailing from Singapore to Miri, Borneo, as part of convoy SHIMI-05. The convoy consisted of ten ships, five of which carried, in total, 5,000 POWs, all in poor conditions. At Borneo, Hōfuku Maru left the convoy with engine problems and sailed on to the Philippines, arriving on July 19. She remained at Manila until mid-September while the engines were repaired. The POWs remained on board, suffering from disease, hunger, and thirst.
On September 20, 1944, Hōfuku Maru and ten other ships formed Convoy MATA-27 and sailed from Manila to Japan. The following morning, the convoy was attacked north of Corregidor by more than 100 American aircraft carrier-based aircraft. All eleven ships in the convoy were sunk. Of those on Hōfuku Maru, 1,047 of the 1,289 British and Dutch POWs on board died. 242 POWs swam to shore, and 42 were rescued by kaibōkans.