Introduction

During the Second World War, tens of thousands of Allied prisoners of war and civilian internees were transported across the Pacific aboard Japanese cargo vessels under brutal and often lethal conditions. These ships, never designed to carry human cargo, were overcrowded with prisoners confined in dark, unventilated holds, often without adequate food, water, sanitation, or medical care. Survivors later gave these vessels a name that would endure in history: the Hellships.

Between 1942 and 1945 the Japanese military used merchant vessels and transport ships to move prisoners from occupied territories—including the Philippines, Singapore, the Dutch East Indies, and Hong Kong—to labor camps throughout Japan, Korea, Formosa (Taiwan), and other parts of the Japanese Empire. Many of these voyages lasted weeks. Prisoners were packed tightly into cargo holds where heat, disease, dehydration, and starvation took a terrible toll. In many cases the ships carried no markings indicating the presence of prisoners of war.

The tragedy of the Hellships was compounded by the dangers of war at sea. Allied submarines and aircraft, unaware that prisoners were aboard, attacked Japanese transport vessels as legitimate military targets. Numerous Hellships were sunk during the conflict, resulting in the deaths of thousands of Allied prisoners who had already endured years of captivity. Some of the most devastating losses occurred aboard ships such as Arisan Maru, Rakuyo Maru, Oryoku Maru, and Junyo Maru.

For decades the story of the Hellships remained less widely known than other episodes of wartime suffering, yet for the men who endured these voyages—and for the families of those who did not survive—the Hellships represent one of the most tragic chapters of the Pacific War.

The Hellships Memorial in Subic Bay, Philippines, was established to honor the prisoners of war who perished aboard these transports and to ensure that their experiences are neither forgotten nor overlooked. Through historical research, archival documentation, and memorialization, the Hellships Memorial Foundation seeks to preserve the history of these voyages and to provide a place of remembrance for those who suffered and died.

This website serves as a historical archive dedicated to documenting the Hellships: the ships themselves, the voyages they undertook, the prisoners who were transported, and the events that unfolded during those terrible journeys. By bringing together ship records, survivor accounts, transport routes, and historical sources, the project aims to deepen public understanding of this largely overlooked aspect of World War II.

Above all, this work stands as a tribute to the thousands of prisoners of war whose endurance, sacrifice, and suffering remain an enduring part of the history of the Pacific War.