A 6,886-ton freighter, Arisan Maru was destined to become one of Imperial Japan's World War II hell ships.
On October 24, 1944, Arisan Maru was transporting 1,782 US and Allied POWs together with about fifty allied civilians when she was hit by a torpedo strike from an American submarine (either USS Shark or USS Snook), at about 5 p.m.; she finally sank about 7 p.m. Of the prisoners, only nine survived. Five escaped and made their way to China in one of the ship's two life boats. They were reunited with U.S. Forces and returned to the United States. The four others were recaptured by Imperial Japanese naval vessels.