Lisbon Maru

Lisbon Maru was a Japanese freighter which was used as a troopship and prisoner-of-war transport between China and Japan.

When she was sunk by USS Grouper (SS-214) on 1 October 1942, she was carrying, in addition to Japanese Army personnel, almost 2,000 British prisoners of war captured after the fall of Hong Kong in December 1941. Over 800 of these men died either directly as a result of the sinking, or were shot or otherwise killed by the Japanese while swimming away from the wreck. The ship should have carried appropriate markings to alert Allied forces to the nature of its cargo but did not do so.

A reunion of survivors was held on board the HMS Belfast on October 2nd 2007 to mark the 65th anniversary of the escape. Six of the former prisoners attended, alongside many bereaved families of escapees.

See also

• List by death toll of ships sunk by submarines

References

External links

• The fall of Hong Kong which led to transportation of prisoners on the Lisbon Maru
• The full roll of those who perished on the Lisbon Maru
• Sinking of the Lisbon Maru
• Sinking of Lisbon Maru
• Time to Unseal the Lison Maru Incident, an incomplete documentation of the rescue effort made by local Chinese fishermen

Further reading

• Tony Banham (2006). The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru: Britain's Forgotten Wartime Tragedy. Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 978-962-209-771-1. http://books.google.com/books?id=AUJDqAqkRBsC&dq=The+sinking+of+the+lisbon+Maru.