Tōfuku Maru

Coordinates: 33°35′N 136°08′E / 33.59°N 136.14°E / 33.59; 136.14

Tōfuku Maru
History
Name: Tōfuku Maru
Owner: Daiko Shosen K.K.
Port of registry: Kobe
Builder: Kawasaki Dockyard Co. Ltd.
Launched: 1919
Out of service: 24 December 1943 (sunk/torpedoed)
Fate: sunk by USS Gurnard
Status: cargo ship, transport, hell ship
General characteristics
Type: cargo ship
Tonnage: 5,857 GRT
Length: 117.3 m (384.8 ft)
Beam: 15.5 m (50.9 ft)
Height: 11 m (36.1 ft)
Installed power: 436 n.h.p.
Propulsion: Triple expansion engines
Speed: Approximately 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Notes: On 24 December 1943, US submarine USS Gurnard (SS-254, Lt.Cdr. C.H. Andrews) sank transport Seizan Maru No.2 (1,898 GRT), 27 nautical miles east of Miki cape, cargo ship Tōfuku Maru (5,857 GRT) and auxiliary minesweeper Naruo Maru (215 GRT).

The Tōfuku Maru (東福丸) was a Japanese Dai-ichi Taifuku Maru-class built and operated cargo ship and hellship.[1]

Hellship

Between October 27 and November 27, 1942 it transported 1200 Allied prisoners of war (POWs) and 600 Japanese Army troops between Singapore and Moji, Japan.[2] Twenty-seven prisoners died during the journey, the result of poor hygiene conditions on the ship. A further 130 were carried off the ship on stretchers and as many as 100 died later.

On 24 December 1943, the USS Gurnard sunk the Tōfuku Maru off the east coast of Honshu, Japan.[3]

War crimes trial

During a Singapore War Crimes trial, Ship's Master Shiro Otsu and Serjeant Major Eiji Yoshinari were tried for war crimes that caused the deaths of prisoners on the voyage. During the trial it was found that the POWs (a mix of American, Dutch, Australian and British) were crammed into two holding areas with an average area of 5 men per 6 square foot and that toiletry facilities and foods were insufficient for their needs. On 11 June 1947, Otsu was found guilty and Yoshinari was acquitted.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "SS Tofuku Maru (+1943)". www.wrecksite.eu. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
  2. ↑ "The Hell Ships of WWII". www.dg-adbc.org. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
  3. ↑ "Gurnard (SS-254)". uboat.net. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
  4. ↑ Beckman, Stephanie. "Singapore Cases - Details of Trial Records". wcsc.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
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