IJN
Passenger Ship
Tons
7,000
Sunk
December 1944
Wartime
History
1,600 American POWs were loaded aboad the ship.
Spotted and attacked by American Navy fighters in December 1944, she turned into Subic
Bay and
was run aground to prevent sinking. Hundreds of POWs were killed
and wounded in an air attack. The Americans were unaware it was
being used to transport prisoners.
The prisoners were then herded on deck by Japanese guards and forced to swim ashore. Aerial attacks against the ship continued over a two-day period, and the ship finally blew up and sank some 300 yards off the Olongapo seawall.
POWs
Plight Beyond Oryoku Maru
Ashore, they were confined in a fenced tennis court in the ruins of Olongapo Naval Station. Later they were moved by foot, truck, and train to San
Fernando
and from there to Moji, Japan.
