LIFE AS A FEPOW · HELLSHIPS, 1944

 

The Kachidoki Maru

 

On the night of 12 September 1944 the Kachidoki Maru, once an American liner, was torpedoed in the South China Sea with around 950 British prisoners aboard. 431 of them died.

 

 

 

An American Liner

 

The Kachidoki Maru began life in the United States. She was built at Camden, New Jersey, and launched in 1920 as the Wolverine State. Two years later she was renamed President Harrison, and she sailed the Pacific for the Dollar Line and then American President Lines.

 

In late 1941 she was chartered to help evacuate US Marines from China. On 8 December 1941, chased by Japanese warships, her crew deliberately ran her aground on Shaweishan Island to stop her being taken. The Japanese salvaged and repaired her, renamed her Kakko Maru and later Kachidoki Maru, and used her to carry troops and supplies.

 

 

 

 

The Japan Party

 

In 1944 the Japanese picked out the fittest survivors of the Burma–Siam Railway to be sent to work in Japan. Around 950 of them, all British, were put aboard the Kachidoki Maru at Singapore, alongside Japanese troops and passengers. The Australian and British prisoners of the same party went into the Rakuyo Maru.

 

On 4 September 1944 the two ships sailed from Singapore in convoy HI-72, bound for Japan. Neither carried any markings to show that prisoners were on board.

 

 

 

 

Torpedoed at Night

 

Early on 12 September the convoy was attacked in the South China Sea by three American submarines, Growler, Pampanito and Sealion, and the Rakuyo Maru was hit. Late that evening, at about 22.40, USS Pampanito fired three torpedoes at the Kachidoki Maru. Two struck her, one at the stern and one amidships.

 

The ship flooded from the stern and went down quickly. Those who survived were the men who managed to get off and jump into the sea in the first few minutes after the torpedoes struck.

 

 

 

 

Rescue and Japan

 

Japanese escorts and trawlers picked up their own survivors and around 520 British prisoners. The rescued men were taken to Hainan Island and then on to Japan aboard the Kibitsu Maru, where they were put to work in camps until the end of the war.

 

In all, 431 prisoners of war were killed, along with 45 Japanese troops and 12 crew.

 

 

 

 

Remembering the Kachidoki Maru

 

The British prisoners lost from the Kachidoki Maru had already survived the Burma–Siam Railway. Their loss, on the same day as the Rakuyo Maru, made 12 September 1944 one of the darkest days for Far East prisoners of war.

 

Their sacrifice must never be forgotten.

 

Their story is one of many told on our Hellships page.