Remembering ‘hell ship’ sea tragedy

By Rey Garcia

SIXTY seven years ago, a ship carrying 1,053 Australian prisoners of war and civilians lost their lives when Japanese Naval ship Montevideo Maru sunk after it was torpedoed by a US submarine off the coast of Subic Bay.

This World War II sea tragedy considered as Australia’s worst ever single maritime disaster was remembered on July1 in simple but solemn rites here led by Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Rod Smith.

“This memorial of the ‘hell ship’ now includes a plaque to mark the tragedy,” Mr. Smith said in his speech. “This tragedy is not forgotten and their families are not forgotten.”

The term ‘hell ship’ mainly refers to the ships used by the Imperial Japanese Forces to transport prisoners of war out of the Philippines, Hong Kong and Singapore during war.

The POWs were then taken to Taiwan, Korea and Japan and were used as forced labor. In Japanese, they are now known as Jigoku sen with the same meaning.

“1st of July is a very special day for us,” says Andrea Williams, member of the Executive of the Papua New Guinea government. “This historical event honors the courage and sacrifice of Australian war victims.”

As allied forces closed in, the Japanese began transferring POWs by sea. Similar to conditions on the Bataan Death March, prisoners were often crammed into cargo holds with little air, food or water for journeys that would last for several weeks.

Many died due to asphyxia, starvation or dysentery.

Some POWs in the heat, humidity, lack of oxygen, food and water became delirious and unresponsive to their environment.

Unlike weapons transports which were sometimes marked as Red Cross ships, these prisoners transport were unmarked like, Montevideo Maru which has been mistakenly targeted by US and its allied submarines and aircrafts.

The ceremony was highlighted with wreath laying, a recital of the ode and playing of the last post.

A verse recited entitled Ode To The Fallen reads, “They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them. We will remember them.”

In a related development, a new MontevideoMaru.org website was also launched yesterday which feature sections including a revised Faces of the Montevideo Maru, Social Networking tie-ins and other information about the tragedy.

The website has been created by a group of dedicated individuals with a mission to ensure those brave men who lived and served on the Islands of New Britain, New Ireland and the Surrounding Islands of the Mandated Territory of New Guinea will never be forgotten.

The purpose of this website is to create a community for relatives of those lost on the Montevideo Maru.

The other purpose of this website is to increase public awareness of Australia’s Greatest Maritime Disaster.

Among the other goals of MontevideoMaru.org includes creation of a network for the relatives and friends of those lost, to discover the truth of the Montevideo Maru and the fate of over 1000 Australian men, both soldier, civilians and missionaries; and to petition the Australian Government to support and fund the search for the Montevideo Maru.

The website likewise noted that this would help bring closure to many family members, descendants, and friends who have never known the truth of what happened to their brave and missing men.