Junyo Maru

September 18, 1944 - It was on this day that the Junyo Maru, one of Japan's infamous "Hell Ships," was torpedoed by the British submarine, the H.M.S. Tradewind. It would become the largest maritime disaster of World War II.

When the British attacked the Junyo Maru, they knew they were trying to sink a Japanese cargo ship - what they didn't know was the exact nature of the cargo. It turns out that the Junyo Maru was packed with Allied prisoners of war. There were over 2300 Dutch, British, American and Australians on the ship, as well as over 4200 Javanese slave laborers. All were bound for Sumatra where they would be put to work building a railroad.

The conditions aboard the Junyo Maru were horrendous. The prisoners were packed tightly into the cargo holds where temperatures soared. Barely able to move, the men were forced to lie in each other's vomit, urine and feces.

With the torpedo attack, a terrible situation got even worse. Thousands of prisoners fought to reach the deck as thick black smoke filled the air. Over 5600 men would die.

Miraculously, 880 of the prisoners survived, but many of them would soon die as laborers on the Sumatran railway.