 Launch of the Arisan Maru
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | Arisan Maru |
| Owner | Mitsui Senpaku |
| Port of registry |  |
| Builder | Mitsui, Tamanao, Japan |
| Yard number | 376 |
| Completed | June 22, 1944 |
| Fate | Sunk by USS Shark, 24 October 1944 |
| Notes | Hell ship |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Type 2A freighter |
| Tonnage | |
| Length | |
| Beam | 18.2 m (59 ft 9 in) |
Arisan Maru was a 6,886 GRT Type 2A freighter constructed in 1944 during World War II and was one of Imperial Japan's hell ships. The vessel, named for a mountain on Taiwan, was initially used as a troop transport. The vessel was then turned over for use for the transportation of prisoners of war (POWs) from the Philippines to Manchuria, China or Japan. On October 24, 1944, the ship was torpedoed by an American submarine and sank. Of the 1,781 POWs aboard, all of them escaped the sinking ship but were not rescued by the Japanese. In the end, only nine of the prisoners survived the sinking.