''Brazil Maru'' was a Japanese cargo ship requisitioned by the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

as a

troop transport A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable land troops directly on shore, typicall ...

and

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

(POW) transport ship. Japanese POW transport ships are usually referred to as

hell ship A hell ship is a ship with extremely inhumane living conditions or with a reputation for cruelty among the crew. It now generally refers to the ships used by the Imperial Japanese Navy and Imperial Japanese Army to transport Allied prisoners of ...

s, due to the notoriously bad conditions aboard and the many deaths that occurred on the ships. The Japanese did not mark their prisoner transports, leading to numerous casualties from friendly fire attacks. On December 27, 1944 ''Brazil Maru'', along with ''

Enoura Maru ''Enoura Maru'' was a Japanese cargo ship used by the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II as a troop transport and prisoner of war (POW) transport ship. Japanese POW transport ships are referred to as hell ships, due to the overcrowded and ...

'', were enlisted to transport the survivors from such an attack, by American forces on in

Subic Bay Subic Bay is a bay on the west coast of the island of Luzon in the Philippines, about northwest of Manila Bay. An extension of the South China Sea, its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility, U.S. Naval Base Subi ...

. Although both ships had been hauling livestock, no attempt had been made to clean out the manure prior to the boarding of the prisoners, nor was any food for the prisoners loaded. They docked at Takao (now

Kaohsiung Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsi ...

) in

Japanese Formosa The Geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, together with the Penghu, Penghu Islands, became a Dependent territory, dependency of Empire of Japan, Japan in 1895, when the Qing dynasty ceded Taiwan Province, Fujian-Taiwan Province in the Treaty ...

New Year's Day New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Wh ...

1945. ''Enoura Maru'' was bombed during an American air raid on Takao on January 9, and the surviving prisoners were loaded onto ''Brazil Maru''. It departed on January 14 bound for Moji, where it arrived on January 29. An estimated 500 prisoners died aboard ''Brazil Maru'' during the voyage from Takao to Moji, although sources vary. ''Brazil Maru'' was sunk by a mine at

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

on 12 May 1945.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brazil Maru World War II naval ships of Japan World War II passenger ships of Japan Troop ships of Japan Japanese hell ships