''Lisbon Maru'' () was a
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
cargo liner built at
Yokohama
is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...
in 1920 for a Japanese
shipping line
A shipping line or shipping company is a company whose line of business is ownership and operation of ships.
Shipping companies provide a method of distinguishing ships by different kinds of cargo:
# Bulk cargo is a type of special cargo that is ...
. 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 ...
, the ship was turned into an armed
troopship
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 ...
. On her final voyage, ''Lisbon Maru'' was being used to transport
prisoners of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, 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 priso ...
between
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
and Japan when it was
torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...
ed on 1 October 1942, sinking with a loss of over 800
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
lives.
Construction and commercial service
''Lisbon Maru'' was completed on 8 July 1920 at the
Yokohama Dock Company shipyard in Yokohama, Japan as Yard No. 70, entering service for a major Japanese shipping line,
Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha
Nippon Yūsen Kabushiki Kaisha (Japan Mail Shipping Line), also known as NYK Line, is a Japanese shipping company and is a member of the Mitsubishi ''keiretsu''. The company headquarters are located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It operates a flee ...
, and registered at the port of
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
.
The ship was long, with a beam of and a depth of . It measured and 4,308
NRT. Twin propellers were powered by a pair of
triple expansion steam engine
A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages.
A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure ''(HP)'' cylinder, then having given up he ...
s with a combined rating of 632
nhp
Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...
, giving a service speed of . The engines and four
boiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, central h ...
s were made by the shipbuilder.
Sinking
On her final voyage, the ''Lisbon Maru'' was carrying 700
Japanese Army personnel and 1,816 British prisoners of war captured after the
Battle of Hong Kong
The Battle of Hong Kong (8–25 December 1941), also known as the Defence of Hong Kong and the Fall of Hong Kong, was one of the first battles of the Pacific War in World War II. On the same morning as the attack on Pearl Harbor, forces of the ...
in December 1941. The POWs were held in "appalling conditions ...
hoseat the bottom of the hold ... showered by the diarrhea of sick soldiers above".
On 1 October 1942, the ship was torpedoed by the submarine while travelling through the South China Sea. The Japanese troops were evacuated from the ship but the POWs were not; instead the
hatches were battened down above them and they were left on the listing ship. After 24 hours, as it became apparent that the ship was sinking, the POWs were able to break through the hatch covers. Some were able to escape from the ship before it sank. The ladder from one of the holds to the deck failed, and the Royal Artillery POWs in the hold could not escape; they were last heard singing "
It's a Long Way to Tipperary
"It's a Long Way to Tipperary" (or "It's a Long, Long Way to Tipperary") is an English music hall song first performed in 1912 by Jack Judge, and written by Judge and Harry Williams, though authorship of the song has long been disputed.
It ...
". Survivors reported that Japanese guards first fired on the POWs who reached the deck; and that other Japanese ships used machine guns to fire at POWs who were in the water. Later, however, after some Chinese fishermen started rescuing survivors, the Japanese ships also rescued survivors.
The British government insisted that over 800 of these men died either directly as a result of the sinking, or from being shot or otherwise killed by the Japanese while swimming away from the wreck.
The ship was not marked to alert Allied forces to the nature of its passengers. The Japanese government insisted that British prisoners were in fact not deliberately killed by Japanese soldiers and criticised the British statement.
Aftermath
A ''Lisbon Maru'' memorial was placed in the chapel of
Stanley Fort
Stanley Fort is a military installation on the south side of Hong Kong Island. Built originally to serve the British Armed Forces, it now houses the Hong Kong garrison of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Ground Force. It has also been use ...
, Hong Kong. It was moved to the chapel of
St. Stephen's College, Hong Kong with Hong Kong's change in sovereignty.
A reunion of ''Lisbon Maru'' survivors was held on board on 2 October 2007 to mark the 65th anniversary of their escape. Six former prisoners attended, alongside many families of the escapees.
In popular culture
* The album
Tarot Sport by the British
electronic
Electronic may refer to:
*Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor
* ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal
*Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device
*Electronic co ...
band
Fuck Buttons
Fuck Buttons was an electronic music duo formed in Bristol in 2004 by Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power.
Biography Origins (2004–2008)
Hung and Power grew up in Worcester. features a track named The Lisbon Maru. Band member
Benjamin John Power's grandfather survived the torpedoing of the ship.
See also
*
List by death toll of ships sunk by submarines
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
References
Further reading
* Major (Ret'd) Brian Finch, MCIL, "A Faithful Record of the 'Lisbon Maru' Incident" (translation from Chinese with additional material) published by Proverse Hong Kong, in the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Studies Series, 2017.
*
External links
The fall of Hong Kong which led to transportation of prisoners on the ''Lisbon Maru''The full roll of those who perished on the ''Lisbon Maru''Sinking of ''Lisbon Maru''Time to Unseal the ''Lison Maru'' Incident, an incomplete documentation of the rescue effort made by local Chinese fishermenIWM Interview with survivor George BainboroughIWM Interview with survivor Jack HughiesonIWM Interview with survivor Charles JordanIMW Interview with survivor Andrew SalmonIWM Interview with survivor Montague TruscottIWM Interview with survivor Alf Shepherd
{{October 1942 shipwrecks
1920 ships
Cargo ships
Maritime incidents in October 1942
Ships sunk by American submarines
Troop ships
World War II shipwrecks in the East China Sea
Japanese hell ships
British World War II prisoners of war
Military history of Canada during World War II