Hofuku Maru

The Hofuku Maru, also known as Hohuku Maru was a Japanese cargo ship, sunk on September 21, 1944 by American planes, while carrying 1,289 British and Dutch prisoners of war (POWs); 1,047 of them died.

The Hofuku Maru was sailing from Singapore to Miri, Borneo as part of convoy SHIMI-05. The convoy consisted of 10 ships, 5 of which carried, in total, 5,000 POWs, all in appalling conditions. At Borneo, the Hofuku Maru left the convoy with engine problems, and sailed on to the Philippines, arriving on July 19. She remained in Manila until mid-September while the engines were repaired. The POWs remained on board, suffering terribly from disease, hunger, and thirst.

On September 20 1944, the Hofuku Maru and 10 other ships formed Convoy MATA-27, and sailed from Manila to Japan. The following morning, the convoy was attacked 80 miles north of Corregidor by more than 100 American carrier planes. All eleven ships in the convoy were sunk. Of those on the Hofuku Maru, 1,047 of the 1,289 British and Dutch POWs on board died.