Lisbon Maru

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Lisbon Maru
History
Japan
NameSS Lisbon Maru
NamesakePort of Lisbon
Owner Nippon Yusen Kaisha
BuilderYokohama Dock Company, Yokohama
Laid down15 October 1919
Launched31 May 1920
Completed8 July 1920
FateSunk by USS Grouper, 1 October 1942
General characteristics
Class & typeCargo liner
Tonnage7,053 GRT
Length135.6 m (444 ft 11 in)
Beam17.7 m (58 ft 1 in)
Depth10.4 m (34 ft 1 in)
Installed power632 nhp
Propulsion2 × triple expansion steam engines
Speed12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)

Lisbon Maru (りすぼん丸) was a Japanese cargo liner built at Yokohama in 1920 for a Japanese shipping line. During World War II, the ship was requisitioned by the Japanese Army and turned into an armed troopship. On her final voyage, Lisbon Maru was being used to transport prisoners of war between Hong Kong and Japan when it was torpedoed by the submarine USS Grouper on 1 October 1942.[1]

Over 800 British POWs died in the sinking, either by drowning or being shot by Japanese soldiers as they attempted to escape from the sinking ship. About 384 British POWs were rescued by nearby Chinese fishermen.[2]

Construction and commercial service

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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, and registered at the port of Tokyo.[3][4]

The ship was 445 feet (135.6 metres) long, with a beam of 58 ft (17.7 m) and a depth of 34 ft (10.4 m). It measured 7,053 GRT and 4,308 NRT. Twin propellers were powered by a pair of triple expansion steam engines with a combined rating of 632 nhp, giving a service speed of 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph). The engines and four boilers were made by the shipbuilder.[3][4]

Sinking and rescuing

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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 in December 1941. The POWs were held in "appalling conditions ... [those] at the bottom of the hold ... showered by the diarrhoea of sick soldiers above".[5]

On 1 October 1942, the ship was torpedoed by the submarine USS Grouper while travelling through the East China Sea.[6] 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". 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.[5]

The sinking occurred near the Zhoushan Archipelago, close to the islands of Qingbang and Miaozihu. Upon noticing the black smoke and debris from the wreck, fishermen from these islands spontaneously sailed out to rescue survivors, saving a total of 384 POWs.[7] As more fishing boats approached the wreck site, Japanese ships, which had been shooting at the British POWs in the water, began to pick up survivors. The 384 British POWs rescued by Chinese fishermen were taken into their homes and temples on the islands, where they were provided with food and clothing. Three days later, Japanese gunboats landed on these islands and recaptured 381 of them, while three were hidden and protected by the local residents. These three, J. C. Fallace, W. C.Johnstone, and A. J. W. Evans, eventually made their way back to the UK via Chongqing, the wartime capital of China, in early 1943.[8]

Over 800 of these men died either directly as a result of the sinking, or from being shot or otherwise killed by the Japanese guards while swimming away from the wreck.[9] The ship was not marked to alert Allied forces to the nature of its passengers.[9]

Aftermath

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Kyoda Shigeru, master of the Lisbon Maru, was tried in Hong Kong between 23 October and 29 November 1946 for a war crime relating to his actions during the sinking. Specifically, ordering the British POWs be closed in the ship holds and failing to provide them with life jackets. He was found guilty and sentenced to seven years in prison. Shigeru was released early and returned to Japan.[10][11] Wada Yoshio, who was in charge of the prisoners, died during the war.[10][12]

Memorials

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A Lisbon Maru memorial is located in the chapel of St Stephen's College[13] in Hong Kong. The memorial was originally placed in Stanley Fort, but was moved to St Stephen's College with Hong Kong's change in sovereignty.[14]

A reunion of Lisbon Maru survivors was held on board HMS Belfast on 2 October 2007 to mark the 65th anniversary of their escape. Six former prisoners attended, alongside many families of the escapees.[citation needed]

In 2021, a memorial for the Lisbon Maru was placed at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire,[15] and the unveiling was attended by over 650 family members and military personnel to remember those who died.[16]

A memorial was unveiled in 2025 on Qingbang Island, south east of Shanghai. It was created after the descendant of one of the British prisoners wrote directly to General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping, wanting to honour the local fishermen who helped save the survivors.[17]

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The album Tarot Sport by the British electronic band Fuck Buttons features a track named "The Lisbon Maru". Band member Benjamin John Power's grandfather survived the torpedoing of the ship.[18] The album War, Peace and Diplomacy by Tom Hickox features a track named "The Lisbon Maru",[19] in which a survivor of the sinking relays his tale to a barman.[20]

The documentary film The Sinking Of The Lisbon Maru, produced and directed by Fang Li, was released in September 2024 in mainland China, covering the stories of the families affected by the tragedy and shedding light on the rescue of British POWs by Chinese fishermen.[21]

The 2025 Chinese film Dongji Rescue is a fictionalized account of the sinking of the Lisbon Maru.[22]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru". lisbonmaru.com. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  2. ^ "Documentary tells story of POWs' rescue". www.independent.co.uk. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Lisbon Maru". Miramar Ship Index (subscription required). Wellington, New Zealand: R B Haworth. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  4. ^ a b "Lloyd's Register of Ships: Steam & Motor Ships" (PDF). Plimsoll Ship Data. Lloyd's Register of Shipping. 1930. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  5. ^ a b Unia, Emily; Mulvey, Stephen (14 July 2018). "British POWs sank with the Lisbon Maru – should it be raised?". BBC News. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  6. ^ "Lisbon Maru". www.roll-of-honour.org.uk. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  7. ^ "Film Salvages Wartime Story of Tragic Sinking, Heroic Rescues". epaper.chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  8. ^ Brian Finch (2017). A Faithful Record of the Lisbon Maru Incident.
  9. ^ a b Moore, Malcolm (30 September 2012). "The last survivor of the Lisbon Maru". Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 30 September 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  10. ^ a b Vine, Peter (1995). "Experiences as a War Crimes Prosecutor in Hong Kong". Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. 35: 205–209. ISSN 0085-5774.
  11. ^ Jia, Bing Bing (September 2013). "6 The Plea of Superior Orders in the Hong Kong Trials". In Linton, Suzannah (ed.). Hong Kong's War Crimes Trials. Oxford University Press. p. 193. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199643288.003.0006. ISBN 9780191749070.
  12. ^ Jones, Emma (21 August 2025). "'He owed his life to those Chinese fisherman': Dongji Rescue and the true story of a forgotten act of WW2 heroism". BBC. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  13. ^ "St. Stephen's College Heritage Trail: Explore The Trail". www.ssc.edu.hk. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  14. ^ "St Stephen's Chapel, Stanley - History". www.ststephen.org.hk. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  15. ^ "Lisbon Maru – War Imperial War Museums". www.iwm.org.uk. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  16. ^ Bill, Laura (11 October 2021). "Wheathampstead man remembers father killed in Lisbon Maru incident of WWII". Herts Advertiser. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  17. ^ Campbell, Joe (21 May 2025). "Memorial to 800 PoWs killed in Japanese cargo ship". BBC. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
  18. ^ "In Session 2 – Ben Power of Blanck Mass (Part 2)". www.youtube.com. 7 May 2019. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  19. ^ "War, Peace And Diplomacy". propermusic.com. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  20. ^ "Tom Hickox – The Lisbon Maru". www.musixmatch.com. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  21. ^ Xing, Yi (11 September 2024). "Film Salvages Wartime Story of Tragic Sinking, Heroic Rescues". www.chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  22. ^ 澎湃讯 (11 June 2025). "新片｜朱一龙吴磊主演 《东极岛》定档8月8日". The Paper. Archived from the original on 26 July 2025. Retrieved 14 August 2025.

Further reading

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30°14′N 122°46′E / 30.23°N 122.77°E / 30.23; 122.77