View source for SS Suez Maru

{{Short description|Japanese steamship and hell ship}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= 
|Ship caption= 
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header= 
|Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|Empire of Japan|civil}}
|Ship country= Japan
|Ship name= ''Suez Maru''
|Ship namesake= [[Suez]]
|Ship owner= *1919: Kokusai Kisen KK
*1934: Kuribayashi Shosen KK
|Ship operator= 
|Ship registry= *1919: [[Uraga, Kanagawa|Uraga]]
*1934: "Okada"
|Ship route= 
|Ship ordered= 
|Ship builder= [[Uraga Dock Company]], Uraga
|Ship original cost= 
|Ship yard number= 150
|Ship laid down= 
|Ship launched= 1919
|Ship completed= August 1919
|Ship maiden voyage= 
|Ship refit= 
|Ship out of service= 29 November 1943
|Ship identification= *[[code letters]] RMBP
*{{ICS|Romeo}}{{ICS|Mike}}{{ICS|Bravo}}{{ICS|Papa}}
*[[Maritime call sign|call sign]] JSCD
*{{ICS|Juliet}}{{ICS|Sierra}}{{ICS|Charlie}}{{ICS|Delta}}
|Ship fate= sunk by torpedo by {{USS|Bonefish|SS-223|6}}
|Ship notes= 
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header= 
|Header caption= 
|Ship type= [[Passenger ship|passenger]] and [[cargo ship]]
|Ship class= 
|Ship tonnage= {{GRT|4646}}, {{NRT|3330}}
|Ship length= {{cvt|360.0|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam= {{cvt|51.2|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft= {{convert|23|ft|2|in|1|abbr=on}}
|Ship depth= {{cvt|26.1|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship decks= 2
|Ship power= 377 [[Horsepower#Nominal horsepower|NHP]]
|Ship propulsion= *1 × [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|triple-expansion engine]]
*1 × [[Propeller|screw]]
|Ship speed= {{convert|10.5|kn|km/h|0}}
|Ship capacity= 
|Ship troops=
|Ship crew= 
|Ship complement= 
|Ship sensors= 
|Ship notes= 
}}
|}

'''''Suez Maru''''' was a [[Empire of Japan|Japanese]] [[Passenger ship|passenger]] and [[cargo]] [[steamship]] that was built in 1919, used as a [[hell ship]], and sunk in 1943. The submarine {{USS|Bonefish|SS-223|6}} sank her when she was carrying 548 [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] [[Prisoner of war|prisoners of war]] (PoWs). Many drowned, but many others were shot by the Japanese.

==Building==
The [[Uraga Dock Company]] in [[Uraga, Kanagawa]] built ''Suez Maru'' as yard number 150.<ref name=Wrecksite>{{cite web |last=Lettens |first=Jan |title=Suez Maru (+1943) |url= http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?174225 |access-date=29 October 2016 |work=Wrecksite}}</ref> She was completed in August 1919. Her registered length was {{cvt|360.0|ft|abbr=on}}, her [[Beam (nautical)|beam]] was {{cvt|51.2|ft|abbr=on}}, her depth was {{cvt|26.1|ft|abbr=on}} and her [[Draft (hull)|draft]] was {{convert|23|ft|2|in|1|abbr=on}}.{{sfn|''Lloyd's Register'' 1919|loc=SUD–SUF}}

She had a single [[Propeller|screw]], driven by a three-cylinder [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|triple-expansion engine]]. It was rated at 377 [[Horsepower#Nominal horsepower|NHP]],{{sfn|''Lloyd's Register'' 1919|loc=SUD–SUF}} and gave her a speed of {{convert|10.5|kn|km/h|0}}.<ref name=Wrecksite/>

''Suez Maru'' was a [[sister ship]] of ''Kirishima Maru No. 6'' and ''Yoshida Maru No. 3'', which the [[United States Shipping Board]] bought and renamed ''Eastern Cross'' and {{USS|Eastern Chief||2}}.

==Ownership and registration==
''Suez Maru''{{'}}S first owner was Kokusai Kisen KK. She was [[Ship registration|registered]] at Uraga, and her [[code letters]] were RMBP.{{sfn|''Lloyd's Register'' 1919|loc=SUD–SUF}} In 1934 Kuribayashi Shosen KK acquired her, and at the same time the [[Wireless telegraphy|wireless telegraph]] [[Maritime call sign|call sign]] JSCD superseded her code letters. ''[[Lloyd's Register]]'' lists her port of registry from 1934 as "Okada".{{sfn|''Lloyd's Register'' 1934|loc=SUE–SUL}} However, no such port exists.

==Loss==
''Suez Maru'' sailed on 25 November 1943 with 547 POWs (414 British and 133 Dutch) from [[Ambon, Maluku|Ambon]] bound for [[Surabaya]]. The POWs were all sick men from the work-camps on the Moluccas and Ambon. About 20 were on stretchers. There were also about 200 sick and wounded Japanese soldiers aboard.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hackett |first=Bob |title=Suez Maru: Tabular Record of Movement |url= http://www.combinedfleet.com/Suez_t.htm |access-date=29 October 2016 |publisher=Imperial Japanese Navy Page}}</ref>

On 29 November 1943, near [[Kangean Island]], east of [[Madura Island]], {{USS|Bonefish|SS-223|6}} torpedoed ''Suez Maru'', unaware that she carried Allied PoWs. About half of the POWs drowned in the after hold of the ship, but about 250 to 280 escaped the holds and jumped into the water. Nearly four hours later the escort ship, minesweeper ''No.12'' returned from dropping depth charges near ''Bonefish''. The minesweeper only picked up Japanese survivors, pushing PoWs back into the water if they tried to climb aboard.

Then Captain Kawano Osumu, commander of ''W-12'', discussed with the PoW transport commander Lieutenant Masaji Koshio (also called Masaji Iketani) what should be done with the surviving PoWs. Koshio/Iketani told him that Major General Sanso Anami had ordered that if the ship were torpedoed, the PoWs should be shot. Captain Kawano quickly agreed, ordering gunnery officer Yatsuka to arrange 20 soldiers with rifles on deck and two machine-guns on the lower bridge, while other crew pointed out survivors amongst the wreckage. The gunnery crew then machine-gunned all surviving PoWs in the water. All were killed. About three Japanese casualties also went down with ''Suez Maru''. 

The minesweeper ''No.12'' report lodged at Batavia on 3 December 1943 stated that the PoWs were kept in the holds and the hatches locked, stated that they had all drowned on the sinking, and made no mention of the war crime.

==Investigation==
This war crime was extensively investigated in 1949, after it was reported by Yoshio Kashiki, who was one of the 200 or so wounded Japanese soldiers aboard ''Suez Maru'' that day. Dozens of first hand accounts and sworn statements were taken from 22 individuals, suspects and eye witnesses, including signed confessions. Kawano and Iketani were arrested. After the investigation, the UK government wanting to protect its own reputation. It ordered the release of the men arrested for war crimes, ordered that no war crime trial should be held, and ordered a cover-up. The UK government never told the families of those PoWs who were killed what had happened. To date, the Japanese government has never apologised for the treatment and killing of PoWs, and the UK government has never apologised for refusing to bring the known war criminals to justice at court.  

The [[National Memorial Arboretum]] at [[Alrewas]], [[Staffordshire]] in England has a Japanese Prison Ships Memorial Garden. In it, a monument to the 414 UK POWs aboard ''Suez Maru'' whom the Japanese murdered was dedicated on 29 November 2013, the 70th anniversary of the massacre.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/72922 |title=SS Suez Maru |publisher=Imperial War Museum |access-date=10 March 2024}}</ref> An 80th anniversary ceremony was held at the monument on 29 November 2023.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.thenma.org.uk/what's-on/events/80-suez-maru |title=80th Remembrance Gathering for the Allied Men of the Suez Maru |publisher=The National Memorial Arboretum |access-date=10 March 2024}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book |last=Frith |first=Jacquelyn |year=2020 |title=Unwritten Letters To Spring Street. the story of Jack Frith, a victim of the WW2 Japanese hell-ship, Suez Maru. |place= |publisher=Clink Street |isbn=978-1913568276}}
*{{cite book |last=Jones |first=Allan |year=2002 |title=The Suez Maru atrocity: justice denied!: the story of Lewis Jones, a victim of a WW2 Japanese hell-ship |place=Hornchurch |publisher=AD Jones |isbn=978-0954272500}}
*{{cite book |year=1919 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=II.–Steamers |place=London |publisher=[[Lloyd's Register]] of Shipping |via=[[Internet Archive]] |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1922ST/page/n1201/mode/1up |ref={{harvid|''Lloyd's Register'' 1919}} }}
*{{cite book |year=1934 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=II.–Steamers and Motorships of 300 tons gross and over |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |via=[[Southampton City Council]] |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/34/34b0803.pdf |ref={{harvid|''Lloyd's Register'' 1934}} }}

==External links==
*{{cite web |url= https://www.cofepow.org.uk/armed-forces-stories-list/the-suez-maru |title=The Suez Maru |publisher=Children and Families of Far East Prisoners of War}}
*{{cite web |url= https://www.facebook.com/SuezMaru |title=Suez Maru Research & Family Stories of the Far East Prisoners of War |publisher=Facebook}}
*{{cite web |url= https://www.roll-of-honour.org.uk/Hell_Ships/Suez_Maru/ |last=Taylor |first=Ron |title=Suez Maru |work=Roll of Honour}}

{{November 1943 shipwrecks}}

[[Category:1919 ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in November 1943]]
[[Category:Ships built by Uraga Dock Company]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by American submarines]]
[[Category:Steamships of Japan]]
[[Category:World War II merchant ships of Japan]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean]]