Hōfuku Maru

hideThis article has multiple issues. Please help or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (November 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources:  –  ·  ·  · scholar · JSTOR (November 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

German prisoners of war (Siege of Tsingtao) returning from Japan with Hofuku Maru to Wilhelmshaven, Germany (February 1920)
History
Japan
Name	Hofuku Maru (1918–1937) Hohuku Maru (1937–1944)
Builder	Kawasaki Dockyard Company, Kobe
Yard number	423
Launched	1918
Fate	Sunk on September 21, 1944
General characteristics
Tonnage	5,857 GRT
Length	385 feet (117.3 m)
Beam	51 feet (15.5 m)
Draught	36 feet (11.0 m)
Installed power	436 NHP
Propulsion	Triple-expansion steam engines

The Hofuku Maru, also known as Hohuku Maru (豊福丸 (Kyūjitai: 豐福丸), Hōfuku Maru) was a Japanese Dai-ichi Taifuku Maru-class cargo ship, sunk on September 21, 1944 by American aircraft, while carrying 1,289 British and Dutch prisoners of war (POWs); 1,047 of them died.

The Hōfuku 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 Hōfuku 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 Hōfuku 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 aircraft. All eleven ships in the convoy were sunk. Of those on the Hōfuku Maru, 1,047 of the 1,289 British and Dutch POWs on board died.

Following the end of the First World War the ship had been used to repatriate German prisoners of war, many of whom had been held in Bandō prisoner-of-war camp. Most of the prisoners had been taken after the Siege of Tsingtao in 1914.

References[]

• Tsingtao (in German)
• Wreck site
• Jack Earnshaw
• Roll of Honour