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TheSorge t1_ixty5l7 wrote

There were multiple Japanese Hell Ships in WWII that sunk with nearly all of their crews and prisoners.

Hofuku Maru - Sunk by American aircraft on 21 September 1944. Of her 1,289 Allied POWs, only 242 survived.

Jun'yō Maru - Sunk by HMS Tradewind on 18 September 1944. Of her 6,500 Allied POWs and Romusha slave laborers, 5,626 died.

Montevideo Maru - Sunk by USS Sturgeon on 1 July 1942. Of her 1,054-1,157 Allied POWs, there were no survivors.

Rakuyō Maru - Sunk by USS Sealion on 12 September 1944. Of her 1,317 Allied POWs, 1,159 died.

Suez Maru - Sunk by USS Bonefish on 29 November 1943. Of her 548 Allied POWs, there were no survivors.

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Tuurke64 t1_ixuw3fk wrote

My great uncle Willem Jan Hoornweg died on the Jun'yo Maru in 1944. The number of casualties on this ship was almost four times as high as on the Titanic.

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Independent_Buy5152 t1_ixukrnp wrote

So why did the US attacked those ships? Didn't they know that there were prisoners on board?

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strangefolk t1_ixurjrt wrote

>Didn't they know that there were prisoners on board?

No, they just look like transport ships.

Imagine finding out later you attacked and killed a few thousand of your own people.

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