Lisbon Maru

History
Japan
Name:	SS Lisbon Maru
Owner:	Nippon Yusen Kaisha
Builder:	Yokohama Dock Company, Yokohama
Laid down:	15 October 1919
Launched:	31 May 1920
Completed:	8 July 1920
Fate:	Torpedoed off Dongfushan in the Zhoushan Archipelago 1 October, and sank on 2 October 1942
General characteristics
Class and type:	Freighter
Tonnage:	7,053 GRT
Length:	135.6 m (444 ft 11 in)
Beam:	17.7 m (58 ft 1 in)
Depth:	10.4 m (34 ft 1 in)
Installed power:	632 nhp
Propulsion:	2 × triple expansion steam engines
Speed:	12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Capacity:	28 passengers

Lisbon Maru (里斯本丸) was a Japanese freighter which was used as a troopship and prisoner-of-war transport between China and Japan.

When she was sunk by USS Grouper (SS-214) on 1 October 1942, she was carrying, in addition to Japanese Army personnel, almost 2,000 British prisoners of war captured after the fall of Hong Kong in December 1941. Over 800 of these men died either directly as a result of the sinking, or were shot or otherwise killed by the Japanese while swimming away from the wreck. The ship should have carried appropriate markings to alert Allied forces to the nature of its cargo but did not do so.

A reunion of survivors was held on board HMS Belfast on 2 October 2007 to mark the 65th anniversary of the escape. Six of the former prisoners attended, alongside many bereaved families of escapees.

Aftermath

A memorial was placed in the chapel of Stanley Fort, Hong Kong, which was moved to the chapel of St. Stephen's College, Hong Kong, due to the change of sovereignty of Hong Kong.

In Popular Culture

• The UK band Fuck Buttons included a song called "The Lisbon Maru" on their album Tarot Sport.
• Tom Hickox has recorded his own composition "The Lisbon Maru".

See also

• List by death toll of ships sunk by submarines

References

External links

• The fall of Hong Kong which led to transportation of prisoners on the Lisbon Maru
• The full roll of those who perished on the Lisbon Maru
• Sinking of Lisbon Maru
• Time to Unseal the Lison Maru Incident, an incomplete documentation of the rescue effort made by local Chinese fishermen
• IWM Interview with survivor George Bainborough
• IWM Interview with survivor Jack Hughieson
• IWM Interview with survivor Charles Jordan
• IMW Interview with survivor Andrew Salmon
• IWM Interview with survivor Montague Truscott
• IWM Interview with survivor Alf Shepherd

Further reading

• Tony Banham (2006). The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru: Britain's Forgotten Wartime Tragedy. Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 978-962-209-771-1. 

Coordinates: 30°13′48″N 122°45′54″E / 30.23°N 122.765°E / 30.23; 122.765

Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in October 1942
Shipwrecks	2 Oct: HMS Curacoa, Lisbon Maru, U-512 5 Oct: U-582, U-619 6 Oct: I-22 8 Oct: U-179 9 Oct: U-171 10 Oct: Komintern, HMT Orcades 11 Oct: Fubuki, Furutaka, L-16 12 Oct: USS Duncan, Murakumo, Natsugumo, U-597 13 Oct: I-30, SS Loreto 14 Oct: Caribou, Komet, Shch-213 15 Oct: Drazki, USS Meredith, U-661 16 Oct: Primrose Hill, U-353 17 Oct: Empire Chaucer, Oboro 20 Oct: U-216 21 Oct: Palatia 22 Oct: U-412, Winnipeg II 23 Oct: City of Johannesburg, Empire Star 24 Oct: U-599 25 Oct: USS Seminole, Yura 26 Oct: USS Porter, President Coolidge 27 Oct: USS Hornet, U-627 29 Oct: Abosso 30 Oct: U-520, U-559, U-658 Unknown date: U-116, HMS Unique
Other incidents	2 Oct: Queen Mary 12 Oct: HMS Loyal 23 Oct: HMS Phoebe
1941 1942 1943 September 1942 November 1942