In recent days I received some very interesting photographs from Mark Kelso and some fascinating documents from David Metherell, about the Oryoku Maru.
This recon photo of the Oryoku Maru was taken off the northwest coast of Bataan by a USS Hornet (CV-12) aircraft about 0900 on December 14th. The ship was accompanied by the destroyer escort Momo and the subchaser CH-60. Onboard were 1619 POWs (nearly all American) packed into the lower holds of the ship. Accounts vary, but about 1900 Japanese soldiers and civilians are thought to have been housed in the upper decks, including over 500 women and children. Curiously, MacArthur's captured Packard automobile had been loaded aboard for the journey.
(courtesy Mark Kelso)
In an attempt to escape the rocket, bombing and strafing attacks of the Hornet aircraft, Shin Kajiyama, the Master of the Oryoku Maru, turned the vessel into Subic Bay around 1000. His ship had sustained hull damage, was taking seawater and listing 15 degrees to port. There may have been some damage to the engine room and the rudder. Kajiyama could have been planning for repairs at the Olongapo port facilities. Because he needed the deep water channel of the bay for passage, he steered towards the west side of Grande Island. However, the ship nearly ran aground on the coast near the entrance to the bay. The Momo and the CH-60 apparently did not follow the Oryoku Maru for long into Subic Bay, and in time continued on to the north.
(photo of Shin Kajiyama courtesy Mark Kelso)
The following photo, from Mark Kelso, is a high-resolution version of one that dmether (David Metherell) posted earlier in this thread. I have rotated it 90 degrees for future orientation purposes. As you can see, it is stamped 14 DEC 44 at time 1055. I cannot explain the lack of smoke in the low-res photograph that dmether posted earlier in this thread, other than to guess it was possibly taken a few minutes earlier or later than this high-res one.
(courtesy Mark Kelso)
Where on the Subic Bay coastline was the photo above taken? After searching the 'net, I learned through the excellent website
www.combinedfleet.com/Oryoku_t.htm that the Oryoku Maru beached at Sueste Point about 1020. The crew was to make repairs there and break the ship free during high tide later that day. The sources for this info seem to be a combination of American and Japanese, together with the German military researcher-historian Erich Muehlthaler. Here is an image of Subic Bay showing the location of Sueste Point.
Below is a close view of Sueste Point for comparison with the shoreline in Mark Kelso's print. The Japanese may possibly have disembarked some of their passengers there.
Here, the bow of the Oryoku Maru is pointing roughly north. Note the shadow of the ship, indicating a high sun from the east consistent with a time of 1055. There is no wake, the vessel is dead in the water. The smoke indicates a wind roughly from the northeast.
(courtesy Mark Kelso)
Here is an enlarged crop from another photo that dmether posted earlier in this thread, except that it was taken at a time of 1620. Note the shadows along the ridge, from the ship funnel, and off the large rocks, consistent with a late afternoon sun. The Oryoku Maru is still dead in the water, and has been so for approximately six hours. The smoke has shifted, indicating a wind roughly from the south-southwest.
(courtesy David Metherell)
The following high-res scans, revealing incredible details, are from Mark Kelso. The furthermost left life boat on the port side amidship may possibly be detached and in the water. Crewmen could be attempting to conduct an exterior inspection for damage to the ship. The late retired Navy Captain Duane Heisinger, in his superbly researched book “Father Found”, wrote that “About midnight the living and wounded [Japanese] passengers were removed from the ship...After the offloading of the surviving Japanese passengers at the southern coast at the entrance to Subic Bay, the Oryoku Maru moved or was moved, perhaps by the tugs, well inside Subic Bay and dropped anchor off the Navy Olongapo Base, at this time being used by the Japanese” (p.457). Some accounts vaguely imply that this offloading happened nearer the Olongapo port around midnight. However, the combined fleet webpage says that the Oryoku Maru dropped anchor inside Olongapo Port at 2150 and then began the offloading. I have been unable to determine if Kajiyama, who survived the war, was able to save the ship's logbook or if he made any statements about this during the war crimes trials.
(courtesy Mark Kelso)
Note the possibly detached life boat on the port side amidship.
(courtesy Mark Kelso)
For the curious, I will include this enlarged crop from the 1055 low-res photo. At first I thought small boats could be seen near the stern, but now I suspect they are probably just scratches on the print.
This remarkable high-res photo, showing the Oryoku Maru on fire near the Olongapo navy base after further rocket strikes, bombing and strafing by Hornet aircraft, was taken on the morning of 15 December, probably around 0800. I say "probably" because it is very difficult to distinguish whether the second time digit is an "8" or a "9". The actual attack began about 0710 ("Father Found", p. 460). There are no POWs swimming yet in the water off the port side of the ship in this photo; however, that will soon change, as will be seen. So, I will presume this photo was taken about 0800.
(courtesy Mark Kelso)
An enlarged, cropped view from the same 0800 photograph. The infamous tennis court can be seen towards the lower left.
(courtesy Mark Kelso)
(courtesy Mark Kelso)
This cropped, enlarged hi-res view was probably taken about an hour or so later and is showing POWs swimming to shore from the port side of the burning ship. The vessel has angled somewhat more away from the beach, and there has been some change in wind direction. I do not have the full size high-res photo which would show the time stamp, but on the low-res photos posted earlier in this thread it seems to show 0900. I'll SWAG that the photo with no swimmers is 0800, and the one with swimming POWs is 0900.
This photo was taken on December 15th at 1615. The Oryoku Maru has just sank, and an oil slick is visible off the shoreline.
It is generally thought that the number of fatalities for this short voyage was 286 POWs - their horrific nightmare was far from being over - and between four hundred to five hundred Japanese servicemen and civilians.
The following two pages are narratives from the USS Hornet (CV-12) Aircraft Action Reports for December 15th. It is regrettable that the yeoman did not change the typewriter ribbon to improve the clarity. The "Sampaloc Point" referred to is a large and very prominent landmark near the mouth of Subic Bay, easily recognized by aviators, who probably did not have Sueste Point labeled on their charts.
This schematic of the Oryoku Maru (and its sister ship the Kokuryu Maru) may be useful to reference when reading through some of the following documents that were sent to me by David Metherell.
The following post-war report highlights the hazards encountered by divers attempting to recover remains from the Oryoku Maru. In view of this, and combined with the disappointing results, further efforts were abandoned.
(courtesy David Metherell)
(courtesy David Metherell)
Below are remarks from an interview conducted with Lt. Junsaburo Toshino in 1947, as he awaited execution for war crimes in Sugamo Prison. Note that he stated “eight or nine deceased POWs were buried about 80 meters toward the sea from the tennis court near the graves of deceased Japanese soldiers”. Four sets of remains were recovered in this area after the war, but not identified. A couple of years ago, two more sets of remains were found buried near the current site of the Hellships Memorial, just off the beach. I have been told, however, that they were identified as Filipino remains.
(courtesy David Metherell)
(courtesy David Metherell)
Many thanks to Mark Kelso and David Metherell for their extensive contributions to this post.
