Tasmanian War Casualties

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RAKUYO MARU

On September 6^th 1944, 2100 Australian and British Prisoners of War were on board the “Rakuyo Maru” which was part of a Japanese convoy leaving the Straits Settlement for the Japanese mainland.

Around 5.00 a.m. on the morning of the 12^th September the “Rakuyo Maru” was torpedoed by the U.S submarine “Sealion” Two torpedoes hit the ship but it took 12 hours for the ship to sink giving the surviving prisoners of war time time to leave the ship.

As enemy escorts rescued the Japanese crews, they held the POW's away from the boats, (by armed force) leaving them alone in the sea. Returning from chasing the remainder of the convoy, on the 15th, the “Pampanito” spotted a raft with survivors and began picking them up. Sending word to the nearby “Sealion” they pulled 127 men from the sea. Unable to carry more, they radioed to ComSubPac who ordered “Barb” and “Queenfish” to the area to assist. These two arrived on the 17^th and they rescued an additional 32 survivors before having to depart due to bad weather. 159 total survivors were rescued but 6 passed away onboard.

The Japanese later rescued some of the prisoners of war and they were taken on to camps in Japan .

A total of 1159 Australian and British prisoners of war lost their lives in this incident.

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Tasmanian War Casualties, Honouring the past, building understanding.