The Hofuku Maru, briefly known as Taifuku Maru No. 31 during construction, was a Japanese Dai-ichi Taifuku Maru-class cargo ship, torpedoed and sunk on September 21, 1944 by US Navy carrier aircraft.
Taifuku Maru was Laid down at Kawasaki Dockyard Co. Ltd. as Yard No. 423. In Kobe in 1918, and was Launched as the Hofuko Maru. And completed that same year, she had a length of 385 ft (117 m). Abeam of 51 ft (15 m), With a tonnage of 5,857 GRT, and a speed of 10kn. [1]
Hofuko Maru entered service after the end of the First World War, Hofuko Maru 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. After that she would serve as her intended role as a Cargo ship, and would do this job well and uneventfully, in 1928 she was sold to the K Line. And was placed on their Pacific Ocean routes, in 1937 she was renamed Hohuku Maru. In 1938 she was sold to the Kokusai Kisen K.K. And would serve them well until October 1941. [2]
In October 1941 Hohuku Maru was Requisitioned by the Imperial Japanese Army for use as a Hell ship for the Second World War. She would take Prisoner of war to do forced labour in hellish conditions. and she continued to do this until September 1944, when she would sail her final voyage, [3]
The Hōhuku 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. 242 POWs made swam to shore and 42 were rescued by kaibokans.[4] .