WWII hell ship Hōfuku Maru wreck found after decades

Researchers located the wreck of the Japanese ship Hōfuku Maru, which sank in September 1944 after US torpedoes hit a convoy in the South China Sea. The ship carried around 1,200 Allied POWs; only about 200 survived, and the wreck’s location was lost until the

A US torpedo strike was all it took to turn a convoy in the South China Sea into a death trap.

On September 21, 1944, a Japanese ship in convoy was carrying around 1,200 British and Dutch prisoners of war in its holds. The ship—unmarked. and known later as one of the “hell ships” used during World War II to transport POWs—was mistaken by US warplanes for a military cargo vessel. The planes dropped four torpedoes. One hit.

The Hōfuku Maru split in two and sank within minutes. Most of the Allied prisoners trapped below deck died. Only about 200 of the weakened, sick POWs survived, and the exact location of the wreck vanished into the deep.

Now, some 80 years later, researchers say they have found where it went down—near Zambales province off the western coast of Luzon in the Philippines. The work is documented in a two-part season premiere of “Expedition Unknown,” airing June 24 on Discovery Channel.

The team’s path to the site began in archives and ended on the seafloor. Researchers scoured documents buried in Japanese and US military archives before conducting sonar surveys and technical dives. Official records had left gaps: details of Hōfuku Maru’s sinking were incomplete and inconsistent. with Japanese records fragmented and Allied strike reports giving only approximate locations.

In June 2025. the breakthrough came when John Duresky discovered a digitized Japanese document written by officers on board the convoy’s lead ship. The document included a timeline and map showing where the convoy was struck. It stated that the Hōfuku Maru was second in line when it was hit and split in two. according to Tim Beckensall. a World War II historian and the search director for the Hellships Memorial Foundation.

Researchers then matched parts of that account to an “aircraft action report” from the USS Bunker Hill aircraft carrier. which described the sinking of an AK vessel—an abbreviation for auxiliary cargo—listed as the second ship in its convoy. The reported location was more than 30 miles (48 kilometers) from where the ship was assumed to have been lost. Beckensall also spoke to local fishermen who said they had long known of what appeared to be a large wreck at the location.

“It was the Japanese document that started the whole thing, and it was the smoking gun that really led to all the others,” Beckensall said.

Beckensall, who was based in Manila at the time, shared the archival findings with the British Embassy. The embassy arranged a meeting with Dutch and Philippine military attachés. where Beckensall and Hellships Memorial Foundation founder Randy Anderson presented the evidence gathered so far. The Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands agreed to fund an initial sonar survey and a preliminary dive mission. That mission took place in December and January.

During the dives, the researchers found wreckage at a depth of around 164 feet (50 meters), right where they had hoped. But the sea environment has been chewing away at what remains. Volcanic ash washed into rivers and the sea after the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo is slowly engulfing the wreck. and because of the extremely poor conditions. identifying distinguishing features has been nearly impossible.

Discovery Channel’s involvement began in early 2026. It recruited Calvin Mires, a maritime archaeologist for Marine Imaging Technologies, along with underwater imaging specialist Evan Kovacs. They took hundreds of images of the wreck and used specialized computer software to turn them into a 3D model through a technique known as photogrammetry.

“It’s really low visibility, and the camera cleans a lot of that up,” Mires said. “The camera sees a lot more.”

Mires said he started with a “healthy skepticism. ” but the “preponderance of evidence” pointed toward the wreck being the Hōfuku Maru. The team compared the vessel’s size. along with the position of its masts and cargo holds. against blueprints of the Hōfuku Maru built in 1919. The wreck is split into two pieces, matching both US and Japanese accounts of its fate.

On June 8, the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands reviewed a report written by Mires, Beckensall and colleagues and issued a statement saying the wreck was “almost certainly” the Hōfuku Maru.

Even if the seabed can’t offer answers easily, people who survived these ships have already given them—at least in fragments that survived the war crimes trials. While a majority of the POWs on board the Hōfuku Maru perished, some lived long enough to describe what happened.

At least two British servicemen, the late Capt. Nigel Evans and the late Capt. James Gibson. gave testimony about their treatment aboard the ship during war crimes trials held in Singapore by the British shortly after the end of the conflict. Sgt. Maj. Jotani Kitaichi of the Imperial Japanese Army was sentenced to death by hanging.

Most of the captured Allied troops had started their journey in Singapore and were destined for Japan. where prisoners toiled in factories and mines to sustain the war effort. The roughly 1. 000 British and 250 Dutch POWs crowded into two holds so cramped they had to take turns lying down. according to a court document.

The daily ration was described in the court document as three-quarters of a pint of water each day in sweltering temperatures. There were crude toilets on deck. but many POWs were too weak to clamber out. forcing them to use “mess tins as bed pans. ” Gibson said. At one point. the prisoners were given life jackets. but they were later confiscated after guards found them being used as pillows.

Evans said the conditions worsened in Manila, where the ship docked for more than a month after encountering engine problems. The POWs were not allowed on deck.

“Conditions on board became terrible,” Evans said. He described seeing prisoners of war eating meals within six feet of a corpse being prepared for burial. Evans also said that on the day before the ship sailed. more than a third of officers and men were unable to walk unassisted. and that there were a number of mental cases.

Evans managed to board another Japanese ship after the Hōfuku Maru sank and was taken to a POW camp in Taiwan.

Gibson’s account is even more direct. He jumped overboard and swam to shore, where he spent five months with Filipino guerrillas. In an affidavit. he said he made complaints during the voyage concerning medical supplies. conditions and food. but that nothing was done and all he received was blows from JOTANI.

After the wreck was identified, the focus shifted again—from searching for the site to deciding what to do with it.

During dives to the wreck. Mires and Gates said they encountered human remains on the decks but did not go into the holds. “This ship is a grave. and now that she’s been identified. the governments of the UK. the Netherlands. and the United States have been notified. and they’ll determine the next course of action. ” Gates said.

The Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands said the wreck was considered a war grave and would not be excavated out of reverence for the victims and their families.

No remains of American POWs are believed to be on board the Hōfuku Maru. Still, US efforts are moving on a parallel front. The US Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. or DPAA. which is tasked with bringing home fallen service members. began efforts in February to account for Americans associated with another prisoner of war transport ship. the Oryoku Maru.

The Oryoku Maru sank in Subic Bay on the west coast of Luzon in the Philippines in December 1944. a few months after the Hōfuku Maru. Meghan Mumford. the DPAA’s scientific recovery expert for the Oryoku Maru and an underwater archaeologist. described the recovery as “one of the largest. if not the largest. and certainly one of the most complex missions that we’ve executed.”.

Earlier this year, Mumford and a team of specialist divers began removing sediment from one of the cargo holds on the wreck where they believed POWs were held. Efforts to identify human remains are underway.

For the Hōfuku Maru itself, the location remains guarded. The exact coordinates of the ship, which lies off the coast of San Narciso, are not being publicly released to protect the site.

The Hellships Memorial in Subic Bay honors the memory of the servicemen who died aboard the Hōfuku Maru. The Netherlands said it would work with other nations to seek a suitable way to commemorate the victims.

For Mires, the discovery doesn’t end with data or imagery. “I have in my career recovered remains and it hits you really hard,” he said. “The POW ships are really a forgotten part of the battles and the war, and they’re dramatic and horrific and monumental on all levels.”

Hōfuku Maru hell ship World War II POW South China Sea Zambales Luzon Expedition Unknown photogrammetry Hellships Memorial Foundation Tim Beckensall Calvin Mires Sgt. Maj. Jotani Kitaichi