Risser) torpedoes and sinks the Japanese army cargo ship Taga Maru (2220 GRT) off Seishin, northwestern Korea in position 41º42'N, 129º34'E.This ship was used for several POW voyages including the delivery of Fepows to Fukuoka camp via the port of Moji in 1942/3.One of which was the transportation of 900 British pows from Singapore on 28/10/42 to Takao, Taiwan.Dainichi was torpedoed on 08/10/43 by USS Gurnard, along with another Japanese ship, she was carrying a troop transport of over 2000 at this time.A Dutch-built ship of 2071 tonnes, launched in 1900.She was deliberately scuttled by the Dutch to prevent her from falling into enemy hands but the Japanese refloated and salvaged her in 1942.This was when the Japanese renamed her ‘Imbari maru’.The ship left Singapore on the 5th September 1944 en route to Manila via Borneo, arriving in Miri on the 11th picking up supplies and human cargo and leaving again on the 15th. No communication with the other prisoners was authorized, and negotiations undertaken with the object of altering this state of things were not successful. POWs died at a rate of up to fifty per day. Some escaped by going over a cliff that ran along one side of the trenches but was later hunted down and killed.Only 11 men escaped via holes in the perimeter fence, they later testified in war crimes tribunals.It was this incident that prompted the famous POW rescue raids later in 1945.The senior officer of the Japanese army commanding General Tomoyuki Yamashita was executed at Bilibid Prison in 1946 after being found guilty of allowing the murder of unarmed POWs.The chain of command responsibility that led to Yamashita's execution is now referred to under war crimes as the ‘Yamashita standard’.About 500 civilians, the great majority of Americans, were interned by the Japanese at Camp John Hay.About 40 per cent were missionaries from 22 different denominations, some who had recently fled China and organized a language school in Baguio. Only 550 of the 900+ who sailed from Taiwan were still alive; 150 more men died in Japan, Taiwan, and Korea in the coming months, leaving only 403 survivors of the original 1620 to be liberated from camps in Kyushu, Korea, Manchuria, and Taiwan in August and September 1945.Sailed from Takao Taiwan on 22/8/44 bound for Japan (Unspecified port)arriving 8 days later with 707 POWs on board.Sailed from Singapore on 04/7/44 to Moji, Japan via Manila (Phillipines) arriving on 13/8/44 with 609 POWs.Sailed from Singapore to Nagasaki (Japan) via Takao (Taiwan) and Manila (Philippines) departed 3/6/44 arrived finally on 21/6/44 with 450 POWs.Exact departure dates are confusing since some sources state 3A set of 3 ships carried around 2200 POWs to Moji however.Sailed from Singapore to Manila on 04/7/44 with 1287 POWs on board arriving 15 days later.Sailed back from Manila to Japan on 20/9/44 with 1289 POWs.Ship sunk 21 September 1944 by an unidentified US submarine.Departed from manila on 1/10/42 destination and cargo unknown.Sailed from Manila to Takao, Taiwan via Hong Kong on 3/10/44 arriving on 11/11/44 with 1100 POWs on board.Sailed from Singapore to Moji, Japan departing on 6/9/44 and arriving in Japan with 900 POWs on board.Sailed from Palau to New Guniea on 20/1/44 with 611 POWs on board.Listed as an Imperial Japanese Navy gunboat and also as a freighter by different sources: sunk on 12/1/44.Sailed from Manila to Davao departing on 1/7/42 the journey lasted 8 days and had 200 pows on board.Left Singapore on 4/9/44 bound for Japan with 950 British & Australian POWs from D party group 4, sunk in the same incident on 12/9/44as the Rakuyo maru and 520 were rescued by the Japanese and a few others by US submarines.Sailed from Singapore to Japan (Moji) on 28/11/42 with 557 POWs, some reports show the ship terminating at Nagasaki however on this voyage.Sailed from Ambon to java departing on 31/8/44 and going via Makassar and to Surabaya with 300 pows on board, arriving in Java on 29/9/44.Used to ferry some of the party of 2200 British, Dutch & Australian POWs including RAF from Singapore to Moji (Japan) leaving 5Sailed from Singapore to Moji (Japan) with 1500 POWs on 25/4/43.A harrowing account of the sinking and murder of many POWs is found in the book ‘Ships from Hell: Japanese War Crimes on the High Seas in World War II’ By Raymond Lamont-Brown.Sailed from Hong Kong to Japan on 17/9/42 but sunk in the south china sea on 2/10/42 with 977 survivors from the original 1816 POWs.Sailed from Singapore to Moji (Japan) departed 21/10/43 with 1155 POWs.10/1/43 1000 Dutch transported from Java to Moulmein but sunk 15/1/43 in the Andaman sea with 961 survivors.On the 12th of September 1944 the convoy the Rakoyu was in was attacked by US submarines and the ship was hit by a torpedo from the US submarine Sealion.US submarines picked up some 63 POWs in the sea after the sinkings, The Japanese 136 others, however, 1159 POWs died.Carried 1100 POWs from Singapore to Moji (Japan) on 30/10/42.This ship carrying more than 548 British/Dutch POWs from Molucca to Java was torpedoed by USS Bonefish off Kangean (Bali) on 29/11/43, 548 POWs died.20/10/42 1600 Dutch POWs transported to Moulmein from JavaSailed from Hong Kong to Nagasaki with 1200 POWs on 19/1/43.Used to ferry some of the party of 2200 British, Dutch & Australian POWs including RAF from Singapore to Moji (Japan) leaving 5Sailed from Singapore to Japan (Moji) 27/10/42 with 1205 POWs.Sailed from Hong Kong to Japan (Moji) via Taiwan in December 1943 carrying 500 POWs.Used to ferry 1287 British, Dutch & Australian POWs including RAF from Singapore leaving on 4Sunk off Manila having broken down and remained stranded for 2 months, 383 survivors only.Sailed from Singapore to Moji (Japan) departed 20/9/43 with 507 POWs.Left Belawan Sumatra on 25/6/44 bound for Pakanbaroe Sumatra and was sunk by Submarine HMS Truculent the next day, 180 of 720 POW and 27 of 55 Japanese troops killed.Sailed from Singapore on 15/05/43 to Moji, Japan with 900 POWs on board.Sailed from Singapore on 06/09/44 to Japan with 900 POWs on board.Kachidoki was torpedoed on 09/12/44 by USS Pampanito, 244 POWs died, the rest were eventually picked up by a Japanese whaling ship and landed ashore mainland Japan.Left Bugu, Mindanao on 3rd October 1942 for Manila carrying 268 POWs from Camp Casisang, they were then transferred to Bilibid prison.The Tamahoko Maru was then almost blown apart and water poured in through a gaping hole in her side.