Over the course of World War II, hundreds of the ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy were sunk by Allied forces. But the sinking of one Japanese ship, the Awa Maru, was a mistake. On April 1, 1945, the Awa Maru was underway to Japan. The vessel was a specially designated Red Cross aid ship. Crew had just offloaded its cargo of relief supplies in Singapore and Hong Kong. The supplies were destined for American prisoners of war being held by the Japanese.
The Awa Maru had been guaranteed safe passage back to Japan. But the commander of the American submarine USS Queenfish was unaware of the Awa Maru’s special status. He approved an attack on the Awa Maru. Torpedoes were fired and the ship sunk. There was a single Japanese survivor.
Official Japanese response was scathing – “This is the most outrageous act of treachery unparalleled in the world history of war.”
See the Wilfrid Fleisher papers at UW’s American Heritage Center to learn more.