The Story of the Enoura Maru and
the Men Who Died
the Men Who Died
On December 14, 1944 more than 1600 American POWs left the Philippines bound for Japan on a hellship
called the Oryoku Maru. The next day aircraft from the USS Hornet strafed and bombed the ship but did not
sink it. The following day they returned and sank the crippled ship, with the loss of more than 300 POW lives.
Our special guest, surviving POW Charles Towne, was aboard the Oryoku Maru and during his attempt to
swim to shore he found several mates who, unable to swim were crying out for help. He towed them in a
human chain through the water to the beach, and then at great risk to himself, went back out into the water
and found more men and brought them to shore the same way. He was later awarded commendations for his
bravery.
Following the bombing of the Oryoku Maru, those POWs who survived were re-assembled at San Fernando
La Union, PI and put aboard two more hellships to continue their journey to Japan. About 1,040 men were
forced into one hold of the Enoura Maru, and the remaining 240 men went on the Brazil Maru. The Enoura
Maru had previously been used to transport horses and the hold was filthy with manure. On its last trip the
Brazil Maru had carried coal. Neither hold was cleaned out before the POWs were forced down into them.
Some of the POWs were so hungry that they ate grain that had been dropped by the horses when they were
feeding, and which was now mixed in with the manure.
The Enoura and Brazil Marus left the Philippines on December 27, 1944 and headed north. All of the POWs on
the Enoura Maru were crammed into the second hold aft of the bow. The POWs suffered terribly from
hunger, thirst and the filth that pervaded the holds of the two hellships. Diseases broke out and many of the
men were violently ill. On December 31 – New Year’s Eve - they reached Takao ( Kaohsiung ), Formosa.
Once in Takao, the deprivation continued as the Japanese celebrated their New Year holiday for four days and
left the POWs to fend for themselves during that time. The prisoners had little food or water from January 1 –
4, and thirty-four died on the Enoura Maru, and five died on the Brazil Maru.
By January 6, ten men had died on the Brazil Maru and then the remaining 230 were transferred across the
harbor to the Enoura Maru. At this time some 240 POWs from the second hold on the Enoura Maru were
moved up into the first hold to join the men from the Brazil Maru who had been put there. This made a total
of about 470 men in the first hold.
At this same time, General MacArthur’s invasion force was about to land in the Lingayen Gulf in the Northern
Philippines, and Admiral Halsey was tasked with striking air bases primarily in southern Formosa and in
Northern Luzon from which the Japanese could attack the Navy ships in the Lingayen Gulf during MacArthur'
s landings, which were to begin on January 9, 1945.
Thus, on the morning of January 9 th American aircraft – again from the USS Hornet, carried out an attack on
shipping in Takao Harbor.
The following excerpts of the attack and the aftermath are adapted from Duane Heisinger’s book “Father
Found” –
[ Taking off from the carrier about 9:15 a.m. , the Navy aircraft flew initially at 500 feet then, after rounding
the southern tip of Formosa , climbed through scattered clouds, breaking into the clear at 6,500 feet. There
were sufficient aircraft to check out the airfields in the area, as well as the Takao Port.
The weather was clear over the harbor - “The only spot along the coast so favored” were the words in the
after-action report. The Hornet attack aircraft were carrying 250- and 500-pound bombs, while escorting
fighters were equipped for strafing and rocket attacks. The aircraft arrived over Takao Port an hour before
noon and began making “dives from east to west.”
The harbor was crowded with an estimated 25 ships in the small inner harbor, with more in the outer harbor.
“Some were moored in pairs, side by side, presenting unusually attractive targets. . . a bomber’s dream.” (The
Enoura Maru was in one of these two-ship nests.) The aircraft pushed over at 7,500 feet, with their bomb
release and pullout averaging 1,200 feet. “Four good hits were observed with others probable. Medium and
small anti-aircraft fire was intense and accurate with two aircraft hit on pullout. Heavy anti-aircraft was
moderate.” Aerial photographs show bombs striking near the bows of the two-ship nest, which included the
Enoura Maru. Over the next thirty minutes, two aircraft groups of five planes each continued the strikes. The
first group got six hits and the latter, three, on ships within the harbor. Cmdr Robert E. Riera, the Air Group
Eleven Commander, was the target co-ordinator of the effort from 11:00 to 11:30. His reports described the
overall effort: “The most successful anti-shipping strike flown by this squadron to date.” ]
Little did he know that his successes were against ships that were only carrying his own countrymen!
During the raid the Enoura Maru took several hits – maybe as many as five, according to some of the
surviving POWs. One of the bombs went right down into the forward hold, and according to survivor POW
Ulanowicz - “252 were killed in the forward hold, about 40 in rear hold.” Many more men were injured in
other parts of the ship as well.
[ C/O Col. Beecher wrote in his postwar memoir: “The bomb that did all of the damage had apparently hit the
ship just on the edge of the forward hold and what we had gotten [in the second hold] was the scattered
fragments. The force of the explosion knocked heavy wooden hatch covers and steel beams loose and rained
them down into the hold. Of the nearly 500 prisoners in the forward hold over 250 were killed outright and
many others died later of their wounds. Our total casualties were approximately 270 killed and 250 wounded.
. .” ]
Charles was in the first hold and narrowly escaped death and being crushed by the beams and planks by
quickly getting himself and a couple of the men near him close to the bulkhead. This saved their lives as the
beam missed hitting them by only about a foot.
[ In the second hold POW John Wright detailed the injuries: “There were broken arms, broken backs, broken
legs, hemorrhages and decapitations. Many men were badly bruised and shocked. The steel beams and heavy
wooden planks of the open hatch had been blown loose by exploding bombs and had fallen on the prisoners
below. It looked like a lot of men had been crushed. . . The hatch covers did the heavy damage; the steel
splinters and fragments did the rest.”
Devastation was everywhere. Col. Beecher wrote: “Marine Gunner Ferrell, one of my battalion officers, was
sitting - holding his head in his hands. One of his eyes had been blown out. One of the doctors bandaged
Ferrell up and gave him a sedative which was the strongest thing he had. Ferrell had no treatment for that
eye with the exception of occasionally washing it out. He sat for days suffering, tortured by the terrific pain.”
All of this suffering was greatly aggravated by the lack of medical help from the Japanese over the immediate
hours and the days that followed. The surviving military doctors, corpsmen and others within both holds did
what they could to prolong life and assist those who were wounded, but it was largely a losing battle,
especially for those men who had suffered serious wounds. The men were weak and fragile before the
bombing. They were much worse afterward with many just clinging to life. With no medical aid from the
Japanese they were doomed to die.
Surviving POW Amoroso wrote: “The Japs provided no medical supplies for the care of the wounded, and just
left us in that hold with those hundreds of mutilated bodies for two days.” Many of the injured died in the
next few days.
Finally on January 12th they began to remove the dead from the ship. The stronger and mostly younger men
were called upon to help remove the bodies. They placed the bodies - their comrades, friends of years, or
days, or just hours before, into a rope cargo net lowered into the holds. Few were now recognizable even to
close friends. The net then lifted these lifeless remains into cargo lighters brought alongside the damaged
Enoura Maru, and over the next three days more than 300 POWs were buried on the outer spit of Kaohsiung
Harbor in a mass grave. ]
The surviving 890 POWs were then put aboard the Brazil Maru and taken on to Japan. By the time they
reached Moji only 450 were alive, and within three months after arriving in Japan more than 100 more were
dead. Of the more than 1600 POWs who had started their journey to Japan on the Oryoku Maru a month
earlier, only about 400 survived the war.
In 1946, the American Graves Recovery Team exhumed the bodies of the men who were buried at Takao
following the bombing of the Enoura Maru, and they were later re-interred in the US National War Cemetery
in Hawaii.
In addition to the more than 300 American military POWs on the Enoura Maru that day, there were nine
British, one Canadian, one Australian, one Norwegian and four Czechoslovakians – all civilians, who had been
captured by the Japanese in the Philippines and were being sent with the Americans to Japan. There had also
been 34 British and Dutch POWs on board the Enoura Maru, but the day before the bombing they had been
taken off the ship and sent to Heito Camp east of Takao.
The men on the Enoura Maru – and many other hellships, suffered unspeakable horrors and hardships. Their
families also suffered greatly with the loss of husbands, sons and fathers. They have all sacrificed so much for
our freedom. It is for them that we are conducting this service of remembrance here today.
There were many acts of bravery during those days. Chaplain John Duffy ultimately survived the war and
returned home to the States. He shared this about a POW friend who, even though he was badly hurt himself,
tried to help and comfort his fellow POWs who he thought were in worse shape than he was. He ultimately
died from his injuries suffered during the bombing. Duffy said of this man “We were all Americans and
comrades, and he was a real comrade to his fellow soldiers in one of our darkest hours.”
Do you remember I spoke of Gunner Ferrell who had his eye blown out, and who suffered so much after the
bombing? Well, when the word went out across America over the past couple of weeks that we were holding
this memorial service today, I received an email from his son who lives in California. He said that his father
had survived the war, is still alive and celebrated his 97 th birthday two days ago on Friday – January 7th.
Gunner Ferrell sends his greetings and his thanks to all of us who are here on this day, to remember him and
the men who were here with him on that day - back in 1945.
84 year old ex-POW Charles Towne, when he heard of our upcoming service wanted to return, as he felt this
might be his last chance to take part in an event such as this. We are so honoured and happy to have him here
with us today. In a few minutes he will speak to us about his time here 60 years ago today.
Finally, Duane Heisinger, the son of one of the men who died on the Enoura Maru that day has written. . .”
This was the end of my father’s earthly journey. His life ended at age 42 on the upper platform within the No.
2 hold of the Japanese freighter Enoura Maru in the port of Takao, Formosa. There were no goodbyes for
these men, as many died quickly or soon after, from their injuries received in the bombing.”
Today we are here to say goodbye and to honor these men for their courage and sacrifice in the terrible
tragedy that befell them here 60 years ago. We, as expats, and free Taiwanese would not be standing here
today if it were not for these men who were here in this harbor before us those many years ago and gave their
lives for our freedom. May we never forget them – ever!
Address given at the Memorial Service for the men who suffered and died on the hellship Enoura Maru
at KaohsiungTaiwan - on January 9, 1945 by Michael Hurst MBE, Director, Taiwan POW Camps
Memorial Society - January 9 th 2005
Copyright - Taiwan POW Camps Memorial Society
called the Oryoku Maru. The next day aircraft from the USS Hornet strafed and bombed the ship but did not
sink it. The following day they returned and sank the crippled ship, with the loss of more than 300 POW lives.
Our special guest, surviving POW Charles Towne, was aboard the Oryoku Maru and during his attempt to
swim to shore he found several mates who, unable to swim were crying out for help. He towed them in a
human chain through the water to the beach, and then at great risk to himself, went back out into the water
and found more men and brought them to shore the same way. He was later awarded commendations for his
bravery.
Following the bombing of the Oryoku Maru, those POWs who survived were re-assembled at San Fernando
La Union, PI and put aboard two more hellships to continue their journey to Japan. About 1,040 men were
forced into one hold of the Enoura Maru, and the remaining 240 men went on the Brazil Maru. The Enoura
Maru had previously been used to transport horses and the hold was filthy with manure. On its last trip the
Brazil Maru had carried coal. Neither hold was cleaned out before the POWs were forced down into them.
Some of the POWs were so hungry that they ate grain that had been dropped by the horses when they were
feeding, and which was now mixed in with the manure.
The Enoura and Brazil Marus left the Philippines on December 27, 1944 and headed north. All of the POWs on
the Enoura Maru were crammed into the second hold aft of the bow. The POWs suffered terribly from
hunger, thirst and the filth that pervaded the holds of the two hellships. Diseases broke out and many of the
men were violently ill. On December 31 – New Year’s Eve - they reached Takao ( Kaohsiung ), Formosa.
Once in Takao, the deprivation continued as the Japanese celebrated their New Year holiday for four days and
left the POWs to fend for themselves during that time. The prisoners had little food or water from January 1 –
4, and thirty-four died on the Enoura Maru, and five died on the Brazil Maru.
By January 6, ten men had died on the Brazil Maru and then the remaining 230 were transferred across the
harbor to the Enoura Maru. At this time some 240 POWs from the second hold on the Enoura Maru were
moved up into the first hold to join the men from the Brazil Maru who had been put there. This made a total
of about 470 men in the first hold.
At this same time, General MacArthur’s invasion force was about to land in the Lingayen Gulf in the Northern
Philippines, and Admiral Halsey was tasked with striking air bases primarily in southern Formosa and in
Northern Luzon from which the Japanese could attack the Navy ships in the Lingayen Gulf during MacArthur'
s landings, which were to begin on January 9, 1945.
Thus, on the morning of January 9 th American aircraft – again from the USS Hornet, carried out an attack on
shipping in Takao Harbor.
The following excerpts of the attack and the aftermath are adapted from Duane Heisinger’s book “Father
Found” –
[ Taking off from the carrier about 9:15 a.m. , the Navy aircraft flew initially at 500 feet then, after rounding
the southern tip of Formosa , climbed through scattered clouds, breaking into the clear at 6,500 feet. There
were sufficient aircraft to check out the airfields in the area, as well as the Takao Port.
The weather was clear over the harbor - “The only spot along the coast so favored” were the words in the
after-action report. The Hornet attack aircraft were carrying 250- and 500-pound bombs, while escorting
fighters were equipped for strafing and rocket attacks. The aircraft arrived over Takao Port an hour before
noon and began making “dives from east to west.”
The harbor was crowded with an estimated 25 ships in the small inner harbor, with more in the outer harbor.
“Some were moored in pairs, side by side, presenting unusually attractive targets. . . a bomber’s dream.” (The
Enoura Maru was in one of these two-ship nests.) The aircraft pushed over at 7,500 feet, with their bomb
release and pullout averaging 1,200 feet. “Four good hits were observed with others probable. Medium and
small anti-aircraft fire was intense and accurate with two aircraft hit on pullout. Heavy anti-aircraft was
moderate.” Aerial photographs show bombs striking near the bows of the two-ship nest, which included the
Enoura Maru. Over the next thirty minutes, two aircraft groups of five planes each continued the strikes. The
first group got six hits and the latter, three, on ships within the harbor. Cmdr Robert E. Riera, the Air Group
Eleven Commander, was the target co-ordinator of the effort from 11:00 to 11:30. His reports described the
overall effort: “The most successful anti-shipping strike flown by this squadron to date.” ]
Little did he know that his successes were against ships that were only carrying his own countrymen!
During the raid the Enoura Maru took several hits – maybe as many as five, according to some of the
surviving POWs. One of the bombs went right down into the forward hold, and according to survivor POW
Ulanowicz - “252 were killed in the forward hold, about 40 in rear hold.” Many more men were injured in
other parts of the ship as well.
[ C/O Col. Beecher wrote in his postwar memoir: “The bomb that did all of the damage had apparently hit the
ship just on the edge of the forward hold and what we had gotten [in the second hold] was the scattered
fragments. The force of the explosion knocked heavy wooden hatch covers and steel beams loose and rained
them down into the hold. Of the nearly 500 prisoners in the forward hold over 250 were killed outright and
many others died later of their wounds. Our total casualties were approximately 270 killed and 250 wounded.
. .” ]
Charles was in the first hold and narrowly escaped death and being crushed by the beams and planks by
quickly getting himself and a couple of the men near him close to the bulkhead. This saved their lives as the
beam missed hitting them by only about a foot.
[ In the second hold POW John Wright detailed the injuries: “There were broken arms, broken backs, broken
legs, hemorrhages and decapitations. Many men were badly bruised and shocked. The steel beams and heavy
wooden planks of the open hatch had been blown loose by exploding bombs and had fallen on the prisoners
below. It looked like a lot of men had been crushed. . . The hatch covers did the heavy damage; the steel
splinters and fragments did the rest.”
Devastation was everywhere. Col. Beecher wrote: “Marine Gunner Ferrell, one of my battalion officers, was
sitting - holding his head in his hands. One of his eyes had been blown out. One of the doctors bandaged
Ferrell up and gave him a sedative which was the strongest thing he had. Ferrell had no treatment for that
eye with the exception of occasionally washing it out. He sat for days suffering, tortured by the terrific pain.”
All of this suffering was greatly aggravated by the lack of medical help from the Japanese over the immediate
hours and the days that followed. The surviving military doctors, corpsmen and others within both holds did
what they could to prolong life and assist those who were wounded, but it was largely a losing battle,
especially for those men who had suffered serious wounds. The men were weak and fragile before the
bombing. They were much worse afterward with many just clinging to life. With no medical aid from the
Japanese they were doomed to die.
Surviving POW Amoroso wrote: “The Japs provided no medical supplies for the care of the wounded, and just
left us in that hold with those hundreds of mutilated bodies for two days.” Many of the injured died in the
next few days.
Finally on January 12th they began to remove the dead from the ship. The stronger and mostly younger men
were called upon to help remove the bodies. They placed the bodies - their comrades, friends of years, or
days, or just hours before, into a rope cargo net lowered into the holds. Few were now recognizable even to
close friends. The net then lifted these lifeless remains into cargo lighters brought alongside the damaged
Enoura Maru, and over the next three days more than 300 POWs were buried on the outer spit of Kaohsiung
Harbor in a mass grave. ]
The surviving 890 POWs were then put aboard the Brazil Maru and taken on to Japan. By the time they
reached Moji only 450 were alive, and within three months after arriving in Japan more than 100 more were
dead. Of the more than 1600 POWs who had started their journey to Japan on the Oryoku Maru a month
earlier, only about 400 survived the war.
In 1946, the American Graves Recovery Team exhumed the bodies of the men who were buried at Takao
following the bombing of the Enoura Maru, and they were later re-interred in the US National War Cemetery
in Hawaii.
In addition to the more than 300 American military POWs on the Enoura Maru that day, there were nine
British, one Canadian, one Australian, one Norwegian and four Czechoslovakians – all civilians, who had been
captured by the Japanese in the Philippines and were being sent with the Americans to Japan. There had also
been 34 British and Dutch POWs on board the Enoura Maru, but the day before the bombing they had been
taken off the ship and sent to Heito Camp east of Takao.
The men on the Enoura Maru – and many other hellships, suffered unspeakable horrors and hardships. Their
families also suffered greatly with the loss of husbands, sons and fathers. They have all sacrificed so much for
our freedom. It is for them that we are conducting this service of remembrance here today.
There were many acts of bravery during those days. Chaplain John Duffy ultimately survived the war and
returned home to the States. He shared this about a POW friend who, even though he was badly hurt himself,
tried to help and comfort his fellow POWs who he thought were in worse shape than he was. He ultimately
died from his injuries suffered during the bombing. Duffy said of this man “We were all Americans and
comrades, and he was a real comrade to his fellow soldiers in one of our darkest hours.”
Do you remember I spoke of Gunner Ferrell who had his eye blown out, and who suffered so much after the
bombing? Well, when the word went out across America over the past couple of weeks that we were holding
this memorial service today, I received an email from his son who lives in California. He said that his father
had survived the war, is still alive and celebrated his 97 th birthday two days ago on Friday – January 7th.
Gunner Ferrell sends his greetings and his thanks to all of us who are here on this day, to remember him and
the men who were here with him on that day - back in 1945.
84 year old ex-POW Charles Towne, when he heard of our upcoming service wanted to return, as he felt this
might be his last chance to take part in an event such as this. We are so honoured and happy to have him here
with us today. In a few minutes he will speak to us about his time here 60 years ago today.
Finally, Duane Heisinger, the son of one of the men who died on the Enoura Maru that day has written. . .”
This was the end of my father’s earthly journey. His life ended at age 42 on the upper platform within the No.
2 hold of the Japanese freighter Enoura Maru in the port of Takao, Formosa. There were no goodbyes for
these men, as many died quickly or soon after, from their injuries received in the bombing.”
Today we are here to say goodbye and to honor these men for their courage and sacrifice in the terrible
tragedy that befell them here 60 years ago. We, as expats, and free Taiwanese would not be standing here
today if it were not for these men who were here in this harbor before us those many years ago and gave their
lives for our freedom. May we never forget them – ever!
Address given at the Memorial Service for the men who suffered and died on the hellship Enoura Maru
at KaohsiungTaiwan - on January 9, 1945 by Michael Hurst MBE, Director, Taiwan POW Camps
Memorial Society - January 9 th 2005
Copyright - Taiwan POW Camps Memorial Society
| Bombing of Enoura Maru by U.S. aircraft from the USS Hornet - January 9, 1945 |
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