World War II Hell Ships

The Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Manila, Philippines

The Empire of Japan required great numbers of workers – often enslaved or coerced – and huge quantities of oil and other raw materials in order to wage war against the Allies. Japanese Hell Ships became integral to the massive effort to keep their war machine running. As Japanese forces picked up more and more Allied prisoners of war between 1942 and 1944, the cargo-laden vessels doubled as prisoner transports, obscuring any distinction between ships that should be attacked and ships that should be spared. In the process of sinking these vessels, the U.S. Navy and allied forces unknowingly drowned many of their own men who were trapped and concealed in the holds. 

The bays of the ships were usually built in double tiers in the hold. Each bay measured approximately 7 feet by 8 feet. Twenty men were jammed into each bay. Once each bay was filled, the remaining space in the hold was filled with more men who were packed in so tightly they had to remain standing. The standing men virtually cut off all air for men in the bays. The heat was horrific and the air stifling; men were bathed in sweat almost immediately and began to pass out from suffocation and dehydration. Many of these men were survivors of the Bataan death marches and were already weak and malnourished. As word leaked out about the conditions on these ships, they became known as “Hell Ships.”

More than 20,000 Allied soldiers perished in the Hell Ships, either in the deadly conditions of the ships’ holds or from the Allied bombings of the ships (not knowing of their human cargo). Of those who lost their lives, TPWM has firmly identified nineteen that were from the Texas Panhandle. 

Texas Panhandle War Memorial solemnly remembers the following men, all who are memorialized at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial as well as on the monoliths in our Memorial Garden:

(No Pictures)
CPL Abel Anaya, Hale County – 22 years old
PVT James C Bradley, Friona – 21 years old
CPL Melvin Charles Harsh, Pampa – 25 years old
PFC John Joseph Putnam, Jr., Pampa – 27 years old
PVT Ernest Edward Worm, Dimmitt – 21 years old