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Death on the Hellships: Prisoners at Sea in the Pacific War Hardcover – January 1, 2001

by Gregory F. Michno (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 22 ratings
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The Japanese treatment of prisoners of war in World War II has been written about before, but only with this chronicle will readers come to appreciate the true dimensions of the Allied POW experience at sea. It is a disturbing story that for many made the Bataan Death March pale by comparison. The survivors describe their ordeal in the Japanese hellships as the absolute worst experience of their captivity. Crammed by the thousands into the holds of ships and moved from island to island and put to work, they endured all the horrors of the prison camps magnified ten-fold.

Gregory Michno draws on American, British, Australian, and Dutch POW accounts as well as Japanese convoy histories, recently declassified radio intelligence reports, and a wealth of archival sources to present for the first time a detailed picture of what happened and the extent of the prisoners involved. His findings are startling. More than 150,000 Allied prisoners were transported in the hellships with more than 21,000 fatalities. While many of the deaths were attributable to beatings, starvation, disease, and lack of food and water, the most, Michno reports, were caused by Allied bombs, bullets, and torpedoes. He further reports that this so-called friendly fire was not always accidental--apparently at times it was more important to sink Japanese ships than to worry about POWs. The statistics led Michno to conclude that it was more lethal to be a prisoner on the Japanese hellships than a U.S. Marine fighting in the campaign. His careful examination of the role of U.S. submarines in the sinkings and the rescue of POWs makes yet another significant contribution to the history of the war in the Pacific.

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  1. Print length
    366 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Naval Inst Pr
  4. Publication date
    January 1, 2001
  5. Dimensions
    6.5 x 1.25 x 9.5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1557504822
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1557504821
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"...belongs in every sophisticated collection of WW II history." -- Choice, February 2002

From the Publisher

Foreword Magazine Book of the Year Award Finalist - History Category

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Naval Inst Pr; First Edition (January 1, 2001)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 366 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1557504822
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1557504821
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.45 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1.25 x 9.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 22 ratings

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Gregory Michno

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
22 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Thomas Stadtmiller
5.0 out of 5 stars Hellships
Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2011
Verified Purchase
Mr Michno's "Death on the Hellships" is thorough. I have a special interest in such history because my father Frederick A Stadtmiller of the 803rd Aviation Engineering Battalion was taken prisoner on Bataan. Although he is never nmentioned by name in the book, and I could never expect every POW's name to be listed, my dad was on the hellship Nissyo Maru that left Manila 17 July 1944 for Kyushu. He was in POW camp Fukuoka-23 Keisen working in coal mines. He only told us, his kids, a very watered down version of his experiences. I suspect he suffered what we now call post-traumatic stress and didn't want to remember his ordeal as a "Nip POW" as he used to call it.
I was able to fill in many blanks by reading Mr Michno's account. Interestingly, I have several Japanese acquaintances whose parents were involved in the war and they were told even less that I was. The Japanese definitely wanted to forget this nightmare in their history. Unfortunately for them, it was their own people who brought it on themselves. I would hope more children of ex-POWs might add what they were told about their fathers' experiences as a "Nip POW".

Tom Stadtmiller- 4 August 2011
6 people found this helpful
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Mary Josephine G. Rollorata
5.0 out of 5 stars Got the book in good condition.
Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2023
Verified Purchase
Well packaging. Book is in a good condition.
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THE BRIT
4.0 out of 5 stars Death on the Hellships
Reviewed in the United States on June 24, 2014
Verified Purchase
It was interesting since my Uncle was on the Lisbon Maru when it was mistakenly sank by the U.S. We were aware of some of the horrible torture that the English soldiers endured by the Japanese from survivors.
One person found this helpful
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Bearcat Chris
5.0 out of 5 stars Horrifying, but great read!
Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2020
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I don't know how those poor POW's survived a day on these hellships. Great, but sad read. Tells you about a side of war nobody ever thinks about.
One person found this helpful
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Sandra Meades
5.0 out of 5 stars How grim were the hellships?
Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2013
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My grandfather was a POW who was transported from Formosa to Moji in 1942 in the Singapore Maru.
The details in this book answered a few of the questions that I had about this transport in ww2. I now want to find out more..................
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David Hess
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on June 16, 2017
Verified Purchase
very concise and well researched book.My uncle perished on a Hell Ship October 25,1944.
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Bruce Trinque
5.0 out of 5 stars A harrowing history of a maritime Dante's Inferno
Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2001
Gregory Michno's "Death on the Hellships: Prisoners at Sea in the Pacific War" is a harrowing account of one of the nearly forgotten stories of World War Two - the experiences of Allied POW's aboard Japanese transport ships. These prisoners, most of them captured during the early months of the war in the Pacific, passed through nearly unimaginable horrors, brutally mistreated by their captors, subjected to starvation, beatings, and deprivation of water, and held in crowded, grossly unsanitary conditions. And they often fell victim to Allied torpedoes and bombs. More than 20,000 Allied POW's died at sea, most of them when the transport ships carrying them were attacked by U.S. submarines and aircraft. Although Allied headquarters often knew of the presence of POW's aboard vessels targeted for attack through radio interception and code breaking, the general policy was to sink the ships anyway, evidently on the basis that the interdiction of critical strategic materials was more important in the long run than the deaths of prisoners-of-war.
"Death on the Hellships" is a veritable Dante's Inferno at sea, the tragedies chronicled month by month. Michno's research into previously classified records and with survivor first-hand accounts far surpasses that of anyone who has touched upon this topic before, and he deserves great credit for rescuing this important story before it was lost forever in the fog of the past. It is not a tale for the faint-hearted. Although the subject covers too broad a time and geographical area to permit in-depth narratives of every prison ship voyage, Michno does provide a wealth of survivor stories illustrating the experiences of these unfortunate men and women. Anyone who reads the history of this tragic episode of modern war will not soon forget it.
15 people found this helpful
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Derry and Bill Dean
3.0 out of 5 stars Very Detailed History
Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2013
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Excellent historical true stories of the Allied POWS forced to endure inhumane treatment from their Japanese captors. Almost too factual for the average reader.
3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

PAMMY
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 4, 2017
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Very good
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Geoffrey Bridge
4.0 out of 5 stars Rakuyo Maru
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 7, 2020
Verified Purchase
One of my relations died when the hell ship he was on as a POW was sunk by a US submarine. This book has helped me to piece together his time as a POW. The UK government made light of the atrocities inflicted on our service personnel by the Japanese military.
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Geoffrey Bridge
4.0 out of 5 stars Rakuyo Maru
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 7, 2020
One of my relations died when the hell ship he was on as a POW was sunk by a US submarine. This book has helped me to piece together his time as a POW. The UK government made light of the atrocities inflicted on our service personnel by the Japanese military.
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One person found this helpful
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