The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru

It was 7.04 am on the 1st of October 1942, when Lieutenant Commander (Lt Cdr) Rob Roy McGregor, commander of the USS Grouper gave the order to fire 3 torpedoes. Travelling at a speed of 33.5 knots, over a distance of 3200 yards it would take just over two minutes for them to reach their target, the Japanese passenger freighter Lisbon Maru. Had Lt Cdr McGregor known what was on, or rather in the ship, he would probably never given the order to fire.

The Lisbon Maru had set sail from Hong Kong at daybreak on the 27th September on board were:

• 379 sailors from the Royal Navy
• 373 soldiers from the 2nd Battalion Royal Scots
• 366 soldiers from the 1st Battalion Middlesex Regiment
• 360 soldiers from the Royal Artillery
• 172 soldiers from the Royal Engineers
• 129 soldiers from the Royal Corps of Signals
• 22 soldiers from the Royal Army Medical Corps
• 2 soldiers from the Royal Army Dental Corps
• 1 soldier from The Royal Army Service Corps

In addition there were 5 from the Hong Kong Police Force and 5 civilians.

These were split into 3 holds. Hold one commanded by Lieutenant J.T. Pollock and two commanded by Lieutenant Colonel H.W.M. (Monkey) Stewart, who was the senior British officer on board, were in front of the bridge and hold three was abaft of the bridge which was commanded by Major Pitt. The soldiers, were not in the greatest of health, having been on poor rations for months, most were suffering from malnutrition, exhaustion, and disease. They were in appalling cramped conditions with poor ventilation, almost zero sanitation and not enough room for every soldier to be able to lie or sit at the same time.

The two-level holds had been fitted out with two tiers per level of roughly hewn timber on which the prisoners would be accommodated. Hold No. 1 was filled by Royal Navy personnel although some were later transferred into hold 2; Hold No. 2 (the main hold) was filled with members of the Middlesex Regiment, Royal Scots plus a number of smaller units. Hold No. 3 contained members of the Royal Artillery and again as this was full, some more fortunate individuals went into Hold No. 2.

Also on board were the ship's Captain Kiyoda Shigeru, Lt Hideo Wada an army interpreter in charge of the British prisoners, 25 Japanese guards and 778 Japanese soldiers who were either wounded or returning home to Japan.

Knowing that the American Navy had submarines in the area who were actively seeking out with orders to sink any Japanese commercial shipping, Captain Shigeru chose to keep as close to the coastline as possible, he knew that the Japanese were constantly in the skies looking for submarines but could not rely on them being in the vicinity at the right time.

The Lisbon Maru had been at sea for four days, when the USS Grouper picked up her tracks heading north along with some small sampans. At 4.00 am on the 1st of October, Lt Cdr McGregor, whilst unable to press home the attack due to bright moonlight, decided to plot the freighter's course and then at full speed get ahead of the freighter and then lie in wait for it to appear on what he believed would be the Lisbon Maru's favoured course.

At 6.30 am the Lisbon Maru suddenly changed course, believing that they would miss their chance, Lt Cdr McGregor gave the order to dive and prepare to launch torpedoes.

At 7.04 am three torpedoes left their tubes fired at the closest range attainable (3,200 yards), all three missed the Lisbon Maru. McGregor immediately ordered another torpedo to be launched and 2 minutes and 10 seconds later there was the sound of a massive explosion as the torpedo hit the Lisbon Maru's fuel tanks. He now ordered his vessel to move position. On the Lisbon Maru, soldiers started firing at the submarine with rifles and ran up a flag requesting not to be fired upon.

At 8.45 am the Grouper fired torpedo number five, although it passed close to the hull of the Lisbon Maru, it did no further damage. Now another torpedo was prepared to be launched but at the last moment the Lisbon Maru listed avoiding the intended path of the torpedo.

The Grouper was re-positioned once again and aiming at the stern of the ship fired its final torpedo at 9.37 am, scoring a direct hit! At this point a Japanese light bomber arrived on the scene and the Grouper had to dive immediately.

In the holds the prisoners realised something was very wrong, they could hear the sound of gunfire, the ship was shaking and then slowly came to a stop. Unsure what was going on some of the prisoners tried to get on deck for air and a little space but were prevented from doing so, by the guards who had taken up positions at the entrances to the holds. Over the next few hours the routine that had been the norm over the last few days changed. The prisoners received no food or water and power to the holds had been cut off.

In hold three amidships, the situation was deteriorating rapidly, the hold was flooding and it was left to the prisoners to look after themselves. The soldiers were pumping water as fast as they could but in their weakened state it was becoming a losing battle; the incoming seawater was relentless and the stern of the ship was getting lower and lower.

In the afternoon, a Japanese destroyer believed to be the Kuri arrived on the scene and at about 5.00 pm the 778 Japanese soldiers began to transfer to the destroyer. As this was happening another Japanese freighter the Toyokuni Maru arrived and the commanders of all three ships went aboard the Lisbon Maru for a meeting. It was decided to remove the remaining Japanese to the Toyokuni Maru leaving only twenty-five soldiers on board to guard the prisoners. At the same time, they decided that the stricken ship should be towed to shallower waters to await rescue.

The hatches were closed and secured with battens to prevent problems from the prisoners, Lt Col Stewart protested and asked for at least one batten to be removed for air, Captain Shigeru sympathized but Lt Wada quarreled over this and told them that it was a military operation and he was in charge. So, the holds were covered with tarpaulins and tied down. Inside it was pitch black. The prisoners settled down for a very uncomfortable night.

At daybreak on the 2nd October the ship began to sway violently from side to side, it was becoming apparent that the Lisbon Maru was not going to make it to shallow waters. In the holds under Col Stewarts direction, the prisoners began to try and break out.

At 8.10 am a signal was sent asking permission to abandon ship, lifeboats were sent over and removed the crew and most of the guards.

Around 9.00 am Lt Howell and Lt Potter managed to open their hatch and with four others made their way on deck and began moving towards the bridge. The remaining Japanese soldiers opened fire, killing Potter and wounding another. The others went back to the hold, informing Stewart that the ship was now very low in the water. Above deck, the remaining Japanese had been taken off and the towline was released. The British prisoners and the sinking ship were now on their own.

The stern of the Lisbon Maru was now underwater and large amounts of seawater was now pouring into hold three, effectively drowning all of those trapped inside. The prisoners in holds one and two had broken out and although they didn't have lifejackets, they grabbed anything that would float. Seeing this the Japanese soldiers onboard the nearby ships, began shooting at the men in the water or used their small boats to run them down.

As the ship was sinking, the sea was littered with debris, the nearest land to the disaster were two small Chinese islands called Qingbang and Miaozihu, the main industry of the occupants of the islands was fishing. Initially the fishermen didn't know of the events nearby, but as the rubbish, wreckage and dead bodies began to wash up on the shore, the fishermen realised that something was very wrong and once the alarm was raised, set out in their tiny boats to see if they could help.

The fishing boats were small and could only carry about 6 to 8 people, but the fishermen made trip upon trip, rescuing the tired, malnourished and drowning men. With the intervention of the fishermen in the area, the Japanese stopped shooting and actually began to help rescue the drowning men. In total the Chinese fishermen, saved 384 men from the sea.

The next morning, the Japanese landed on the islands and began rounding up the survivors. Not wishing for any harm to come to the fishermen and their families, most surrendered, any that were in hiding gave themselves up over the next few days. All that is except three J.C. Fallace, W.C. Johnstone, and A.J.W. Evans, who having been hidden in a cave, managed with the help of the fishermen to get off the islands and taken to the mainland. There with the help of the free Chinese managed to escape to freedom.

Out of the 1,834 prisoners that boarded the Lisbon Maru, 828 died on the journey, went down with the ship, drowned in the sea, or were killed in the massacre afterwards. For the remaining survivors, rescue and recapture was not going to be anything that they would be thankful for!