Eighty years after the sinking of the hellship, the Oyuko Maru, in December 1944, the DPAA undertook a daring, multi-year expedition to the Philippine Sea. The Japanese Inferno ship was inadvertently bombed by the United States in December 1944, resulting in more than 1,600 prisoners of war disembarking with the ship, of whom about 250 Americans remain missing.
USNS Salvor is the base for Navy divers and forensic anthropologists conducting recovery efforts at a depth of 90 feet under conditions of zero visibility and entangled in crushed metal. This effort was authorized under the Sunken Military Vehicles Act and represents the United States’ commitment to providing the most comprehensive information possible on soldiers who experienced the worst sea conditions of the Pacific War.
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The Tragedy of the Hell Ship Oryoku Maru
According to U.S. Navy history, in December 1944, the Oryoku Maru, one of Japan’s notorious “hell ships,” was carrying more than 1,600 Allied prisoners of war when it was attacked by U.S. Navy aircraft from the USS Hornet.
Unaware that their compatriots were trapped in the dark and stifling, American pilots launched 17 separate air strikes over three days. Naval History and Heritage Command records describe chaos and madness below decks as severe drought and suffocation took their toll before the ship finally came to rest at the bottom of Subic Bay.
Pentagon High-definition search for 250 missing Americans
The Department of Defense/Prisoner of War Accounting Agency (DPAA) sent a specialized team to the Philippine Sea to begin the complex process of excavation in the Orioco Maru.
Fifteen divers from the salvage and salvage ship USNS Salvor are working at a depth of about 90 feet to try to recover remains that have been trapped for more than 80 years, especially the 250 Americans who were missing. The site represents a “mass of steel” covered by extensive layers of river silt, making underwater visibility close to zero, necessitating high-precision forensic dredging to separate biological evidence from the wreckage.
Legal protection under the Sunken Military Vehicles Act
The recovery process is strictly regulated under the Sunken Military Vehicles Act (SMCA) of 2004, which gives the United States “sovereign protected status” for its sunken military vehicles and the remains of its service personnel, regardless of the waters in which they lie. This federal law ensures that the Ōryoku Maru is a protected site and that any unauthorized salvage or looting is prevented. The mission is a formal diplomatic partnership with the Philippine government in order to fulfill the “full accounting possible” policy regarding missing personnel.