Incriminating evidence in the archives
The wreck, at a depth of around 50 meters, was discovered by a team led by explorer Josh Gates in cooperation with the Hellships Memorial Foundation and the Dutch Cultural Heritage Agency (RCE). For years it was assumed the ship lay elsewhere — until researchers tracked down documents in both American and Japanese military archives that shifted the sinking site by more than 30 miles (roughly 50 kilometers). Cultural Heritage Agency (RCE) ↗"We were completely stunned that Japanese sources knew where the convoy was attacked and which ships were hit — that was the incriminating evidence," said Randy Anderson of the foundation. Sonar first confirmed the unknown wreck, and subsequent deep dives revealed human remains among the debris. Authorities therefore consider the site a protected war grave and will not disturb it. Warner Bros. Discovery ↗
Why they are called hell ships
The Hofuku Maru was one of dozens of Japanese transports the Allies called "hell ships." Japan used them to transport prisoners without any Red Cross markings — making them indistinguishable from ordinary cargo vessels to American submarines and airmen. To the pilots, the Hofuku Maru appeared to be part of military convoy MATA-27, all eleven ships of which the Allies sent to the bottom. Hofuku Maru – Wikipedia ↗The men in the hold had already spent weeks waiting in Manila in heat, hunger, and thirst. Their fate was not unusual: according to historical estimates, more than 20,000 Allied prisoners died aboard hell ships — thousands of them in Allied attacks whose crews had no idea their own countrymen were on board. Hell ship – Wikipedia ↗
US recovers remains from another hell ship
The discovery comes at a time when the United States is also revisiting hell ships elsewhere. Since February 2026, the US Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) has been recovering remains from the wreck of the Oryoku Maru, another Japanese transport sunk off the Philippines in December 1944. Military.com ↗More than 1,600 Allied prisoners were aboard; as many as 250 Americans may still lie within its hull. A fifteen-member diving team is working from the vessel USNS Salvor, and the agency describes it as the most complex underwater operation in the history of its search for the missing. Military.com ↗
What hotinfo is watching
Whether the Hofuku Maru retains its status as an undisturbed war grave, or whether — as with the Oryoku Maru — a recovery of remains is later undertaken.The response of the Dutch and British governments and survivors' associations to the ship's identification.
Progress of the US operation at the Oryoku Maru and the number of victims identified.
Whether archival lists can be used to match specific names to the prisoners aboard the Hofuku Maru.
