Explorers find a sunken World War II ship with over 1,000 Allied POWs

SYDNEY – A team of explorers announces they have found a sunken Japanese ship transporting Allied prisoners when it was torpedoed off the coast of the Philippines in 1942, resulting in Australia’s largest wartime naval loss of 1,080 lives.

The wreck of the Montevideo Maru was found after 12 days of searching at a depth of more than 4,000 meters (13,120 feet) – deeper than the Titanic – off Luzon Island in the South China Sea, using an autonomous underwater vehicle with built-in sonar. .

There will be no efforts to remove artifacts or human remains out of respect for the families of those who have died, said a statement on Saturday from Sydney-based Silentworld, a non-profit organization dedicated to archeology and maritime history. It participated in the mission together with Dutch deep-sea survey specialists Fugro and the Australian Ministry of Defence.

“The extraordinary effort behind this discovery speaks to the enduring truth of Australia’s solemn national promise to remember and honor those who have always served our country,” said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. “This is the heart and soul of lest we forget.”

The Montevideo Maru was transporting prisoners and civilians captured after the fall of Rabaul in Papua New Guinea. The ship was not marked as carrying prisoners of war, and on July 1, 1942, the American submarine Sturgeon, after chasing the ship all night, fired four torpedoes, found their target, and sank the ship in less than 10 minutes.

Among the dead were 1,080 people from 14 countries, including 979 Australians.

“Families waited years for news of their missing loved ones, before learning of the tragic outcome of the drowning,” said John Mullen, director of Silentworld. “Some have never accepted that their loved ones were among the victims. Today, by finding the ship, we hope to close the many families devastated by this terrible disaster.”