Death on the Hellships: Prisoners at Sea in the Pacific War

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Naval Institute Press, 2001 - History - 366 pages
"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. More than 126,000 Allied prisoners were transported in the hellships with more than 21,000 fatalities. While beatings, starvation, and disease caused many of the deaths, 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 - at times high-level decisions were made to sink Japanese ships despite the presence of POWs. The statistics led Michno to conclude that it was more dangerous to be a prisoner on the Japanese hellships than a U.S. Marine fighting in the campaign.

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Contents

1943
62
AN UNEASY STASIS
87
1944
101
Copyright

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About the author (2001)

Gregory F. Michno has won numerous awards for his books, which include "Lakota Noon", an Indian perspective to the Battle of Little Bighorn. He works for the state of Michigan's department of social services in Ypsilanti.

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