US begins recovery of WWII POWs from sunken Japanese ship

By Kaela Patricia B. Gabriel

US Begins WWII POW Recovery From Sunken Japanese Ship

The US has begun an underwater excavation in Subic Bay to recover the remains of more than 250 American prisoners of war (POW) who died aboard a sunken Japanese transport ship during World War II, US defense officials said.

The operation focuses on the Oryoku Maru, a Japanese vessel carrying about 2,500 Allied POWs when it was mistakenly attacked by US aircraft in December 1944 and later sank in Philippine waters.

The ship became known as one of Japan’s so‑called “hell ships” due to the high number of prisoner deaths.

The operation, described as the biggest of its kind by the US Defense Prisoners of War Missing in Action Accounting Agency (DPAA), began in February after three years of site research and preparation.

“We estimate there might be over 250 missing Americans in the hold of the ship,” DPAA Director Kelly McKeague told a virtual news briefing from Washington DC on Wednesday. “They might be limited to one of two holds and that’s where the divers are currently operating on.”

“This mission is rooted in a sacred promise that the United States will search for, recover and identify the remains of Americans missing from past wars,” Mr. McKeague said.

The DPAA first deployed underwater vehicles to Subic Bay three years ago to survey the wreck and generate a three‑dimensional image of the site, which paved the way for the excavation.

Mr. McKeague said the agency has received strong support from both the national and local governments, including the Armed Forces of the Philippines, to help manage the complex recovery work.

The DPAA is also working closely with the National Museum of the Philippines, which has studied wrecks in Subic Bay since the 1990s and previously surveyed the Oryoku Maru site.

While the POW recovery effort is the DPAA’s primary mission in the country, Mr. McKeague said the agency operates year‑round in the Philippines, with teams also deployed in Leyte and Mindoro. He said the sustained presence has helped deepen cooperation between the two countries.

Beyond POW recovery, the DPAA is also involved in clearing unexploded ordnance across the Indo‑Pacific region, including in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

The agency conducts humanitarian activities such as forensic training, recovery missions and ordnance removal in partnership with 54 host nations.

Later this year, the DPAA plans to host a regional summit on forensic archaeological sciences, bringing together countries including the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Malaysia and Indonesia.