Expedition locates wreck of World War II-sunk ship Montevideo Maru

April 24, 2023



On Saturday (Friday ), Australian Deputy Prime Minister announced on Twitter a team led by the Australia-based Silentworld Foundation had located the South China Sea wreck of the . The ship was a Japanese merchant marine vessel carrying prisoners of war (POWs) when the United States torpedoed it in 1942, during World War II, killing 1,080.

The ship's wreckage was found northwest of Luzon, Philippines, over down, deeper than the wreck of the RMS Titanic.

Accompanied by deep-sea specialists from Dutch company and supported by the, the Silentworld team searched for twelve days around Luzon using an  equipped with.

On July 1, 1942, POWs captured in, Papua New Guinea were  to , which was under Japanese occupation, aboard the Montevideo Maru. The POWs were both civilians and military and were citizens of fourteen countries; 864 were of the.

The ship was not marked as carrying POWs and a submarine of the United States Navy fired torpedoes at the ship, sinking it.

Efforts to recover human remains from the Montevideo Maru were not planned according to the Silentworld Foundation; however, the Foundation was considering commemorative events for July 1, the anniversary of the sinking.

"This brings to an end one of the most tragic chapters in Australia's maritime history," Marles said. "[Knowing] the location of this wreck provides comfort and relief to so many Australian families."

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: "The extraordinary effort behind this discovery speaks for the enduring truth of Australia's solemn national promise to always remember and honor those who served our country".

"I want to thank the Silentworld team and the dedicated researchers, including the Unrecovered War Casualties team at Army, who have never given up hope of finding the final resting place of the Montevideo Maru," Lieutenant General said. "A loss like this reaches down through the decades and reminds us all of the human cost of conflict. ."