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Tasmanian Seafarers' Memorial
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Tasmanian Prisoners of War (1942)
The plaque reads ...
Tasmanian
Prisoners
of War
Lost at sea
following the sinking
of
Japanese transport ships.
July 1942
Montevideo Maru off Luzon
June 1944
Tamahoko Maru off Nagasaki, Japan
September 1944
Rakuyo Maru off the Phillipines
~ Lest we forget ~
The sinking of the Japanese merchant ship Montevideo Maru by a torpedo fired from a US submarine on 1 July 1942 is considered to be Australia's worst maritime disaster. It was not known that the Japanese vessel was carrying more than 970 Australian prisoners of war as well as people of about 16 other nationalities.
After 81 years, the wreck of the Montevideo Maru has been found by the not-for-profit Silentworld Foundation, deep-sea survey specialists supported by Australian Defence. Using high-tech equipment including an autonomous underwater vehicle, the wreck was located at a depth of some 4000 metres and marks the closure of a chapter of this disaster knowing now the last resting place of these lost souls.