In the South China Sea, researchers uncovered the wreck of the Montevideo Maru, a Japanese ship sunk by a U.S. Navy submarine during World War II, resulting in the loss of 1,060 prisoners. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the discovery on a Saturday in April. The finding was reported by authorities and researchers affiliated with the Silentworld Foundation following a two-week search near the Luzon Strait where the tragedy occurred.
“Finally a resting place for lost souls [and the ship] Montevideo Maru has been found,” the announcement stated. Of the 1,060 people on board, 850 were Australian soldiers whose lives were cut short. The discovery is hoped to bring solace to families and communities affected by the tragedy.
The wreck was located off the northwest coast of Luzon after 12 days of intense searching by the Silentworld Foundation team, in cooperation with partners. The Australian Department of Defense noted that the debris will remain in place and that there are no plans to move it or to conduct operations that would deepen exploration beyond 4,000 meters.
Australia’s worst maritime disaster
The Montevideo Maru was a Japanese auxiliary vessel sunk in July 1942 by the United States Navy. A total of 1,060 people aboard—both prisoners of war and civilians transferred from Rabaul to Hainan—drowned. Among them, 979 were Australian citizens, comprising 850 military personnel and 129 civilians.
This event is widely regarded as Australia’s deadliest maritime disaster. In memory of the victims, two military monuments were erected in the country, one in Melbourne and another in Ballarat, Victoria.
Before the war, the Montevideo Maru functioned mainly as a passenger and cargo ship, plying routes between Japan and Brazil and carrying Japanese immigrants. With a displacement of about 7,267 tons, the vessel was built at a Nagasaki shipyard and launched in 1926.
Measuring roughly 130 meters in length and 17 meters in beam, the Montevideo Maru was powered by two Mitsubishi-Sulzer six-cylinder diesel engines delivering a total of 4,600 horsepower, enabling a top speed near 27 kilometers per hour. The ship had participated in the Makassar invasion in February 1942 and subsequently undertook several transport missions prior to its sinking.
On 22 June 1942, after Rabaul fell to Japanese forces, many Australian POWs were embarked aboard the Montevideo Maru. The vessel, unescorted, was en route to the Chinese island of Hainan when it was spotted by the American submarine Sturgeon off the northern Philippine coast. Early on 1 July, Sturgeon fired four torpedoes, sinking the ship within about 11 minutes, without realizing it was carrying prisoners and civilians.
In the chaotic moments after the sinking, POWs and other survivors faced peril in the water. Some clung to debris and used larger pieces as makeshift rafts, while others sang together in small groups. The memory of their ordeal is still honored by descendants and historians today.
As later accounts noted, there were far more POWs than crew members among those who perished, and the precise death toll required decades to establish. By the 2010s, government records and recovered documents began to clarify the names of those on board, including a manifest listing Australian passengers and crew.
Researchers and officials continue to study the Montevideo Maru tragedy to preserve the historical record and to ensure that the sacrifices of those on board are remembered with accuracy and respect. The ongoing work also highlights the broader human impact of wartime transport and captivity in the Pacific theater, and the importance of dedicated archival efforts in reconstructing events from decades past.