Photos by JUN DUMAGUING

Oryoku Maru Hellship Commemoration Ceremony, Subic Bay

The American and Philippine flags were on display at the Subic Hellship Memorial marker during a remembrance ceremony on Sunday, Dec. 15, to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the sinking of the hellship MV Oryoku Maru. The vessel carrying nearly 300 American prisoners of war was accidentally sunk by American fighter planes on Subic Bay, Philippines on December 15, 1944.

Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars organization perform a solemn sailors’ bell ritual during a remembrance ceremony on Sunday, Dec. 15, to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the sinking of the hellship MV Oryoku Maru. The vessel carrying nearly 300 American prisoners of war was accidentally sunk by American fighter planes on Subic Bay, Philippines on December 15, 1944.

Tracey Betts, a representative from the United States Embassy in Manila, lays a wreath at the wreck site of the MV Oryoku Maru during a remembrance ceremony on Sunday, Dec. 15, to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the sinking of the hellship. Oryoku Maru, carrying nearly 300 American prisoners of war, was accidentally sunk by American fighter planes on Subic Bay, Philippines on December 15, 1944.